Internet Marketing basics
What is Internet Marketing?
In the past, the concept of Internet marketing was different. It was thought to be a process through which money can be made while sitting at home in front of your laptop. Today, Internet marketing is about making your website more visible on the Internet. This topic is worthy of discussion and through in-depth introduction to internet marketing, we can learn its importance, the advantages, and the methods.
Firstly, why is the process so vital? To be true it is because there are millions of sites on the web which are dealing with products and services. You cannot refrain from the fact that while you might be thinking that your site is having the best design and offers, there is another company which thinks the same. Assume that you are company X which is dealing with garments. Another company Y being your competitor will watch your steps and follow.
The question is that how will you attract visitors to your site and refrain them from visiting the competitor’s site. The answer lies with internet marketing. Under it, individuals can use one or the other method of promotion. It is to be noted that there are millions of activities performed in it and there are certain classifications to it as well.
Types of online marketing:
There are three types of online marketing
• Email marketing
• Social media marketing
• Web marketing
What is Email marketing?
Email marketing is nothing too complex. Since email today has become one of the best ways to communicate with a group, it is called as the direct marketing which delivers a commercial message to certain people with the help of an e-mail. Thus, it involves the use of email for sending advertisements, requesting business or for brand awareness.
What is Social Media marketing?
Social media is nowadays the best way to get connected with your friends as well as family. When marketing is done through it then the reference is to the procedure of getting traffic or attention with the help of social media sites.
What is web marketing?
In general terms, it is the marketing done on the Internet and works to attract customers to a marketer’s website. It involves all the elements of traditional marketing like product, price, packaging, promotion, and place but through technology.
Benefits of Internet Marketing:
Being a business minded person, you will never think of spending a penny without a reason. Internet marketing too has many benefits associated with them, for you to take a decision. Some of them are:
• It targets the right audience and when an individual searches for a keyword on a search engine, it assures you that your site gets ranked highest in the results.
• It helps you track your campaigns. This means that you can have an idea of the working of this method. To be true, this is much better than the offline promotions where till the results are not derived, confusions remain.
• It has a global reach. You being a Swiss brand will be able to sell your products to a person in United States of America. That’s how global you can get.
• It is a lesser costly procedure of promotion and is being loved by people all across the globe.
Thus, through this introduction to Internet marketing you have an idea of marketing through the web, and you can always resort to this way when the budget is low and the competition is tough.
Internet Marketing: Getting Started
Online marketing
Online Marketing is the art and science of selling products and/or services over digital networks, such as the Internet and cellular phone networks. Internet marketing is essential to building your brand online and increasing your leads and sales. Most successful businesses have a dedicated team of marketing specialists who run their daily marketing operations, but most small businesses can’t afford such a specialist staff.
One should follow these steps to begin with internet marketing:
1. Domain name-This is the most important thing you can do when you start plans for a show-up. As soon as you have an idea, make sure you take up the domain, because if you don’t, someone else will. Get a starter site for your show up as fast as you can. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have all the relevant information yet. The sooner you can put up your site, the sooner it will show up in search engines, and that means free traffic.
2. SEO or Search Engine Optimization - SEO is one of the most popular terms used in Internet marketing. It means to get the traffic for free. It can improve your market share and improve your goals. For proper internet marketing, SEO is a must.
3. Build your list- List-building means to bring all the followers together so that all the updates of the brand in which they are interested like launching of new products, any new event, etc. can be sent to them. Building up a list is important for a person who runs an online business or to receive periodic entertainment reports.
4. PPC Investment- Pay per click advertising is a huge way to attract traffic to your website. Websites like Google and Bing allow paid ads on their websites based on certain keywords. These listings are shown abreast with the normal, unpaid search results. PPC advertising is much quicker and efficient. Google AdWords is the application using which you can plan your ads on Google almost instantly.
5. Being social- In today’s era, one very important factor for any business organization is to be social in these challenging economic conditions. By now many leaders have realized that talent is the only key to success. It includes deeply connecting people, including customers, employees, and partners in many ways, speeding up business with information.
6. Importance of social networking sites- The social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter are not just for fun sake. They instead are a very strong marketing tool which has also been realized by many business owners because it costs too less to introduce their product to everyone.
7. Analyze this and be submissive- Analytics is a free service that allows you to track and analyze your web traffic so that you can judge the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives and understand how visitors found you, what they like about your site, what they don’t like about your site, and what you can do to keep them coming back.
Pros and Cons of Internet Marketing
Meaning of Internet Marketing
Internet Marketing seems to be a very popular trend now a days to individuals who have opted for conducting an online business. Analyzing your marketing strategy and putting these in right combination to make your marketing efforts effective is what entails a successful business on the net.
Advantages
of online marketing
1. Extensive reach- It is less expensive and saves money, an aspect that is considered by companies, since the online marketing campaigns do not require a large amount of investment.
2. Global reach- Presence of internet can help a company to expand from a local market to national and international markets at one time, offering much greater opportunities to improve.
3. Easy to measure the results- On the internet everything can be measured, thus it is easier for companies to know what goes well in the market. The company instantly comes to know which campaign is working, which company or user is interested in their products, their country or city as well.
4. Easy tracking- The number of clicks and impressions an ad receives and the measurement of the amount of traffic it brings to the website can be tracked.
5. Easy target making- One can select a target market and reach it in cost effective ways very easily. If you are an online shoe retailer, you can place an ad on a fashion or shoe blog, which can prove to be a tremendous idea to reach the audience.
6. Overcoming distance barriers- With an internet access, one can reach and sell anywhere and to anyone in the world. You do not have to stick to your local region only and thus buying and selling from a distance is not a big job.
Disadvantages of online marketing
1. Lack of physical presence- One main disadvantage of it is the lack of the physical appearance of the product. In the case when buyers don’t get a chance to see the product physically and for most of the products physical sight and feel is important, so they prefer their old traditional old way of shopping.
2. Mismatch in the products ordered and delivered- Another major concern that consumers have with e-commerce merchants is that sometimes they do not receive exactly what they purchased. This can be heavily experienced in the fast-moving goods that are being sold on e- commerce stores.
3. Slow internet connections- This can cause difficulties. If the companies build very complex websites, it may be difficult for users to download it and they may get bored eventually.
4. Cash on Delivery system- The COD system does not always guarantee the 100% purchase of a product. People may just mock at big companies on the internet by using false identities.
5. Online payments- Some people still do not trust the electronic methods of paying and give up buying a product online just because of this reason.
6. No personal attraction- Some customers like to shop in a store where they can get advice from the store personnel and this aspect in online shopping is absent.
How Internet Marketing Helps Your Customers
Internet marketing is the practice of using all facets of Internet advertising to generate a response from your audience. The importance of Internet marketing strategies has increased with the growth and importance of the Internet and is more important than ever before.
Benefits of internet marketing to your business
1. Lower Cost = Higher Profits marketing via the internet is a million miles ahead of traditional marketing when it comes to cost and value. The biggest advantage of marketing online is you can advertise cheaper and change it at any time you like without having to involve a third party, you get full control of your campaign and how much it costs.
2. Your formatting options are varied. When you market online you have a wide choice of ways in which to present your content this includes infographics, presentations, podcasts, and video marketing to name a few, this means you can vary the content you offer keeping your brand fresh and your audience interested.
Your marketing is interactive, one of the main benefits of internet marketing to your customers is they can reach you and share your content via your social media channels. Customers will also feel secure knowing they can easily contact you if they need too, this is something that goes a long way as many people are still highly wary of the internet and especially buying online winning your customers trust is essential.
It’s the perfect employee 24/7. Imagine an employee who worked twenty-four seven was never late and always gave a great impression to your existing and future customers and you had to pay a fraction of the cost of a salaried employee. You would snap them up right? This is what a great online presence will do for you and so much more leading me nicely to my favorite benefit.
You can make money while you sleep! Imagine waking up sitting with a coffee after breakfast and checking your emails nothing special about that right? Now imagine checking those emails and finding that while you have been cozy in your bed you have made money. When you market online this is an absolute possibility. As well as your main products and services you can sell eBooks and courses based on your niche which can be found purchased and received by the customer without you having to lift a finger its automated profit 24/365 .
The worlds your Oyster, no matter where your business is based you can reach nearly every global market and online influence has a massive impact on offline sales. You can reach customers around the world at record speed and at the push of a button. Launching a new product? Simply email your existing customer list update your Facebook status and post to your blog and you have contacted customers both far and wide in an instant.
Benefits of online marketing for your customers
The Internet has changed the shopping habits of the customers worldwide thus making it much easier to shop for new products. Your potential customers can access the internet at any point of time and at any place day and night.
The benefits of online marketing for your customers are,
1. Shopping all the time: Internet is available all hours of the day and all days. So there is no time restriction for online shopping. Many online sales these days start at midnight encouraging customers to buy at any time. For instance, discount starts at any Date at midnight 00:00.
2. Clear comparison between two products: Customers have a very big advantage of comparing products without taking much pain. While sitting at home, one can easily choose two products and compare their prices then and there. The customers do not have to visit various retail outlets. One can simply open different window tabs to compare any feature of the product.
3. Clear product information: Here the customer is not dependent upon any sales advisor. There are chances of misinterpretation or mishearing what a salesperson tells in a retail store. Whereas the internet has comprehensive product information.
4. Transparent pricing: Pricing online is very clear and transparent for any buyer as well as seller. Customers can take advantage of price that may change regularly or take advantage of special offers that may last for a limited period only. Discounts in retail premises are not always successful to circulate the information regarding any offers or discounts.
5. Customers stay updated: The customers can keep themselves updated through e-mails, websites, online adverts, and social networking sites.
6. Tracking purchases and choosing delivery dates: The internet provides the facility to deliver products at home with any inconvenience. One can choose the delivery date and track its exact location at any place.
Internet Marketing Strategies
What is internet marketing?
Internet marketing also known as online marketing, web marketing or website marketing is a set of powerful tools and methodologies that uses the internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers. It promotes products and services through the internet.
It creates connections between organizations with potential customers with a better business development other than traditional marketing/ advertising.
Strategies
Online marketing has brought a drastic change in the past few years. One always has to understand the basics of building a marketing strategy. Building a marketing strategy is just like building anything else, with a solid foundation. Its foundation comes from three basics of online marketing:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Content Marketing
3. Social Media Marketing
Steps to be implemented
1. Before communicating with your market build up your image and brand name: Just like the strategy the brand name is important itself, it makes you recognizable among your competitors so a trademark is here a must.
2. A deep knowledge of your competitors: Competitor websites can always be used to study their sale process and everything that comes under marketing. The largest competitors’ ongoing marketing strategies give us an idea what goes well in the market.
3. A proper study of the market: Make sure you are an important part of your market. Then instead of only the internet consumers you must center your strategy on the demographics of your market too.
4. Mimic your ideal competitors in their marketing strategies: One should study the online strategies of competitors. This study should tell how many followers your competitors have on Facebook, how many people comment on their blog entries or how many people send them e-mails. These campaigns should always be your priority and that means demographic responds well.
5. Create a multi-faceted internet marketing strategy: One should start launching several marketing campaigns to increase the brand recognition.
• One should create social media accounts and blogs and must update/upload interesting material every day.
• Creating videos of people using your product can be a good idea to attract other people. You can launch these videos via Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube and your own website.
• Create a well-designed graphic ad and buy them on sites that cater to your market to introduce people to your product.
6. Setting up tracking capabilities for your campaigns: Create a Google Analytics Account through your main Google Account, and then create a campaign for
each facet so that you can make a record and see which one has the best return on investment (ROI).
7. Launch your campaign as early as possible: In order to create good reviews on your website and other marketplaces, be consistent with all the methods that require good communication with customers. This could include email marketing, online chat facility and the like.
Conclusion
The primary goal behind online marketing is to get search engine traffic so that the one can strengthen their authority and influence within their field, while also leveraging that traffic for their own site.
More Internet Marketing Benefits for Your Customers
Internet marketing is simply marketing on the internet. This definition makes no sense. The definition of internet marketing varies according to the one using the term. If somebody has a home business but makes money through online selling, then, he/she might refer to it as an internet marketing business. If you have your own website and you want to get more traffic to it, you could do so by using online marketing techniques. This will involve blogging, writing unique articles, and posting banner ads on other websites, to accomplish your goal.
In the following ways it is beneficial for the customers:
1. You’re Available 24 hours- Online advertisements are available 24/7 for customers through internet marketing. A proper and functional strategy in place through internet marketing can ensure a round the clock and never ending shopping experience for all your customers. The best thing about Internet marketing is that it is available at any hour of the day and any day of the week unlike the retail stores. Online businesses are available all the time as per the convenience of the customers and a fraction of the cost to run. Which brings us to number two.
2. It’s Cheaper- People can buy your products online which cost less as shopping on online stores offer variety of products with different brands. Many online retail shops have a huge number of brands to offer. The direct
comparison that a user can do with these brands gives them the freedom to buy cheaper and from the comfort of their own homes.
3. Your Customers Can Discover New Markets-The primary target of any marketing strategy is to discover new markets for the business. Internet marketing has various benefits and if you are willing to excel, you can promote your products without spending much amount of money and without any confusion. Customers can buy products by deeply analyzing the properties of a product without facing any salesperson which is free from any emotional persuasion and a satisfactory purchase.
4. You Can Track Real-time Results and Display of Full Information-The benefits of internet marketing can be translated in palpable terms. One of the major benefits of marketing online is that it can help you to display as much information as you want about your product or service on the web. People sometimes pay for the product before receiving it. It is important for them to get full information about the product they have purchased. These days buyers can track their purchase from order and dispatch to transportation before delivery to their address.
5. Improves Credibility-If a business organization has an improved credibility it can prove to be beneficial for the customers. An online presence means it should be a safe and easy shopping experience for the customer without any confusion.
Very Wide Range- One of the major online advertisement benefits is that it has a global reach. Instead of visiting a number of different retail outlets, the customer simply has to open different window tabs to compare prices or features of the product/service they wish to purchase, even the products that might not be available to them at their local level.
Internet Marketing for Small Businesses
Starting a business for anyone may sound very exciting but in real terms it is a very challenging task. To begin with, all it requires is advice and support, innovation, finances, business loans, legal requirements, registration, licenses and permits, promotion, etc.
Its chief requirement is investment of time and focus into proper planning. Handling a small business is not just about working for one’s own self, it's also about having the
required management skills, manufacturing expertise, mechanical skills, economics and of a long-term vision .
Steps to a good business
Every small and big organization requires a well-organized work plan which should follow these steps:
1. Write a business plan
2. Get business assistance and training
3. Choose a business location
4. Finance your business
5. Determine the legal structure of your business
6. Register a business name
7. Get a tax identification number
8. Register for state and local taxes
9. Obtain business licenses and permits
10. Understand employer responsibilities
Marketing a business
After a business is ready to start its functions, one needs to start with its marketing. Marketing is essential for every small and big organization. For a flourishing business, marketing is required to maintain its image and for a small organization, it is required to give it a good start.
Marketing is not about affordability but about efforts. Following are some of the marketing secrets any small / big organization must follow in order to flourish:
1. Commitment- Commitment is very important for any organization. In the beginning, to maintain good customers a firm should make strong commitments and make the customers realize that they have made the right choice.
2. Domination- If you want to be successful in your particular field of work you should always go step by step. A small business organization should not try to reach a higher level all at once but try to compete first within that local market. You need to become a successful person in your particular niche. Any firm small or big should follow proper steps to flourish.
3. Customer-focused approach- The chief motive for any organization should be to satisfy its customers by fulfilling their demands. The primary job should be to clearly identify the problems that the prospects face and offer them the obvious solutions.
4. Quality and originality- If companies are offering the same products as everyone else, the customers are likely to get confused between the brands. High-quality, unique designs are essential for companies that want to excel in the competing market.
5. Relevancy- Quality and quantity are very important but a good marketer is always worried about the response he would get from the audience. If the product being launched does not go well in the market, the number of users tends to decrease substantially, and their brand name/business is no more flourishing.
6. Identification of target market- It’s difficult to know exactly who needs your product or service. Mass marketing doesn’t work in today’s business environment. Not only does it force you to water down your marketing message to please the masses, but it’s much too expensive for small business organizations.
Building Email Lists
One good thing you can do in e-mail marketing is to build your own email list which doesn’t have to do anything with the level or field of business you are in. With that the company gets a record of those who like your product, service, ideas, or offerings.
Its benefits in business
1. Your email list is yours and you have full right to it. If a social networking site such as Facebook or Twitter makes a change in their privacy or user settings, you will then not be able to communicate easily or you may not find it comfortable to use it any further. But an email list will always keep you in touch with your target audience.
2. Even if the social networking sites are gaining more popularity these days, an email has always been a must for every organization or individual. For instance, a person might not be a Facebook user, but he would definitely be holding an email account.
3. It is easy for those who are less tech savvy. Some people are still not aware of the latest techniques that are available in the market. For instance, many people do not know how to use Facebook, Twitter, or open blogs. An email newsletter or an email blog subscription is an easier way out.
4. Building an email list provides you with a systematic and easy way to organize names and send them regular emails informing them about any new arrivals, availing discounts, etc.
5. One big benefit of having an email list is that you do not have to look out for fresh traffic every time you have to promote something new. The list now becomes your traffic. The good thing here is that you have already built up your reputation so high that you do not require any recommendations any further.
6. It’s a permission-based asset which means those who sign up have given you permission to share and communicate with them. This gives you authority. Your email list will act as leverage.
7. It is to an extent cost effective and helps you to give justice to your efforts in any promotional act
8. It’s proactive and enables you to communicate when you need to with a qualified audience who is likely to pay more attention (since they opted into your list).
Conclusion
It doesn’t matter what type of work you do, how big or small it is, all you need to do is to organize it well and build your list. Simply a signing up form is not enough to attract people. You have to put in a lot of effort, make it more appealing and attractive and opt for new tactics and not to forget, you have to maintain the quality of your product for a long-lasting relation with your customers. You must be in touch with them by sending regular emails.
Email marketing can grow any business over a period of some time. It needs dedication and regularity to actually bear fruits of your hard work.
Is Internet Marketing Right for Your Business?
Internet marketing is often referred to as online marketing. It is an electronic method of brand promotion and delivering services efficiently. Its wide range includes email marketing, two-way communication with customers and any promotional events and activities that can be done distantly without meeting the actual customer in person.
Reasons a company should use internet marketing
1. 24-hour marketing- You can deliver a message to your target audience with a website or a blog. If you compare this kind of a platform with a showroom event, then definitely this marketing is not limited to any time or any day. It just happens, 24 hours a day. And your message gets delivered 24/7, 365 days in a year.
2. To provide product information-Give customers direct access to information about your products. The customers have now become smarter and even more intelligent. A customer before buying any product makes a deep study of the entire properties of it and so the product information proves to be useful for that matter.
3. Clear future- Advertising on TV, radio, newspapers is now of no use. Internet marketing is not more than 20 years old and since then it has been increasing at a very rapid pace. It is outpacing other methods of advertising. The expected dollars to be spent annually in the next few years will exceed $30 billion.
4. Reach the worldwide audience-The Internet is a worldwide network that allows you to reach people which even very expensive advertising could not.
5. Recruit new employees- Nowadays, nearly all companies provide current information regarding job openings and attract talented people from places they could never reach otherwise.
6. Let customers try a sample of your product or service- Nowadays, new facilities are available to the customers by the companies that allows them to try out a sample of the product they are buying. You can gain an aggressive lead by offering a test sample of the product or service. For instance, these days customers buying apparels have an opportunity of “try and buy” which is very comfortable and can even overcome the fear of buying a product without its physical sight.
7. Level your customer service load- In retail stores sometimes there are so many customers that the personnel is not able to handle them all at once, so the customers feel neglected. But internet provides assistance to all the customers at one time. Although personal assistance can never replace anything else but can help by sending queries through emails or phone calls.
8. Results can be measured- People nowadays hardly read any newspaper ad or rarely listen to radio ads. With the help of Google analytics, a company can track how many visitors came to the website, at what time, for how much time, what part of the page was viewed, what percent were repeat visitors and so on.
9. Reaching a younger customer- Instead of expecting a younger demographic to visit your site you can yourself reach them all at once.
Marketing on Social Media
Social media marketing is also abbreviated as SMM. It means attracting traffic through social channels available on the internet today. It is a definite boom for small business owners. They now do not have to look further for new customers. It is not much easier for such business owners to sell low-cost products and services to their target audiences. Chances are that your target audience is dealing with other brands on social media. So, it’s time you get started with it too.
Reasons that may lead to progress in business with Social Media Marketing
There are lots of reasons as to why business organizations should be using social media for marketing and business purposes. Here are six compelling reasons:
1. Branding- Any sort of presence on the social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest help in building you as a brand. This is very helpful for a small business owner.
2. Word of mouth marketing- The best part about social media marketing is that it creates a ripple effect. The moment your product or service is talked about, liked, or discussed it reaches another network instantly. This is definite word of mouth marketing; and nothing beats it.
3. Reputation management- Social media proves to be an instant thermometer of your brand. It tells you what your customers think about you and your services. It helps you change your marketing plans almost instantly, without having to waste much money on something that is not working. Two-way communication with customers is a great reputation management check for any firm here.
4. Find out what works and what doesn’t- Social media marketing helps you to save a lot of time on testing of your products and services. The response you get from marketing your products or services on social channels is almost instant. So, you practically know what is working and what is not.
5. Helps with search engine rankings- If you brand is being talked about over social media channels constantly, you automatically increase your search engine rankings. Your social profiles give prospective clients options such as
‘follow’, ‘like’ and more. This way your network builds and so does your SEO rankings.
6. Cost-effective marketing and advertising alternative- To start a social media page requires practically $0.00. Yes, that’s true. You can register online on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest and start your page today. To build your network will take some humble investment. But it would be worth it completely.
Conclusion
Social media is an excellent way of creating a viral network or buzz about your brand. If done correctly, this can bring laurels to your brand instantly. It is now a necessity for a business to thrive online on social channels to get the real sense of its customers. Today, with great analytics available you can target and retarget audiences after much deliberation. This way saving money on marketing is much easier because you spend on what works for you.
Prepared by Wonder Media Group
