What is Internet Marketing?

The term “internet marketing” has changed almost as rapidly as the internet itself. Once upon a time, not that long ago actually, internet marketing meant that you had a website – plain and simple, you had a “shop window” on the WorldWideWeb and people from all over the world could see what you had on offer, just as long as they were on the internet of course. Pretty soon they could actually order from you “online” and then, crikey moses, pay “online” too, such was the progress of the WorldWideWeb. The really savvy “internet marketers” soon realized the potential of placing banners on other peoples websites too – oh how times have changed.

INTERNET MARKETING TODAY

Internet Marketing has changed pretty dramatically. It’s no longer enough to simply own a website with a domain name and a list of your goods or services with prices, there’s so much competition that unless you really know about “internet marketing” nobody will ever find your website anyway, never mind give you any of their business.

Internet marketingsure has changed big style. There are companies out there who claim that you can make an overnight fortune from following their internet marketing program, easy money always was a bit dubious, generally the only people making a fortune are those who are taking your money to show you how to do it – you have been warned!

Companies these days use search engine optimization as a part of their complete marketing strategy. It doesn’t really matter whether they are an internet based company, do some of their business online or don’t do anything (very unusual these days), the internet is a very powerful marketing tool if it is used properly.

THE OBJECTIVES OF INTERNET MARKETING

Well, basically, companies use internet marketing techniques to achieve the following:

• Communicate their message loud and clear across the internet, about the company itself, their products and their services
• Research about the nature of their existing and their potential customers – looking at their demographics, needs and preferences
• Sell their goods, their services or simply their advertising space over the internet.

INTERNET MARKETING COMPANIES

There’s an increasingly growing number of internet marketing companies who specialize in getting your company name noticed on the internet. Here are some of the services they may offer:

• Setting up your website – websites are just getting better and better all the time. Many of them act more like an online brochure than a simple page telling potential customers what’s on offer. They can be a wonderful mixture of text, image, audio and even video elements conveying your personal or company message online. Some of them are able to capture potential leads, others just get your business name out there and establish the identity of your business.
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a method of marketing your website using the search engines. This can be done by either improving the sites ranking via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), buying pay per click (PPC)advertisements or paying to be listed in website directories, known as pay for inclusion (PFI), a bit like the yellow pages. There are also an increasing number of free web directories which will allow you a free listing.
• Email marketing – not to be confused with SPAM. SPAM really can be a nuisance can’t it, it’s kind of taken over from all of that junk mail that used to land in your mail box every morning (in fact, a lot of it still does). No, proper email marketing can be a very useful tool for internet marketing, as it’s great for keeping in contact with your existing customers – sending them news of special offers of products or services, and also for potential customers who might have expressed an interest but not actually spent any money yet! Many companies find that regularly distributing newsletters is a great way to keep in touch with their customers.
• Banners – although this was mentioned as an early form of internet marketing, it’s still going strong to this day. It’s a bit like magazine or newspaper advertizing online really.
• Press releases – yes, strategically placed online press releases can really help to promote your business. If you can get a good story about your company, your products, your services or something interesting and unusual with an online wire service it can really help to establish your business identity
• Blogging – discussion forums are on the increase, and all you need to do is to post an opinion or answer a question in a discussion forum – you can then often post your business URL as a link – good huh? Many companies even run their own blogging websites too, it all helps to get the company name out there.
• Article marketing – this is a brilliant way to get your company name spreading around the web like wildfire. If you write an article related to your business and publish it online at one of these sites, they are often re-printed all over the place – this is, of course allowed, as long as they leave your company links in place. Why didn’t I think of that?

So you see, internet marketing comes in all forms, many different shapes and sizes. Some of it requires the knowledge of an expert, some of it just requires a little time and patience. Many companies now use a mixture of online marketing to complement their offline marketing strategies. It really is down to what works for you!

The day you stop marketing your site, is the day you start planning a funeral.

Industrial Strength Internet Marketing