Online Marketing
Internet marketing, also referred to as i-marketing, web marketing, online marketing, or e Marketing, is the marketing of products, or, services over the Internet. It is all about selling the products easier and faster using the Internet.
History:The use of the Internet as a marketing tool was started from 1995 with the release of Netscape web browser called Mosaic Netscape 0.9.Netscape advertised that "the web is for everyone" and stated one of its goals as to "level the playing field" among operating systems by providing a consistent web browsing experience across them. Netscape's phenomenal success gave birth to the Internet boom that has gone on to affect global businesses in a major way.
Market share and growth: The online ad spending approximately accounts for 20% of the total ad spend of 2008 in USA. And it account 10% on total ad spend across the world. And the total Internet ad spending increase to $25.7 billion at 8.9% growth, according to Emarketer report.
Advantages of Internet Marketing:
Internet marketing has several known advantages. Internet marketing experts look at Internet marketing as the primary solution to online presence. Here are some of the advantages of Internet marketing:
Internet marketing is a low cost promotional strategy.
Internet marketing, unlike other business, requires no big capital. Internet marketing does not demand so much investment. It doesn’t need any physical capital since Internet is purely online.
Internet marketing is the easiest way to reach a global market.
Internet marketing does not limit your business to a particular location. Since Internet reaches all parts of the world, Internet marketers can also reach a worldwide target market. Therefore, Internet marketing gives online business a higher chance of success.
Internet marketing reaches target market easily..
Internet marketing can reach a target market in an instant. In the same manner, potential customers can reach your online business as quickly as one click. Therefore, Internet marketing makes online business move fast.
Disadvantages of Internet Marketing:
Internet marketing has its downside as well. Although it is true that there are more advantages in Internet marketing rather than its disadvantages, it is always worth a time to go over some of the disadvantages of Internet marketing.
Internet Marketing does not build trust instantly.
Internet marketing is something that exists on the web. It is difficult to tell whether something is good or not because there are no physical evidences. It takes time for an Internet marketer to gain the trust of online users.
Internet marketing is a tough competition.
Because of the many benefits of Internet marketing, there are so many business oriented people who became interested. As a result, there is an overload of information presented on the Internet. To make your own information stand out, you need to keep up with the tough competition.
Impact of the online marketing: The music industry has changed the way they function because of an e-marketing system. Many consumers have been purchasing and downloading music over the Internet providing comfort and ease to their consumers.
The financial and banking industry has also changed because of the utilization of a marketing program geared towards the Internet. One of the innovations created as a result of a marketing program is online banking. Through the e-marketing system, banks found that more consumers are keen to opening accounts to banks that have online banking.
One industry that probably got the most impact from the Internet marketing is the retail industries. The total retail e-commerce sales accounts for 3.2% of the total retail sale in USA. With the amount of people now doing their shopping online, business owners have seen the potential of going online to market their products and services. Small businesses, in particular, now have the opportunity to reach a wider target and market their products without bearing the heavy cost traditional marketing.
Business Models in Internet Marketing: The following are the different types of business models used by companies.
E-commerce
Publishing
Lead based websites
Affiliate Marketing
Local Internet Marketing
Channels to promote the online Marketing are:
Search Engine Optimization:Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be defined as the process of altering the content or structure of your web site so that it ranks higher in the pages of search engine results while a specific key word is being searched. The higher the website gets ranked the greater the probability of the site being visited.
Search Engine Marketing(PPC):Search engine marketing, or SEM, is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.
E-Mail marketing: E-mail marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fund raising messages to an audience.
Blogging:A corporate tool for communicating with customers or employees to share knowledge and expertise. Business blogs are sweeping the business community. Blogs are an excellent method to share a company's expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customer.
Social Media Marketing: It is the use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other collaborative Internet form of media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.
Banner ads: Banner Ads are usually animated, colorful graphics that go horizontally across the top of a Web page. Sky-scraper Ads are similar but they run vertically on the left or right side of a page. Both ads link to another Website (yours) and entice the visitor to leave the page they are on to see what the other site has to offer. These are losing popularity because people don't enjoy being distracted by the movement. Ads that don't move or talk are more effective.
E-commerce newsletter: . E-commerce newsletters allow us to develop relationships with our clients and let them know when we invent something they may be interested in. You may start with just a few names and email addresses asking those folks to forward your newsletter (it should have a link to a permission-based sign up form) to their friends and urge them to sign up.
Online Magazines: Online magazines offer ad space for a fee (depending upon the magazine's popularity and traffic) and may appear for the duration of the current issue of the magazine. By selecting a magazine that relates to your product you are able to direct your ad to your target market rather than to a generic audience.
Viral marketing and marketing on the web2.0: Viral marketing is ‘free’ in that you do not pay directly for any advertising. Instead you rely on the power of the social online networks to promote your website and products through emails and shared stories and links.
Article Marketing: It is a type of advertising in which businesses write short articles related to their respective industry. These articles are made available for distribution and publication in the marketplace. Each article contains a bio box and byline that include references and contact information for the author's business. Well-written content articles released for free distribution have the potential of increasing the authoring business' credibility within its market as well as attracting new clients.
Video Marketing: Video Marketing refers to the promotional strategy deployed by companies to promote products and services by using short, attractive and educational videos. The main purpose of preparing such videos is to induce or spread awareness to the prospective customers about an organization and its products.
Online Marketing Strategies: The following are the some strategies used for better online marketing.
1.Start with a web promotion plan and an effective web design and development strategy.
2.Get ranked at the top in major search engines, and practice good Search Optimization Techniques.
3.Learn to use Email Marketing Effectively.
4.Dominate your marketing niche with affiliate, reseller, and associate programs.
5.Request an analysis from an Internet marketing coach or Internet marketing consultant.
6.Build a responsive opt-in email list.
7.Publish articles or get listed in news stories.
8.Write and publish online press releases.
9.Facilitate and run contests and giveaways via your web site.
10.Blog and interact with your visitors.
Search Engine Shares
According to the Comscore The Search Engine Shares of the USA are as follows:
Search Engine Percentage
Google 64.9
Yahoo 18.8
Microsoft 9.4
Ask Network 3.9
AOL 3.0
