What is Internet Marketing

This is a guest post written by Jasmeet Singh of The Sharp Brain

What is Internet Marketing?

The internet craze is unstoppable and everyone has to tag along or face oblivion. More than one billion people around the world use the internet on a daily basis and this forms a potential market for various goods and services.

Therefore, businesses and organizations are moving with the current digital trend to ensure that they market their product to both local and international markets. The need to market goods and services on the internet has led to the development of the internet marketing or online marketing concept.

In simple terms, internet marketing can be described as the process of marketing goods and services online. This is an all-inclusive term that involves all online activities related to marketing. The main objective of internet marketing is to advertise and sell goods and services over the internet and in the process make profits.

In addition, online marketing is another effective way of identifying the needs and wants of a marketing segment or identification of a target market. In summary, internet market is a concept that is used to refer to the methods that are applied when it comes to advertising and selling goods and servicesover the internet. Internet marketing might involve a wide range of online activities such as;

·         Podcasting

·         Affiliate programs

·         Article marketing

·         Blogging

·         Social Media

·         Email marketing

·         Reciprocal linking

·         Online promotions

·         Search engine optimization

·         Website design strategies

·         Why Online Marketing?

A must read article by Jeff Lenney: The best affiliate marketing programs for 2019

Businesses that are yet to adopt online marketing should do so as a soon as possible or risk losing a large number of customer to competitors that are already online. You can increase your visibility to your current and potential clients by establishing an online presence. This applies to both small and large businesses as there is no way you can avoid the current digital trend. In addition, online marketing provides you with an opportunity to reach a global audience.

Your business needs to be online as that is where all the attention has gone. It was projected in 2017 that online retail sales in the U.S alone would hit the $370 billion market and this is a clear demonstration of how online shopping is increasingly becoming very popular. In order to make more sales, marketers are always under pressure to drive more traffic to their online platforms or websites. According to the 2015 survey that was conducted in by Strategy Analytics, over 30% of spending on marketing goes to digital advertising. This is a clear indication that most companies have discovered the need for internet marketing as a way of remaining sustainable in the modern business world.

Although the spending on TV and other traditional forms of advertising is almost double the amount that is spent on digital marketing, there has been a significant improvement when it comes to digital advertising spending. Ina country like the United Sates, there was a 13% increase in digital advertising spending in 2015. In fact, online marketing is the fastest growing marketing category.

The Importance of Online Marketing

According to the 2016 statistics, the number of people around the world with access to the internet stood at 3 billion. This means that marketers have over 3 billion people to reach on a daily basis and offer their different products and services. In addition, the internet is known to facilitate instant communication through its interactive nature.

Through various online platforms, businesses are able to directly engage with their customers and in the process understand and respond to their specific needs. In addition, the marketplace has become very dynamic and the only way to know about any chances is by engaging with your customers on various online platforms.

A recent survey revealed that most purchasing decisions by customers are largely influenced by online reviews of various products and services. Major online retailers such as Amazon have customer review sections that allow customers to give their views about the many listed products.

In fact, positive online reviews influence 90% of purchasing decisions. Apart from the customer review sections on official company websites, there are some special online review sites that provide current and potential consumers with valuable insights about a particular company’s good or products.

Web product research has become popular among many consumers and that is it is time for you fully embrace the digital revolution. Independent online review sites are important sources of objective reviews while most social media platforms are known for positive reviews. Apart from helping businesses access a wide global audience, online marketing has other advantages such as;

·         Lower operational costs as compared to traditional marketing

·         It is easy to track results

·         It is easy to implement demographic marketing

·         It helps build strong customer relationships

·         It allows for personalized marketing

·         It guarantees convenience

Disadvantages of Internet Marketing:

Online marketing has a lot of benefits to both the business and the customer when implemented in the best way. However, everything good has its own fair share of shortcomings that also needs to be highlighted. The following are some of the disadvantages associated with internet marketing;

·         There is limited face-to-face contact or communication

·         It leads to marketing complexity due to the virtual nature of this type of marketing

·         There are many online scams that can scare potential customers

·         There are high chances of having outdated information on your website

·         Your website might be hacked or attacked making customers reluctant to use their credit cards

·         Limited inquiry response programs

·         Competition from other online marketers

The Role of Social Media in Online Marketing

Social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram have emerged as major platforms for online marketing due to their high number of users. It is expected that the number of social media users will be approximately 2.95 billion people by 2020.

As a result, most businesses are taking advantage of this audience to market their products. Business can market their products through paid ads on the platforms, through their official pages or accounts, or through social media influencers that have many followers. However, it is always difficult to determine the actual impact of social media marketing on the Bottom-line.

About The Author: 

Jasmeet Singh is an Entrepreneur, Digital Marketing Strategist, and an active blogger. He is the founder The Sharp Brain, a Digital Marketing Training Institute located in India. He is an active Quoran and an avid reader.