Description
An Overview on Internet Marketing
Internet Marketing, put quite simply, is the concept of business marketing, both to customers and to other businesses (B2B), by use of the Internet.
However, getting inside the concept and looking at how it works may not be considered as quite so simple. The primary reason for this is that the Internet, still relatively young, is ever-evolving and therefore subject to waves of change.
New advances in Internet technology are constantly providing new opportunities for businesses to add to their marketing approach and content. Likewise, advances in technology are making more affordable options available to the consumer, and so many more people are logging onto the Internet every day. As they do, the demographic is changing, and no longer is the wealthy individual the only target of Internet Marketing. Today virtually all income levels must be considered in the Internet Marketing approaches of business.
In the 1990s, Internet Marketing went berserk. It was a brand new concept, and caution had been thrown to the wind in all the hype. Companies did not take into consideration that the same variables of marketing in other forms of media should logically be applied to Internet Marketing as well. Their failure to study markets and create sound strategies led to the fall of many so-called dot-coms in the end of 2000. The survivors, and successors, began to look toward time- tested logic in marketing for direction, and the result was massive growth.
Through the now-careful approach of businesses and marketers alike, targeted advertising on the Internet has brought forth great success. Virtually any market you may wish to break into can be tapped on the Internet. Many marketing firms offer the solutions a business needs to get their products out to consumers, while a small firm may wish to handle their marketing on their own and can find lower- cost solutions for their goals as well.
Search engines are a major resource for marketing, but typically are only able to provide ideas for what the consumer is already searching for. To accomplish the spontaneous suggestions offered by television or radio, pop-up ads and ads placed directly on a web-site are used. E-mail is an excellent form of marketing, but typically only has success once a business has built a good relationship with the consumer.
More and more people are spending more and more time on the Internet daily.
The reason is simple: the convenience offered by the Internet, coupled with the increasing abilities of the Internet to help you get your tasks completed, has allowed for all types of business to be conducted with point and click ease. Many tasks no longer require a trip in the car to be completed.
Thus, relationships are growing on the web, and as they do, the pace of Internet commerce has rocketed into the trillions of dollars. Advances in technology, and increased traffic, are leading to a future for Internet Marketing that can only point skyward.
What Internet Marketing Is
Internet Marketing is the business of both advertising and selling goods and services over the Internet. This form of business is ever- increasing in popularity, with millions of people now making purchases on the Internet.
Internet Marketing began in the early 1990s as primarily a means of product description, consisting merely of text descriptions. As technology progressed, Internet Marketing rapidly advanced to include pictures and other rich graphics as part of advertisements for products and services. After realizing the remarkable potential of this means of marketing, Internet-based companies started opening their virtual doors for business.
As opposed to what are now known as “brick and mortar” operations, these e- businesses offer their products and services to a growing number of consumers, conducting all, or nearly all, of their business in the virtual world of the Internet.
There are many forms of marketing on the Internet. Among them are article marketing, blog marketing, e-mail marketing, search engine marketing (to include search engine optimization), banner ads, pay-per-click ads, and pop-up ads. It is important to note that each of these forms catches the attention of the target market in different ways, and some may be more effective than others depending on the product or service, the target market, and the strategy and goal of the business marketing itself.
Among the business functions that may require use of different means in their strategies are customer service, sales, public relations, information management, and others.
Internet Marketing has also become an integral component of many “brick and mortar” operations, but online-only businesses have offered some challenge in the arena of retail sales, an example of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, business-to-business (B2B) marketing, and peer-to-peer (P2P) marketing.
However, other online-only businesses have specialized into newer approaches, such as online auctions, sites that allow you to find the best price on what you’re shopping for, and also sites that allow you to name your own price.
Further, affiliate marketers have emerged, offering marketing solutions to virtually all types of business. These firms typically receive what is called pay for performance. Even home-based businesses now flourish thanks to Internet Marketing.
There are many benefits to the concept of Internet Marketing. It allows consumers to shop and conduct business from the comfort of their own home, any time of day or night, or from virtually anywhere provided they have a
connection to the Internet. Businesses work much more effectively with partners. Efficiency and speed have increased dramatically as business and shopping have moved to the Internet. Even costs have been dramatically reduced. Furthermore, at this time, it is rare that you must pay any tax for the items you purchase online.
The most noted disadvantages to Internet Marketing are the sometimes slow or unreliable Internet connections that occur, and online security. Technology is diligently pursuing solutions to both problems, and progress is being made. Also, with the attention of the government on identity theft, it is clear that security and reliability will continue to improve over time.
