Introduction
Welcome to the world of Internet Marketing!
This guide
is designed especially for those who are new to the world of internet
marketing…or IM as some may call it. With this guide, you will be introduced to
the basic policies of this industry and also to the much higher-end and more
complex systems of internet marketing.
However,
before reading this guide, open your mind to the enormous possibilities of the
marketing world. At some point, you may find some of the things that will be
discussed too complicated for you in the beginning. However, these topics and
pieces of knowledge will all fall into place and will further help you
understand this systematic way of marketing. In the long run, this will
guarantee your overall success in this journey.
Just try to
think of this mini-guide as a bunch of puzzle pieces which will eventually
connect to give you a complete picture in the end. Sounds exciting? Great!
Let's begin.
What Is
Internet Marketing?
Internet
marketing is now called so many other names – e-marketing, web marketing,
i-marketing, digital marketing, online marketing and the like. However, in
plain and simple language, it can be defined as the marketing of one's products
or services that a business or person offers through the use of the internet.
This type
of marketing encompasses a very broad area of the subject as it also includes
many types of marketing strategies like e-mail and wireless media marketing.
Under this general scope of internet marketing also falls the aspects of ECRM
or electronic customer relationship management and digital customer data. For more help
Why is internet marketing a big advantage to
many businesses?
The world
wide web has given us many unique and essential benefits. This technology
enabled the entire world to be connected with each other in a matter of
seconds. In terms of online businesses, the internet has provided a global
portal in which goods and services can be sold and bought by almost anyone and
in any part of the world.
With
internet marketing, all types of businesses have enjoyed the lower costs of
information dissemination and advertisements. The internet's interactive nature
has benefited business marketing through instant responses and its ability to
elicit them in the
fastest way possible. Furthermore, internet marketing has tied together all the
aspects of creativity, technicality, advertisement, sales and product
development.
With its
inexpensive cost, internet marketing has also enabled businesses to save on their
means of reaching their target market or audience. Through a small fraction of
the cost of traditional advertisements, businesses can further allow their
customers to conduct research and eventually purchase their products in the
most convenient way. This also makes them more appealing to their clients
because they can provide results in a very short span of time.
Internet
marketing has also allowed these businesses to measure their statistics in a
much easier and inexpensive way. Since almost all the aspects of this marketing
type can be measured, tested and traced through the use of ad servers,
advertisers can easily use and observe their data as to which ads reap the most
customer views or purchases. This way, online businesses will be able to determine
which of their advertising messages are more appealing to their target
customers. The results of all their campaigns can be tracked right away since
this marketing initiative simply requires a customer to click the ads, visit a
certain website or perform a desired action like filling out a form or
purchasing a product or service.
Now as a
beginner in the world of internet marketing, you will be responsible for the
task of bringing in potential clients by providing them the services or the
company that suits their needs or preferences in various internet venues. You
will help these customers find the product that they are looking for. The
targets are the people who have computers with internet access. Entrepreneurs
like you can visit your online store anytime. Consumers can also do the same
whenever they want. The future of the world wide web is so bright with its
projected online consumer traffic reaching almost 60% and over 80% of these
customers shopping online. So if you are determined to make it successful for
you, you may just find yourself enjoying the benefits of having an online
business that will give you more profit in the long run. FOR HELP
With that said, internet marketing brings you
many advantages of incurring minimal costs in starting up your business
including cheaper advertising options, a global marketplace, becoming your own
boss, promoting stuff that you are passionate about and profiting from these
passions along the way. Sounds amazing doesn't it?
Though
there are many benefits from internet marketing, it does come with its own
share of risks and investments. You must understand that this process will not
let you rake in a lot of cash quickly. Your time, diligence, persistence and
passion for learning more are very important in your success in internet
marketing.
Those who
think that this is a get rich quick scheme are bound to be disappointed. Though
many businesses have become extremely successful, you will find that those who
have failed in this venture have simply wished to become overnight
millionaires. The realities of a physical business are still applicable to your
online store, including tax payments, customer services and even hiring
employees.
Furthermore,
it is important that you know that starting an online business is not free.
There are costs that may be less than what will be used in building a physical business,
but you will still have to shell out for web design, software, hosting, domains
and advertising costs. Another reality of having an online business is site
downtime. Yes, your site may go down due to technical difficulties or glitches,
and this will probably bring a lot of frustration not just on your part but
also on the customers’ end. Every single minute or second that your site is
unavailable to visitors and potential customers, you will be losing money. You
need to be prepared for this.
Furthermore,
you cannot just rely on a certain system and have it run on autopilot to
generate profit. Technology changes and the industry evolves rapidly, making
any “autopilot system” that is supposed to generate cash a complete lie. A
marketing tactic that worked for someone in the past may not work for you at
all in the future. Therefore, it is very important to keep yourself updated
with new technologies and marketing trends.
Competition
will always be around so if you do not keep yourself informed and you do not
work hard, you will not stand out in the crowd. You have to make an impact!
Work hard because if not, you can be sure that one of your competitors is out
there doing so. Besides, if you want your business to be a long-term
investment, your first profits should go back to your site's services and
advertising efforts. Maximize your profits and do not just cash out your first
earnings. It will also be helpful to learn about taxation and other related
laws that affect this industry. This way, you know what your tax and legal
advantages are once you set up your business. This will also help in protecting
your assets, thus, it should never be overlooked.
With all
these realities in mind, you will need to be very determined to stand out in
this industry. Internet marketing is not for the person who likes simple
routines. You should be flexible in learning new strategies and trends in order
to keep up with your competition.
Now that you know what internet marketing is and all the good and bad
that comes with it, you will now learn the marketing methods that online
businesses have been using in order to promote their services and products to
the global marketplace.
The following methods that will be discussed
further in the next few passages are:
·
Affiliate marketing
·
Article marketing
·
E-mail marketing
·
Blog marketing
·
Pay per click ads or PPC
·
Search engine optimization or SEO
·
Pop-up ads
·
Banner ads
·
Social media marketing
·
Mobile marketing
These internet marketing methods are not equal
at all. Each of them have strategies to reach a target market and will produce
varying results based on your goal, marketing pitch and relationship with your
customer. Whether you are going to market your own website or choose to get
involved in affiliate marketing, you are most likely going to use a couple of
these methods at various times. Remember, what you earn in this industry is
always proportionate to all the effort and time you have invested in developing
your website. Now let's
proceed to the juicy part of this subject. In the next few pages, you will
learn each of the internet marketing methods mentioned above. You will get to
know what they are, what they do, how they work and why they are effective. buy now
Affiliate
Marketing
Affiliate
marketing is an online practice wherein a business rewards an affiliate for the
visitors or customers brought in by his marketing efforts. The rewards are
either cash or gifts and are given for either an offer completion or site
referral. In this process, there are four players – the merchant, network,
publisher and customer. Recently, this market has grown complex with the
secondary players like affiliate management agencies, third party vendors
(specialized) and super-affiliates. It works by simply using the affiliate's
website to drive traffic to the merchant's own site or to allow visitors to be
forwarded to the merchant's main web page.
Basically,
this is also what we can call revenue sharing between the online merchants and
online affiliates. The compensation given to the affiliates depend on how many
user clicks, sales or registrations were made on the merchant's website via
their own. Affiliate marketing enables the automation of the advertising
processes and the payment for desired actions. Merchants have preferred this internet marketing strategy because it is a “pay per performance”
model, where they do not incur any expenses for marketing their products unless
the affiliate produces the results they need.
Affiliate
marketing can also be translated as a type of business relationship where you,
as an affiliate, promote a merchant's services which is different from yours.
This means that you do not need to have your own product in order to venture
into affiliate marketing. You only need to promote your business provider's
services and products.
This is how
it works – you need to have a web page that contains a link that directs your
users or visitors to the main page or online store of the merchant. When one of
your site visitors clicks on that link and purchases something from the
merchant's website, you will get a sort of commission or a referral fee. This
way you are the one driving traffic to your merchant's website through your own
web page. The merchant will pay you whenever a visitor from your site buys
something or signs up for something on their site. A special affiliate link is
assigned to your web page, making it easy for the merchant to track customers
coming from your site. One merchant is allowed different affiliate links and
all of them will direct the users to its website.
Another
strategy that works in affiliate marketing is the use of web page codes or web
cookies. This is actually a very interesting way to still profit even if your
visitor clicks on the affiliate link and does not purchase from the merchant's
site at once. How does this work? The moment a user clicks on the link, a
cookie is stored in his computer, indicating that he or she visited the
merchant's site and recording your page as the one that referred him to that
website. If, let's say a couple of weeks later, the user finally decides to buy
something from the merchant's online store and types the web address of the
merchant directly into his browser, the cookies stored in his computer will
still recognize the purchase as a referral from your affiliate link, allowing
you to receive a compensation from the merchant. Note that cookies have
expiration, so you must read the affiliate program's terms carefully to check
the life span of these cookies.
The success
of
affiliate marketing has also paved way for the rise of many online companies
such as Amazon.com, which now has thousands of affiliates
.
Article
Marketing
Article
marketing is an online advertising strategy used by many businesses to market
their websites, products or services by writing short articles that are related
to their industry. It is the practice of posting these keyword-focused writings
on article syndication sites that have a good readership following. These
articles will then be
distributed and published in the marketplace. Many opine that article marketing
is an essential element in any internet marketing strategy. These articles have
the intention of providing information and entertainment to online users.
Typically these articles have a resource box or bio box that indicates the
references and contact information of the writer's business. The resource box
may also contain a link back to the website that the author is promoting in
order to attract the readers to visit that website.
Articles that are well-researched and written
are usually released and distributed for free in order for the business to gain
more credibility within the market. Through these articles, a website or online
business will be able to attract more new clients. Internet marketers usually
submit the articles to several article directories in order to maximize the
results of their online campaign. In order to avoid the filtering process of
the internet for duplicate content, internet marketers attempt what we call
article spinning or article rewriting and rewording to give certain variations
to the original article. Through this, the article can acquire site visitors
coming from several websites for article directories. Getting your article to
be featured in niche blogs or focused content websites that are managed by
others is a good and popular strategy in terms of article marketing. If you are
a guest blogger on these websites, you will be able to introduce your business
to an interested audience that may have been otherwise unreachable.
The common
practice in internet publishing is to have your articles use relevant keywords
and catchy titles with around 250 to 500 words in the body. If you incorporate
the keywords or keyword phrases in your articles, it is possible to get more
search engine traffic.
Which,
among the hundreds of article directories, should you submit your articles to?
This is actually one of the most tedious tasks in this marketing method. Today,
businesses and experts usually outsource their article marketing methods
including the submission process. The most popular article directories that are
recommended include EzineArticles, IdeaMarketers and GoArticles.
Article
marketing can also help you generate leads that you can include in your e-mail
list. In writing your articles, you must give the readers an offer so
irresistible that it will prompt them to visit your website and sign up for
your services. Once you have their information, you can start creating a
sales-winning partnership with them. Failing to do this will not give you
another chance to sell to your leads.
Among the
best offers you can give your readers may include quizzes, special reports on a
certain topic, free consultation sessions or free book chapters. This way, your readers will be enticed to provide you with their e-mail
addresses that you can use to further send marketing news and information about
your website.
Overall,
the most important factor in article marketing is to get people to visit your
website and sign up or purchase one of your services. Writing articles that are
accurate, specific and helpful will attract more potential leads or clients.
E-mail
Marketing
This is one
of the most cost-efficient methods of internet marketing that promotes your
business. In order to execute an effective and successful e-mail campaign, you
need the right information to achieve your desired results.
E-mail
marketing is a direct marketing method that makes use of e-mails to communicate
a commercial message to your target market. It is the process of sending
messages to your previous or current customers in order to encourage them to do
business with you again and in turn enhance your business relationship with
them. E-mail marketing is also used to acquire new clients and convince your
current customers to buy something at once.
There are
several advantages in using this type of internet marketing. For one, almost
all internet users have e-mail accounts that they check regularly. With this
form of communication, advertisers can easily reach those who have signed up to
receive regular communications regarding subjects that interests them. It is
cost-effective and has a short impact time.
E-mail marketing can be categorized into three
types: direct e-mail, intermediary e-mail and retention e-mail.
Direct
e-mail usually is an email message with commercial sales content. They are
usually sent to customers who have previously used a certain product or service
or to potential clients in your target audience who might enjoy and benefit
from the service you are offering. Direct mail marketing may make use of a
company's e-mail list or a purchased or shared e-mail list or a list that is
acquired from a third party service. These third party services may already
know which audience can be target through e-mail marketing or they may conduct
an analysis to find out which e-mail addresses will bring the highest
conversion or responses for your business. for more assist
Retention
e-mail or newsletter mail on the other hand, are designed and written for
promotional use. They aim to provide a long-term impact to the customer's mind,
thus, their content is more than a sales message. The retention mail specifies
the benefits of the products or services that a company offers in a more
informative format.
Intermediary
e-mail is a message sent by a company delegated by the main provider to send
out advertising and marketing e-mails to a list of subscribers that is usually
owned by the intermediary company.
In order to be successful in e-mail marketing,
you must always use all relevant information that is necessary for your
business. You may send messages to your customers if you find that they will
benefit from what you are about to offer them. In sending these e-mails, you
must also write an informative and straight forward headline in order to grab
your customer's attention. Before sending out your e-mail, check the message
and use both text and HTML formats to make sure that your message will be
received and read, or you may include options to view your mail in these
formats.
Blog
Marketing
Blogs have
become one of the useful platforms for internet marketing. Subscribers of a
blog usually sign up to receive content on a regular basis and since most
subscribers remain loyal when they receive relevant and useful information, a
strong following and readership will be a good way to reach these potential
customers and get them to either sign up or purchase a service from your
business. Blogs have continuously reached their targets most of the time,
making them a very effective way to market one's services or products.
Blog marketing, as the name suggests, is done via a web blog through a
series of weekly or daily posts about a certain topic. A lot of businesses have
used blogs to communicate and interact with their customers while featuring
their services.
Organizations
have also used blogs to share and review a product’s features and benefits
prior to their official launch. They also pave way for companies to gather or
receive feedback from the consumers in order to confirm if their services and
products meet the expectations of their clients.
Since blog
marketing focuses on interaction with online users, you may also start blogging
in order to market your product line to get more exposure to the cyber market. However,
you will have to write and design a blog that will stand out from your
competitors. This way, your blog will also gain more popularity, making more
websites want to link to it. The more websites linking to your blog, the more
traffic and profit you will get. You must always remember to give your audience
or target subscribers a reason to always visit your blog. If your subscriber
leaves any comments, be sure to send them a thank you e-mail. Hold small
contests every now and then where you can give away discounts and coupons to your
subscribers. You may
also ask your followers to post the link of your blog to their own websites in
exchange for free product samples.
Pay-per-click
or PPC
PPC or
Pay-per-click advertisements, also known as Cost Per Click, are used to bring
in traffic to websites where advertisers provide compensation to the hosting
site whenever their ad is clicked. There are two models for determining how
much is to be paid per click – flat-rate and bid-based rate. In both models,
advertisers consider the value of a click from a certain source where such
value depends on the type of customer that the company is targeting and what
can be gained from his or her visit (which is usually revenue).
If you
currently have a running website or a blog and would like to earn extra profit,
you can try this internet marketing method. Put in pay-per-click ads on your
blog or web page and merchants will pay you a percentage every time your
visitors click on them. One of the
most popular PPC is Google Adsense. It is very easy to add this to your blog
and more so if you use Blogger which is also managed by Google. Adsense
displays a number of advertisements that target a specific audience on your
blog. In order to sign up for pay-per-click ads like Google Adsense, you will
need to complete an online form as your official application.
Search
Engine Optimization (SEO)
Whenever
you search for a topic on Google, Yahoo or MSN, you usually get pages and pages
of websites that have the keywords you typed in the search bar. Have you ever
wondered why a particular website is listed first on the results of your
search? The primary reason for this is Search Engine Optimization.
Search
engine optimization allows a website to become search engine friendly, making
it rank higher on search results compared to other websites that have the same
keyword contents. Usually, these search engines read and archive sites
regularly so that they can be found easily whenever a search is performed by a
user. For example, if a user types in “parenting” in the search bar and your
website is about the same topic and is optimized properly, your website will
appear in the first page of the search results.
Basically,
SEO makes your website easier for these search engines to understand. Its goal
is to increase your website's rank in the search results that will in turn
bring in more traffic to your site. Remember, the more traffic you get, the
more potential for profit you will have. On-site and
off-site factors are the ones that can determine your search engine rankings.
On-site factors include your page content and your title heading. Off-site
factors like pages that link to your site, words used to link to your page and
how long such link has existed also come into play. It is important that you
focus on your site's SEO continuously because if you get good search engine
rankings consistently, you will always have free traffic.
