What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing is probably the most popular promotional medium for products and services. For years, it has proven its value to many businesses in terms of profits and sales having little to cost. The remarkable increase in the number of internet users everyday from different countries either through a digital or any electronic machines shows how much money are spent online. People are more comfortable with online shopping especially using the major key-players search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN and vertical search engines like EBay, Amazon and more. It is extremely important that one’s business should be visible over the net and interestingly catchy for customers to keep going back to the site for a possible repeat purchase.

Different Elements of Internet Marketing

1. Web Design and Development
   
   You must own a site. This is the first step in communicating to your prospects. This is where the audience would be able to know what your business is all about by creating a well informed content and profile and detailing what products and services will suit their needs. This is the right time to show off what you have because your site will speak in your or your company’s behalf.



2. Search Engine Marketing
   
   Having a site is not enough. You have to make an extra effort to be seen by your prospects. Do a little research where they usually park online. Make a list of all the search engines and possible sites that will help you bring closer to your clients. These search engine marketing methods are strategically things you should consider in marketing online:
   
   
   • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
   • Pay per click (PPC)
   • Press Release Submissions
   • Submissions to Directories and Social Bookmarking sites
   • Forum Postings
   • Media Optimization:
   Article Submissions
   Blog marketing
   Multivariate testing or optimization
   Viral marketing (i.e. video clips, interactive Flash games, ebooks)
   
   
3. Email Marketing
   
   One of the oldest marketing strategies of introducing your products to possible buyers. This is done by sending electronic mails to different e-mail addresses in your list. Nowadays, it’s not as much as effective as it looks spammy and people are pissed off receiving bulk of unsolicited emails everyday, putting your company on their block lists.
   
   Different kinds of E-mail marketing online:
   Direct Email
   Newsletters
   Advertisements from newsletters
   


4. Banner Advertising / Web Banner
   
   A very creative tool of marketing products or services using images, java scripts or multimedia objects with the aim of attracting customers to cause web traffic from possible clicks referencing them to your site.
   


5. Digital Marketing
   
   A digital way of promoting products or services hosted through electronic gadgets (like mobile phones), sms/mms, digital outdoor and display banner ads.
   


6. Classified Advertising
   
   A textually based advertising common in newspapers online and other periodicals with little information such as business name and contact info.