The Beginner's Guide to Internet Marketing

What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing, or online marketing, refers to the promotion of goods and services on the internet. The online world acts as a medium to communicate messages that a business drafts for its audience. Online marketing is also synonymous with digital marketing, which are internet marketing services delivered through a Wisconsin Digital Marketing Agency.

It is essential to understand that online marketing is not second to traditional marketing. Nor is it a complimentary service that you can use to boost your marketing efforts on other mediums. Instead, online marketing is a highly effective way to promote a business and get in front of your target audience, if done right, every minute of the day.

Perhaps the very foundation of online marketing lies in finding newer ways to reach customers and markets that would be interested in what a business has to offer. Since traditional mediums like newspaper, prints and TVs have been tried over and over again, a new and creative internet marketing idea seems to be the fresh start that modern businesses so desperately need.

Another reason why internet marketing has gained so much momentum in the last few years is that, by using this method, many companies and business owners aim to break the clutter that has piled up because of nonstop marketing efforts. Every company and every business, in an attempt to attract customers, indulge in various marketing tactics, like an ad in the local newspaper or a TVs campaign that can be viewed on various channels.

When combined, all these campaigns lead to an overload and customers usually become resistant to such attempts. Internet marketing provides a different way to do the same activities, and cash in on high consumer interest as well. Coupled with this, increased internet usage is another factor that has made this marketing alternative quite a hit.

According to statistics, 80% of the people in the United States use the internet regularly. Out of these, 97% use it to search for products that they eventually end up buying. Google research reveals that 10.3 billion searches are conducted online result in nine out of 10 product/business follow-ups. The high rates of internet usage and the possibility of customers getting back to you, wouldn’t you want your small business to have a face in the realm of the World Wide Web?

However, the dilemma comes in when owners of small business, who rightly play the part of marketer, administrator and finance office as well, voice that they do not have time to keep their online presence updated. With such a bleak outlook of even trying to take advantage of the Internet, these companies often ignore one of the biggest consumer touch points of the 21st century.

Not only does such a business let go of an opportunity to grow and mature with the market, it also sets itself up to lose to the competition. Businesses that compete with you, directly or indirectly, can make tremendous profits and convert potential sales leads into loyal customers by taking advantage of being present on the internet.

Therefore, it is essential for a small business working in the global economy to make use of internet marketing services. Even if you do not have the resources to spend on an e-commerce website, at least make sure you are listed in the online yellow pages directory. When customers conduct a quick search for the product they want, your company name will be displayed.

Approximately 48% of all customers using the internet to search for businesses use the Yellow Pages Directory, which is available online. As it will be discussed in later sections, there are many ways to market your business on the internet, using either free or paid solutions depending on the budget you have to assign to internet marketing. Using these methods is an excellent way to make sure you are heard and seen on the internet.

Types of Online Marketing

Online marketing has become a mandatory part of a business’s promotional strategy. No campaign is complete without a representation on the internet. Leaving out this medium means giving up your customers to your competitors.

As a primary source of information for millions of people, the internet opens up avenues to look for products and businesses by breaking geographic boundaries. No longer does a user have to be physically present in a locality to make use of the products sold by a local business. Tapping into newer markets is one of the biggest advantages of internet marketing.Therefore, making sure that an online promotional campaign is thorough and appealing is essential. Sending across the same message via various techniques and channels on the internet is a must. There are many types of online marketing that have evolved and developed over the years, keeping in mind the way this medium is used by consumers.

For instance, when the internet was a basic tool that was used by only a handful of people with access to it, online marketing was one-dimensional, meaning, one long advertisement about a product would be put up on a single website or search engine for visitors to see. As usage increased, so did the complexity associated with the internet marketing. Today, a single advert hardly suffices for the many sub-mediums that have sprung up on the internet. Social media, websites, search engines, yellow pages, and website directories are some of the many channels on which a business needs to advertise in a creative manner, keeping in mind the kind of audience that visits them.

Hence, online marketing consists out of the following types of online marketing:

Email marketing: This refers to marketing that is done by sending advertisements and promotional content through emails. Businesses usually maintain email directories for email marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): This refers to increasing the visibility of a website, its content or the words within the content such that they appear in search results. This is done using on-page and off-page optimization. Today, most of the Search Engine Optimization is done through content creation in the form of blog posts, articles, videos, and images. The combination of these elements can create great content for visitors to consume, and use to make buying decisions.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM): This refers to the increasing website’s visibility in the search engines using paid reach (paid advertising) and organic reach (SEO). The most common form of Search Engine Marketing is Google Adwords. Your ads come in the form of "Display Ads" that are shown on popular blogs and websites in the margins, or display in the search engine themselves with the word Ad next to them in bold.
Social Media Marketing: This refers to promoting a business on social media, such as Facebook, MySpace, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter - to name a few. You can run ads on these platforms, or simply utilize your platform to speak directly to your audience. The follow buttons, and like options help keep your updates and new posts in the notification menu on your audience's social media account. However, in 2022 and beyond, social media platforms have transformed into a "pay to play" type of model, meaning that you have to play in order to show your audience those new posts in their newsfeed. These typically come in the form of "sponsored posts."
Affiliate Marketing: It refers to the hiring of third parties, also called affiliates, who market a business’s content online. A lot of the larger brands provide a platform for bloggers to to write about a particular product, then utilize an "Affiliate Link" to purchase the product. When that purchase is made, the affiliate earns a commission. This is a great way for bloggers to earn a monthly ongoing commissions simply by writing about products and services they love.

Digital Marketing Trends for 2022

One of the biggest advantages of online marketing is the flexibility it offers to businesses. Unlike the high cost and complex process typical for traditional marketing efforts, internet marketing can be cheaper and easily accessible to most web owners, who are skilled enough to take advantage of different techniques of online marketing. While TVs and outdoor campaigns are somewhat standardized, online promotion strategies can be adjusted according to customers'
reactions and responses.

Depending on what generates the best results, online advertising follows certain patterns. While these patterns may remain the same for an indefinite period of time, usually they change and fluctuate based on how the market for particular goods and services is performing and on the way consumers behave in general. For instance, if customers buying online diet packages are satisfied with their purchases that they made after watching videos, the trend for visuals and presentations will be at an all-time high.

Therefore, just like any other business, online marketing also experiences shifts in what is needed and what should be antiquated. Some of the most popular online marketing trends at this point, that have been highlighted by experts, based on the current developments in the online world, are the following:

Mobile-Friendly Website: One of the most prominent shifts in online marketing has been from desktops and laptops to mobile devices. No longer do people sit in front of computers all day long to search for products or read reviews about a business. Successful online businesses have foreseen this trend and have launched websites that are compatible for mobile phones. Mobile-friendly websites have capabilities of functioning as a "Web App" which is similar to that of a Native App or a Hybrid App that you need to download on your phone. The Web App functions just the same, but is accessible through a website URL or domain name. For example, if you go to business.google.com, you can access your Google Business Profile, whereas this could easily managed through a securely downloaded Native App.

More is better: I'm referring to content, the "less is more" trend really never caught on. The "less is more trend" kind of went away when the social media algorithms changed and the daily 100 word posts stopped reaching the total audience. Today, long-form advertising is eating its competitors lunch. The purpose and intent of the long-form version of content for advertising on social media platforms is two-fold. First, the long-form content helps tell a story about 'WHY' this is a great proposition to do business with the advertiser. Second, the long-form content helps pre-qualify and weed out the tirekickers, and filtering the serious buyers and eager-to-learn more audience to finish reading the sales copy prior to taking advantage of the CTA (call-to-action).

Integrated images and Videos For years, content was king. Content is still king, but the platform of that content has been transforming right before our eyes. Today, we could take 10 minutes to read a blog post, article or press release - or - we could open up YouTube and watch a very descriptive video that lasts just 3 minutes that really drives home the point. Whether we are looking to get answers for our questions, learn more, or simply be entertained, video has become the primary source of content for most of today's users. The hybridization of content between text, images, and video has been the magical new trend for writing blog posts. Let's use the VSL or Video Sales Letter, for example.

The initial advertisement is a static image with long-form sales copy that explains why making this purchase is going to help you. You click the ad to "learn more", you end up on a sales page. On that page is a video sales letter or VSL, below the VSL are features, advantages and benefits of taking action today. In addition to the FAB (features, advantage and benefits) you will also see testimonials and reviews, as well as clients that have used this product or service. You click the VSL, watch the 3 minute video, and learn why this is a great investment.