In today’s technologically advanced world, the internet had integrated itself in almost all aspects of our daily life, making it a goldmine of a resource for business online. If you have a business that follows the traditional, real life business model, you should seriously consider taking it to the next level and bringing it to an online platform. This will allow you to make use of the internet to get more customers, and consequently make more profit from your business. It is a win-win situation for everybody involved.
After you’ve decided to take the next step and bring your business online, by creating a website for it, comes the role of online marketing. Think of online marketing as this magical tool that will bring traffic, recognition, and customers to your business. The process of online marketing is smooth and natural, making it perhaps preferable to other forms of marketing that might be a bit pushy and repetitive. If you want to learn more about what online marketing is, how it works, and why you should integrate it into your marketing plans, then keep reading.
First of all, what is online marketing?
Online marketing, sometimes referred to as internet marketing, is the set of techniques and tools used to promote a brand, a product or a service using the internet. Its main purpose is to get the company name out there and promote it through subtle ways, rather than clear cut traditional advertisement. Any way in which the internet can be used to spread the word about a brand, a product or a service is considered online marketing.
Online marketing uses a varied site of techniques that will help you grow your business and reach customers more efficiently. Since it is not so direct and pushy, it is currently much more preferred to traditional marketing.
P.S: Online marketing and digital marketing are two similar, but very different things. Digital marketing refers to marketing through any digital means, online or offline. It doesn’t necessarily require the internet, while online marketing does.
Online marketing tools:
Online marketing uses a set of varied tools and techniques to get the message across. All of these tools require the internet, and will definitely do a good job at getting your business name out there. Here are a few of the main techniques used for online marketing:
Social media marketing (SMM)
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to target new prospects. The social media industry is huge and its user numbers keep growing every day. The smartest thing to do in an online marketing context would be to put these platforms (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest…) to good use. This can be done by giving your brand an online presence on these apps and using that presence to attract the right people, including new clients. Social media can also be used to communicate and interact with clients, building a better brand image on the long run.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization, or SEO for simplicity’s sake, is the practice of tailoring and improving your website in order to increase its chances of appearing on relevant search result pages. In other terms, SEO is working on your website to make it rank as highly as possible on relevant search engine result pages. In this case, online marketing is optimizing your website and content while keeping in mind the factors that affect search engine results.
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Search engine marketing (SEM)
Search engine marketing, just like search engine optimization, is an online marketing tool that involves search engine results. In the case of SEM, you pay the search engine (mostly Google or Bing) to advertise your business on search engine result pages. These are the ads that come up usually after a google search inquiring about a certain product or business. This tool is extremely powerful and important for marketing, since it promotes your business to people who are looking for your services and are ready to purchase.
Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC)
Pay-Per-Click ads, or PPC, function similarly to search engine marketing except on a bigger scale. Pay-Per-Click advertising is not limited to search and engine and their results only, but it can actually be done everywhere online from websites to mobile apps. Many websites today will have “slots” open to showcase your ad, costing you a small price for each click you get. This is another great online marketing technique, since it organically sends people who are interested in your brand to your website.
Email marketing
Email marketing is an online marketing tool that has probably been around for the longest time, but has also evolved into one of the strongest tools among others. Some may consider email marketing to be old school, but it remains to this day an effective way to engage your clients and get them to follow up with your brand. Email marketing is unique since it only targets people who have allowed you to email them, which means the contact list would be made up of people already interested in your brand.
Content marketing
Content marketing is exactly what it sounds like: marketing your brand through content you’ve created for your website. This is basically SEO but done more organically, through non-commercial content that people might be searching for. This is an important and useful technique, since creating blog posts that are related to what your brand is selling will help drive interested potential customers right to your website.
Other than the tools and techniques, online marketing provides the customer with a set of advantages and added benefits that will yield a better performance for your brand. Online marketing is a flexible, convenient, and cost effective way to better target potential customers and build a name for your brand. It can be compared to a wide sea of techniques and tools that all businesses should implement in their marketing strategies.
Overall, these were only some general information you need to know about online marketing. For more details about this topic and other related web services topics, head over to our Blog section and check out our other posts.