Internet marketing is an umbrella term for marketing products and services online. This includes a variety of methods and platforms for communicating with customers, such as website, email, social media, and online advertising.

Learn more about internet marketing, its role and importance in business, and how to use it to your advantage.

What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing refers to the strategies used to market products and services online and through other digital means. These can include a variety of online platforms, tools and content delivery systems, such as:

• Website content and design
• Advertising by e-mail
• social media
• Blogging
• Video/podcast
• Online ads
• Sponsorships and Paid Promotions

Although the apparent purpose of Internet marketing is to sell goods and services, or to advertise on the Internet, that is not the only reason a business will do so.

A business may market online to communicate a message about itself by building its brand or to conduct research. Online marketing can also be an effective way to identify a target market, uncover the wants and needs of a marketing segment, build long-term relationships with customers, or establish authority and expertise. within an industry.

• Alternative names: E-marketing, web marketing, digital marketing

Advertising by e-mail

You can use email to send direct mail electronically rather than by post. Collect customer emails through purchases or website signups, then use the emails to share important information, encourage purchases, and build relationships.

Email allows you to reach customers individually and personally. A 2019 retail study of over 1 billion shopping sessions found email marketing had a 2.5% conversion rate, compared to just 1.1% for social media . (Highest conversation rate was direct referral, at 3.0%)11

social media

Most consumers use some sort of social media, although which type you focus on depends on your target market’s behavior.

Over 90% of 18-29 year olds use social media in one form or another, and although its use declines with age, it can still be used to reach consumers of all age groups. More than 60% of people over 65 use some type of social network, and that number is likely to continue to rise.

Older consumers are more likely to use a platform like Facebook, for example; millennials often use Instagram; and younger consumers are more interested in video platforms, such as TikTok or YouTube.

Find out where your ideal customers spend their time and focus your efforts there.

Blogging

Blogs allow you to increase your website’s SEO by adding articles and posts around certain targeted keywords. This increases the likelihood of customers finding and visiting your website as a result of an online search.

You can also write for other people’s blogs, magazines or websites. This can increase your audience and put your business in front of more potential customers.

Video and podcast

Some creators who make videos or podcasts make it their only activity. Other times, businesses use these platforms to establish expertise, connect with others in the industry, and create a funnel for new customers to find and develop an interest in their products or services.

Podcasts, in particular, are growing in popularity. More than 100 million Americans listen to podcasts every month.3

Online ads

Online advertisements can take various forms.

Pay-per-click advertisements placed in search engines target particular search terms that potential customers might use. Targeted social media ads designed to reach specific segments of platform users who may be interested in your company’s products, services and promotions.

You can also place sidebar ads on other people’s websites or in their email marketing. Online advertisements are most effective when they are “congruent” or relevant to where they appear or what the target audience is searching for.

Personalization can also increase the response rate to online advertisements, especially at the early stages of consumer decision-making. However, personalization is most effective when ads are shown in congruent placements.