What Is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing has been around since 1996. It has become increasingly popular because of the tremendous opportunity it provides for anyone who would like to start their own online business. Internet marketing is a broad term as there are many different ways of making money online.

As an Internet marketer your efforts must concentrate on driving sales to either your website or an affiliate website.  Companies are eager to have you promote their product because they are better off having 1000 affiliates spending their own time and advertising money than it would be to spend the company time and money on promotions in house.  There are 10,000’s of companies looking to pay people like you in exchange for driving sales or leads to their web pages.  These companies are referred to as “merchants”, and those promoting their products are referred to as “affiliates”.  This is known as Affiliate Marketing, and is a sub-category of Internet marketing.   

Internet marketing, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, eMarketing (or e-Marketing), is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience. The Internet provides instant response. Internet marketing has a broad scope since it refers to websites, web advertisements such as Google Adwords and e-mail .

Internet marketing includes creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Internet marketing strategies include:

• affiliate marketing
• customer relationship management (CRM) marketing
• digital marketing
• display advertising
• e-mail marketing
• Internet news releases
• newsletter marketing
• online market research
• search engine marketing (SEM)
  • pay per click (PPC)
  • search engine optimization (SEO)
• blog marketing
• multivariate testing or optimization
• viral marketing

Page Relevance is the Key to Success

You could have the best product available but if you do not deliver it to the proper audience then you are not going to make a sale. This is a frequent mistake.

Your landing page and the product(s) you are promoting, need to be aligned.

A relevant landing page should include relevant content that drives your potential consumers to a related product. 

Just a few years ago, you could create a web page, send traffic to it and you would experience success.  In those days, there was less competition, and people were not the educated consumers they are today.  High volume traffic simply is no longer enough.

The products that you promote on your page obviously have to be very relevant to what the consumer is looking for. 

You need to emphasize to your audience why your products are relevant, how they will help, what the benefits are, and when and why to buy. 

What is Relevant to a Customer?

• Research your audiences before you promote to them
• Answer the questions they have before they even get a chance to ask them. 
• Deliver a solid information base to help the customer make a purchasing decision. 

Research the relevant keywords by using keyword tools.

Improving Click Through-Rates (CTR)

Online marketers have the luxury of targeting by activity. For example, a pharmaceutical company can post advertisements on health related websites with the knowledge that the audience has a related interest.

Internet marketing is relatively inexpensive when compared to traditional media including newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Companies can reach a universal audience for a fraction of traditional advertising budgets. The Internet allows consumers to purchase products and services at their leisure. Businesses have a medium that can bring results quickly.

All aspects of an Internet marketing campaign can be traced, measured, and tested quickly, easily and inexpensively.  Marketers can, therefore, determine which campaigns are appealing to the audience.

Internet marketing  is growing faster than other types of media. Overall efficiency of Internet media is easier to track than traditional off-line media — through the use of Google Analytics for example — so that Internet marketing can offer a greater sense of accountability for advertisers.

From the buyer's perspective, the inability of shoppers to touch, smell, taste or "try on" tangible goods before making an online purchase can be limiting. Many consumers are concerned about purchasing items over the Internet because they do not trust that their personal information will remain private. Encryption is the primary method employed by internet banks for implementing privacy policies.

Another major security concern that consumers is whether or not they will receive exactly what they purchase. Online merchants have addressed this concern by investing in and building strong consumer brands (e.g., Amazon.com, eBay, Overstock.com), and by providing rating systems. Additionally, the major online payment mechanisms (credit cards, PayPal, Google Checkout, etc.) have also provided protection systems to address problems should they occur.

Internet marketing has had a major impact on previously retail-oriented industries including banking, music, film, pharmaceuticals,  as well as the advertising industry itself. Internet marketing is now overtaking radio marketing in terms of market share. Over 150 million U.S. adults now bank online.

Internet auctions have become popular. Items that could previously be found at flea markets are being sold by companies such as eBay. As the premier online resellers, eBay is often used as a price-basis for specialized items; buyers and sellers often look at prices on the website before going to flea markets and the price shown on eBay often becomes the item's selling price.

Online advertising has grown to tens of billions of dollars annually. There are many Internet marketers that are earning $1000’s each and every day promoting other peoples products. 

When you start Internet marketing, you should focus on one Internet marketing technique and becoming an expert in that area before diversifying. The Internet is growing at such a  pace that there are not enough affiliates and Internet marketers to support it.  This means that the opportunity to make money online has never been better.  

A common mistake that many new marketers make is falling into the trap of always seeking bargain offers that will come your way These offers on how to get rich quick are all fool's gold.  Don’t look for something that will make you wealthy overnight. Life is not that easy.

What separates a successful affiliate from someone who isn’t?  Ultimately you are the deciding factor.  The only difference being that you can start a business within any industry and there is very little in the way of overhead costs.

Internet marketing is a growing occupation as more and more people take it up full time and earn a good living advertising other people’s products and services online. The concept is similar to any regular job. You go to work and make money for the company you work for. The difference is that with Internet marketing you are your own boss, you choose your own hours, and the company you are working for is your own.

Your office is now the Internet. You can choose its location, and you can do whatever your mind will allow you to. There are unlimited opportunities and there is no limit to the amount of money you can earn.

Free and Paid Marketing

Paid Marketing

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the most used type of paid marketing and is the fastest, most reliable marketing technique you can use to that offers results.

There several search engines with PPC facilities. The most popular currently is Google Adwords.

Product to Sell

There is money to be made selling virtually anything online. You can find products from the many Affiliate Networks or independent merchants as explained on Affiliate Programs.

Keywords and Keyword Research