What is Online Marketing?
If you ask 10 Internet Marketers "What is Online Marketing?", don’t be surprised if you get 10 different answers!
Many marketers find it hard to agree on one set definition of Internet Marketing.
This happens for a whole lot of reasons, but perhaps the main one, is because most people will usually try to put more importance on their own area of expertise.
So if for example, you were talking to an SEO specialist, most likely he would stress that SEO is the most important component of Internet Marketing.
Truth be told though, no one component is more important than others. In order for your Online Marketing to be effective, each component must work hand in hand with the other. It’s called strategy. And without it, you’re bound to fail.
And by the way, as you might have gathered, Online Marketing is also referred to as Internet Marketing and lately also Digital Marketing. These terms all mean the same thing.
But What Is Digital Marketing?
I like to keep things simple, so my definition of Online Marketing is this ...
Anything that a business does online to target, reach and convert its customers.
If after you read my definition, you’re thinking that online marketing requires a lot of hard work, it’s because it does. So don’t believe anyone who tells you differently.
But let’s delve a bit deeper into this, shall we?
The 10 Components That Make Or Break Your Online Marketing Efforts
Web Design
First impressions count. The design of your website or blog should reflect what you’re about. But more importantly, it should serve your visitors well.
This means that your site or blog should be designed in such a way, that once a visitor lands on one of your pages, he'll know exactly what your site is about and where he needs to click to find what he's looking for. Anything that distracts him from reaching his goal, will likely frustrate him and make him leave.
SEO
Always the subject of controversy, SEO is undeniably an important component in Internet Marketing.
Search Engine Optimization is not just about using the right keywords. There’s much more “behind-the-scenes” work that goes on.
But for the sake of this article, let’s focus on keywords for a bit. If you don’t know what keywords your customers are using, you’re practically toast.
Why? Because your customers will STILL continue to use those keywords to find what they're looking for, regardless of whether you optimize your site for them or not.
Only they won’t be finding your website or blog, but your competitors!
Copywriting
Once they find you, be it on your blog, Facebook, through your emails or the many other ways that you can reach your customers online, the type of words that you use must resonate with your customers.
Because guess what happens if they don't? Your customers will hit those dreaded buttons. You know the kind … search back button, unlike, unsubscribe, you get the picture.
Online Advertising
In the Online Marketing world, there are basically two types of traffic. “Free” or Paid. Free traffic is never entirely free but that is for another article.
Paid traffic is what you get through online advertising. This type of advertising takes many forms. There’s banner ads, pay-per-click advertising, email list ads, site sponsorships and more.
Social Media
Social Media is the “new” kid in town and if you listen to most Social Media Gurus, you’ll probably end up believing that Social Media IS Internet Marketing.
Again, this is simply not the case. Social Media is just another tool from the many tools that you have in your arsenal.
New social networking sites crop up regularly. Some of the most popular ones right now are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and lately Pinterest.
Video / Audio Marketing
Marketing online via video or audio has become huge over the last couple of years.
Anything visual is bound to enhance the overall customer experience and video has proven to be a very effective way to connect with your audience.
Due to the crazy, hectic world we live in today, audio is another convenient way for your customers to listen to what you have to say, while driving or doing other things.
Website &/or Blog
Your website or blog should be the hub of all your online marketing efforts. So anything you do, should at some point, motivate your audience to go to your website or blog.
Email Marketing
The old adage “the money is in the list” still holds true today.
If you don’t try to capture the emails of whoever finds your website, blog or social media channel, you’re practically leaving money on the table.
Because no matter how great you think your website looks, no matter how good you are in Facebook Marketing, no matter how effective you are in using other online tools and techniques, the fact of the matter is that few potential customers will actually visit you again.
So if you don’t get their emails, you’ve lost them forever.
Web Analytics
If you don’t track how well you’re doing, how are you going to know what you’re doing wrong?
Nowadays, you can track practically anything. You can track how long your visitors are staying on your website, where they look first once they land on your blog, how many people are unliking your Facebook page and a whole lot of other important things.
You might have noticed that I didn’t make this a numbered list. Why? Because I didn’t want you to think that some components are more important than others. The truth is that while some of them are crucial, others like Online Advertising or Social Media might not be that beneficial for your business.
So my aim with this article was simply to list and describe briefly ALL components of Online Marketing. It’s up to you now to decide which ones are the most relevant for your business.
Wait. If you go through the list
again and count all the components that I mentioned, you’ll find that there are only 9 in a list of 10 components. So what's No.10 then?
Yep. It's the CUSTOMER!
Your customer is the single most important component in all of your online marketing efforts.
If you don’t know what your customer wants, you cannot give him what he wants. It’s that simple.
If you don’t know what your customer is struggling with, you can’t provide the best solution for him.
So get to know your customers inside out and find out what they’re looking for.
Then, make it your mission to give them what they want by using the online marketing tools that are relevant to your customers and business.
Because if you don't, your competitors will. And your customers know this.
Struggling With Creating An Online Business?
If you're finding it hard to create an online business, you might be making three little-known mistakes.
You'd be surprised what they are. Especially the first one.
And the worst part? No Guru will likely ever tell you this. Find out what these three mistakes are here.
In addition, you might also be allowing yourself to be influenced by these sneaky people right here.
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