A Revolution of the Internet Marketing Tools

Gone are the days when the only option to market the products and services is through traditional methods such as brochures, flyers, print ads, billboards etc. With the advent of computer and internet, internet marketing became popular; online businesses devote time and money to market their products and services. While consumers take advantage of the comfort they can gain by purchasing online; businesses also take part by promoting their services and products by the use of the most effective marketing tool they can acquire.

Internet marketing has influenced several industries; the banking industry, music industry and flea markets.

Online banking gains are popular nowadays. Over 50million US adults currently bank online. Music industry is also affected whether it is a simple buy of CDs or MP3 or the legal implications of downloading music available through the internet. Marketing online also affects the flea markets or those involve in the buying and selling of goods and products such as books and clothing. eBay.com and Amazon.com are very popular sites which can now affect the prices of certain commodities.  

Different kinds of internet marketing abound the business world today; listed below are some examples and tools:

1. Viral Marketing - an advertising technique which uses contacts to individuals or organizations to have an increase in product or brand awareness. This is called viral because it spreads like computer virus and often delivered by an on line word of mouth. This technique is very useful in reaching vast number of costumers in just a short time. Tools under viral marketing are:

• Blogs – webpage where entries are presented in a journal style; the entries are in a reverse chronological order which is from earliest to the latest. This can be an effective marketing tool because it caters to a wide range of consumers. Google blog is one example.

• Amateur web sites which promotes unprofessional videos to promote products. You tube is an example of this type.

2. Affiliate Marketing - a technique in internet businesses wherein an affiliate is given a reward for every visitor, subscriber or costumer of a website. Examples of the tool under affiliate marketing are:

Pay per click – advertisers use searchable keywords to promote their product. Advertisers pay once their product endorsement on the homepage is clicked.

Pay per sale – similar to pay per click; however, this technique requires product sale before any payment could be rendered.

3.  Email marketing – method wherein businesses use electronic mail to advertise their products or services. The types are:

• Email newsletters. Online newsletters are given through emails for promotions.

• Discussion group. An advertiser sponsors a discussion group by giving free access to given software. In exchange, advertisers also profit by having target customers for whom to sell certain commodities.

• Opt-in email – more popularly known as unsolicited bulk email or spam. Under this method, several emails are sent to as many people at the same time. Opt in email can be categorized as unconfirmed or confirmed. In unconfirmed opt in, advertisements are sent to all possible computer users with email addresses. They are not necessarily subscribed to the mailing list. Confirmed opt in targets consumers who have subscribed to the mailing list.

4. Permission marketing – advertisers ask permission to promote their products on the homepage of a prospective company or customers.

The goal of every marketer is to gain money online. But this does not necessarily means spending million of dollars just to get exposure in the internet. There are certain tools to advertise your business without spending too much. An initial step in internet marketing is to look for a homepage where the products and services can be promoted so that the following internet tools can be applied.

A proper evaluation of tools to be implemented to the business is a profitable step that can lead to a long term business success. 

Aside from the above mentioned tools, there are marketing strategies a marketer should put to use. Marketers should make use of his/her abilities online. Through the application of the learned or innate marketing skills of the advertiser and the several techniques discussed, the visibility of the product/ services will be boosted; thus sales will also rise.