Introduction
Online marketing, also known as internet marketing, involves using interactive, intelligent, and virtual components to promote and advance business ventures and commodities on the internet. Organizations have increasingly incorporated technology in their marketing strategies to make strategic changes to client-focused marketing, integrative innovative marketing activities, and utilize digital marketing to achieve the primary marketing essentials. With a wide array of online marketing strategies, companies need to review the available options and select the appropriate ones for their business models. The project focuses on the various online marketing strategies and how they help companies to reach their target audiences to determine the effectiveness of internet marketing as a promotional solution.
Internet Marketing Techniques
The expansion of the internet has resulted in a tremendous and meaningful impact on commodity marketing. Market research reveals a direct and significant correlation between technology and marketing (Gibson, 2018). Some internet marketing techniques include social media marketing, e-mail marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), digital public relations, search engine marketing (SEM), online advertising, affiliate marketing, and display advertising.
Website
Organizations’ marketing efforts will benefit from having a website where they can post information relevant to customer knowledge. The website will also help the organization market its commodities at a low or free price. Enhanced websites with professional looks raise the company’s reputation to the public and customers’ trust in the brand promise (Gibson, 2018).
Social Media Marketing
Numerous sources indicate that social media marketing is a potent marketing tool due to the social networking that enables online communities and users to interact and communicate with one another. Social networking platforms facilitate organizations’ and individuals’ marketing through online information messaging and posts. Some of the regularly used and well-known social media platforms include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Baltes (2016) mentions that seventy-nine percent of consumers like or follow their favorite brands on social media. These consumers can motivate others within their social networks to try out commodities from these brands, which would increase company sales. Social media influencers also have a significant effect on the brand. Conducting marketing through social media helps create brand awareness and influences consumers’ purchase intentions as it enables two-way communication between organizations and potential customers (Putri, 2021). Companies can reach their target market and many customers through social media marketing at low costs. Also, firms can benefit from putting aside a budget for social media marketing to finance premium services provided on social media platforms.
Social Engine Optimization
An innovative strategy to improve the websites’ visibility on the internet is Social Engine Optimization (SEO) which focuses on search engines. SEO is defined as the process of augmenting the possibility that a company’s website will be visible and listed in the search result of online searches (Gibson, 2018). Some noted SEO strategies include promoting the uniqueness of site content, appropriate website indexing, keyword addition, and website content adjustments. A study reveals that 88% of all website accesses are done through the Google search engine (Gibson, 2018). Organizations use SEO to increase their traffic and website visitations by attaining high-ranking placement on search results and search engines. More customers are likely to visit company websites if they have been augmented with SEO. The marketing tool makes the firms actively contribute to creating brand awareness, and customers become interactive in the marketing process, thus raising brand awareness, image, loyalty, equity, and commitment (Baltes, 2016). Therefore, SEO is a necessary tool for online marketing.
E-mail Marketing
E-mail marketing is an online system that uses electronic mail to disseminate commercial announcements and information. The strategy allows organizations to reach a large pool of consumers by distributing messages and information using an electronic messaging tool (Gibson, 2018). Businesses can send advertising material, promotional events, online newsletters, and coupons using e-mail marketing. A study by Mang’era et al. (2021) on the use of e-mails by retail businesses indicated that the marketing tool helps to boost profitability.
Social Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM is an internet marketing avenue that targets prospective consumers entering specific keywords in their web search. The strategy utilizes keywords to direct online users to access business or organization websites or content (Putri, 2021). Organizations and individuals use banner ads and hyperlinks to maximize their marketing. Companies can also purchase online advertisements to market their products for short durations. Popular SEM tools include Bing Ads and Google AdWords, which help advertise organizations and generate traffic to businesses’ websites (Gibson, 2018).
Display Advertising
Display advertising is effective and influential strategy organizations use to reach target audiences. The technique entails utilizing text, logos, pictures, graphics, and video to convey a business’ message. Also, the method uses cookies as unique identifiers of users’ specific devices to track the number of visits to a site (Putri, 2021). Companies will utilize user visitation data to understand the number of users accessing the sites and making or not making purchases (Gibson, 2018). The data provides valuable insights on how the company can retarget the customers not making purchases. The visual banner ads also help create brand awareness.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing can help any business generate online revenue regardless of its size. The marketing strategy rewards affiliates for advertising company products and each purchase is made due to the affiliates’ efforts. Affiliate programs can include Pay Per Click (PPC) systems, which most organizations commonly use in online affiliate networks (Baltes, 2016).
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a trusted and widely-accepted digital marketing tool. Blogs are the leading platforms where content marketing activities are conducted online. Content posted on the organization’s websites helps promote the company image (Putri, 2021). The marketing practice works by keeping online users engaged with the visual content, spending more time on the company websites, and interacting with the brand. Businesses can post videos, pictures, live streams, presentations, and articles on their blogs and websites to promote their brand and commodities (Gibson, 2018).
Digital Public Relations
Digital public relations is a dependable and well-rounded marketing avenue that helps distribute information concerning an organization or corporation. Public relations are formal communications that promote public acceptance and deliver relevant information to the public through online tools (Baltes, 2016). Digital public relations supersedes conventional public relations since it utilizes digital technologies to reach a vast and diverse population of online users. Organizations use marketing to disseminate company information, organization history, investor information, management officials’ names, and product information (Gibson, 2018).
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
CRM systems are utilized to improve company relationships with clients. The systems utilize digital technologies to reach current and potential customers and improve relationships through consistent feedback, follow-ups, and providing necessary information. CRM systems ensure that digital marketing activities are client-centered and promote customer satisfaction (Gibson, 2018). The applications also provide necessary data to inform how companies can relate better with their customers.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest technology that is utilized in organizations for digital marketing practices. AI can be integrated into marketing communications and perform activities several employees would do, thus saving the company’s marketing costs. The technology can collect consumer data from social media, blogs, and comments to analyze customer behavior (Dharmappa, 2019). Chatbots are one form of AI technology that helps communicate with customers and answers clients’ inquiries and complaints in the same ways humans would in real-time. An added advantage of Chatbots is that they can communicate with customers all day and night. Companies would not need to hire employees from different countries to work as customer services during odd hours due to daytime differences, thus saving on human labor costs (Dharmappa, 2019). AI would use customers’ online behavior to provide better advertisement targeting.
Metrics of Effectiveness of Online Marketing Strategies
Online marketing strategies effectively enable the automation of marketing activities, easy management, and integration, enhancing consumer satisfaction and increasing brand awareness. Organizations can measure the success of using online marketing techniques through metrics like the number of visitors, the visitors’ behavior on site, the post interactions (comments numbers), the number of customers’ e-mails received, the number of minutes spent on a website visit, and the number of repeated visits (Dharmappa, 2019). Other measures include how the online promotional activities increase the company’s income and sales, impact profitability and cost savings, and enhance customers’ purchase intentions.
Customers who find a website that fulfills their needs are likely to visit the website repeatedly to solve their needs again. Visitors staying for a longer duration on the online platforms have the opportunity to create a better and stronger relationship with the brand over time (Dharmappa, 2019). Accumulated traffic or a high number of visitors to a website orMa an organization’s online platform will help the advertising information significantly impact the customers, boosting the awareness or sales of services or products. Companies would be interested to understand the visitors’ behavior to assess whether the intended purposes of the advertising effort have been achieved (Dharmappa, 2019). The data collected on visitors’ behavior would help the organizations make informed decisions on the adjustments needed to achieve promotional purposes. Also, communications provided by the customers on online posts and platforms are relevant to better understanding the customer needs and strengthening the relationships with the customers.
Conclusion
Several online marketing strategies exist, and organizations can choose the most applicable ones based on their business models. Internet marketing tools can be used in unison; thus, companies can integrate various tools and techniques to enhance their marketing efforts. The online marketing strategies and tools would help organizations to enhance customer relationships, create brand awareness, foster customer satisfaction, save on marketing and labor costs, create brand loyalty, and increase sales, income, and profitability. Companies can use various metrics to test the effectiveness of internet marketing tools, like the number of visitors, repeat visitors, user interactions, and feedback received. Firms would also evaluate whether the strategies have achieved their intended promotional purposes. Continuous technological advances will make online marketing a mainstay in advertising and promotional efforts.
References
Baltes, L. P. (2016). Digital marketing mix specific to the IT Field. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 9(1), 33. http://webbut2.unitbv.ro/bu2015/series%20v/2016/BULETIN%20I%20PDF/SERIA-V_1-2016.pdf#page=41
Dharmappa, S. (2019). Study of the effectiveness of online marketing on integrated marketing communication. Doctoral Dissertation, Sellinus University of Sciences and Literature. https://www.uniselinus.education/sites/default/files/2021-06/Tesi%20Dharmappa.pdf
Gibson, C. (2018). The most effective digital marketing strategies & approaches: A review of literature. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 8(2), 12–16. https://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0218/ijsrp-p7404.pdf
Mang’era, R., Munga, J., Mbebe J. (2021). Internet marketing strategies and profitability of retail industry in Kenya. International Academic Journal of Innovation, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship, 2(2), 118-128. https://iajournals.org/articles/iajile_v2_i2_118_128.pdf
Putri, D. R. (2021). Digital marketing strategy to increase brand awareness and customer purchase intention (case study: Ailesh green consulting). European Journal of Business and Management Research, 6(5), 87–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.24018/ejbmr.2021.6.5.1063
write