Types of Internet Marketing – How to Choose One for Your Business
People are always on the internet. Whether they are streaming their favorite show, playing a game or attending a virtual meeting for work, they are consuming the internet one way or another. Providers like AT&T and Verizon have made it easy for all of us to enjoy and use internet for both personal and professional purposes.
The realm of marketing is no different. It is also becoming dependent on the internet. Internet marketing is becoming increasingly popular amongst all types of businesses and industries. Whether you are running a large scale business or a small, home-based business, you will need to buy an affordable internet package, something you could do from Buy TV Internet Phone, and get your marketing efforts rolling.
Types of Internet Marketing
1. Email Marketing
What is it?
We all have at least received one informative e-mail from a brand or a company that we have at least heard of before. Often, when we visit a brand’s website, a pop-up asks us to provide it with an e-mail address to subscribe t news and updates about product launches, discounts and offers, and even newsletters. These are all tactics for e-mail marketing.
E-mail marketing is a much more personalized and one-on-one form of internet marketing that connects a brand to its potential customers. Brands use these e-mails to send informative and personalized information to an end user. For example, some brands send birthday discounts to their users on their birthdays, or alert them when their favorite or Wishlist items go on a sale.
This way brands develop loyalty through digital platforms. While e-mails might sound like something obsolete, e-mail marketing is still widely practiced by brands and has shown some incredible results.
Benefits
- One-on-one interaction with the customer
- Builds loyalty
- Cheap and time efficient
- Follow up is easier
- Lots of tools, like HubSpot for e-mail marketing management
Possible Drawbacks
- Many people are not willing to share their e-mail
- Many young people do not use e-mails so frequently outside of work
2. Affiliate Marketing
What is it?
Affiliate marketing requires you to promote your products through someone else’s website, and give them a commission on each sale that you make through their promotional efforts. You only need to pay for the commission, and the marketer takes care of all promotional tactics
Affiliate marketers often use tactics like blogs, v-logs, articles and feature ads to promote a product. If you have ever searched for a product review online and found a website promoting some other brand’s product, that was probably a form of affiliate marketing as well.
Benefits
- You won’t have to worry about promotional needs
- As marketer, you don’t have to worry about the product; you can get a commission on every sale made through your link
- It is usually of valuable information for customers/viewers
- Can ensure more traffic for your page if content is updated regularly
Possible drawbacks
- As a brand, you don’t have control over how the promotion is done
- As a marketer, you will not have any control over the quality of a product, making people distrust you in case the product isn’t what it claims to be
3. Content Marketing
What is it?
Content marketing today is a vast term that shadows over multiple sorts and types of tactics used. It includes content such as blogs/written content, video content, imagery, and any other kind of creative content that is created for marketing purposes. The most common and successful kinds are blogs and video content. If you have fiber optic internet, creating and uploading video content for marketing purposes should not be a challenge.
The key to successful content marketing is producing any type of content that provides something of value and relevancy to users. It should be an engaging content that has the intent to sell a product or a service.
However, this is where it gets interesting. Content marketing does not always lead to more sales, but it does lead to good brand image and reputation, good relationship with consumer, and more credibility on digital spaces.
Benefits
- Creates more credibility for your business
- Engages customers regardless of the impact on sales
- Can be cost efficient and good for small scale businesses
- Helps you stay up with the trends on the internet
Possible drawbacks
- You might need to outsource a content creator
- You have to update your content regularly
4. Social Media Marketing
What is it?
We really don’t need to explain social media marketing; it is pretty self-explanatory. Any sponsored ad we see on our 9sntagram explore page or on Facebook, is a form of social media marketing. It also overlaps with paid advertising on the internet. Long captions, hashtag trends, influencer marketing and any promotional activity on social media platforms can fall into this category.
Marketers make the best out of these platforms, and create excellent relationships with their customers because of two way interaction. They also use features like automated replies and ability to re-share their customer’s posts to create engagement and a sense of inclusivity for their customers. Social media marketing is primarily used for enhancing customer’s experience more than it is about the brand.
Benefits
- Cost effective marketing
- Reaches a wide audience, almost global reach
- Best for customer engagement and improving customer relationship
- Creates brand awareness
Possible Drawbacks
- Might need paid adverts to make content more visible to target audience
Conclusion
Considering such vast options in internet marketing, it shouldn’t be a problem for even y small startups to enjoy the perks of budget-friendly internet marketing. Other types of digital and internet marketing also include Pay Per Click, SEO and the recent trend, influencer marketing.