Internet Marketing: Your ULTIMATE Beginner's Guide
Marketing is about meeting customers where they are and has always been. TV advertising, print ads, and billboards all seek to accomplish this.
The internet has features that conventional marketing channels do not, such as the ability to tailor content and the ability to create long-term connections with customers.
Every day, more individuals utilise the internet around the world; in fact, nearly 4.95 billion people will be online by 2022.
Now, let’s put the two together and internet marketing then becomes a broad phrase for marketing items and services over the internet.
This covers a range of communication channels and platforms with clients, such as a website, email, social media, and online advertising.
However, the internet can be a confusing and all-encompassing creature, full of videos, recipes, news articles, and e-commerce sites.
How are you expected to differentiate your business to target the correct audience in the congested online space?
Let’s face it, there's no getting around the fact that internet marketing is vital to your company's success in 2022 and beyond.
With all of the gimmicks and tactics, it can be tough to distinguish between short-term gains and long-term solutions, which is why we've prepared this ultimate guide.
We'll cover everything from marketing methods to real-world examples in this section to ensure your company reaches the proper people among the four billion.
What Exactly Is Internet Marketing?
Online marketing, often known as internet marketing or web advertising, is a type of marketing in which promotional messages are delivered to customers via digital channels such as search engines, email, websites, and social media.
Web design, SEO, email, social media, PPC, and other internet-related tactics are examples of online marketing strategies.
While the obvious objective of internet marketing is to sell goods and services or advertise on the internet, it is not the only reason a firm will do it.
A corporation may use web marketing to deliver a message about itself (brand building) or to undertake research. Online marketing can also be used to identify a target market, discover the desires and needs of a marketing segment, form long-term connections with clients, or establish authority and competence within an industry.
How It Works
We’ve touched on this earlier, but internet marketing connects clients with businesses by reaching them in a variety of locations on the internet.
The sorts of internet marketing used by a firm will vary depending on the business model, product types, target clients, budget, and other factors.
✧ Websites
Customers can use a business website to:
- Find your company online.
- Discover your company's location or contact information.
- Learn about your products or services.
- Subscribe to your email list.
- Request additional information.
- Purchase your products.
Websites frequently utilise search engine optimization (SEO) to guarantee that their content ranks high on search engines and is easily found by clients.
✧ Emails
Instead of using the post office, you can send direct mail via email. Collect consumer emails through purchases or online sign-ups, then utilise them to communicate vital information, stimulate purchases, and establish connections.
Email helps you to reach out to customers individually and personally. A 2019 retail survey of more than one billion shopping sessions discovered that email marketing had a conversion rate of 2.5%, compared to merely 1.1% for social media. The greatest conversation rate, at 3.0%, was from direct referral
✧ Social Media
Most consumers utilise some form of social media, but the type you choose will be determined by the behaviour of your target market.
More than 90% of 18- to 29-year-olds use some form of social media, and while use declines with age, it may still be used to reach consumers of all ages. More than 60% of adults over the age of 65 use social media, and this figure is expected to rise further.
Older consumers are more likely to utilise a platform like Facebook, millennials prefer Instagram, and younger consumers choose video platforms like TikTok or YouTube.
✧ Blogs
Blogging allows you to improve the SEO of your website by adding articles and posts centred on specific keywords. Customers are more likely to locate and visit your website as a result of an online search.
You can also contribute to other people's blogs, publications, or websites by writing for them. This might broaden your audience and bring your company in front of more potential clients.
✧ Video Podcasts
Some creators make videos or podcasts as their sole source of income. Occasionally, businesses will use these platforms to establish expertise, interact with people in the field, and create a funnel for new clients to find and develop an interest in their products or services.
Podcasts, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular. Every month, almost 100 million Americans listen to podcasts.
✧ Ads
Online advertisements can take many different shapes.
Pay-per-click ads in search engines target specific search phrases that potential buyers may use. Social media advertising is designed to reach specific sectors of the platform's users who may be interested in your company's products, services, and promotions.
Sidebar advertising can also be placed on other people's websites or in their email marketing. When online ads are "congruent," or related to where they appear or what the target audience is searching for, they are most effective.
Personalization can also boost online ad response rates, particularly in the early phases of a consumer's decision-making process. Personalization is most effective, however, when adverts appear in consistent locations.
✧ Promotions
With sponsorship or sponsored promotions, you can make use of an audience that someone else has established. These marketing campaigns let you pay someone whose target market matches yours to discuss, utilise, promote, or share your products and services with their followers.
This can boost brand awareness as well as sales, especially if combined with a targeted promo code or special offer.
Roles Of Internet Marketing
Simply said, internet marketing's duty is to assist your company in reaching, attracting, and converting online audiences.
Let's look at two distinct goals you'll have with internet marketing, as well as the steps you'll need to take to attain those goals.
✧ Attract Customers
To attract new clients, you might use online marketing methods. To accomplish this, you should prioritise paid social media marketing, search engines, and web design.
For example, you might use Facebook's Lookalike Audiences to get your message in front of a demographic that is similar to your core demographic. You may also pay a social media influencer to share photographs of your products with her already large following.
Paid social media can bring new customers to your business or product, but you should undertake market research and A/B testing before putting all of your eggs in one basket.
To attract new clients, you must also maintain a strong SEO presence. With 81% of buyers utilising the internet for research before making purchasing decisions, your company must rank high in searches for related terms.
A strong SEO presence also leads to increased in-store transactions 78% of local smartphone searches result in an offline purchase.
Finally, you must devote time and resources to the design of your company's website.
If these aforementioned clients find your website confused or unhelpful, they will be discouraged from trusting your brand and purchasing your product. As a result, you must take the time to design a user-friendly (and mobile-friendly) website.
✧ Cultivate Brand Loyalty
Internet marketing is important for more than just recruiting new clients; it is also essential for retaining a loyal, long-term customer base.
To raise brand awareness, build a strong online community, and keep consumer loyalty, employ email, blogging, and social media methods.
Consider sending personalised emails to past customers to impress or motivate them, such as giving discounts based on previous purchases, wishing them a happy birthday, or reminding them of forthcoming events.
You might also utilise social media to show off your brand's personality and hear directly from your customers. Consider conducting a Twitter conversation, posting surveys on Instagram, or organising amusing Facebook contests.
If you don't have the time or resources to develop all of your social media material in-house, try hiring a third-party service like UpContent, which delivers you interesting, curated content to share with your viewers for higher interaction.
Internet Marketing VS Content Marketing
Content marketing and internet marketing are two very comparable tactics for attracting leads and prospects to your website and eventually converting web visitors into consumers. There are, however, a few minor distinctions between the two.
Content marketing is a subset of online/internet marketing, which indicates that online/internet marketing is the overarching strategy, while content marketing is a subset of that approach.
Only the process of developing and distributing information to reach consumers is referred to as content marketing.
Online marketing, on the other hand, includes not only spreading that material via email, search engines, and social media, but also paid advertising, retargeting, and a variety of other tactics for reaching people online.
While most online marketing techniques involve content development, online marketing also includes non-content creation of internet marketing chores such as PPC bidding or website design.
Internet Marketing Strategies
A study of 1,067 worldwide marketing professionals working in B2B and B2C organisations was conducted to determine which trends they utilise, the channels they use, the obstacles they confront, and their objectives and expectations for 2022.
According to our research, there are 16 tactics you should use to secure your success in internet marketing.
✧ TikTok
TikTok's popularity rose unquestionably as the pandemic kept many individuals at home and in search of connection and amusement. And that popularity isn't going away anytime soon.
While LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram provide the best ROI for B2B companies, TikTok is increasingly becoming the app to invest in.
According to our research, while just 40% of B2B social media marketers use TikTok, 65% of those who do aim to raise their spending in 2022, the biggest rise of any social platform.
✧ Podcasts
Podcasts are increasing in popularity as more influencers, celebrities, and comedians enter the medium. Despite the low ROI, investment in podcasts and other audio content is predicted to increase by 2022.
According to our research, only 14% of social media marketers utilise audio chat rooms like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, yet 68% of those who do claim they are the most effective social media marketing tools they employ.
51% of those who already use podcasts or other audio content want to invest more in 2022, while 43% plan to invest the same amount. Furthermore, 26% of content marketers intend to use podcasts or other audio material for the first time in 2022.
Essentially, if you aren't using podcasts and audio chats in your marketing approach, your competitors will.
✧ Short-Form Video
With TikTok's continued appeal, audiences are increasingly flocking toward short-form films. Short-form videos remain the standard, with Instagram and YouTube promoting similar short-form video features like Reels and Shorts, respectively.
We discovered that 31% of marketers are now employing short-form video, and 29% aim to do so for the first time in 2022. We specifically included TikTok and Instagram Reels in this study. Another reason to pay attention to TikTok.
✧ Repurposing Content To Other Channels
Repurposing material is reusing current content and presenting it in a new format to increase its lifespan and audience reach.
According to our poll, 32% of marketers who repurpose content consider it one of their most effective marketing methods. Content repurposing examples include:
- Sharing past blog entries that have been updated with new information, data, and video footage (Hint: the item you're reading now is an update).
- Using video clips of podcast recording sessions on Instagram to build anticipation for an upcoming episode.
✧ Permanent Social Media Content
Unlike Instagram Stories or Snapchat photographs and videos, permanent social media content does not disappear after a specified period.
We discovered that 33% of marketers are currently utilising permanent social media material. Our polls also revealed that 85% of marketers intend to maintain or expand their investment in permanent social media content.
✧ User-Friendly Website Designs
To begin, you should design a user-friendly and mobile-friendly website. Your website's design will highlight your brand's uniqueness and set you apart from other online businesses. A cleaner, more well-organised site structure, on the other hand, can affect how you rank in the SERPS.
For help designing your website have a look at our website design article over here.
✧ Search Engine Optimisation
You must have heard of SEO or search engine optimisation by now, you should look for keywords to optimise your site for search engines. Essentially, you'll select the keyword(s) relevant to your business and incorporate them into the URL, body text, picture text, headers, and navigation bar.
For a more detailed SEO article, have a look at our article on that topic here.
✧ Emails
Email marketing and opt-in marketing initiatives are two of the most effective long-term techniques for connecting with prospects and cultivating brand loyalty.
✧ Blogs
We may be biased, but blogging is one of the finest methods to draw a huge audience to your site, establish your company as a thought leader in your sector, and demonstrate the usefulness and relevance of your brand.
Writing blog posts is especially effective for providing multiple opportunities to land on page one of search engines — for example, your eyeglass store's website may be on page three of Google for "eyeglasses," but your "Best Sunglasses of 2018" blog post is on page one, bringing in a significant amount of traffic (over time, that blog post could also boost your overall website to page one).
✧ Contests & Campaigns
Social media contests and campaigns are fantastic ways to connect with your online audience, build relationships with clients, and learn about your buyer's persona.
Sidenote, if you don’t know what a buyer persona is, maybe you should swing by our article on that topic here.
✧ Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click, or PPC, advertising is a type of advertising in which advertisers only pay when someone engages with their ad via impressions or clicks.
PPC is most typically utilised on search engines, and it can assist your company in appearing for searches connected to your products or services. This is especially significant for more competitive keywords, where ranking on page one against websites with higher domain authority is challenging.
It's vital to realise that PPC does not replace your SEO strategy; rather, it supplements it. For example, if you're trying to rank for "website builder," Ahrefs reports that the keyword difficulty is "very high (95)." However, there are certain long-form keywords that you might be able to rank for, such as "what is a website builder? (52)" or "top website builders for ecommerce (57)."
If you want to target "website builders," you'll need to bid on an ad and use PPC to stand out from the crowd.
✧ Site Optimisations For Conversions
Okay, you've got people to visit your blog or website... What now?
Finally, you'll want to invest in conversion rate optimisation resources (CRO). If you don't, you risk not converting any of your traffic into quality leads and, eventually, consumers.
CRO can help you with four aspects of your website. The homepage, pricing page, blog, and landing pages are examples of these.
A CRO strategy for a blog can include including pertinent calls to action throughout the article or requesting readers to submit their email addresses in exchange for an ebook. A CRO strategy for a price page can feature a slide-out that invites readers to book time with a sales rep or watch a demo.
Conversion optimization is a vital component of any effective internet marketing plan.
✧ YouTube Videos
Video marketing is an indisputably effective way to reach out to new audiences and turn leads into consumers. 86% of video marketers claim video has helped them create leads, and 88% of individuals say seeing a brand's video has persuaded them to buy a product or service.
Still not convinced? If not, remember that 88% of video marketers utilise YouTube, which implies that even if you're not posting videos on the channel, your competitors most likely do.
To attract audiences who favour video over text, or YouTube over Twitter, you need to diversify the type(s) of content you create.
✧ Influencers
Let’s set the scene - I'm currently sporting a watch that I purchased from Lazada. I'm sitting in a Razer chair, with a Nixie tube clock on the IKEA table in front of me.
Where did you find out about all of these products? More often than not, it’s because of Influencers.
Influencers on social media have developed strong, meaningful ties with their fans. Their followers often rely on them to deliver accurate, dependable advice on a variety of areas relevant to the influencers' expertise. As a result, influencer marketing may be a powerful tool for increasing brand exposure among new audiences.
If you believe influencer marketing is a suitable fit for your company, consider micro-influencers as a more effective (and typically less expensive) option. Micro-influencers frequently have greater engagement rates than mega-influencers, and we project that by 2022, micro-influencers will have more influence than celebrities.
Finding the perfect influencer(s) for your brand may also be costly and time-consuming. If you're going to invest in the plan, try working with the same few influencers over time, allowing your organisation to develop better relationships with their social following.
✧ Facebook Group
A Facebook group, as opposed to a Facebook page, is an exclusive, private group that allows you to foster a sense of community around your business.
A Facebook group isn't required for every business, but when done correctly, it can help you build a deeper relationship with your customers. Best of all, it can aid in the development of relationships between your consumers.
Because a strong community may help you establish brand loyalty, it's critical to look for new ways to communicate directly with your customers. If a Facebook group doesn't seem like a good fit for your company, there are alternative ways to foster community, such as through social media or a branded newsletter.
Online Marketing: How To
You can employ a variety of internet marketing tactics to increase brand engagement, such as:
✣ Repurposing of content across channels
As previously said, repurposing your material simply means recycling existing content in a new manner. That TikTok reaction video you made might be repurposed into an Instagram Reel. You can utilise the video to react to something else if you modify the caption on Reels.
✣ No time-limited social media content
Tweets, YouTube videos, and TikTok videos are examples of permanent social media material. Snapchat videos and Instagram stories, for example, are not permanent and will expire after a certain length of time.
✣ Picking the right keywords and optimising for search
Using keywords assists search engines, particularly Google, in categorising your material and ensuring that it reaches the intended audience. It also aids in the discovery of your website and services by your target audience. Use tools like AhRefs to assist you to locate the proper keywords your audience is searching for while optimising your site with the right keywords.
✣ Mobile-optimization
There are numerous strategies to improve your website's mobile optimisation, such as compressing images to reduce the page load time, charting your customers' journeys, or developing a mobile app.
✣ Regular publication
Blogging regularly has numerous advantages. It maintains your website fresh with new information, keeping your audience interested. It's also a good technique to get your website on the first page of search engines. The more you post, the more content the search engines will have to rank.
✣ Email marketing campaigns
In a recent study to predict marketing trends for 2022, we discovered that email marketing is still an effective way to sell your brand online. Subscriber segmentation, message personalisation, and email automation campaigns are the three most effective email marketing techniques, according to our poll.
✣ Engage in conversations on social media
Social media is a place where people connect and have dialogues. Social media users want to see the humanity behind the huge name and logo, not only engage with them.
Facilitating dialogues is a terrific approach to developing genuine connections with the people in your audience. Conducting social media polls or organising Twitter Spaces are two ways to accomplish this.
✣ Press publications
Publishing online news releases, like blogging, will boost your search engine visibility and brand exposure. Remember to answer the "who," "what," "where," and "why" of your brand while producing press releases. Also, include a quote as well as basic, understandable wording.
✣ Cultivating paid social media campaigns
Although the concept of paying for advertising may appear intimidating, paid social media advertising is one of the least expensive methods of promotion. Because of the bidding model and lottery system used by some platforms to push ads to users' news feeds and timelines, paid social media ads can start with as little as one dollar.
Platforms that accept paid advertisements include:
- TikTok
✣ PPC for competitive keywords
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and SEO go together like peanut butter and jelly. Keyword optimization for your website can surely help your brand appear at the top of search engine results pages. However, it takes time, and if you're optimising for extremely competitive keywords, you may not see results for weeks or months.
However, by utilising PPC, you will be able to stand out among competitors by bidding on an ad.
✣ Post videos
YouTube is the internet's second largest search engine, with 81% of Americans using it in 2021. As a result, you can bet that your target demographic frequents the site. Diversify your material while generating on YouTube to attract audiences who prefer video over text. You should also investigate keywords for which you may optimise your material and utilise in the title, description, and tags of your video.
✣ Micro-influencers
Brands are still fighting to establish their position on platforms like TikTok. Influencer marketing, on the other hand, has shown to be a useful strategy in assisting firms in elevating their online presence and locating their target audience.
According to research, 57% of influencer marketers consider influencer marketing to be one of the most effective strategies they use. We also discovered that 86% of marketers intend to maintain or grow their investment in influencer marketing. In addition to that, micro-influencers have a more specialised audience which would fit your brand well as opposed to a larger influencer who covers all sorts of brands.
Closing Words
Internet marketing is becoming increasingly important for all types of organisations. Every day, customers spend a significant amount of time online, including checking email, perusing social media, utilising search engines, and visiting websites.
Customers use several internet tools to identify, investigate, and ultimately make purchasing selections. Over 40% of consumers say they use Google search first when seeking a product or service, and 26% say they shop online at least once a week.
However, traffic from social media pages and advertisements accounts for approximately 8% of customers discovering retail websites. You may use all of these channels to assist potential clients and customers locate your firm by developing broad internet marketing platforms.
This holds true even if your company is tiny and local. From 2015 to 2017, Google saw a 500% increase in mobile "near me" searches with some variant of "to buy" or "can I buy" - a statistic that is certain to rise further.
Investing in internet marketing may help you expand your business, connect with clients, and make sales no matter what type of business you have or where you are located.
More articles please read E-commerce Marketing: What Is It & EVERYTHING You Need To Know
