Internet marketing, also known as e-marketing or virtual marketing all over the world, in its most basic sense, is to reach potential customers, to promote and sell products and services over the internet. Internet marketing is done in different ways such as search engines, advertisement displays, e-mail, electronic media partners, mutual interaction, and blog marketing. In this guide that we have prepared for you, the main focus will be on internet marketing explanations and other elements that one should consider to get more.
Basic Stages of Internet Marketing
When one wants to do internet marketing, they will first need to do market research. During market research, one should identify their target audience, know their competitors and review the market situation. At the same time, developing a marketing strategy is necessary for marketing one’s brand. When creating their strategy, it is important to follow a path that is engaging, compelling, and engaging and will turn potential customers into them. For example; brand positioning is one of the most basic preparations in marketing. One’s brand should be focused, compelling, deliver a message, and have a clear stance. Marketing content is also among these basic stages. The content one creates needs to be brand-relevant, organized, and focused on utility.
Website Stages
After passing the basic stages for Internet marketing, the most important step is to set up a website. However, there are two major items that should be important to one when setting up their website. One of them is software development. Because developing one’s website’s software is one of the most important elements in internet marketing. In this sense, it is of great importance that one sets up a site that is approved, measurable, and complies with web standards.
At the same time, owning and using rich media tools also contributes to the development of the website. The other important point is the design. Because the design of a website is indispensable. A design that presents the website to the visitor and highlights the features on the site is the most reliable design. A reliable, useful, and flexible website will take people further.
Complementary Stages of Internet Marketing
Stage 1: Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing is the way your website is accepted by search engines, ranked high in searches, and choosing you as the most reliable source for your industry, allowing you to reach more potential customers. In this sense, it is necessary to give importance to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) first. In the meaningful content that will be on your site, you need to provide the most real and reliable content that is relevant to your industry, product, and service. Afterward, the PPC (Pay Per Click) system should be activated. In this model, the click-through rates of the ads you receive on your website are checked and the advertiser pays the website owner a certain amount per click.
Stage 2: Online Advertising
Online advertising requires you to use online marketing areas that can benefit your website and increase your lead generation. For this, you need to use Ad Networks, create additional channels to link to, and manage by creating a blog.
Stage 3: Directories and Lists
Using the data structures we call Free Listing, which is used through a program for dynamic memory allocation, portals, paid lists (Paid Listings) provided by Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other search sites, Rating and Criticism and Community Management channels, where your website stands and new ways you can navigate, inform you about new strategies and helps your development.
Stage 4: Public Relations
Public Relations is important in terms of arranging the position of your brand and website in the sector and in the web world and strengthening your position. The White Paper, which is an authoritative report or guide that helps to understand a problem or make a decision, is one of the most important documents of public relations. While Articles written about you reinforce your image, Press Releases are used to protect your brand’s standing and are an important element of public relations.
Stage 5: E-mail Marketing
E-mail marketing is marketing a business message directly to people or groups using email. In the broadest sense, email marketing is sent to potential or existing customers. In this area, it is necessary to measure, expand the distribution network, follow the customer potential with paid or free lists, and design and develop the content to be sent by e-mail.
Stage 6: Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention to your website through social media sites. In this sense, using social networks, sharing content and using blogs, or contributing to your marketing through a blog is among the things you need to do.
Advantages of Internet Marketing
Internet marketing, or online marketing, is all of the online advertising and marketing activities you carry out so that you can make sales or communicate with your target audience on your website, via email, or using social media channels. Thanks to internet marketing, companies can deliver corporate messages or messages about their products and services to their target audience, collect information about the demographics, preferences, and needs of their customers or potential buyers, and can sell products and services directly and they can market advertising spaces on their websites.
NOTE: In order for these studies to be carried out effectively, it is necessary to know the basic internet marketing areas very well and to implement the studies by experienced internet marketing experts. Otherwise, it will not be possible to reach the marketing goals, and your resources will be used inefficiently as a result of wrong practices.
9 Types of Internet Marketing Strategies
Internet marketing has now evolved into a set of tools and strategies with different goals and very tangible results. Below are the most preferred Internet marketing strategies:
1) Social media marketing
As a tool for establishing and developing an interactive contact with the target audience, social media management is the most important of all internet marketing services. With a variety of platforms and multimedia options, businesses can really get into the minds of the public and show them things that weren’t possible before.
2) Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is an effective tool for a brand, but it is not a replacement for content marketing or a magic pill for promotion. Influence agents are bloggers and celebrities who have an audience on social networks or other platforms. It is critical to prepare ahead in order to attain the appropriate objectives.
3) Affiliate marketing
This type of Internet marketing is based on an agreement between two organizations running a network business. For example, a company takes over its advertising partner’s website and engages in some activities to attract visitors to this advertisement. As a reward, the user goes to the advertised partner’s website and makes a purchase, and receives payment.
4) Email marketing
This Internet marketing service aims to create customer loyalty, provide information about new products, encourage repeat sales, and return lost customers. The biggest advantage of this Internet marketing service is that it is possible to split your address list based on the demographics of potential customers. It also has the ability to monitor results. Analytics reports allow you to understand what people are doing with your emails.
5) Content marketing
Another wonderful form of internet marketing service is when businesses develop content for a specific audience. This is usually written text, such as a blog, but it can also be podcasts, photos, videos, informative graphics, product announcements, case studies, or whitepapers. The goal of content marketing is to get people to visit a website.
6) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
This Internet marketing service aims to increase the number of conversions on the website and minimize the cost of both the conversion and the customer in the medium term. This is a great tool for scaling. Costs remain constant and if done right the results will grow from year to year. It is also the only tool that allows you to continuously reduce the cost per referral customer. Even with a complete lack of budget, the results achieved will remain the same for a long time.
7) Paid Advertising Service
The purpose of this internet marketing service is to get recommendations to the website and customers as quickly as possible, often at an inflated cost, but in the here and now. This internet marketing solution has the advantage of only charging per click and providing detailed analytics.
8) Account-based Marketing
Account-based marketing is a highly focused marketing strategy. Teams treat their customers completely as if they were their own market. Marketing teams produce content, organize events, and run special campaigns only for people linked to those accounts, rather than for everyone.
9) Acquisition Marketing
Acquisition marketing brings new visitors to your site through search engine optimization, paid ads, copywriting, conversion rate optimization, and lead generation campaigns.
Online Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide
Here is our guideline to help you with starting out your online marketing:
1) Your Environment
The first step to a good digital marketing strategy is to understand the environment in which you work. To do this, you need to examine the market, your competition, the characteristics and trends of the industry, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Finally, you will need to find your unique selling proposition: What makes your product stand out? What puts it in a unique position in relation to the competition? When you think about these questions, you will be in line with our guidelines.
2) Your Audience
Marketing tools offer endless possibilities for audience segmentation. Knowing who you’re targeting is vital to get the most out of them, so the next step is to get this clear. Demographics is an important first step in defining your target audience, but it’s not enough. You must first determine what your buyer’s demands and motivations are, as well as how to reach them using the most effective internet channels and communication tactics.
3) Your Goals
After completing the previous steps, you should determine exactly what you are trying to achieve. Your online goals should align with your overall business strategy. Some goals you might start with include sourcing potential customers for your new product or service. You can also include increasing customer loyalty by a certain percentage. Additionally, increase the number of positive mentions of your product online, or increase traffic to your online store by a certain percentage. When setting goals for your plan, it may be helpful to keep in mind the acronym SMART.
4) Strategy and Creativity
Your marketing strategy provides a global vision of the actions you will take to connect with your customers. It will assist you in achieving the objectives you set in the previous steps. To define your strategy, it’s a good idea to divide your actions by funnel. Logically speaking to someone who has never heard of your brand is not the same as talking to a regular customer. Once you’ve defined your strategy, it’s time to combine creativity to take your message further and leave a lasting impression.
5) Sales Process
According to the strategy you have defined, you will now need to determine your digital sales process. If you want to increase sales, it makes sense to define a set of steps a user will follow before they become a customer. If you’re not an e-commerce company, find other ways to link your sales to your online communication efforts.
6) Loyalty
Once a user becomes a customer, it is important to deal with another problem: customer loyalty. Acquiring a new customer is more difficult than retaining an existing one, so this part of the plan is crucial. Don’t forget to make the most of the potential of cookies to recognize your customers’ habits and interests and deliver what they need most, at exactly the right time.
7) Budget
It’s time to talk about money. How would you describe the budget for your online communication efforts? The most common method is to divide your investment among the different channels you use. You need to be able to predict which channels and platforms will have the greatest impact on your target audience.
8) Technology
When it comes to technology, the online world offers endless possibilities that are constantly changing and evolving. So how do you choose the best tools to implement our digital marketing plan? While there is no right answer, you can create an estimate if you have a clear idea of your budget. You should also include the expected return on investment, and where your target audience enjoys spending time online. Seek guidance or mentorship from an expert who can explain the pros and cons of the different options.
9) KPI
You shouldn’t forget an important part: analyzing your results. To define success, you need to define a few KPIs or “Key Performance Indicators” that you will follow. These are figures that illustrate how well your marketing efforts are working. An example of a KPI would be the cost of acquiring a new customer of your e-commerce.
10) Measure and Adjust accordingly
It’s essential to create periodic control tests of your KPIs and analyze results to ensure your marketing efforts are effective. If not, you need to tailor your plan to what doesn’t work. If so, you can build on your current plan and find new ways to continually improve.
Last But Not Least
The power of the internet and the role of mobile in commerce and marketing have given birth to internet marketing. The channels include search engines, social media, mobile apps, and much more. Evaluating areas that can be accessed with an internet connection for advertising and sales strategies is internet marketing itself. In this area, there have been many new inventions.
For example, if you want to make a difference in the field of internet marketing and reach your potential customers more quickly, you can benefit from the system called AI-Based Social Media Assistant. Socialays, one of them, has very useful features for you. Reading your comments in a second, the system analyzes comments and reacts in real-time for you. You save money at the same time have your social media analysis.
Socialays’ AI helps you understand your social media comments better, and faster, and assists you to make more correct judgments. It contains a special tool called “Sentiment Analyzes.” The system uses it to categorize comments with the best accuracy in the market under “positive,” “negative,” and “neutral” polarity. The system is also able to recognize “questions” and “spam/ad content.”