CHAPTER 9

INTERNET MARKETING

Objectives:
Describe the internet marketing
State the accounting periods, methods and other compliance requirements

What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing is an all-inclusive term for marketing products and
services online. This includes a variety of methods and platforms for
communicating with customers, such as website, email, social media, and
online advertising.

Internet marketing refers to the strategies used to market products and

services online and through other digital means. These can include a variety of
online platforms, tools, and content delivery systems, such as:
a. Website content and design
b. Email marketing
c. Social media
d. Blogging
e. Video/podcasting
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 f. Online ads
g. Sponsorships and paid promotions
Marketing is related to advertising, promotion, PR, and sales, but is actually a
distinct activity that helps prepare you and your organization to perform the related
activities thoroughly and well. You could actually think of advertising, promotion, PR,
and sales as being influenced by your Internet marketing strategy

Internet marketing, like marketing off-site (off of your website), requires that you
know enough about your customers and markets that you know how best to price,
sell, and distribute your product or service. Doing so requires a level of marketing
research and the development of a marketing plan. But before we discuss marketing
research and planning, let’s look further at how Internet marketing is related to other
activities by defining each one and how they are performed in the online
environment.
Advertising
Advertising is the process of bringing your product or service to the attention of
your prospects and customers. For Internet marketing, this means finding new ways to
drive traffic, or visitors, to your website. Online advertising can take many forms: banner
ads, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, links placed on other websites and more. Usually
advertising is focused on one product at a time or one segment of your target market at
a time. So, your Internet marketing plan might require several different advertising
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campaigns in order to help generate the number of customers and sales that you need.
Advertising can and should also occur off-line, through direct mail, commercials,
personal representation, or other collateral, always including your website address so
that customers can learn more about you online. Advertising may also involve ways of
letting your customers know about special offers or pricing that is limited in
time or scope.
Promotion

Promotion can be thought of as the way to keep your company, product, or

service in front of your customer. It can help to generate more demand for the
product as well. Whereas it might include advertising as part of your promotional
strategy, it also includes publicity, public relations, and sales. Some of this promotion
can be done online through sales efforts, press releases, offering a free information
product, or writing targeted email campaigns, but some will also be done off-line. Any
effort that you make to improve or enhance the image of your organization, sell more
products, or get the name of your organization into the thoughts of your customers

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and potential customers is part of promotion

Public Relations
Public relations, or PR, involves developing your company’s image and brand
so that it is perceived by the public in the way you want it to be perceived. For example,
you might want your company to be seen as the leader of the pack in your field, or you
might focus on showcasing the community service that your company provides in
the areas where they operate. When you are speaking about an online form of public
relations, you need to consider first and foremost what your website looks like and how
it operates. Is it young and trendy because that’s who your target audience is? Or is it
more traditional and less focused on social media because your products appeal to an
older demographic? Your website can be thought of as the “front line” of your
public relations strategy.

Sales
This activity is the easiest to understand. It’s the act of locating, informing, and
agreeing on terms of the purchase with your customers. Before the Internet, this would
have happened by attempting to drive customers into your store or onto your phone
lines. Today, many people will first look for you online. So in online sales, you need to
help your customers find you. However, the Internet is full of other websites clamoring
for the attention of the same customers. You will need to actively market your company,
your services, and your products to reach these customers. There are a number of
strategies that we will discuss that will help you do just that.

Old vs. New Rules of Marketing

Before addressing specific steps towards Internet marketing, let’s look at how
marketing has changed in regards to the “digital age.” Due to the fact that so much of a
company’s presence is now dependent on multiple streams of media, the way that

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marketing activities are implemented has changed. You need to be familiar with the
“new rules” of marketing if you are going to develop an effective marketing plan.

The Old Rules

The old paradigm of marketing was focused on delivering a one-way message
from the organization to the potential customer. The idea was that the more creative the
message and marketing campaign, the more likely the customer would be to respond
by purchasing the product or service. Other characteristics of the old marketing
rules include:
a. Advertising was key
b. Advertisements were meant to appeal to the general public
c. Advertising campaigns ran for a specific period of time
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 d. Awards were pursued for advertising campaigns
e. Audience may have felt interrupted by advertising messages
f. PR was a separate function from advertising
PR had its own set of rules that companies would follow. The main goal of the
public relations department was to generate a press release that would grab the
attention of members of the press and then use that attention to show that the audience
was getting the message. Some other aspects of the old public relations
format:
a. All effort was focused on getting the message out to the public
b. The press release was the most important tool
c. The PR department was at the mercy of the press for success
d. Successful PR required creative ‘spin’

The New Rules

Since the advent of the Internet, information is everywhere and available to
everyone. Instead of getting the attention of the press in order to be successful,
marketing and public relations now require that a company get the attention of the
individuals surfing the Internet. The most successful marketing and PR campaigns are
the ones that get the organization ‘found’ on the Internet. Some of the new rules
include:
a. People are well informed and expect the truth rather than ‘spin’
b. Interruptions won’t be well tolerated in the age of DVRs and email filters for
SPAM
c. People demand value for their time and money and will use the Internet to
get it
d. Marketing and PR are designed to appeal to niche audiences
e. Marketing and PR employ multiple techniques to reach those audiences
f. Content stays online permanently so there is no end to a campaign
Marketing and PR can now also take advantage of the new tools available.

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Media is no longer limited to just articles, direct mail, TV, radio, newspapers,
telephone, and press releases – it is multifaceted and requires multiple methods of
approaching the customer in order to be effective. The new marketing paradigm
requires that the company deliver quality content via a number of the tools
available today such as:
a. Web sites and pages
b. Blogs
c. Social media sites
d. Articles in directories
e. Videos and video blogs
f. Podcasts
While internet marketing's apparent purpose is to sell goods and
services, or advertising over the internet, it's not the only reason a business
will do it.
A company may be marketing online to communicate a message about
itself (building its brand) or to conduct research. Online marketing can also be
an effective way to identify a target market, discover a marketing
segment's wants and needs, build long-term relationships with
customers, or establish authority and expertise within an industry.

Web Contend and Design

Websites often use search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure
that their content will rank high on search engines and be easy for
customers to find.

Email Marketing

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 You can use email for sending direct mail electronically, rather
than through the post office. Collect customer emails either through
purchases or website sign-ups, then use emails to share important
information, encourage purchases, and build relationships.

Social Media
Most consumers use some kind of social media, though the type
you will focus on will depend on the behavior of your target market.
More than 90% of 18 to 29-year-olds use social media of some
kind, and while use decreases with age, it can still be used to reach
consumers in all age brackets. More than 60% of those over age 65 use
some kind of social media, and those numbers are likely to keep
growing.

Blogging
Blogging allows you to increase your website's SEO by adding
articles and posts around certain targeted keywords. This increases the
likelihood that customers will find and visit your website as a result of

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online search.

Video and Podcasting

Some creators who make videos or podcasts use that as their
sole business. Other times, businesses use these platforms to establish
expertise, connect with others in the industry, and create a funnel for
new customers to find and develop an interest in their products or
services.

On Line Ads
Online ads can take a variety of forms. Pay-per-click
advertisements placed in search engines target particular search terms
that potential customers might use. Targeted ads on social media
designed to reach specific segments of the platform's users who might
be interested in your business's products, services, and promotions.
Sponsorships and Paid Promotions
You can take advantage of an audience that someone else has
built with sponsorship or paid promotions. These marketing campaigns
allow you to pay someone whose audience matches your target market
to discuss, use, promote, or share your products and services with their
followers. This can both increase brand awareness and drive sales,
especially if you pair the campaign with a targeted promo code or
special offer.

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 For further discussion please refer to the link provided: Internet Marketing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fthVnDVP7o

For further discussion please refer to the link provided: Benefits of Digital Marketing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyXLNibx2O8

For further discussion please refer to the link provided: Email Marketing Flatform
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slAT81S6KhI

Reference Books:
Introduction to E-Commerce
(Combining Business and Information Technology)
By: Martin Kutz, 1st Edition 2016

Internet Marketing
(2011, The Internet Marketing Academy and Ventus Publishing ApS)

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