CRAZY TRENDS IN ONLINE MARKETING

CRAZY  TRENDS IN ONLINE MARKETING

Today Online marketing is the practice of leveraging web-based channels to spread a message about a company's brand, products, or services to its potential customers. The methods and techniques used for online marketing include email, social media, display advertising, search engine optimization, Google AdWords, and more

Marketing is at the core of all business activities. Without marketing,

organizations cannot sell and without sales, there is no revenue and

without revenue, people cannot run businesses. The worldwide web is

a very diverse marketing platform used by most businesses for

marketing all types of products and services. Online marketing

includes social marketing, word ads, banner ads, video Advertisement, etc. Like other forms of market, internet marketing has its benefits

and pitfalls. The ability to precisely target consumers and to measure

the effectiveness of marketing strategies are the major advantages of

online marketing. On the internet, the level of consumer exposure

varies greatly unlike traditional media like billboards, newspapers,s, and

television. Visibility is the primary prerequisite for online marketing,

traffic cannot increase if people don’t know about the company and

its products or services. Website marketing services increase website

visibility by optimizing and promoting the website.

Keywords:

Online Marketing,

 Newspaper, 

Television, 

Target Consumers,

 Social marketing 

Along with

• Chatbots Will Dominate Customer Service.

  A video is No Longer an Option. 

  Good Content Still Matters (and Now Context Matters More!) ...

  Email is Getting More Personalized. 

  Interactive Content Will Become Mainstream.

  Voice Interaction Continues Upward. 

  Marketing in Messaging Apps Will Level-Up. 

  Omnichannel Marketing is Now Vital
  
  

1. INTRODUCTION

With PC penetration growing rapidly across the world and

the globalized markets, the companies are increasingly using

new digital tools ranging from Web sites to wikis extensively for

customer service, product development, and advertising online.

The internet has become an essential medium for all companies to market their products & services. Online

marketing is becoming increasingly important to small businesses

of all types. Now with increasing local search and people’s new

habit of searching on the Internet first, all businesses should

include some online marketing in their marketing mix. Online

Marketing is the art and science of selling products or services

over digital networks, such as the internet and cellular phone

networks. The art of online marketing involves finding the right

online marketing mix of strategies that appeals to the target market

and will actually translate into sales.

2. BENEFITS OF ONLINE MARKETING

Online Marketing provides various benefits to both

consumers and also the marketers by way of marketing more

efficiently and effectively along with greater savings. It brings

with it many benefits that are not available with traditional and

offline marketing.

 BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS

 Convenience:

Customers can shop 24 hours a day from anywhere without

going to the store physically.

 Interactive and Immediate:

Consumers can interact with the seller’s site to find the

information, products, or services they desire, then order or

download them on the spot.

 BENEFITS TO MARKETERS

 Customer Relationship Building:

Companies can interact with customers to learn more about

their needs and to build customer databases.

 Reduce Costs and Increase Efficiency:

It avoids the expense of maintaining a physical store, costs of

rent, insurance, and utilities. Digital catalogs cost less to

produce than printing and mailing paper catalogs.

 Greater Flexibility - Make changes on the fly:

Unlike offline marketing such as placing traditional

advertisements in magazines, newspapers, television, or a paper

catalogs whose products and prices are fixed until the next

printing, an online catalog can be adjusted daily or even hourly,

adapting product availability, prices, and promotions to match

changing market conditions by changing a graphic or wording

and do it without any problems.

 Access to Global Markets:

The Internet is a global medium, which allows buyers and

sellers to click from one country to another in seconds.

 Track Real-Time Results:

It allows tracking real-time results using online analytics to

determine how a marketing campaign is performing. There are

ways to track traditional marketing efforts, but most of the time it

cannot be done in real-time.

Target Specific Demographics in Advertising:

It allows in targeting specific demographics such as gender,

age, location, specific income levels, education levels and

occupation.

Variety of Methods:

There are various methods in online marketing such as audio,

video, blogging, email, social media, and ongoing newsletters.

Instant Conversion Ability:

Through online marketing, marketers can get the ability to

convert a customer instantaneously. This is not the case when

evaluating marketing options in traditional media such as

magazine ads, newspapers, or television. Through online

marketing not only potential customer’s information can be

captured, but also capture a sale instantaneously by a few clicks

of a mouse, when it comes to offline marketing it takes more

time to convert a customer into a sale not to mention the person

power it often requires.

Measure Results:

If offers companies unprecedented results tracking and

customer behavior measurements, easy analysis of results and

cross-checking ensure the money that is spent provides benefits.

3. TYPES OF ONLINE MARKETING

Various types of Online Marketing are listed below:

 -E-commerce

 -Online Advertising

 - Search Engine Marketing

 - Email Marketing

 - Social Media Marketing

 - Article Marketing

There are more online marketing strategies that are being

invented all the time.

4. FOUR WAYS TO CONDUCT ONLINE

MARKETING

CREATING AN ELECTRONIC STOREFRONT

Companies can buy space on a commercial online service or

it can open their own Web site. These sites are designed to engage

consumers in an interaction that will move them closer to a

purchase or another marketing outcome.

 PLACING ADS ONLINE

Companies can place online ads in three ways:

-Classified ads in special sections of major commercial

online services.

-Ads in certain Internet newsgroups set up for commercial

purposes.

-Buy online ads that pop up while people are surfing the

web. Such ads include banner ads, popup windows,

“tickers” (banners moving across screen), and “roadblocks” (full-screen ads that users must go through to get to

other screens they wish to view).

PARTICIPATING IN INTERNET FORUMS,

NEWSGROUPS, OR WEB COMMUNITIES

Companies may participate in or sponsor Internet forums,

newsgroups, and bulletin boards that appeal to specific special

interest groups.

USE ONLINE E-MAIL OR WEBCASTING

Companies can send out customer newsletters, special

product, or promotion offers based on customer buying histories.

Web-casting or “push” programming delivers information of

interest in consumers’ desktops.

5. SUCCESS OF ONLINE MARKETING

The Internet had changed the way in which the purchase of books,

tickets, and shopping is being done by the customers. One needs

to go no further than look at examples like Amazon and E bay.

In India, IRCTC, the online ticketing arm of the Indian

railways are the first example that immediately comes to mind.

But then there are rising companies like making my trip, travelers, Flipkart, Rediff to just name a few.

Other areas where it has changed the outlook of businesses

are jobs (example: monster, Naukri), real estate (example: India property, 99 acres, magic bricks), cinema theatres (example:

book my show), the stock market (example: money control). The

success tasted by these companies show the potential and the

way forward for the other companies to emulate.

6. ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGIES

The question now is not whether companies have to market

their goods online. It is on how they should market their goods

online. Just a website showcasing their products does not make

a case for marketing online. Anybody with a little technical

know-how can immediately set up a website. But, they need to

bring in customers to the website. Strategies have to be

formulated in order to have a successful presence on the web. It

does not matter whether the company is a small or a larger

one. In fact, it is imperative for small businesses to go online so

that they can stand up to larger companies.

Developing a successful internet marketing strategy is an

essential part of online marketing success. In order to succeed,

develop, and implement a strategic plan that includes all of the

following:

 -Develop a Great Product

 -Develop a Web Site to sell

 -Develop a killer marketing strategy

Each step plays an important role in the overall strategy and

must be developed to its fullest potential. If even one step fails,

the chances of success will be minimal.

 DEVELOP A GREAT PRODUCT

Try to develop a product which can be delivered to

customers over the Internet. With today’s technology, there is

absolutely no reason --- one can’t create one’s own product. The

knowledge within your own mind is extremely valuable. Everybody

good at something has a special talent or some specialized

knowledge. Using this knowledge can help to create a product.

The key to developing a great product is exclusiveness. The

product should be unique and not be in competition with- 

other similar products. Try to give potential customers exactly

what they want. Develop a high-quality product that fills a void

to increase the chances of success.

Another consideration of great importance is the target market

internet is a global marketplace. Develop a product with a large

geographic target and a wide appeal. A great product will fulfill

a need or desire and provide instant gratification.

Here are a few of the top sellers through Online Marketing

 -Software

 -Information

 -Private sites

 -Internet services

Before developing the product some sort of research - to be

conducted so as to find out exactly what people - and develop

the product accordingly. The most important consideration when

developing a product is quality. The product should not only

deliver the quality but should over-deliver by living more

importance to customer satisfaction With customer retention.

 DEVELOP A WEBSITE TO SELL

After developing a great product, the next step will be

developing a web site. The web site must be specifically

designed to sell the product.

Everything within the website should have one purpose of getting

the visitor to take action. Words are the most powerful marketing

tools. The right words will turn visitors into customers. The

wrong words will cause them to click away and never return.

The words used on the website are the entire foundation of any

business. The product, website, and marketing strategies all

depend upon the words. Fancy graphics don’t make sales but

words can do. Every word, sentence, and headline should lead

the potential customer to the order page. Write web site copy as the

management is talking to just one person. Identify a problem and

validate that one visitor’s need for a solution. Continue to write

and explain why the product is the solution to their problem.

Tell them exactly what the product will do for them. Why it will

solve their problems and how. Pack with more benefits and

persuade customers.

 DEVELOP A KILLER MARKETING

STRATEGY

Online Marketing Strategy is the final process of the strategic

plan. The plan must include both short-term and long-term

strategies in order to succeed.

Short term marketing strategies are those that bring a

temporary boost in traffic. Although these techniques are very

important to overall-all plans, they are only a temporary traffic

source and must not be solely relied upon.

 Short Term Marketing Strategies Include:

 -Participating in Forums

 -Search Engines

 -Classifieds

 -Social Book Marking Sites

 -Giving Away Freebies

 Long Term Marketing Strategies:

Long term marketing strategies are those that bring you a

a steady stream of targeted traffic over time. These strategies will

continue to produce results even years down the road.

Long Term Marketing Strategies include:

 -Have a Blog / Website

 -Online Advertising

 -Directory Listings

 -Participating in Social Media

 -Online Networking / Social Networking Sites

 -Email Marketing

There is no one best strategy that fits into all the companies. In

fact, it is for the company to find out which strategy suits it best. It

would depend on the product the company is marketing and the

type of customers it is targeting. Companies would have to

therefore keep trying out strategies in order to refine and identify the

best mix of strategies that they would have to pursue to succeed.

An overview of online marketing strategies that can best fit a

company’s business and its marketing budget are outlined below:

Have a Blog / Website:

The first step to successful marketing online is to have a

home base on the Web. It doesn’t really matter whether it is an

official website or a blog or a combination of both. Either will

give a Web address where people can find and a convenient way

of referring, two things that will facilitate marketing online

efforts. So even if the company doesn’t sell anything online

directly, it needs a website. Business people should have a blog

on their website or serving as a website because if the

management blog regularly and have something relevant to say,

that will develop a following and some of those people will help

marketing online efforts by spreading the word about the

organization and its products or services.

 Online Advertising:

Many small businesses in particular bother with this marketing

online strategy, as they don’t want to spend money. They only

want to do free marketing online. Traditional online advertising,

on the other hand, takes relatively little time and can be a very

effective marketing online strategy. There are two cost models,

CPM and CPC.

CPM stands for Cost per Thousand Impressions. With this

type of online marketing, basically buy space on a web page and

pay for a certain number of impressions or the number of times

the ad is going to be displayed. Many of the banner ads on

various websites are being paid for on a CPM model.

CPC stands for Cost-Per-Click advertising. In this model,

pay only for the number of times a viewer clicks on the ad, not

for the number of times it’s displayed.

Google Ad Words is perhaps the best-known Pay-per-click

marketing online program. When marketing online with this

program, choose particular keywords that ad to be associated

with. When people search on Google using one of the

keywords, the ad may appear next to the search results. The

theory is that these people are much more likely to be interested

in products or services.

Creating and posting an online video either to own website or

to a popular video-sharing site such as YouTube is gaining

strength. An online video can be marketing online gold if it

becomes popular.

Online advertising through classified are also gaining

strength and are particularly suited for small business. But,

privacy issues and resistance to behavioral marketing are likely

to pose stiff challenges to online advertising. 

 They are likely to be found to target customers. Types of ads used

predominantly include banner ads, link ads, in-text ads, video

ads, image ads, fixed banners.

One such trend is better local ad targeting. Several

companies, such as Local.com, LinkedIn, and Face book, have

announced that they’re getting into the local targeting game by

offering geography-based advertising along with the standard

demographic or keyword targeting can be expected. Local

targeting is already prevalent in search engine marketing and it’s

good to know that display ads are heading in the same direction.

 Directory Listings:

Adding a business to appropriate directory listings (local

directory listings, business directories, etc,) is another way of

marketing online that takes little time and is relatively

inexpensive. Whatever local business groups that the business

belongs to, such as local Chamber of Commerce, probably have

websites where they allow members to list their business online

and perhaps even place ads on the site at special rates. Search

out other local sites, especially those related to tourism, and

make sure it’s listed there, too. There are also a lot of

specialized online networking groups/sites that promote

marketing online.

Participating in Social Media:

Joining the conversation on Twitter, Face book and forums,

posting on Flicker and YouTube, commenting on other people’s

blogs are all opportunities for marketing online. Marketing

online through social media requires a much more subtle

technique than marketing online through advertising or directory

listings. With all social media, the trick is to participate

intelligently and actually attempt to converse rather than just

advertising your product or services.

Social media advertising is already accessible and affordable

to small businesses, but affordability isn’t the only reason to invest in

a particular form of advertising. Don’t invest in new social

media tools or advertising strategies until the ability to track results

and compare them against other opportunities. A small business

can’t afford to invest in everything.

The downside of marketing online through social media that

it’s time-consuming. The upside is that it’s free and - really

generate a lot of buzz about the products or service if something

that the organization has done online such as post, a video, or an

the article becomes really popular.

Online Networking:

LinkedIn deserves a special mention in any discussion of

online networking. Its stated purpose to help the world’s

professionals connect with one another to accelerate their

success. As of this writing, LinkedIn has over 40 million

members in over 200 countries and territories around the world.

It’s a powerful tool for marketing online giving the opportunity

to connect with potential customer partners and colleagues.

And don’t forget the “older” online groups such as Yahoo

Groups. Doing a Yahoo group search on “small business”

brings up almost 40,000 different groups currently. Besides

being a great source of support and information, groups such as

these also provide some online marketing opportunities. Other

members may be potential customers or referral sources as they

get to know about the company.

Like social media, online networking requires taking a sub approach to marketing online. The same basic rule applied to

online networking applies to networking face-to-face. Give,

give, give, and don’t worry about receiving.

 Email Marketing:

Email marketing is one of the best and most powerful ways

of marketing online. Once an email --- has been developed,

(notice the word developed, not bought marketing message can

be sent directly to people who have already indicated some

interest in products or services. An email is an excellent tool for

building a relationship with customers letting the organizations

build both repeat business and good word-of-mouth through

marketing online efforts.

Newsletters can be sent to the email list from the people with

provided the necessary information on the website, for instance

providing these potential customers with news updates about

the company, upcoming events and/or special offers and, of course,

reminding them that the business exists and that maybe it’s time

for another visit. Email programs easily allow customizing

the email to the potential customers so the customized message can be sent

to selected customers according to their interests and actions.

With the proliferation of mobiles, mobile email will account

for 30% of email in the future. So, it is necessary to target mobile

users as the chances of them immediately opening their email are

high. Advertising and messaging to mobile phones is definitely a

hot topic among marketers. In the past, most mobile marketing

tools focused on only one aspect of mobile marketing, such as

text messaging, application development, or mobile websites.

Those tools are now converging as integrated solutions.

7. CONCLUSION

In the digital marketplace, content and presentation are the

most important factors that decide the fate of any online

business. Easily accessibility and quality content can catapult

the website within the top rankings. Businesses have data were

harnessing the power of online marketing. Good market -------

fact multiply the sales of a good product. Even a flawed ----, can

be sold with great marketing, but only once.

By creating and implementing a balanced marketing strategy,

using both short-term and long-term strategies, one can drive a

steady stream of targeted traffic to their web site. This simple

strategy of any business can guarantee the success of online

marketing. Companies would however have to be on the lookout

for changing trends in the marketplace and use it to their advantage.

For example, marketing through Facebook is a concept that

has gained relevance today. But, would face book continue to be

the leader in the future or not is known. Whether a company

continues to use Facebook or not depends upon the future

acceptance of facebook. So, companies would forever have to

change their marketing ploys according to the emerging trend.

                                                Thanks for Reading,

                            Have A Great Day Ahead!