February 9, 2004

Introduction to internet marketing

by Brian Turner

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This article offers a basic introduction to understanding why the internet is important for business, and covers the following areas in short and easy to read sections:

Introduction to internet marketing
Why is a website important?
Local businesses in the world market
What opportunities does the internet offer?
What was the dot com bubble?
What competition is there on the internet?
Where is there most competition on the internet?
Why the internet is as important as television
The keys to internet marketing

Introduction to internet marketing

There’s a world cup at Wembley Stadium, and you are offered two advertising options:

- Advertise on a major hoarding beside the pitch, in full view of the stadium spectators and TV audience; or

- Advertise on the underside of a toilet bowl in one of the relief trailers.

Which would be your preferred option?

The first?

Unbelievably, most businesses have a website in the second option – they cannot be found unless an internet user knows exactly where the website is.

The first thing that any business needs to do before marketing on the internet, is to understand that the internet is a unique medium in many different ways.

You sell on the written word, not the telesales or face to face meeting. And you need to ensure that you know how to even get those potential customers to your door in the first place.

You also need to ensure you generate good streams of targeted visitor traffic to your web site.

Astonishingly, many UK companies do not even realise the need for this. It is likely that many of your competitors are affected. Hence why they remain incapable of turning their websites over to profitable marketing.

You don’t have to suffer from the same level of ignorance.

Why is a website important?

The internet is the world’s single biggest marketplace.

It offers unparalleled access an international base of consumers – and referrers.

With such an opportunity to make a business presentation to the world, many companies seek to take advantage of this unique chance for global exposure by creating a website.

The purpose of a website could be:

1/ brand marketing

2/ to provide information

3/ direct sales

Of course, many websites will seek to incorporate all three: brand marketing of the business name, the provision of information on company services and/or products, and direct sales of those products and services.

Local businesses in the world market

Local businesses should never think that just because they “only” trade locally, or “just” nationally, that they therefore do not need to exploit the international marketing opportunities that the internet provides.

The mistake here is to forget that “local” is part of “national” which is part of “international”.

The internet works by the same principle. It is as local as you want it to be.

Even if you cannot physically provide your goods and services beyond a certain geographic area, it is important to realise that you can still get important exposure for your business in your targeted sales area.

For example, many internet users are directed into local directories to find services and products.

Others still will visit a “Search Engine” to try and explore particular markets, without having to set foot outside their own homes.

And don’t forget viral marketing - that powerful word of mouth advertising that every marketing company dreams to exploit. New customers can be referred to a site by friends outside of your target market area.

What opportunities does the internet offer?

Since the collapse of the dot com bubble, a general pan-market ignorance has set in of how to exploit the internet profitably.

Excepting for a narrow range of highly competitive businesses, which remain attached to the internet as a direct source of income, the actual marketing potential of the internet has been woefully under-exploited in numerous markets.

Often there exists an immediate opportunity for a single company to take a dominant marketing position in their own field, across the largest single marketplace on earth.

With an effective internet marketing strategy, relying heavily on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), many business are in a perfect position to effect a position of leadership in the field.

What is astonishing how many have not sniffed out the opportunities offered.

However, all this is changing. It is more than likely that your competitors have already heard of such marketing practices as Search Engine Optimisation.

Now remains the race to see who can implement such a strategy properly and professionally.

What was the dot com bubble?

In simple terms, it was the end of unnecessary market hysteria about the investment possibilities of the internet.

The internet was extensively hyped and an over-pricing of shares in various online ventures ensued. People expected the internet to provide a “get rich scheme”.

And for some it was.

Expectation was so high that any business trading online was seen as a lucrative investment.

Almost anything could be invested in without a proper scrutiny of the “return of investment” (ROI) – not least because the ROI was often based solely on speculation of the inflated share value of such companies.

Then realism hit when, after months of warning, the investors wised up and left – and the markets dropped online businesses to their proper share value.

In short, the dot com bubble burst.

This was almost entirely associated with companies who only existed as an online business venture. Many businesses that traded both in the physical as well as the virtual world were unaffected.

The modern investor should realise that the internet has now proceeded through it’s painful commerical birth. It is now open to proper exploitation on a serious and realistic business footing.

What competition is there on the internet?

Whenever there is a market to exploit, there is competition. The degree of competition often relates to the value of that particular market.

However, it is a sad fact that many companies still do not assign a proper market value to their internet presence.

A company will often not care about how well their website does on the internet because they entirely fail to appreciate it’s relevance as a marketing tool – not least in terms of brand marketing and generating recognition.

The reason for this is a combination of ignorance and complacency.

Often it will be left for one company to exploit the internet, before others will dare follow suit.

What is particularly astonishing here is the extremely low investment required to actually marketing on the internet.

Some markets have woken up to this.

Of course, in commercial terms, the United States of America is way ahead of Britain on this account.

And that means that UK companies have a lot of cacthing up on the world stage - but can set themselves up with a dominating internet presence on home ground.

Where is there most competition on the internet?

American graphic design firms in particular have realised the power of the internet. They can access local and national markets instantly. And they have realised how to access the international market using the internet.

After all, designs can be e-mailed or faxed as well as sent by courier or postal delivery service.

These graphic design forms have therefore taken particular steps to ensure that they receive the most visibility on the internet.

One way to do that is to utilise Search Engine Optimisation.

In simple terms, what this means is that every time someone uses a Search Engine to look up graphic design, these companies fight remarkable hard to be listed first.

Why?

Because they can tap into massive earning potentials with such rampant visibility.

The astonishing thing is that many other markets – and their competing companies – have yet to realise the incredible marketing opportunities offered by major visibility on the internet.

Why the internet is as important as television

If only one car manufacturer ever advertised on British TV over the past 10 years, then which do you think would be the best selling car manufacturer in Britain?

Would anyone here seriously argue that the above manufacturer should not normally be able to dominate the market because of this?

Some would argue that it depends upon the quality of the product, customer referral, and viral marketing.

But the plan fact is that many companies can sell on presentation alone.

And that’s why a single manufacturer dominating TV advertisement would sell brilliantly in comparison to its nearest competitors.

Now realise that the internet is a lot like TV.

Both are a form of media, that reaches billions of people to provide information, news, entertainment, and many, many other things.

Many companies like to advertise on TV for the following purposes:

1/ brand marketing

2/ provide information on products and services

3/ direct sales

Haven’t we seen this list somewhere before? (clue: why a website is important)

And you can be assured that the distinction between the internet and TV is going to get even more blurred over the next few years.

Microsoft will soon release the XP Media Box – the first in a series of projects to turn the Personal Computer into a one-stop media entertainment centre – not least, by turning it into a TV as required.

If you were offered the chance of cheap targeted advertising on TV, would you take it?

The benefits of advertising on TV are well known.

Businesses around the world are only just waking up to the fact that the internet offers similar benefits.

The keys to internet marketing

Internet marketing works on two specific levels:

1. Passive Marketing

2. Active Marketing

Do not let these terms fool you into thinking one is more important that the other. A good Passive Marketing only website can easily outperform an bad Active Marketing website in terms of sales and Return Of Investment (ROI). The terms are distinction of sales methods, not importance.

Essentially, we’re talking about the distinctions between Brand Marketing and Direct Sales, and also Design Marketing versus Paid Advertising.

1. Passive Marketing is about grooming the customer for a sale. This is where you simply want the customer to notice you, accept you, feel confident and safe in the arms of your business. This area includes concepts such as Brand Marketing, Design Marketing, and Search Engine Optimisation (for directing them there in the first place). It is about seducing the potential customer.

2. Active Marketing is then about getting what you want from them. This is where you enter the realm of the Sales Pitch, Product Advertising, and Direct Sales environment.

The internet, in that way, is no different from the everyday physical world.

The way in that the internet differs most significantly is that you cannot be face to face with your customers.

Some brilliant salespeople can read a potential customer by the facial expression, body language, and tone of voice. These sales people are brilliant because they are able to shape their sales presentation directly according to what the customer shows they are happy or uncomfortable with.

The internet does not allow that skilll.

Everything is does in copy. That means that which words you write, how you present then, and where you present them, are sometimes your only sales techniques.

In short, you cannot rely on your salespeople alone to deliver results.

A successful online business will have to focus primarily on Passive Marketing to seduce potential customers in the first place, so that they can be sold to with minimal effort.

Of course, not everyone can be convinced to close a sale through you – but because of the high amount of internet traffic you can deal with if you get it right, that will not matter.

Discuss this in the Internet Business forums

Story link: Introduction to internet marketing

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