Internet Marketing

Advertising today has definitely evolved, just as people and businesses continue to find and discover ways of sharing information with one another. Back then, it was almost imperative for businesses to grace the pages of that thick yellow phonebook more fondly known as the Yellow Pages. The traditional yellow page advertising has been a key promotional tool for businesses to create awareness for their products and services, and sell it to the public.

The advent of the Internet, however, started to alter the way people do things; businesses responded to this by exploring new ways of communicating with and addressing the needs of the people. Today, an increasing number of transactions are already being done online and information-sharing and dissemination over the Net has never been more widespread now than it was before. More businesses are likewise actively promoting themselves online, taking advantage of the growing number of Internet users and wider reach of an online medium. Thus, there came the emergence of online marketing.

Online marketing is fast growing in popularity as an effective advertising tool, and continues to post itself as a viable alternative to the traditional yellow page advertising, especially in a fast-paced and tech-savvy environment. Any avid Internet user today would actually notice that a lot of businesses today have websites where they promote their product and service offerings, and share other types of company information. In contrast, the once very thick Yellow Pages seem to have fewer pages lately, an indication that businesses are recognizing the benefits of increasing their online presence against advertising the traditional way. A thorough comparison of the two modes of advertising reveal that online marketing indeed has a greater number of benefits versus yellow pages advertising. Let me share with you ten benefits which top my list.

First, the Internet allows businesses to share more information to potential customers. Businesses practically have limitless space in their websites which they could fill in and update with information. On the other hand, yellow page advertising has a limit in terms of space that may be utilized to post certain content. The more information is shared in the Yellow Pages, the greater is its investment requirement.

Second, marketing initiatives done online are more easily searchable as compared to those advertised in the Yellow Pages. With the right key words, businesses can easily make their websites accessible to their target market. Information searches done using the Internet is much faster than manual scanning of the Yellow Pages.

Third, online marketing is more cost effective than yellow page advertising. Setting up, designing and running a website could be done for just a small amount of investment. On the contrary, the use of offline medium is known to cost substantially, even reaching thousands of dollars, while being bound by space and time limitations.

Fourth, online marketing makes it possible for businesses to attract hundreds, even thousands, of visitors to their sites, and create two-way interactions with them. Websites can be easily programmed to collect information from site visitors and keep in touch with them. This kind of functionality is not available in the traditional yellow page advertising.

Fifth, customer loyalty is more easily gained via online marketing. The Yellow Pages are simply all about ads, nothing more and nothing less. Meanwhile, websites may contain newsletters, updates and other attention-grabbing information links that encourage repeat customer contact.

Sixth, establishing credibility and gaining the customers’ trust are easier achieved through online marketing than yellow page advertising. Aside from ad placements, company websites can contain a whole range of information that can give customers better knowledge about a company and its products and services. The more customers know about a company, the greater is their tendency to trust it and see it as being reliable.

Seventh, online marketing offers greater convenience and flexibility in terms of updating information, at practically no additional cost. Businesses have total control of the content of their websites and they can modify it at any time they wish. Yellow page advertising does not have this kind of flexibility. In addition, any update done on traditional advertising usually requires additional investment.

Eighth, the effectiveness of marketing initiatives could be measured faster when the online medium is used. Site visits or hits as well as inquiries related to an online advertising placement, for instance, can be readily tracked as compared to calls received in response to a yellow page advertisement.

Ninth, marketing online allows companies to better demonstrate their competitive advantages and support their unique selling propositions. A website highlights the merits of a particular company, while the Yellow Page merely categorizes a company, together with its competition.

Lastly, online marketing has far greater reach than yellow page advertising. Web presence exposes businesses to the whole world, allowing it to tap not only local but international prospects as well. This opens promising opportunities for business growth and expansion later on.

There is no doubt about the power and capabilities of the Internet as an effective marketing tool. No wonder more and more businesses are shifting their budget allocations to enhance their web presence. With the right planning and use of resources, companies can make the most out of online marketing, the next big thing in the field of marketing and advertising.

An old school marketing tenet says that you have to spend money to make money. Sure, when putting up a new business or expanding an established one, you have to spend on additional capital as well as advertising. But in the current state of economy, you have to think a lot before spending. So, when it comes to advertising in this technology- driven but sagging economy, it is best to put your bet on online marketing than traditional advertising types- and here are ten reasons why:

1. “Branding” is out, and measurable return of investment is in. Traditional marketing is great for building brand exposure, that is, if you have a large budget for marketing. But for the small- to mid-sized businesses, online marketing is the smart way to go. When you put an ad on TV, radio and newspaper, you have to wait for certain period of time before you can tell whether your product or service is doing well. With online marketing, you can have a daily reading of how much of the traffic you get is actually converting to sales or not. With that, you can make immediate business decisions for your company.

2. Information in a flash. One major benefit of online advertising over traditional advertising is that you don’t have to wait for months before you launch your product or service. In fact, you can publish any information and content immediately and not limited by neither geography nor time.

3. Quality exposure. When a person passes by a billboard or sees an ad on TV, you cannot tell whether he or she is interested in what you are selling at that time or whether they will be interested in the future or whether they even noticed the campaign. However, a person clicks on an ad in the web when he or she is interested. With online marketing, you actually get your target market.

4. Cost-effective exposure. How much does a TV spot cost these days? Running a small ad in a paper for a day can already cost you a couple hundreds dollars – more if the paper has a wider circulation. However, not all of those who read the papers even read your ad. Some people just click to some other channel on TV when the commercials come on. However, you still have to pay for their viewing your advertisement. Even with pay-per-click (PPC) and other forms of paid online marketing you only pay for the views of people who are interested in your service/products. SEO is even more cost-effective in the long run because it could give you quality exposure for a relatively small financial investment.

5. Prime position. With traditional advertising you pay more to have your ads displayed in a place where it can be seen by the most number of people (Prime time on TV, for example or a billboard on a busy highway, etc). With successful online marketing your position is always prime position. Good SEO will help you rise in the search engine results pages for relevant searches, making sure you’re right there when people want you.

6. Long-term exposure. You can only place a certain amount of advertisement on TV for a few weeks, on the papers, for a day – but with good SEO, you can maintain the same site for years. However, online marketing can complement traditional media by providing directories towards previously made advertisements or those of other brands.

7. Online marketing is best for brand engagement. Studies reveal that among customers, particularly non-techie female internet users with children under 16, the Internet has a greater effect on brand engagement than print media, TV and outdoor advertisement. Brand engagement is one of the factors that ensure brand loyalty among customers. And in this time of recession, it is important to maintain buyers.

8. Online marketing provides insight and other interactive mediums. Studies also show that the internet also has a crucial role in the propagation of indirect experiences of brands through customer reviews. Online video directories for brands are a good example of interactive advertising. Customers can also choose to visit the brand’s website, or interact with the advertiser through other channels such as email, chat or phone. Response to brand communication is instantaneous, and conversion to business is very high.

9. Website users buy more online than average newspaper users. In Germany, Internet users are enthusiastic online shoppers, as well. Before making a purchase, either online or in a store, many German consumers research the product on the Internet. By 2005, online buyers rose by 7%, taking the total number of online shoppers to 27.4 million.

10. Product information. Almost as important for consumers was the search for product information. Research online was particularly popular wherein it came to slow moving consumer goods such as cars, domestic appliances, consumer electronics, mobile phone contracts and furniture. During this time of recession, people think a lot before they spend their money. With free and rich information online, people don’t mind doing a little research and reading some reviews and recommendations before they go and buy certain products.

Ever had the guts to win in this competitive world? Ever had the courage to compete with and possibly beat even the wisest and most strategic business people in the world?

Certainly, this world has grown fast and changes have been fast as well. From the traditional ways of doing things, people have become more advanced and when you want to keep up with the Jones’ you had better know what to do. Businesses that are slow get left behind. Businesses who are eager to reach the turret of success continue to search for higher degrees of learning so as not to lose in the game.

Who would not want to succeed in business anyway? Everybody wants to generate income; everybody wants to be known in his or her own field. But how is it possible to succeed, especially in the business world?

One Word – Strategy. That single word alone already means everything. It actually defines everything about success.

Today, people are hooked on the internet. Almost everybody knows how to “surf the web”. In fact, most businesses have already seen its potential that is why online marketing has also become a phenomenon.

You may be skeptical about this strategy because you still think that yellow page advertising is better but let us delve into the ten major reasons why online marketing is more effective than yellow page advertising.

Reason #1: You Save More Money

The life of any business is money. Without this, it will not run. That is why savvy businessmen are very skeptical when it comes to their expenses.

With yellow page advertising, you pay a huge amount. In fact, for every inch of space in the yellow pages, there is a corresponding price. Imagine how much it would cost you if you had a full page ad? In New York, Manhattan, each inch of space costs ,500 while a whole page ad costs ,000!

With online marketing, you just have to pay for your monthly website, your website design and marketing, which could be less than 0/month to keep your business’ online advertising up and going.

Reason #2: You Have More Space For Content

Space does count when it comes to advertising. If you want your customers to know more about your business, limited space won’t work. In online marketing, you have all the space you need to advertise and promote what you have. In yellow page advertising, you only have a very limited amount of space to work with.

Reason #3: More People Hear About You

Have you ever noticed that when you are surfing the internet, you always come across a lot of things and then you suddenly became interested in them? That’s what online marketing can do for your business. If you know how to optimize your site, then more people will know about you. Can you do this with yellow page advertising?

Reason #4: Online Marketing Is Measurable

Why is this important? With tracking, you always know what are the most commonly keywords used by your visitors and can you monitor everything. When you develop a list of your best keywords, you can generate more traffic to your site and you’ll definitely gain more buyers.

With your yellow page advertising, you’ll have no ideal what prompted a prospect to take action.

Reason #5: You Can Use Videos With Online Marketing

Advertising on television is very expensive right? With online marketing, you get to promote your products or services at a very affordable price and even show your business’ benefits and features through online video. This is more visible and reliable than yellow page advertising which is plain words and photos, right?

Reason #6: You Establish A Relationship With Your Customers

How can you establish a relationship through a yellow page advertisement? With online marketing, you have the chance to develop relationships by sending email tips or online newsletters to visitors who keep coming back to your site. You can also get better business ideas by allowing them to leave comments.

Reason #7: You Can Easily Build Trust And Credibility With Your Visitors

When using online marketing, you have the chance to express your desire to help your customers and not just benefit from them. When you are able to build rapport with them by simply giving them simple ideas for free, you will quickly earn their trust.

Reason #8: You Are The Only Choice

With yellow page advertising, there are a lot of advertisements under each category. If you are the reader and you have 500 choices to choose from, would you still continue? Instead, you’ll probably just hop on your internet and type the keyword of what you want and you’ll have it! That’s online marketing! If you know how to do it right, you will be the only choice of your buyers.

Reason #9: You Can Promote Your Business All Over The World

Can yellow page advertising reach the whole world? Certainly not. With online marketing, the World Wide Web will do the work for you. Your products and services will be known throughout the nations with just a click.

Reason #10: Online Marketing Is Eco-Friendly

Imagine how many trees are being cut down just to come up with yellow pages? Imagine how much waste is thrown out when people dump their yellow pages? With online marketing, you are at peace with the nature. You gain without hurting the ecosystem.

Amazing isn’t it? These ten are just some of the million reasons why you should choose online marketing over the yellow pages. You save money, you save effort, you save the environment, but more importantly you gain more wealth!

www.billmcintosh.com Take a look at my AdSense earnings for 2007. I’ll share with you my Google adsense tax reporting documents for 2007 so you can see what is possible for making money with online marketing. Go sign up on my site and I’ll help you with marketing your business and its free! http
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