Internet Marketing
5 Reasons why Internet Marketing Matters
Want to learn more about why Internet marketing is so important for businesses?
In this article on internet marketing, we will review the top five reasons behind the importance of online marketing, helping you see the value of this marketing channel to your business.
With the speed of development and growth of technology, it’s critical that you have an effective and actionable Internet marketing plan in place. Internet marketing helps you continue to sustainably and effectively grow your business. Here are five reasons why internet marketing is so important.
1. Customers are online ( Even your customers are online)
Internet marketing is so important because your customers are online (and with smartphone technology their not just online 9 to 5 whilst sat in front of the office desk).
The numbers are huge and research from Internet World stats shows that there are over 4.0 billion people are on the Internet, with over 700 million people on the internet in Europe.
So the internet provides a great opportunity for you to reach leads that are looking for your business. Now its important to consider that just because there are billions of people online it doesn’t mean that they are waiting to find your company or the product or service you provide.
A percentage of these huge numbers will be people using the Internet to find all types of information. They are conducting searches ( primarily on Google) to find relevant information about businesses, products, and services.
To help your company reach those interested leads you need to invest in Internet marketing.
As a business, you want to reach potential customers where they live, shop, work, obtain information, seek entertainment and buy products. All of this is contained up in one place, AKA The Internet.
Whilst the internet is global it has through the likes of Google taken even more importance at a local level. Even if you only service a local geographic area, your audience is online. This why micro, small businesses and larger business use Internet marketing to promote their products and services.
Internet marketing online is valuable to your business because it helps you connect with leads that are the most interested in your business. I.e. If I am searching for a Conference Room in Peterborough, that is exactly what I’m looking for, therefore being found by someone who has a need is the start of the process.
You must increase your business’s visibility, when you want more people to check out your business. This can be challenging to do this through offline tactics ( i.e. Print based advertising / radio advertising / maildrops etc) because you don’t have much, if any control over who sees your marketing materials.
With online marketing, you have the potential to expose your business to exactly the type of people who want / need to buy your product / service.
We live in a 24:7 society. In fact post Covid the business world has been shaken up by the way that businesses need to operate and the rigid regime of 9 to 5 has been removed in many cases.
The advantage of the Internet is that it’s constantly marketing for your business. People can access your website or your social media 24/7, meaning your business is visible to your target audience at all times.
There are other digital marketing methods you can use to reach your audience and increase your brand’s visibility. A few strategies include content marketing, social media marketing, and even video marketing.
Brand visibility means that more people are getting familiar with your business. Now at this stage its important to have a reality check. Most companies don’t have the marketing budget of a Nike, Sony or McDonalds etc etc in order to become a household name. What we are considering here is being recognised as being a “player” within your “specific market niche”
So when people are more familiar with your business, they’re more likely to choose your business when they’re ready to convert.
People choose brands they’re familiar with, (For example – I know a couple of agricultural machinery brands where the rationale for purchasing is grandfather used XXX, father used XXX so I will use XXX . So even though the product is nowhere near as good as competitors and is vastly overpriced they continue to purchase. That’s the power of branding) so this brand exposure guides them towards choosing your business when they’re ready to convert.
2. Internet marketing creates two-way communication
With traditional advertising, the communication is one-way. You create a TV advertisement or print advertisement in an industry publication or newspaper, and that’s it.
You then wait and hope that your audience will
- See your advert – when thumbing through a trade press magazine how often do you look at the adver
- If they look at the advert
- Is it well designed with a strong call to action. Will it prompt them and cause them to take action ( that could be ring you on the telephone, email you, visit your website or even directly visit your business.
- Or will they just look at the advert and move on
But, what happens if your target customer has questions or concerns? What if they want to learn more about your business, product, or service or gain additional information? When you don’t have a two-way conversation, it’s a hard task to complete
The importance of Internet marketing lies in the ability to create two-way communication.
With internet marketing you provide clients with a way to contact your business. Whenever you create a news post, run a pay-per-click (PPC) ad, send out an email campaign or create any form of marketing material, you create the opportunity for people to contact your business.
With internet marketing you can reach customers through several digital marketing channels. If someone sees your optimised news post and has questions, they can easily find your contact information and reach out to you. They can call, live chat, or email your business with questions.
The ability to provide a variety of open communication helps you build a relationship with your audience — which makes them feel more welcomed by your team and company.
Now again another reality check is with internet marketing its great to have all these capabilities, but they are only as good as the marketing systems and processes you put in place to manage them. What is the point of having a “Live Chat” function if nobody is available in your business to respond. What is the point of a contact us enquiry form, when nobody within the company actually replies. Both of these are genuine cases where customers wanted to buy, would have purchased but went elsewhere!
A relationship is valuable to your audience because they want to be seen as more than just a number and they’re more likely to choose companies that value them as an individual.
For example, if a consumer or a business is purchasing a brand-new movable floor swimming pool, which is a substantial investment, it’s important that they feel comfortable asking questions because it could make or break the sale.
An movable floor swimming pool marketing strategy could make buyers more at ease by using video content to engage users casually and professionally. Linking video to website would also provide consumers a convenient platform for asking questions, which could then lead to a quote request or a one-on-one meeting with a technical sales person.
When you have two-way communication, your audience doesn’t view it as you trying to sell them things. At the early stages you are trying to help them by answering questions / solving problems. This way they will see you as a valuable source of information that helps them in the purchasing process.
By building a relationship and opening communication with your audience, you increase their likelihood of becoming customers. Internet marketing is important because it helps you communicate better with your audience.
Note: Internet marketing also increases the chances that customers will become repeat customers, but that is a completely different article
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3. Your audience’s experience is personalised
As previously stated, your potential target customers want to feel like they matter to your business. They don’t want to just be another number. Effective Internet marketing should create a pleasurable and custom experience for each member in the audience.
Personalised marketing enables you to customise your audience’s experience. You can create a tailored experience that fits their interests best. So with our movable floor swimming pool the same product may have a number of distinct buying personas
- Architects – who are looking for technical and design information either to solve a customers problem or to help them do something new in their next project
- Builders – who have the need to build the movable pool floor and need help in order to put together costs
- End users – the owner of the Kensington property who wants a swimming pool in their basement that converts into a dining area when not used as a pool
So as you can see from the above, when people find your business, they’re going to come to your company for different reasons.
Some people are interested in one type of product or service, while others are interested in another type. Personalising these customers’ experiences to their interests creates a better experience for them. So the glamourous pool shots for the end user might be replaced by technical drawings for the builder.
We would always suggest creating multiple, personalised marketing pieces rather than one, general marketing piece.
The ability to personalise your marketing strategy is why Internet marketing is so important to your business. It helps you deliver a better experience for your leads, which turns them into customers. Importantly because its digital the ability to create multiple / personalised pieces is easier than in the days of print.
4. It allows you to drive quality traffic
One of the biggest hurdles with traditional advertising is obtaining interested leads.
You don’t know how many valuable leads you will reach, when you use traditional advertising. Professional magazines will provide profiles of their readership but your advertisement will appear in front of interested and uninterested leads. This makes it difficult measurably and quantifiably drive an abundance of quality traffic.
Internet marketing is important because it helps you drive more qualified traffic. You reach more leads that are interested in your business. The ability to target specific leads helps you drive traffic that takes an interest in your company.
With Internet marketing you can target leads specifically by different characteristics.
- Job title
- Industry sector
- Demographic information,
- Socioeconomic status,
- Geographic location – e.g. manufacturing companies in Peterborough
- Hobbies,
- Interests,
- Keywords. – Website Design Peterborough
- You can get very precise with your targeting to ensure that you’re only reaching leads you know will be interested in your business.
Effective Internet marketing will help you reach the right leads at the right time.
5. Your competitors are doing it
If you want to remain in competition with your competitors, you must invest in Internet marketing. Your competitors are already investing in different Internet marketing methods and working to obtain new leads.
If you aren’t investing in Internet marketing, you’re falling behind your competition.
To keep up with your competitors, you must establish an effective online marketing campaign. It will help you obtain leads and prevent you from losing them to your competitors.
With online marketing you have the ability to run multiple campaigns at once. Importantly you can measure and test each campaign to see what is and what isn’t working
The Internet makes it easy for you to take on a high level of customers and provide them with a quality experience. This does require the development and establishing marketing systems and processes.
You can handle multiple customers at one time when they’re on your website. Your website can take on multiple transactions i.e. contact forms / live chat / downloads etc, which allows you to obtain more conversions for your business. Internet marketing provides a great opportunity to grow your business.
4 Reasons Why Businesses Like Yours Use Online Marketing
Hopefully we have provided a few insights into the importance of internet marketing (Online Marketing). Now, let’s consider why online marketing would be a smart and effective strategy for your business.
#1. Online Marketing is cost-effective
Your budget is an important part of your business. I am assuming you at this stage you don’t have an unlimited budget – if you do then please contact us for your next marketing project
Digital marketing is proven to be extremely cost-effective. One of the key reasons for this is the ability to accurately measure the performance of campaigns and activities
When conducted and implemented professionally Internet marketing is affordable and drives a quality return on investment.
When you’re investing in marketing your business, you want to invest in cost-effective methods that will give you a good return on your investment. Digital marketing methods are relatively affordable compared to other traditional advertising methods.
Advanced targeting options make it easier to promote your business to the right people.
Internet marketing allows you to reach more of the people “who actually want to hear from you” i.e. they have a problem / need that you are relevant to serve.
This means its more cost-effective because you’re targeting people that are more interested in your brand, which means they’re more likely to convert and give you a good return on the money you invested in your campaign.
2. 24:7:365 – The Internet is always open
The Internet is available to your audience 24/7 allowing prospects and customers whenever they want to access you.
Essentially, your website when well designed and optimised can become a constant marketing representative that helps “new” people find out about your business. They can access your site at any time and learn more about your business and gain an important first impression of your business capabilities.
It’s great for your business because your company is always available. They can check out your business and learn more about your organization without having to wait until your business opens at its traditional 9 -5
3. You can create campaigns faster
With Internet marketing, you can create, run and test campaigns quickly.
For instance, creating a pay per click adwords campaign can take very little time. You select your keywords, select your bid and budget, create and format your ad, and launch. It’s a quick and easy way to test its viability in obtaining leads. Warning – Google have made the process super simple ( because Google wants you to use its ads system – that’s how it generates its revenue) , but use an expert who knows how to set up your campaigns, otherwise you could end up burning through budget without getting results.
Speed is important – but measuring and testing are equally important with internet marketing.
4. Get advanced analytics
When you run a traditional advertising campaign, it’s difficult and sometimes almost impossible to see how well the advertising campaign actually performed.
Even if people come into your business because of your editorial piece in a specialist trade magazine, it’s hard to measure how many people contact your business because of that editorial article unless you ask every person that contacts you.
With Internet marketing, you can measure the analytics of each of your campaigns to see how they perform. You don’t have to guess if your campaigns are successful. Analytics allow you to see different metrics of your campaign and see how your campaign performs.
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Internet Marketing & Its Importance To SME’s
Internet marketing plays a pivotal role in the success and growth of SME businesses. Its importance cannot be overstated in today’s digital era, where online visibility, targeted engagement, and cost-effective solutions are key to staying competitive. By leveraging internet marketing strategies, SMEs can expand their reach, connect with their target audience, and drive business results.
Internet marketing offers SMEs the opportunity to establish a strong online presence, increasing brand visibility and attracting a larger customer base. The cost-effectiveness of internet marketing allows businesses with limited budgets to maximise their marketing efforts and achieve higher returns on investment. Moreover, internet marketing enables personalised engagement with customers, fostering trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships.
One of the significant advantages of internet marketing is its ability to break down geographical barriers and provide access to global markets. SMEs can leverage digital channels to expand their reach internationally, unlocking new growth opportunities and revenue streams.
The data-driven nature of internet marketing empowers SMEs to measure and analyse campaign performance, allowing for continuous improvement and optimisation. This data-driven approach ensures that resources are allocated effectively and marketing strategies are refined based on customer behaviour and preferences.
In summary, internet marketing is not just an option but a necessity for SME businesses aiming to thrive in the digital landscape. By embracing internet marketing techniques, SMEs can level the playing field, compete with larger businesses, and achieve sustainable growth. As technology continues to advance, SMEs must adapt and harness the power of internet marketing to reach their full potential in today’s interconnected world. If you would like to know more about internet marketing contact Andrew Goode an experienced digital marketer
