Internet Marketing textbook.pdf - Vula

Introduction to internet marketingCHAPTER 1for all links that are published. It is the repository of your company’s onlinecontent and the destination for accurate and up-to-date information aboutyour offerings.• An email newsletter should link to your website and social networking profiles.It keeps interested customers informed of relevant news and special offers.• Online adverts drive web traffic to your website and inform viewers about thecharacteristics of your brand and product in a few words.• Proper use of keywords promotes your website and ensures that your onlineadverts appear to the right people.• Social media channels can drive word-of-mouth promotion and make yourbrand more personal. They link to your website, serve as an alternative toemail updates and act as the launch pad for viral marketing promotions.• Mobile marketing lets you communicate with customers on the go, facilitatingsocial networking, using the website and getting updates.• Finally, web analytics lets you monitor your customers’ online activities andenables you to measure the return on investment in order to evolve andimprove your overall strategy to increase returns.6.3 Planning is essentialAny rushed, half-hearted or unstructured online marketing attempt is doomed tofailure and invisibility. Simply creating a website or Facebook profile doesn’t meanthat you are marketing yourself online; using these applications and tools arejust steps in one small part of the ongoing, intensive and risky process. Planninginvolves aspects like growing your contact base, organising strategically timedpromotions, scheduling time for social network maintenance and monitoring,ensuring consistency throughout all communications, spreading the informationmanually, and so on. It is not enough to build a website and expect your customersto come to it. Without proper planning, budgeting and management, your internetmarketing strategy will fizzle out. On the other hand, with a little thought and careand with the proper tools in place, you can get massive returns for relatively littlemoney and time. It all depends on your approach, determination and perseverance.7. SummaryYou’re embarking on an exciting and challenging learning experience, one that youand your business will benefit from immensely. Internet marketing is a dynamicfield that is going to evolve considerably in the next few years, and now is the besttime for South Africans to get aboard the bandwagon.In this chapter, you:• Learned about the basics of internet marketing and all its components18GetSmarter Internet Marketing textbook