WHAT IS INTERNET MARKETING?

Internet marketing can be defined as the application of the Internet and related digital
technologies in conjunction with traditional communications to achieve marketing objectives.
This form of promotion uses the Internet or World Wide Web to deliver marketing message to a
larger audience via online advertisements on search engine results pages, banner advertisements,
social network ads, pay per click, targeted email lists, etc.

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNET MARKETING

The face of marketing has undergone an extreme makeover in the past decade with the
surge of social networking portals, multifunctional cell phones, and gadgets. It has in fact
become a crucial practice now for companies to follow the latest marketing trends to not just
obtain new customers, but to retain the existing ones. For example, drug companies are now
marketing their brands to doctors through e-mail and Web conferencing, capitalizing on the high
efficiency and low cost of the Internet. Aggressive, competitive, and innovative marketing
strategies are the precept today. Technological advancement has given consumers a sense of
empowerment. Product information is available at the click of a finger and there are more
competitors than ever in the market. Internet and technology have created new media for
marketing around the globe in the virtual world. Within this decade, new non-traditional
marketing concepts have emerged, such as viral marketing, social media marketing, undercover
marketing, and attraction marketing.

In the beginning of the 21st century, companies were armed with human resources to
build personal relationships with their customers to boost sales through one-on-one interaction in
a controlled environment. Consumers believed the information dished out to them by sales
professionals. The tables have turned around and it is now the consumers that have an expanse of
verifiable information available at hand at the click of a finger.

The internet has drastically changed the face of trade and commerce in the past decade.
The massive online presence of consumers prompted a revolution in the way of advertising and
marketing. More companies have stretched these functions to the realms of the virtual world to
influence consumer behaviour in their favour. They are attempting to build a strong network that
allows them to get closer to their clients. While online advertising began in the form of banner
ads on websites, it has now taken the forms of viral videos, blogging, promotional campaigns on
social networking websites, and consumer discussion forums. Marketers are making a consistent
effort to keep themselves up to date with the changing trends in consumer needs and tastes. In
fact, internet has proved to be a reliable source for gathering data for the same. A marketer can
research on the target market through surveys, polls, and interaction with focus groups through
online media. This has enabled the consumers to contribute in the decisions pertaining to product
offering. Nevertheless, the whole process can now be conducted much more speedily than ever
before. Search engines were the propellers of these changes in marketing. A product that has no
mention in any of the domineering search engines has instantly lost its reputation amongst
prospective customers. An example of this trend in internet network marketing is the
fundamental - "If Google doesn't know, nobody does."

Thanks to the World Wide Web, it is now possible for marketing to facilitate instant sales
through the option of mail order shopping, instant access to product information and
subsequently, acceleration in the time taken to make a sale. Companies have transposed their
focus to directing online traffic to their websites, blogs, ads, and social networking accounts
through search engine optimization of keywords, publishing extensive content, purchasing
customer database from other companies, and establishing consumer-friendly interfaces to solve
queries. The size of the company's scale of operations is no longer a factor for consideration to
plan a successful marketing strategy. Ten years ago, companies could afford to rely on consumer
loyalty to maintain a stake in the market. However, if a company does not make its market
presence felt through adequate internet marketing, its position may be quickly taken over by its
competitors.

OPPORTUNITES CREATED BY IM CHALLENGES POSED BY IM

Offline businesses can re-launch themselves
online, allowing the creation of entirely new
online personalities.
Allows a business to acquire market
intelligence i.e. understand its market better, by
analysis of trends and fluctuations in online
activity, finding out opinions and feelings of
potential customers, establishing visitor use or
navigation patterns etc.
Allows analysis of competitor activity.
Allows businesses to build a brand identity for
themselves.
Allows for marketing through search engines.
Allows companies to venture into new markets
on a global scale.
It is difficult to anticipate and understand what
customer expectations will be.
Security and payment system challenges-
potential for viruses and hacking of company
data, credit card fraud, repudiation of orders
(where people order goods and then deny that
they did).
Information overload- can be difficult to keep
up with and analyse large amounts of data
collected by firm.
Keeping pace with technological change.
Ensuring maximum exposure through Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) and search engines.
Linguistic and cultural issues such as language
barriers and cultural attitudes to payments.
Legal complexity
IMPORTANCE OF E-COMMERCE TO BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS

E-commerce refers to business transactions conducted electronically on the internet. It allows

businesses to overcome geographical limitations because products or services offered through
the Internet can be made available to consumers throughout the world. Many people worldwide
have switched to online shopping, so businesses can now reach a wider target market. E-
commerce also offers lower costs to businesses because a physical store does not need to be set
up as well as because the automation of checkout, billing, payments, inventory management, and
other operational processes lowers the number of employees required to run an ecommerce
setup. Businesses may additionally benefit from longer ‘opening hours’ as there is access to
business websites 24 hours a day. This may increase sales. For all these reasons, businesses that
engage in e-commerce may thus enjoy a competitive edge over other businesses that do not.