Internet marketing is simply the act of promoting a product, service or brand on the web. A wide range of activities can fall into the category of Internet marketing, including social networking, writing articles and creating niche blogs. Internet marketing and online advertising go hand in hand, because online advertising is a form of Internet marketing. Online advertising typically involves a company paying to place an ad somewhere on the web. Popular places for ads to appear are as a banner on another company's website, on the side bar of a social networking site or as a pay-per-click ad on the side of search engine results.
Marketers should never put all of their eggs in one basket. It is best for other forms of Internet marketing and online advertising to be mixed for maximum success. If a business creates a banner ad to place on relevant websites, the marketing team also may want to write a blog with the same focus or run a Twitter campaign promoting the product. Internet marketing activities such as blogging and tweeting are free and can enhance the presence of a paid online advertisement.
Monitoring the success rate of Internet marketing and online advertising efforts can be a key to success. Despite the cost, one advantage that online advertising has over other forms of Internet marketing is that it can be measured more easily. If a company runs a pay-per-click ad campaign on a website or the side of a search engine, a report can be generated to see how many impressions of the ad appeared, how many people clicked on the ad and how many clicks converted into sales. Social networking, on the other hand, is beneficial to a company but does not provide the raw return on investment numbers that online advertisements do.
Online ads and other types of Internet marketing, such as social networking campaigns, can be used together. A company can run a free promotion on a social networking website with a link that leads to a more custom ad campaign. The custom online advertisement can be used to capture consumer information. Advertisements on the web can contain a form asking for a consumer's name, email address and more. Marketers can entice people to fill out the forms by offering a free coupon in return and can use the information collected to help build an email marketing list.
