My Knowledge – The Power of Internet Marketing

The internet has the power to connect billions of people from around the world at the click of a
button. You can reach anyone, anywhere, at any time, with no restrictions. So imagine what it
can do for your business. New customers, increased brand visibility and business growth are all
easily achievable with the correct strategy.

A few facts:
• 84% of people in the UK regularly use the internet

• 77 billion pounds was spent online by UK shoppers in 2012

• UK internet sales grew by 16% in 2012

What is Internet Marketing?

In a nutshell, online marketing is the promotion of goods or services over the internet. This may
involve (but not limited to) email marketing, search engines, social media and banner advertising.
Typically, this advertising then sends potential customers to a website, which then promotes
specific services or products.

The biggest myth

The biggest myth is that someone can simply create a website and expect to have people come
flooding onto the website. It just doesn’t work like that. Here’s a simple analogy: if you opened a
new shop and didn’t tell anyone about it, how would people even know you exist? They simply
wouldn’t!
There are many stories about how much money people earn online. A typical success story is ‘My
website now makes me so much money that I sit on a beach sipping margaritas whilst I earn a 6
figure income’. The unfortunate reality is that this very rarely happens. In fact, it takes a lot of
hard work and investment.

Choosing the right strategy

Every business is unique and so must every online marketing strategy be. One must put
themselves in the shoes of a potential customer and think ‘how would I search for my
products/services on the internet?’ Once you figure this out, you’re in a much better position to
choose which method will work the best.

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Possibly the best way to achieve large numbers of targeted website traffic is through
search engines such as Google.

Who this works best for: Any company who can invest the time and money into a long term strategy. Local SEO can also work well for small businesses.

• Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketers work on your behalf to promote your products/services for a
commission on all of your sales. For example, they place adverts on their blog which send
traffic to your website.
Who this works best for: Companies with a lot of time to invest in sourcing great affiliates.
There is often a high set up fee. It is certainly a long term strategy.

• Pay Per Click Advertising

Every time someone clicks on your ad, you pay. You get instant results and it is easy to set
up and track. However the costs are very high.
Who this works best for: A company who has a proven track record with high conversion
rates and a good sales funnel.

• Social Media

Social media has the opportunity to reach a lot of people in a very quick space of time and
relatively low cost.
Who this works best for: It must be engaging, so this works best for companies who can
easily engage an audience and create informative content.

Final Thoughts

The growth of the internet is difficult to comprehend, especially when it is not tangible. This
means the opportunities are massive for every company. The key to this is to focus most
importantly choosing the correct strategy.
My personal opinion is that this era of the internet has only just started so there couldn’t be a
better time to get on board. Our buying habits and lives are only just beginning to change around
the enigma that is ‘the internet’, so there are always new opportunities which can be exploited.