Internet marketing today

 

Throughout its history, the internet has reinvented itself many times – and

the changes are far from over. The current web is dominated by socialising,

cooperation, sharing and personal entertainment. It is a space both for work and

play – an essential tool for virtually every business and the go-to repository for

all forms of media culture products. People of all ages are spending more and

more time online, and are turning to the internet for better services, convenience

and life-enhancing tools: just consider how people use online shopping, online

banking, web communities that cross all boundaries, instant news and updates,

social networks and chat, self-expression and any of the dozens of other things

that the web makes possible. 2010 was the first year where online advertising

spend overtook the amount of money spent on newspaper advertising in the

USA. It was the same year that online readership overtook traditional newspaper

readership, which illustrates just how large an impact the internet has had on the

marketing and advertising industry

Global trends

The internet marketing field hasn’t stood still. Here are some of the current trends:

 

• Social media marketing. Whether it is a fad or here to stay, social media has

made an indelible mark on the web landscape and, concurrently, on marketing

tactics. Social media marketing involves using peer recommendations, sharing,

building brand personality and addressing the market as a heterogeneous

group of individuals. It also uniquely encourages customers to create content

and buzz around a product themselves.

 

• Viral marketing. This form of marketing involves the exponential spread of a

marketing message by online word of mouth (sometimes referred to a “word

of mouse”). A major component of viral communication is the meme – a

message that spreads virally and embeds itself in the collective consciousness

(“Don’t touch me on my studio” is a recent South African example). Viral

marketing is closely tied to social media, since social media platforms and

their sharing functionality are the main way that a message is able to “go

viral” online. Keep in mind, however, that viral marketing does not make a

holistic online marketing campaign and should be just one of many tools used

to create awareness and encourage interaction.

 

• Brand as product. More than ever before, brands are creating personas and

identities around themselves rather than the products they sell. The online

space allows customers to interact and converse with the brand personally

and directly.

• Ad fatigue. Web users have become very familiar with online advertising and

have learned to tune it out – or have even installed programs like AdBlock

Plus to block it altogether. Marketers today have to think of very innovative

and eye-catching strategies to entice wary viewers.

 

• Targeting. Virtually all online advertising is targeted to reach specific readers.

Unlike the broad-strokes targeting done in traditional marketing (placing an

advert in a relevant magazine, for example), web targeting can be extremely

precise. With the immense amount of personal and usage data currently

available, targeting can be done automatically and extremely successfully.

 

• Golden oldies. Despite all the exciting new strategies, email and website

marketing remain among the most useful and effective techniques. These

strategies do, of course, use new tools and tactics (like advanced tracking,

integration with social networks and customer-generated content), but their

essence stays the same.