Is Internet Marketing The Answer – Only If You Do It Right

If you happen to be experiencing lackluster results with your current advertising campaign, internet marketing could be just the thing you’re looking for. The advertising game is as competitive as it has ever been. To make matters worse, it’s more expensive and less effective than it used to, at least when talking about traditional advertising. But you need to advertise if you want people to know your business exists, so what’s the answer? Internet marketing.

There was a time when television was considered the best thing in the world of advertising. Anybody that had a product or service to sell could buy some air time and be sure they were going to reach tons of that station’s viewers. And the viewers were actually paying attention. Not only that, people would talk about the commercials because they were a shared experience. In short, a commercial plus a viable product was a sure ticket to success.

Newspapers were also a sure bet prior to, and somewhat during, the reign of television advertising. The great thing about newspapers was how targeted they were. You knew it would be read by people in the immediate area, and you could easily recoup your marketing expenses. Papers were great for selling products and services, and you could run an ad week after week and see the results.

But it should come as no surprise that those days are gone for good. The reason is that people are more pressured for their time, and have shorter attention spans than ever before. You can argue the reasons as to why that is, but it’s a moot point. You need to understand your audience, and internet marketing is an ideal form of advertising.

Now, just because internet marketing can be effective, doesn’t mean you can just slap some ads online and expect everybody to start buying from you. There may have been a time when that was possible, but…just like television and newspapers, those days are gone. What you need is a plan.

The first part of the plan is to know who your target market is; who your ideal customer is. The more specific and accurate you can be on this point, the better. This step forms the foundation for the rest of your internet marketing plan.

Once you know who your target is you need to determine what the best way to reach them is. For example, if your market is comprised mainly of teenagers who like country music, then you would want to advertise on websites that have country music videos. You could also create such a website with the sole purpose being to draw people in to see your ads.

However, you don’t want to advertise just for the sake of advertising. You also need to consider how what you’re offering will help people, then highlight those benefits. Internet marketing is about providing value, and the perceived value of what you provide. When you understand how those things work together, you will see success.