These days, you can't use a search engine, visit a website or even go into your email inbox without seeing an advertisement. You may also notice that advertisements are displayed whenever you use social media or watch a video on YouTube. If you use a free app, it will likely be supported by advertising of some sort. The reason why there are so many ads on these various platforms is because they have been proven to be effective at reaching consumers. Let's take a closer look at what online marketing is and what your options are if you want to become an online advertiser.
What Is Online/E-Marketing?
Online marketing is the practice of using online properties to deliver advertisements to users. In most cases, advertisements are targeted to those who search for certain keywords or who fit a certain demographic. For instance, an advertiser may place ads on Google for keywords related to their company name or geographical location. Those who choose to target a demographic instead of a keyword may tell Facebook or other sites to display specific ads when a female between 15 and 25 visits the site or when a male between the age of 55 to 65 visits that site.
Search Engine Marketing & Optimization
You may have seen or heard the acronyms SEM and SEO in the past. SEM stands for search engine marketing while SEO stands for search engine optimization. Search engine marketing is the use of ads and other paid advertising methods that target Google, Bing or any other search provider to find websites.
Search engine optimization generally makes use of free tools and strategies to make it more likely that a company's content is at or near the top of search results. This may be done by creating blog content or optimizing a site's title tags to make it clear which keywords it is targeting.
In some cases, companies will optimize social media profiles in an effort to get their company extra exposure and traffic through search engines. Since there is little to no cost incurred to acquire traffic through SEO strategies, it can be an effective way to reduce marketing costs.
Social Media Marketing
There are literally dozens of social media sites used by people each day. As each site has its own specific purpose and following, it can be beneficial to develop marketing strategies tailored to one or more sites. For instance, you can pay to promote your hashtag or tweet on Twitter or pay to have a sponsored story featured on Buzzfeed.
If you have enough followers on social media sites, it may be possible to get your message out without having to pay for views or other actions. Instead, you can simply post a link to an article to have it shared hundreds or thousands of times. It may also be possible to post links to coupons or other deals that may get people to buy your products or services.
E-Marketing Online Platforms & Service Providers
There are many great service providers that can help you create an advertising campaign, create and maintain your email list and track the results of a campaign. Some of the best email marketing service providers include AWeber, Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign.
Google AdWords is one of the most common online marketing platforms in the world, and it can be used by companies in almost every country. AdWords and similar services allow you to do keyword searches, set your minimum and maximum budget and track results through analytic tools.
If you are looking to expand your organization's reach without spending a lot of money, online marketing may be an effective tool to reach those goals. Whether you choose to market through search engines, social media or through your own site, it may be possible to reach thousands of people for only a few dollars a day.