The Significance of Web Marketing in Today’s Virtual World

“Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.”

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)

Every Business’s success depends on its aggressive marketing strategies. In order to sell a product to the customer the company needs to expose its products and services among the potential customers. The methodology followed to first identify the customer and satisfying his requirement is the basic role of the Marketing team of any company. This is the age of the internet and almost all big and small companies have come to feel the significance of having the web or virtual presence through dynamic websites, which showcase the attributes, goals, vision and mission of the company in detail. Web Marketing is thus the marketing strategy followed by companies virtually using the internet media to target customers from all over.

Today any business can become global with a click of a mouse. Someone in India is teaching an American student and a vendor from Russia can sell his goods to remote South African nation with ease. All this is possible only through the internet. The results of such web marketing techniques are seen instantly by way of immediate responses and quick digital output of the customer data. Web marketing depends on five major factors such as design, development, sales and advertising. The platforms used to market online include web 2.0, email marketing, social media marketing, search engine marketing and SEO etc. One needs to be very careful about organizing, managing and execution of marketing strategies online.

I came across an online tutor site which was doing aggressive SEO in spite of the fact the website through which the customers contacted the tutor wasn’t fully ready. The website was getting traffic but the customers found nothing notable or significant. Therefore it is very important to have complete data in hand before releasing the web marketing strategies.

Points to ponder

• A dynamic website, check for any broken links and be sure you can provide a user friendly platform which they will explore before wanting your service

• Before sending mailers make sure your mails do not reach the spam box of the customer. He might not even know that you had mailed

• Web Banners must be placed in high ranking and relevant websites or blogs. Keep in mind the target audience and plan the web marketing strategy. If you are marketing teen fashion accessories then find related sites which receive a lot of teenage crowd. Instead if you place your banner in a business website then the mission is a total failure

• Wise out of box ideas are good in getting the attention of the online users. People notice if you have something different. So think of other ways by exploring new ways and means to target the customers. Recently someone wanted to clone a service website just because it was making money. The latter didn’t gain a penny as it was just another website and not the ONLY website. First is always the best as it has already created an impression in people’s minds. One Facebook is fun, you will lose if you want people to buy your Facebook too.

So web marketing isn’t about a set rules or norms to be followed. Each business and every website must follow their own unique marketing plan if they want to succeed. But basically the definition of any marketing strategy remains the same, as it “identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably”.