Four Keys to Understand How Internet Marketing Works

The existence of the Internet has brought about a radical change in almost all aspects of our lives. In the business world is no different, and we can now see how internet marketing has evolved throughout the years. Below 4 keys that will help you understand how internet marketing works.

What is internet marketing?

Internet marketing is the way to use the Internet to advertise and sell products and services. Thus, advertising per click, advertisements on web pages, mass mailings, search engine marketing, etc. are part of what is known as internet marketing.

Marketing on the Internet has its origins in the early 90s, when the first web pages appeared, very simple and whose content was only text. Initially, they offered product information, which later evolved into full graphic advertisements.

Today, there’s a huge variety of ways companies can opt for internet marketing, and one of them is local business marketing, which can be used to promote the business to a local audience.

The 4F’s of internet marketing

The expert in marketing and commercialization of products, Paul Fleming, mentions in his book about Interactive Marketing that online marketing is based on four elements or F’s:

• Flow: according to Fleming, flow is “the state of mind that an Internet user enters when immersing himself in a web that offers him an experience full of interactivity and added value”.
• Functionality – If the client has entered a flow state, they are on their way to being engaged. So that the flow of the relationship is not broken, functional, attractive online pages must be built, with clear and useful navigation for the user.
• Feedback: the relationship has begun to build. The user is in a state of flow and also has pleasant navigation. The time has come to continue dialoguing and take advantage of the information through the knowledge of the user. Through the Internet, you can find out what the customer likes or what he would like to improve. Dialogue with the customer is basic to get to know him better and build a relationship based on his needs and customize the page based on this after each contact.
• Loyalty: Organizations will get more loyal customers thanks to communities of users who contribute with content. Thus, a personalized dialogue with customers can be established.

Benefits of internet marketing

Internet marketing can help an organization expand from a local market to a national and even international market. In addition, you also have at your fingertips all the information provided by users, as well as total control of the investment and the budget allocated to a specific campaign. It is highly beneficial for the company to be able to make changes to the structure of online campaigns at the same time that the results are known. This allows you to retarget the campaign, if necessary.

It is essential to know the conversion funnel of the products, since this way you can get more out of online marketing. The conversion funnel has several stages:

• Impression of creativity: the user is shown the product or service. You decide if he clicks or not.
• Click on creativity: this is the goal of any online advertising campaign. The aim is for the user to click and reach the brand’s website.
• Registration as a user: the potential client is presented with a form to register and provide us with their data.
• Purchase intention: once the customer has been interested in us and shows purchase intention by entering a payment method.
• Acquisition: if the client reaches this point and acquires our product, our online marketing strategy will have been successful.

Some limitations of internet marketing

Slow Internet connections can cause difficulties. Also, if companies put too much information on their web pages, end users may have difficulty downloading the page. In addition, Internet marketing does not allow buyers to touch or try products before buying them.