Internet Marketing (Web Advertising) aims at creating visibility, brand awareness and increasing sales to generate profits. The best part being, binding together the creative aspect to the technical know-how of the internet, right from design, development, implementation, advertising and monitoring of sales. Internet Marketing (Web Advertising) encompasses a wide array of services each having its own methodologies.

To begin with,
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which is SEO and PPC, Advertising – display or text based or interactive,
Marketing – e-mails or newsletters or behavioral or affiliate,
Online Reputation Management,
Online Market Research and
SMO inclusive of blog & viral marketing.

Internet marketing (Web Advertising) draws a media strategy to address the specifics at the various stages of client engagement, incorporating an array of aforementioned services (single or multiple, with recommendations to compliment each of the stages) and Web2.0 strategies based on the organization’s business model.

Advantages of Internet Marketing (Web Advertising):
1. Wide audience reach
2. Fraction of traditional media costs
3. Personalized marketing messages
4. Behavior or Interest based targeting
5. Greater accountability
6. Campaign metrics- tracking, measuring & testing
7. Lesser Advertiser Risk
8. Performance based model availability

Disadvantages:
1. Use of newer technologies
2. Low speed internet
3. Complicated and heavy web pages
4. Security concerns for transactions
5. Personal information privacy

Online companies have come up with innovations like stronger encryption enabling conversion of the data to cipher, which cannot be intercepted without authenticated authorization into the program, thus taking care of security and privacy constraints. Internet Marketing has found favor with the music, movies, banking and the advertising industry.

So profound is the effect of online advertising, that within a short span it has grown to billions of dollars, with growth registration of 69% in 2007, 60% in 2006 and 69% in 2005. The average internet advertising growth has been 65% as against the 19% growth for the rest of traditional advertising media industry. The 2008, PriceWaterHouseCooper’s report states, web advertising in India will be Rs.4.5 billion this year end. Globally, the total revenue for the internet earnings is pegged at $44 billion. Moreover, Google’s results for the last financial belied expectations of the NASDAQ, which is a clear indication of online advertising being on the right track and of having rapid growth for the years to come…….

It is a time to adopt the following interactive channels, social media channels & Rich media channels:

Interactive Channels:
1. Mobile WAP sites
2. Mobile Text Messages
3. Branded Micro-sites
4. Contextual Targeting
5. Behavioural Targeting

Social Media Channels:
1. User generated content
2. Blogs
3. Social Networks
4. RSS feed

Rich Media Channels:
1. Ads with online video
2. Advergames
3. Video created by marketing
4. Podcasts
5. Virtual Worlds
6. In-game ads/ product placement

What promotional mix would be apt for your related services or products is a question to be pondered, nevertheless it would not be a fruitless venture to delve into and seek the answers for self. Though at this point there would be apprehensiveness to be venturing into the terrain, wherein there is essentially a void in terms of having some concrete proof in the form of case studies to avoid the ramifications which would arise in the due course due to adoption of any of the aforementioned channels.

The essential fact is customers are moving quickly and adopting the emerging channels. Blog readership is at 29% and is growing strong, podcasts usage has reached 10% in 2006, which is up from 1% in 2005. Consumers are a step ahead with creating profiles in virtual world like Second Life as well. Mobile penetration is at it high.

So the question is where to get started from when it comes to interactive media?

Well to start off, adoption of behavioral and contextual targeting would improve the responses, at lower costs. Then, get into the RSS, Blogs & Social Networks, as these channels show rapid consumer acceptance and awareness. It is pertinent to have an evaluation of these channels on case to case basis, thus enabling you to determine your next move or determine the next channel based on understanding of your audience. Also, it would be imperative to stay abreast of the latest developments given the rapidly changing nature of the emerging interactive channels. Lastly the metrics, consistent monitoring is the way to be determining the effects of emerging interactive media.

* Source – Forrester