Throughout its history, the internet has reinvented itself many times – and
the changes are far from over. The current web is dominated by socialising,
cooperation, sharing and personal entertainment.
It is a space both for work and
play – an essential tool for virtually every business and the go-to repository for
all forms of media culture products. People of all ages are spending more and
more time online, and are turning to the internet for better services, convenience
and life-enhancing tools: just consider how people use online shopping, online
banking, web communities that cross all boundaries, instant news and updates,
social networks and chat, self-expression and any of the dozens of other things
that the web makes possible. 2010 was the first year where online advertising
spend overtook the amount of money spent on newspaper advertising in the
USA. It was the same year that online readership overtook traditional newspaper
readership, which illustrates just how large an impact the internet has had on the
marketing and advertising industry.
4.1 Global trends
The internet marketing field hasn’t stood still. Here are some of the current trends:
• Social media marketing. Whether it is a fad or here to stay, social media has
made an indelible mark on the web landscape and, concurrently, on marketing
tactics. Social media marketing involves using peer recommendations, sharing,
building brand personality and addressing the market as a heterogeneous
group of individuals. It also uniquely encourages customers to create content
and buzz around a product themselves.
• Viral marketing. This form of marketing involves the exponential spread of a
marketing message by online word of mouth (sometimes referred to a “word
of mouse”). A major component of viral communication is the meme – a
message that spreads virally and embeds itself in the collective consciousness
(“Don’t touch me on my studio” is a recent South African example). Viral
marketing is closely tied to social media, since social media platforms and
their sharing functionality are the main way that a message is able to “go
viral” online. Keep in mind, however, that viral marketing does not make a
holistic online marketing campaign and should be just one of many tools used
to create awareness and encourage interaction.
• Brand as product. More than ever before, brands are creating personas and
identities around themselves rather than the products they sell. The online
space allows customers to interact and converse with the brand personally
and directly.
Introduction to internet marketing
GetSmarter Internet Marketing textbook
• Ad fatigue. Web users have become very familiar with online advertising and
have learned to tune it out – or have even installed programs like AdBlock
Plus to block it altogether. Marketers today have to think of very innovative
and eye-catching strategies to entice wary viewers.
• Targeting. Virtually all online advertising is targeted to reach specific readers.
Unlike the broad-strokes targeting done in traditional marketing (placing an
advert in a relevant magazine, for example), web targeting can be extremely
precise. With the immense amount of personal and usage data currently
available, targeting can be done automatically and extremely successfully.
• Golden oldies. Despite all the exciting new strategies, email and website
marketing remain among the most useful and effective techniques. These
strategies do, of course, use new tools and tactics (like advanced tracking,
integration with social networks and customer-generated content), but their
essence stays the same.
Refer back to this list in the future and see how much has changed – chances are,
many of these strategies will sound outdated in a few years.