The saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts applies well to
internet marketing strategy. No one aspect of internet marketing can exist in
isolation – the various parts must network, interlink and reference each other to
succeed. Here are just some of the ways your tactics can work together.
Any rushed, half-hearted or unstructured online marketing attempt is doomed to
failure and invisibility. Simply creating a website or Facebook profile doesn’t mean
that you are marketing yourself online; using these applications and tools are
just steps in one small part of the ongoing, intensive and risky process. Planning
involves aspects like growing your contact base, organising strategically timed
promotions, scheduling time for social network maintenance and monitoring,
ensuring consistency throughout all communications, spreading the information
manually, and so on. It is not enough to build a website and expect your customers
to come to it. Without proper planning, budgeting and management, your internet
marketing strategy will fizzle out. On the other hand, with a little thought and care
and with the proper tools in place, you can get massive returns for relatively little
money and time. It all depends on your approach, determination and perseverance.
for all links that are published. It is the repository of your company’s online content and the destination for accurate and up-to-date information about your offerings.
• An email newsletter should link to your website and social networking profiles. It keeps interested customers informed of relevant news and special offers.
• Online adverts drive web traffic to your website and inform viewers about the characteristics of your brand and product in a few words.
• Proper use of keywords promotes your website and ensures that your online adverts appear to the right people.
• Social media channels can drive word-of-mouth promotion and make your brand more personal. They link to your website, serve as an alternative to email updates and act as the launch pad for viral marketing promotions.
• Mobile marketing lets you communicate with customers on the go, facilitating social networking, using the website and getting updates.
• Finally, web analytics lets you monitor your customers’ online activities and enables you to measure the return on investment in order to evolve and improve your overall strategy to increase returns.
You’re embarking on an exciting and challenging learning experience, one that you and your business will benefit from immensely. Internet marketing is a dynamic field that is going to evolve considerably in the next few years, and now is the best time for South Africans to get aboard the bandwagon. In this chapter, you:
• Learned about the basics of internet marketing and all its components
1 • Learned about the brief history of internet marketing and the companies and people who revolutionised it
• Explored the South African internet marketing context, and the industry as a whole. • Learned about possible future trends
• Discovered how you will integrate all the parts of this course into a holistic m
1. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet
2. First network email: openmap.bbn.com/~tomlinso/ray/firstemailframe.html
3. Statics in internet growth: www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm
6. The short history of internet marketing: www.fastcompany.com/ magazine/139/click-here.html
7. Case study: Dell hell: www.docstoc.com/docs/23282777/Case-Study-DellHell
8. The history of SEO: www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/1008.htm
9. Statistics on online shopping in South Africa: www.southafrica.info/news/ business/141975.htm 10. A repost on mobile usage by bank customers: www.pymnts.com/researchand-markets-the-mobile-internet-in-south-africa-2010-new-report-based-onextensive-surveys-and-backed-by-first-national-bank-20100730005331/
11. Statistics on advertising spend: www.emarketer.com/blog/index.php/tag/ print-and-online-ad-spending/
12. Online spending in South Africa: www.epnetwork.co.za/sa-online-spending. asp
13. Online marketing spend in South Africa: allafrica.com/stories/201007230729. html 14. Web 3.0: www.labnol.org/internet/web-3-concepts-explained/8908/
for all links that are published. It is the repository of your company’s online content and the destination for accurate and up-to-date information about your offerings.
• An email newsletter should link to your website and social networking profiles. It keeps interested customers informed of relevant news and special offers.
• Online adverts drive web traffic to your website and inform viewers about the characteristics of your brand and product in a few words.
• Proper use of keywords promotes your website and ensures that your online adverts appear to the right people.
• Social media channels can drive word-of-mouth promotion and make your brand more personal. They link to your website, serve as an alternative to email updates and act as the launch pad for viral marketing promotions.
• Mobile marketing lets you communicate with customers on the go, facilitating social networking, using the website and getting updates.
• Finally, web analytics lets you monitor your customers’ online activities and enables you to measure the return on investment in order to evolve and improve your overall strategy to increase returns.
You’re embarking on an exciting and challenging learning experience, one that you and your business will benefit from immensely. Internet marketing is a dynamic field that is going to evolve considerably in the next few years, and now is the best time for South Africans to get aboard the bandwagon. In this chapter, you:
• Learned about the basics of internet marketing and all its components
1 • Learned about the brief history of internet marketing and the companies and people who revolutionised it
• Explored the South African internet marketing context, and the industry as a whole. • Learned about possible future trends
• Discovered how you will integrate all the parts of this course into a holistic m
1. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet
2. First network email: openmap.bbn.com/~tomlinso/ray/firstemailframe.html
3. Statics in internet growth: www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm
4. A brief history of the internet: ezinearticles.com/?A-Brief-History-of-InternetMarketing&id=434488
5. Detailed history of internet marketing: ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/708/
Marketing-Internet-HISTORY-INTERNET-MARKETING.html6. The short history of internet marketing: www.fastcompany.com/ magazine/139/click-here.html
7. Case study: Dell hell: www.docstoc.com/docs/23282777/Case-Study-DellHell
8. The history of SEO: www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/1008.htm
9. Statistics on online shopping in South Africa: www.southafrica.info/news/ business/141975.htm 10. A repost on mobile usage by bank customers: www.pymnts.com/researchand-markets-the-mobile-internet-in-south-africa-2010-new-report-based-onextensive-surveys-and-backed-by-first-national-bank-20100730005331/
11. Statistics on advertising spend: www.emarketer.com/blog/index.php/tag/ print-and-online-ad-spending/
12. Online spending in South Africa: www.epnetwork.co.za/sa-online-spending. asp
13. Online marketing spend in South Africa: allafrica.com/stories/201007230729. html 14. Web 3.0: www.labnol.org/internet/web-3-concepts-explained/8908/