Companies have many options for communicating with prospective customers. The Internet has become the primary medium for reaching potential clients anywhere across the globe. A broad range of online marketing methods is available to you for promoting your website. Strategies vary in their effectiveness and hopefully this website will give you some ideas as to which will be most appropriate for your needs.



Benefits to Consumers::

(1) Convenient— customers can shop 24 hours a day from anywhere without going to the store physically.

(2) Interactive & Immediate— consumers can interact with the seller's site to find the information, products, or services they desire, then order or download them on the spot.

Benefits to Marketers::

(1) Customer Relationship Building— companies can interact with customers to learn more about their needs and to build customer databases.

(2) Reduce Costs & Increase Efficiency— avoid the expense of maintaining a physical store, costs of rent, insurance, and utilities. Digital catalogs cost less to produce than printing and mailing paper catalogs.

(3) Greater Flexibility— unlike a paper catalog whose products and prices are fixed until the next printing, an online catalog can be adjusted daily or even hourly, adapting product availability, prices, and promotions to match changing market conditions.

(4) Access to Global Markets— The Internet is a global medium, which allows buyers and sellers to click from one country to another in seconds.

Four Ways to Conduct Online Marketing::

(1) Creating an Electronic Storefront— companies can buy space on a commercial online service or it can open its own Web site. These sites are designed to engage consumers in an interaction that will move them closer to a purchase or other marketing outcome.

(2) Placing Ads Online— companies can place online ads in three ways::

(a) classified ads in special sections of major commercial online services.

(b) ads in certain Internet newsgroups set up for commercial purposes.

(c) buy online ads that pop up while people are surfing the web. Such ads include banner ads, pop-up windows, "tickers" (banners moving across screen), and "road-blocks" (full-screen ads that users must go through to get to other screens they wish to view)

(3) Participating in Internet Forums, Newsgroups, or Web Communities— companies may participate in or sponsor Internet forums, newsgroups, and bulletin boards that appeal to specific special interest groups.

(4) Use Online E-mail or Web casting— companies can send out customer newsletters, special product or promotion offers based on customer buying histories. Web casting or "push" programming delivers information of interest to consumers' desktops.