Internet Marketing (Research Design Report Include)

Research Statement

This report will asses the effectiveness of various internet marketing

approaches effecting profitability.

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to explore new strategies that have emerged resulting from companies marketing their products on the wide range of the World Wide Web.

Background and Significance

The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee (“World Wide Web,” 2006, Para. 1). He started a whole new way of doing things in business. Companies now can use the power of the internet to sell their products. Today thousands of sites can advertise their goods on websites such as Myspace, Facebook, and such search engines like Google. Many of these sites offer free advertising, which is even better for the companies because there is no cost involved. “Online advertising and sponsored searches are both fantastic tools in their own right - with clear advantages for brand building and driving both on- and offline sales”(“Revolution,” 2006, para. 1). Theses new tactics that companies are using are and can have a huge impact on their profitability. “Increasingly, search marketers are looking at the use of search for branding purposes and to drive purchases offline - using a more holistic approach” (“Revolution,” 2006, para 3). For example, if a company is offering a low-cost car painting service and getting ready to embark on a big budget TV campaign for the service, can the company be sure people will remember the web site flashed up at the end of their ad? A research study was recently carried out in France that indicated that consumers often remember the ad, but forget the web address- more than eight out of 10 users will turn to a search engine when trying to find more information. If a company web site is not listed high in the search results, ultimately one can just imagine how many customers that could be missing out on the ad. This could even have a negative effect on the brand. Research found that when a user could not find the advertiser’s website through a search after seeing its ad offline, almost half of the users thought negatively about the brand. This is why it is critical that a company’s website is found high in the search results. “Yahoo! Search Marketing will continue to provide sponsored listings that are qualified and relevant to users - as well as develop innovative products and services to help businesses realize their full potential”(“Revolution,” 2006, para 7). This is just one of the many companies that is using search marketing to their advantage. This report will further asses the effectiveness of various internet marketing approaches effecting profitability.

Review of Literature

“In today’s competitive market, you must leverage all the tools available in order to create a truly comprehensive marketing program (“Leveraging the Power”, n.d., para.1). It is very difficult to understand the internet, but if the tools are understood, then one may use them to capitalize on their product or service. Many people in today’s business communities are looking to the internet to increase the companies’ client base, profits, and level of competition with competing companies. A company must have a plan of attack before jumping into the depths of the internet market. “You cannot approach Internet marketing blindly. Moreover, you cannot utilize only one or two tools in order to enjoy the best Internet marketing success” (Krawder, 2007, para.2). The companies that are soaring the highest nowadays are the ones who are up-to-date with the internet and its services. They are taking advantage of what they now understand and know about the World Wide Web Be. “You can now generate leads, increase customer response, and boost brand awareness with internet marketing tools such as: email marketing, online advertising, search engine optimization, and mircosite campaigns” (“Leveraging the Power”, n.d., para. 2).

An extremely valuable and measurable marketing tool is internet marketing. With the proper strategy a company can drive an exceptional targeted traffic, easily track results, and run short-term campaigns for a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing campaigns (“Leveraging the Power”, n.d., para. 2). There are many different ways to catch and pull in the clientele that a company is searching for, but before choosing what type of internet marketing approach is best for the company’s money, the marketing team must know some basic steps. They should start off by finding a target market and look into regional ad buys, also they ought to research discounts that internet sources are offering (“Advertising isn’t cheap,” n.d., para.1-4).

One good way to start is by advertising on large search engines such as Yahoo, Google, and Web Crawler. This is called paid keyword search and contextual adverting, but much larger known as SEM which is the abbreviation for Search Engine Marketing. This is an ideal way for the small businessman or business owner to get the most bang out of his or hers buck. A business owner can buy little ads that come up when one searches a related topic to their product. For instance, a company is specializing in manufacturing windows and siding. If a person is looking to replace their windows or siding and is searching a search engine to figure out how to go about doing it, when that person enters the keyword “siding” a little ad for that company specializing in that product or service is going to come up. SEM adverting is a fast growing way to advertise. It is so fast that “according to SEMPO's annual "State of Search Engine Marketing" survey, with North American advertisers spending $9.4 billion on search engine marketing in 2006, a 62% increase over 2005 spending” (Sherman, 2007, para.1).

A company can pay as low as a couple of dimes for this kind of adverting. This is a relatively cheap way for a company who is just starting out to advertise. “Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing, the two leading paid-search operations on the Internet, plus links to lots of articles, books, sites, and other resources you can tap into for building