The whole new world of Internet Marketing
Why Internet marketing-
Internet is everywhere! It has brought the world to footsteps. Data which took years of research is now easily available with a click! From cooking recipes to minute- by- minute update of a cricket match, internet has made those things possible, which were difficult to imagine a few decades ago. Along with information, internet has also opened doors for aspirants who see themselves virtually working “online.” With almost every business emerging online, experts are required to sell the products and services, better than their competitive counterparts. You can draw a salary ranging from 1.8 lpa for a beginner and rise upto 4-6 lpa within a span of 3-5 years, subject to trending market and skill sets.
How to begin with it-
The most difficult phase in this career, is how to begin with it! Unlike other popular courses, very few universities in India provide courses related to Internet marketing. Ironically, even books provide little to no assistance pertaining to the fast changing nature of Internet. By the time, the books gets printed and published, it is far more likely that the total scenario of Internet has changed. There are a few good courses and certifications available which can do some help. However, in this particular field, self help is the best help! One needs to spend at least 4-6 hrs. daily understanding how, what & who of internet marketing.
- How- Internet marketing works?
- What- are the ways for making it work?
- Who- are the target audiences?
Qualification and skills
Although there is no conventional way of learning internet marketing like other popular and orthodox courses, an MBA along with a course in creative writing should do the trick. With customers turning to internet for almost everything, ranging from day to day items such as food products to electronic items and even something as huge as house- hunting, there is a need for optimum search engines along with proficiency in digital designing and web programming.
An internet marketing professional needs to be proficient in subjects like data analysis, graphics and statistics. Not only sales, but also all attempt to create sales can be easily tracked and evaluated. For that, all the data needs to be collected properly and trends need to be identified. This will definitely help in investigating flaws and improving the same thru enhancing strategies.
Another important aspect of internet marketing is blogging, social networking and email marketing. Advertising your products thru social media have now become an obligatory part of any marketing strategy. Internet promotions thru various blogging media such as twitter, popular social networking sites such as Facebook and other mobile medias such as whatsapp have become so powerful that even national election strategists couldn’t avoid campaigning on these platforms. Sending newsletters on regular basis, updating company blogs, maintaining company information on social sites, sending regular marketing emails (covered below in details) to a focused group of persons and regular customers or visitors are an integral part of internet marketing.
Not so popular strategy-
There is a plethora of books easily available on the internet for online marketing. However, one thing which no book would ever be able to teach you is how to use the power of “human touch” entirely. By now, we know that the most important part of internet marketing is a “human/ personal touch.” However, one gets to learn and polish this skill only thru experience. The finest example of an unsuccessful internet marketing strategy one can ever give is email marketing and bulk messaging. Though bulk messaging may not completely qualify as an online marketing strategy, the fact that most of us do not entertain those unsolicited spam mail mails we receive in the mail boxes is no hidden secret. As an internet marketer, one has to take an extra care while drafting such e- mails. Here, comes the role of the above- mentioned “ personal touch.” Traditional emails and incorrect marketing offers could be replaced by company trends, articles, more accurate and genuine promotional deals and newsletters.
Its all about “Traffic”-
No matter how wonderful your products are, how flowery your blog is, or how wonderful your claimed services are, your business growth strategy will fail poorly if you do not get traffic. Your brand needs to trigger your potential customer in both the ways, realistically as well as emotionally. You can buy this ‘trigger’ thru PPC (pay per click), SEM (search engine marketing) and other online advertisings. Another economical approach is appointing an apt PR.
We operate in a cross-platform world where tablets and smartphones are taking over. A person browses internet for no particular reason. He could just be standing in a bus queue, waiting for someone over a coffee, travelling or simply because he wants to shop and is lazy to go to a mall. A well maintained site channelized properly plays the event changing role here! Thus, all the sites have to inevitably be optimized for smartphone and tablet visitors.
Resources-
There are plenty of free and online courses available on Internet marketing. One can obtain a fair idea for the course. A few ones are so good that even experts use them to keep themselves updated on regular basis. To name a few, one can refer the courses on internet marketing on the following websites:
1. 2015 Google Online Marketing Challenge < https://www.google.com/onlinechallenge/dmc/prep.html >
2. MIT OpenCourseWare | Free Online Course Materials
< http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/find-by-topic/ >
3. HubSpot Academy: Marketing Courses, Training & Education
< http://academy.hubspot.com/user-guides >
Although the aforesaid courses being popular enough among the circle of digital/ internet marketers, it is important to note that these free online courses do not usually result in academic credit.
Conclusion-
If you have a creative mind that loves analysis, and you are a self-starter with a knack of constant learning and a go- getter attitude, you are bound to fare brilliantly in any domain of the internet marketing field.
