As with other telecommunication tools, this Internet is put to practical use by various industries to expose their products and services to the great majority. Dubbed as Internet marketing, this rapidly growing advertising medium encompasses a wide range of tools, formats, platforms, and strategies. Although new and innovative marketing strategies related to the Internet continue to emerge and take shape, Internet marketing can be broadly divided into eight various types.
Very similar to television ads, display advertising works by showing banners on the webpages of the host website. Publishers or the owners of the website are paid by product owners or advertisers according to the extent of reach of the webpage. To evaluate exposure, the number of clicks on the banner or the number of impressions on the page is monitored.
The next two types of Internet marketing attempt two improve exposure by way of influencing search results of search engines such as Google. Search engine marketing (SEM) directly influences the search results by paid placement or contextual advertising on the search engine. Search engine optimization (SEO), on the other hand, indirectly influences search results by natural and unpaid means such as webpage keyword optimization. From the latter strategy, another type evolved known as content marketing. This type seeks to convert exposed prospects into buyers by providing informative content.
The rise and influence of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter made social media marketing a very potent tool for advertising campaigns. These websites allow advertisers to post links of their sites so as to increase traffic. Even before social media websites became popular, free email providers such as Yahoo! and Google have also become vehicles for another type of Internet
marketing known as email marketing.
Finally, Internet marketing can further be classified as referral and affiliate marketing. These two types of marketing practice reward publishers who are able to influence successful purchases by way of online referrals and affiliate ad campaigns, respectively.
