In today’s fast paced, tech savvy world, we depend on our computers for most of our information needs. To finish our term papers, to refer subjects of interest or even to look up friends who we have lost touch with, we now turn to the internet. Businesses are no different, as can be seen by the popularity of online marketing research, which is just one area where the Web is used to its best advantage.

Online marketing research enables companies to ascertain how well their products and services are performing in the market. It also helps the business gather useful information from detailed customer feedback, which can then be put to use to better the said product or service.

Online marketing research can also help companies analyze current trends and by extrapolating this data, the future movements of the market can be predicted with reasonable accuracy at most times. This is indeed a boon to any business that encourages planning and forward thinking.

Today’s market-place has become increasingly aggressive, with many suppliers vying to outdo each other in terms of sales revenue generated. To retain competitive advantage accurate, relevant information of fellow suppliers is vital. Although this data may not be easily obtainable at all times, online marketing research can help analysts document and tabulate relevant competitor information, whenever possible.

Some businesses have in-house teams that engage in online marketing research. Yet others outsource this function to companies that specialize in the afore-mentioned field. The main criterion that decides if online marketing research is to be conducted in-house or not is the number of qualified support staff available to carry out such research, the anonymity the company wishes to retain and the objectivity it hopes to achieve, when conducting such an analysis.

There are some popular methods which analysts use to carry out online marketing research. Surveys and questionnaires which are sent out to an identified target market generally yields the best results. However sometimes, a random sample of people can also be engaged when conducting such research; and the methodology used would largely depend on the ultimate objective of conducting such research and how appropriate it would be under the given circumstances.

In most instances, today’s market-place is largely consumer driven. Therefore online marketing research can provide key information with regard to customers’ requirements, expectations and feedback. Ongoing data analysis can then be incorporated throughout the entire life cycle of the product/service in question; ensuring that the research carried out is timely, accurate and relevant.

Although many companies around the world are beginning to realize more and more the benefits the World Wide Web has provided for them in terms of marketing, many still are yet to realize its true value. Those companies strive to keep costs at minimum using other promotional channels such as the newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, not realizing the numerous benefits online marketing promotions can provide for the company. Failure to adopt online marketing promotions into their promotional mix is not only due to lack of awareness, but also due to the entrepreneurs focusing on the disadvantages of the online marketing promotions, which are in fact heavily outnumbered by its benefits.

The main benefit online marketing promotions could provide for a business is a great reduction in costs incurred in the marketing communications process. This is greatly due to the site having low maintenance, being easily accessible to customers and taking away the importance of producing commercials and radio advertisements which are very costly to the business. The speed of the internet further adds to the advantages of online marketing promotions as the customers can be accessed instantly. The websites act as virtual stores for the business and are not time bound. Customers could be appealed to 24/7, thereby increasing the chances of attracting customers to the business and its products. Online marketing promotions have the ability to target an extremely vast number of potential clients as the internet provides the companies with access to international individuals as well, thereby providing great scope for international business. The instant nature of the online marketing promotions also allows the business to receive feedback directly from the customers in an attempt to see the success of their promotional efforts, which they would judge based on the increase or decline of sales in other instances.

The main disadvantages of online marketing promotions are that the customers and the business are isolated from each other. The element of personal selling could be lost, which may reduce the business gaining repeat sales. The firm may also have to invest in costly security measures in order to ensure the legitimacy of the transactions made in lieu of the online marketing promotions. The advantages to online marketing promotions however do far exceed the drawback could potentially provide, but they cannot be ignored. The companies maintaining a balanced promotional mix of both online and off-line Medias are bound to reach great success, and in the case of internet promotions the success could come around even from international waters.

Online marketing is also referred to by a string of other names that include, ‘i’, web, ‘e’ and search engine marketing. Companies that engage in this line of business are referred to as online marketing companies. So what do these companies do? Unfortunately or fortunately the answer to that query is both complex and ever changing. It is complex because a firm that sells its goods or services on the web, a firm that does this on behalf of firms or individuals by way of affiliated marketing, as well as firms with websites that facilitate advertising of products and services belonging to other parties are all considered as online marketing companies. It is ever changing simply because that is the nature of the web world and the internet so much so that today you find marketing practices that did not exist less than two years ago. All of this coming into existence and then being fuelled by the rapid development of technology is resulting in the ever increasing reach of online marketing companies and dictating the terms on how modern day business is being conducted.

Online marketing companies by nature of their business reap significant advantages that conventional firms simply cannot. Key amongst this is the cost effectiveness which results from the fact that a website costs next to nothing to set up and maintain. Once this is done a web site can reach a far greater audience than conventional and costlier advertising mediums can. What’s more, online marketing companies also have the advantage of being able to measure and research the numbers as anything on the web can be measured or calculated through systems such as ‘pay per click’ or ‘pay per view’.

The risks associated with online marketing companies and their practice of business is that they depend almost entirely on modern and web based mediums of advertising. This means they will be unable to reach people who are still not online. Reaching those with internet connections can also be affected by slow internet connections available to intended targets. Yet another limitation is that people are still in the process of getting to know how the online world works. While the young and trendy may know the intricacies of a web based world, more mature or conservative audiences may not be so tech savvy enough to be reached via these means. Finally security concerns as well as non ethical practices such as spamming have also caused online marketing companies to suffer from bad publicity and increased difficulty in getting through to potential clients.

Over the last few decades both the competitiveness in the field of marketing and our addiction to the internet has grown exponentially. While the average person gets more and more accustomed and dependent on the internet and the services it provides, the entrepreneurs and the marketers were thinking around the clock to find better and efficient ways of marketing. In the end the marketers came up with an ingenious idea that took marketing to a whole new level, a concept that fully exploits the potential created by the usage of the internet by an average person; online sales marketing.

The fundamental concept of marketing is to make the product you are advertising appealing to the consumers; but in order to do so successfully, one would first need to find means of conveying the message about the product to the masses, and online sales marketing does just that.

With conventional marketing methods such as bill boards, ads on TV, radio, and newspapers an entrepreneur would have to invest a considerable amount on advertising his or her products to get a favorable outcome; especially with the increasing competitive nature in the field of business where marketing is a vital steppingstone for success. However with online sales marketing this was no longer the case.

Most of the online sales marketing methods can be adopted by even a small business owner at a very low cost. The first and foremost ingredient for online sales marketing is to have one’s own website that gives out information about the products he or she sells. The user friendly and attractive nature of the website would be a crucial factor that will determine the success rate of your online marketing. Therefore hiring a trained professional to build your website could be a wise investment; especially because apart from a few periodical updates it would be a one-time investment.

The other common means of online sales marketing would be to post links to your websites on blog sites where they focus on goods and services you sell; for instance if you are an owner of a hardware store you should post links to your website on blogs that discus topics such as household repairs.

One of the most effective methods of online sales marketing is to make your webpage search engine optimized. This will bring in more traffic to your website, because whenever a query is made about the products you sell in a search engine, your webpage would be among the top in the list.

Online marketing business refers to business being carried out on a web based platform and is a rapidly growing sphere. As more and more people are being reachable through the web, it makes perfect sense to sell a certain product or service, or even lifestyles, to target audiences through this medium. Most businesses now also own a website. Initially with the advent of the internet age, these websites functioned purely as an information source. Now however they have gone a step beyond by directly marketing to their customer base. In fact with each passing day it is becoming increasingly difficult to assess if a website is there to provide mere information with regards to a company or if the information therein is facilitating and generating business. For example the website of a bank will furnish information with regards to its products and services. However if the information therein results in establishing a new client relationship that leads to a person opening an account with the bank or subscribing to a facility, there is a strong case that a business transaction has occurred. Such websites are however different to websites established purely to generate sales. It is this latter segment that ideally qualifies to be considered as an online marketing business.

An online marketing business will feature a website that draws in customers who want to buy or sell a product or service. Alternately an online marketing business can also be an affiliated marketing business that seeks to sell products or services belonging to numerous other individuals or firms for a commission. Both such examples are strong examples of an online marketing business.

The advantages of an online marketing business are numerous but key amongst them is the cost factor. Conventionally businesses used to promote their goods and services through traditional advertising mediums which are both costly and don’t always reach the bulk of the intended audiences. Online marketing businesses by nature of how they operate and the flexibility of the internet can target and identify the exact target audience, thereby enjoying a higher chance of generating business. An online marketing business also has the opportunity to reach beyond border and cater to the entire world.

One significant drawback of an online marketing business at least in the present context is its inability to offer a more personalized service. However if structured properly this too can be taken care of by sending out actual sales people to secure a deal after the initial contact has been made online.