In a fast-paced society, everything has to be done in an instant. Everything costs more. Everything moves faster. The good thing is that we can have anything we want in just one click. We have the different technological advances right within our reach – time efficient and cost effective- which make our way of life more convenient. All of these realities of modern society have been in the name of progress. One of the most popular, most obvious technological advances at present is the Internet, which provides the users convenience from entertainment to education and from personal concerns to business matters. Indeed, the Internet introduces many unique benefits to marketing including low costs in distributing information and media to a global audience. Internet marketing, as of 2007, is growing faster than other types of media. Since exposure, response and overall efficiency of Internet media is easier to track than traditional “off-line” media, through the use of web analytics for instance, Internet marketing can offer a greater sense of accountability for advertisers. Increasingly, however, marketers and their clients are becoming aware of the need to measure the collaborative effects of marketing, that is, how the Internet affects in-store sales.
One of the benefits associated with Internet marketing is the availability of great amounts of information. Compared to traditional media, such as print, radio and TV, Internet marketing can have a relatively low cost of entry. Consumers can access the Internet and research products, as well as purchase them at any hour of any day. Companies that use Internet marketing can also save money because of a reduced need for a sales force. Overall, Internet marketing can help a business’ expansion from a local market to a national or international one, faster. It continues to grow in its importance as most companies have been making substantial commitments to add Internet marketing to their marketing mix. Other benefits are measurability, flexibility, and affordability . Internet marketing has over other traditional marketing outlets, and these benefits are especially attractive to home based businesses.
The effect on the ad industry itself has been profound. Internet marketing has had a large impact on several industries including music, banking, and flea markets, as well as the advertising industry itself. As Advertisers increase and shift more of their budgets online, it is now overtaking radio in terms of market share. In the music industry, many consumers have begun buying and downloading music files (e.g. MP3s) over the Internet in addition to buying CDs. Unique items that could previously be found at flea markets are being sold on eBay instead. eBay has also affected the prices in the industry. Buyers and sellers often look at prices on the website before going to flea markets and the eBay price often becomes what the item is sold for. More and more flea market sellers are putting their items up for sale online and running their business out of their homes.
Internet Marketing, however, requires customers to use newer technologies than traditional media, the reason why not all people may get the message. Low speed Internet connections are one barrier. If companies build overly large or complicated web pages, some Internet users struggle to download the information on dial up connections or mobile devices. From the buyer’s perspective, another limitation is the inability of shoppers to touch, smell, taste or try-on tangible goods before making an online purchase. However, it is an industry standard for e-commerce vendors to have liberal return policies and in store pick up services to reassure customers.
