Online Marketing in the Philippines: What Exactly is Internet Marketing?

If you want to be a real marketer, you have to know and understand what exactly Internet marketing, online marketing, web marketing or digital marketing is. Internet marketing may have different meanings to different people but its exact meaning is what will guide aspiring internet marketers towards real success.

Internet marketing will help us make money online, but making money online is not at all Internet marketing. In the Philippines, I’ve encountered some self-proclaimed Internet marketing experts or gurus who are recruiting people by enticing them with their dollar earnings. Alas, a lot of Filipinos are easily attracted with cash, and when they see someone who’s earning dollars, they jump on following that person even if his scheme is fraudulent.

Online marketing is not all about creating a website, driving traffic to it, placing ads, and earning profit from conversion. Marketing online is not all about selling affiliate products and earning from commissions. And of course it’s not all about shouting on social networking sites and other social media places to get attention.

So what exactly is Internet marketing?

Internet marketing is marketing on the Internet, bringing all the concepts and fundamentals of marketing online. Just like traditional marketing, it involves not only promotion or advertising but also the quality of product, the reasonableness of price, the efficiency of access, and the psychology of people. Internet marketing may involve techniques and tactics that can only be done online or on the Internet, but it uses the same principles and long-term strategies of marketing a business, a product, a brand or even a cause.

For example, search engine marketing involves not only analyzing the search engines and optimizing your website to rank higher in the search engine result pages, but it also involves analyzing the problems of your target human audience who are search engine users and providing them with useful content or solutions that would really satisfy their needs.

Furthermore, in social media marketing, social media marketers should not only be equipped with social media tools and social media technical knowledge, but they should also be knowledgeable in building up good and lasting relationships with people just like in offline marketing.

As you understand, the only difference between “marketing” and “Internet marketing” is the Internet.

There are many forms and types of Internet marketing. These include search engine marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, affiliate marketing, display marketing, viral marketing, and content marketing. Search engine marketing can also be Paid Search Marketing (PPC marketing) or Organic Search Marketing (Search Engine Optimization or SEO). These various types of online marketing use different styles, techniques and tactics, but they still use the same basic principles, fundamentals and long-terms strategies such as satisfying customers and making a business profitable in the long run.

Internet marketing is big.

Yes, Internet marketing is really big. SEO is big, social media marketing is big – but they are just parts of the bigger online marketing world. To claim oneself as an Internet marketing expert is claiming oneself as an expert in SEO, PPC advertising, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, and other forms of Internet marketing.

Internet marketers choose the particular field of Internet marketing which they want to specialize. That is why they are called SEO specialist, PPC marketing specialist or social media specialist. Successful Internet marketing companies hire these various specialists to build one effective and efficient Internet marketing team.

Of course there are also Internet marketing professionals that are flexible and can do several forms of Internet marketing. There are some who can do both SEO and social media marketing. There are also Internet marketers who are good in content marketing and at the same time skilled in advanced SEO strategies.

Internet marketers can apply their knowledge and skills on their own business and website or they can also offer their services to various clients and companies. Either way, they can create a profitable and sustainable business as long as their customers or audiences are consistently satisfied with what they get.

Online marketers should also adhere to business and marketing ethics just like other professionals.

If you want to be a successful Internet marketer, you have to understand the entirety of Internet marketing. You may not be able to master all the forms of Internet marketing but at least you can know how to put them all together to achieve your online marketing goals. You may also outsource other online marketing tasks and form a team. Remember that collaboration is one important key to Internet marketing success. You have to learn how to combine marketing (i.e., product, price, place, promotion and people) and Internet (websites, search engines, social media, web applications, etc.) to form a successful Internet marketing campaign.

So, what exactly is Internet marketing and who exactly are the Internet marketers? You must already know the answer by now.