What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing is the promotion of a company and its products or services through online
tools that generate leads, drive traffic, and boost sales.

Also called online marketing or digital marketing, internet marketing relies on digital
channels to distribute promotional messages.

Internet marketing is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of marketing strategies and
avenues.

From emails, search engines, social media posts, and blog articles, there’s one common
theme among all of these tactics: They all focus on delivering content.

With content marketing, gone are the days of hopeful sales pitches and traditional marketing.

Now, businesses can target their audience with pinpoint accuracy and provide useful
information that resonates.

This is perfect because that’s exactly what today’s consumers want.

People don’t want to hear about products and services that don’t interest them.

From installing adblockers to clicking on “Skip Ads” buttons, today’s shoppers are more
discerning about the information they’re willing to consume.

Content marketing delivers meaningful information that solves users’ problems and is
accessible on consumer demand.

Content Marketing vs. Traditional Advertising

Can you believe there was a time when salesmen knocked on strangers’ doors to sell
encyclopedias?

Today, we don’t even like it much when our friends knock on our doors unannounced.

The fact is, traditional marketing (or selling) doesn’t work anymore.

Its approach is to essentially push products and information onto people to pressure them into
buying.

And frankly, people are over it.

You know it’s true because you yourself have been bombarded with radio ads, television,
commercials, billboards, and even phone calls touting products that don’t interest you in the
least.
While traditional ads may still work in some situations, the internet has changed the way
consumers shop.

Now, armed with infinite amounts of information at their fingertips, users can take a more
proactive approach to finding solutions to their problems.

They can search for the products that meet their needs — and avoid the ones that don’t.

We can all agree that ads are annoying. They interrupt our focus and take us away from our
journey of finding content that is actually useful.

Not only that, they’re no longer the way people want to learn about new products.

Rather than intruding in consumers’ lives, brands and marketers need to take a different
approach.

They should ask questions first and give answers second, rather than the other way around.

That’s where content marketing comes in.

Brands can research the specific needs of their target audience and create tailored content that
inspires, educates, or alleviates a problem for their prospects.

Through a series of searches, people can find that online content on their own terms, rather
than having it forced on them.

If the content provides value, they’ll keep returning for more.

With content marketing, the user is in the driver’s seat. They decide whether they want to
engage with the brand and share the information with their social network.

This enables businesses to develop deep, meaningful relationships with their audience that
are based on trust and authority.

When they decide they’re ready, those loyal followers can convert to leads – on their own
terms.

This is what happens when you put the consumer’s needs above your own.

When you deliver content with the intention of providing valuable information, you’ll be
rewarded with their business (and their loyalty) in the end.

Fundamentally, that is what internet marketing is all about.