E-Marketing, also referred to as internet marketing, web marketing, online marketing or I-marketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. Over the years, the internet has brought media to a global audience, allowing people from all over the world to access things they never thought that they could. The interactive nature of E-marketing, in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium. E-marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it not only refers to the Internet, e-mail, and wireless media, but it includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems.

E-marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, this includes design, development, advertising and sales, it also refers to the placement of media along different stages of the customer experience during online purchases or generally on the internet. It employs search engines, banner ads, email marketing and Web 2.0 strategies in order to market effectively to browsers worldwide.

Business Models

E-Marketing is often associated with several different business models, which are:

* E-commerce – where goods are sold directly to consumers or businesses online

* Publishing – the sale of advertising

* Lead-based websites – an organization that generates value by acquiring sales leads from its website

* Affiliate marketing – where a product or service is developed by one person, and sold by other active sellers for a share of the profits

* Local internet marketing – the process of a locally based company, traditionally selling to utilize the internet to find and nurture relationships

* Blackhat marketing – a form of internet marketing which employs deceptive, abusive or less than truthful methods to drive web traffic to a website or affiliate marketing offer.

There are a wide variety of business models based on the specific needs of each person or the business that launches an E-marketing campaign.

The One-to-one approach

The targeted user is often typically browsing the Internet alone; therefore the marketing messages can reach them more personally. This approach is used mainly within search marketing, where the advertisements you see are based on search engine keywords that have been entered by users.

E-Marketing and specific interests

E-marketing and geo marketing typically place an emphasis on marketing that appeals to a specific behaviour or interest, as opposed reached out to a more broadly-defined selection. Marketers have the luxury of targeting by activity and geolocation. For example, a kayak company can post advertisements on kayaking and canoeing websites with the full knowledge that the audience has a related interest.

E-marketing differs from magazine advertisements, where the goal is to appeal to the projected demographic of the periodical, but rather the advertiser has knowledge of the target audience— people who engage in certain activities (e.g., uploading pictures, contributing to blogs) — so the company does not rely on the expectation that a certain group of people will be interested in its new product or service.

Geo targeting

Geo targeting, or geo marketing, within the E-marketing world is a method employed in order to determine the geolocation, or physical location, of the individual visiting your website. By doing this, geolocation software can then allow the visitor to see advertisements specific to their location, whether that is their country, region/state or city. This is very beneficial to all marketers, as it allows people to see advertising that is specific and personal to them, making them more likely to buy their products or services.

The advantages of E-marketing

E-marketing is relatively inexpensive when you take into consideration the amount of people you have the potential to reach not just every now and then, but 24/7. Nowadays, companies can reach a wide audience for a small fraction of traditional advertising budgets. Due to how E-marketing works, it allows consumers to research and purchase products and services at their own convenience, therefore, businesses have the advantage of appealing to consumers in a medium that can bring results quickly. The strategy and overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns depend on business goals.

E-marketers also have the advantage of measuring statistics easily and very cheaply, nearly every aspect of an E-marketing campaign can be traced, tested and measured. The advertisers in question can employ a variety of techniques in order to do this, including pay-per-impression, pay-per-click, pay-per-play or pay-per-action. This means that marketers can determine easily which messages or offers are more appealing to visitors and browsers all over the world. This kind of accuracy and measurement is something that can not be as easily employed with other forms of advertising, such as billboard advertising or television advertising.

The Effect on the Industry

Nowadays, thanks to increased broadband speeds and people growing trust in the Internet, E-marketing has really taken off into a whole new dimension. More and more banks are now offering the ability to perform their banking tasks online over the Internet. Online banking appeals to consumers because it is faster and considered a lot more convenient than visiting bank branches. With more and more people using the internet for even small tasks, it makes E-marketing all the more effective on an increasingly wide range of products and services. Other changes such as Internet Auction sites, allowing individuals to purchase rare and unique items that were once limited to being sold on flea markets.

In addition to the major effect internet marketing has had on the technology industry, the effect on the advertising industry itself has been profound. In just a few years, online advertising has grown to be worth tens of billions of dollars annually. PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that US$16.9 billion was spent on Internet marketing in the U.S. in 2006.