Article Marketing – Page 7 – TP Javeton WebNet

Multifaceted email marketing

If you are already engaged in promoting products and services via email marketing you may already realize the potential this type of marketing holds; and if so you probably also realize that it is not reasonable to expect your business to thrive with email marketing as the only marketing strategy you opt to utilize. Of course this is not unusual since most businesses do not typically have a great deal of success unless they make the decision to incorporate more than one marketing type into their overall marketing strategy. With such other marketing options in mind, this article will examine a few of these Internet marketing alternatives which have, and can be used, in conjunction with email marketing.

Email marketing in itself can be multi-faceted in the sense that it may include sending out mass emails, distributing digital newsletters, creating relevant website content, and even offering correspondence courses via email. Implementing only one of these email marketing strategies may result in a small increase in either website traffic or sales, but implementing more than one strategy at a time can create a more significant effect.

Similarly it is definitely worthwhile to incorporate other types of Internet marketing into promoting your business on the Web if you are not already doing so; because this can help you to enjoy a greater degree of success if you apply the strategies correctly. Some of the other types of marketing strategies you may wish to employ include placing banner ads, participating in industry related message boards and starting an affiliate program.

Banner ad placements

Of the other types of Internet marketing available, placing banner ads may be the most expensive option. In many cases your business will have to pay another website for the privilege of placing your banner ad on their website. Choosing a website which sells products which complement, without competing with, your business is worthwhile. However, there are some free options for banner ads including exchanges, as long as you are not required to place more than one banner ad on your website for each time your banner ad appears on another lineup, as doing so can create a very crowded and confusing site with will drown out any content you provide.

Additionally, such agreements could compromise your ability to control the type of website(s) your banner advertisements are displayed on; and for this reason it is worthwhile to pay for ad space so you can have more control over where your banner ads are displayed.

Participation in industry-related forums can be another way to promote your business online. Message boards are online meeting places where individuals who share a common interest can get together to discuss those interests as well as pertinent issues in addition to asking and answering questions from each other. Most message boards allow users to place a link to their website in their signature line. If you regularly participate on an industry-related message board and include a signature line with a link to your website you can reach a high concentration of members of your target audience.

Message boards & affiliate marketing

When using message boards to promote your business it is very important to follow all message board guidelines and to avoid techniques which may be deemed as spam, such as posting your link when it is not appropriate, introducing off-topic information, blatantly promoting a particular product/service, or inserting hyperlinks where they are not welcomed or acceptable.

Last, but certainly limiting the number of marketing options to those mentioned here, is the affiliate marketing program which is another type of online marketing that can be used in conjunction with email marketing. Affiliate marketing involves allowing website owners to place advertisements for your business on their website. These website owners are known as affiliates, and each time one of their advertisements causes an Internet user to click through the advertisement or purchase an item, the affiliate is compensated by the merchant (in this case, you of you are the one providing links and banners) who created the product/service to which that clicked link leads.

This compensation schedule makes affiliate marketing incredibly cost effective. Essentially you do not pay your affiliates unless the advertising generates a specific reaction from Internet users such as making a purchase or generating website traffic. The amount of compensation should be determined beforehand and may be based on a flat fee or a percentage of the sale. Business owners have to embed code into the affiliate ads to determine which ads are generating profit or traffic so they know which affiliates to compensate, but this information is also useful for determining which advertisements are most effective.

More marketing methods

The above marketing types are a few additional options business owners and entrepreneurs can use to compliment their email marketing efforts on the Web and fine tune the overall marketing strategy. Other marketing types which we do not have space or time to discuss in this post are Article Marketing, Niche Marketing, Blog Marketing, Video Presentations, Pod Casts, Network Marketing and Multi-level Marketing (MLM), among others. Simply do a search for any of these other marketing methods if you need more information. Good luck!

Internet marketers debate

There has long been a debate among Internet marketers about whether or not advertisements should be made a part of marketing emails which are sent to subscribers; and more specifically, whether such ads and promotions in the form of product links and banners would be considered acceptable to the overall marketing community. The topic has been hotly debated for years, with some Internet marketers being strongly in favor of placing advertisements in email marketing while others having been strongly against the use of any kind of advertisements in email marketing.

As is often the case with most debates, there is the group which consists of those who take a more neutral stance and therefore are not either firmly for or against the use of advertisements in email marketing campaigns. This article will take a look at both sides of the argument in an effort to raise the level of awareness about this subject, invoke reasonable thought on the issue, and allow the reader to formulate his/her own opinions on whether or not this subject is worthy of discussion and the attention paid to it by marketers as well as other entities, not the least of which is the FTC.

Two sides of the debate

Let’s start with the group of Internet marketers who are strongly favor the inclusion of advertisements in emails that are distributed for marketing purposes. Those who favor the use of advertisements view the sale of advertising space in email marketing materials, such as emails or enewsletters, as a way to generate profit from any given email marketing campaign based on the belief that this tactic puts less pressure on an Internet marketer to meet expectations of email distribution list members, since emails are already generating a profit, even if they do not entice the email recipients to make a purchase.

On the other hand, those marketers who are firmly against the use of advertisements in email marketing are of the opinion that such inclusions make the emails seem more like spam and less like interesting and valuable information which just happens to include marketing materials. Those on this side of the fence feel as though any advertisement in an email marketing campaign should be subtle advertising for the products and services offered by the distributor of the email and not advertisements for businesses who have paid for an advertising spot in a given email. They believe the original emails are acceptable but additions to them are spam.

Could neutrality be a guide?

Still others are someone in between (on the fence) because they haven’t taken a position in this debate, perhaps for several reasons; but some of the reasons they have not taken a position could be revealing in the sense that any of these reasons – or none of them – could determine whether or not marketing emails that include advertisements is as important an issue as the the two previous groups have insisted it is. In other words, if the main reason for this group’s neutrality is indifference then there is not much to be revealed; but if the main reason is that, legality or best practices adhered to by the email marketer renders his/her emails acceptable whether or not it contains advertisements, then perhaps the rest of us might need to follow their example.

In most cases these ‘neutral’ individuals might believe it is acceptable for advertisements to appear in marketing emails as long as the ads do not overshadow other, more useful and valuable information which, in most email marketing campaigns, is the original intent of such emails. Understanding therefore, that this middle of the road concept could define the position of certain Internet marketers who adhere to it as not firmly for or against placing advertisements in emails which are distributed for marketing purposes as long as the email marketer (email sender) adheres to industry best practices and does not violate the CAN-SPAM Act.

In the grey

In view of the above, it is important to point out here that information in this article is vague by design because it leaves more of an opportunity for you, the reader, to form your own opinion about this issue. Such vagueness is important because the subject is largely a matter of personal preference where each reader must decide for him/herself whether or not s/he agrees with either side or chooses to take a middle of the road stance. As readers of this article may have opinions that could be influenced by whether or not they are considered to be marketers or consumers we understand the delicate nature and significance of the subject matter and how their preferences can be impacted.

One the one hand consumers may be less likely to appreciate advertisements in emails intended for marketing purposes because they might feel it distracts from the original products. On the other hand however, marketers may be more apt to be accepting of such advertising because they can understand the financial gain which is possible. So when evaluating opinions about the use of advertising, it is important to note whether or not the individual offering an opinion is involved in advertising, as it may be more worthwhile to seek out opinions from consumers since they are more likely to share the beliefs of your potential customers.

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