It’s still amazing to see how many people believe that the Internet is a magical sales machine. I don’t know if this is why there are so many get-rich-quick schemes online, or because of it.
Marketing, whether online or offline, hasn’t changed in hundreds of years, and likely won’t for decades. Only the tools have changed somewhat.
This graphic shows the traditional marketing cycle, with a slight skew to the online:
Traffic(T) > Conversions(C) > Monetization(M) > Traffic > etc
Traffic: Whether this be website visits, television commercial views, radio ad listens, magazine ad reads, walk-by sidewalk traffic, etc. It’s the first step and means someone gains awareness of you via advertising.
Conversion: This is where interaction occurs and a relationship begins. Whether it’s a website visitor filling in a form, or someone picking up the phone to call you. In marketing speak, the suspect becomes a prospect.
Monetization: This step is where a purchase occurs, and you monetize your initial investment in traffic. For the cycle to continue, you need to invest some of your profit back into obtaining traffic.
I think where most people get hung up, is in the mistaken belief that Internet traffic is cheap or free. The truth is that quality traffic is rather expensive.
On the Internet, you need to promote the right keywords to the right audience, and have a good website to convert your visitors into customers. The most money is made by companies at the top of page 1 of Google, and many companies are competing to get there.The most effective marketing method on the Internet is still Pay-Per-Click Ads – Google Adwords more specifically, and for many, Facebook Ads work quite well as well.
The old adage of "You get what you pay for" holds very true on the Internet.
Andreas Huttenrauch
I didn't invent the Internet, but I sure watched it be born and grow up."
