Do not spam, but advertise

There is a fine line between advertising and spam. Unfortunately, many business owners don't realise the difference. Although a well-planned internet marketing campaign can help attract new customers and retain existing ones, spam can alienate both new and existing customers. This can have a very negative impact on a company's profit margins.

This article examines some basic internet marketing tactics, such as banner ads, email campaigns and message board posts, and explains how each of these tactics can quickly turn from clever advertising to spam.

One of the most common tactics used in conjunction with an internet marketing strategy is banner advertising. These adverts usually appear at the top of websites and span the entire width of the website. They have been given the name banner adverts because of their appearance, but banner adverts can refer to adverts of all sizes and shapes that appear in different places on a website. Banner adverts can in many cases be placed as part of an exchange or affiliate marketing campaign, but they can also be purchased by the business owner themselves.

In a banner exchange, a business owner publishes a banner advert on their website and in return receives the opportunity from another business owner to display their banner advert on the other website. These agreements can be signed between business owners who have complementary businesses on an individual basis or as part of exchange programmes facilitated by a third party.

With affiliate marketing, a partner places an advertising banner for your company and receives a payment in return if the advertising banner achieves a desired result, e.g. more visitors to the website or a sale. The terms of these contracts are set in advance and are usually based on a pay-per-impression, pay-per-click, pay-per-sale or pay-per-lead basis.

Now that you know what banner advertising is, you should also know that it looks like spam when overused. Placing your banner adverts on a few websites that are likely to attract a similar audience to your target audience is smart marketing. However, placing your banner adverts on any website that displays the advert regardless of the desired audience is spam. Users who think your banner ad is everywhere will take your business less seriously and be less likely to buy products or services from you because of your banner ad.

Email campaigns can also be very useful in the internet marketing industry. Sending regular e-newsletters with information and promotions, short educational email courses or emails with discounts on products and services are examples of these efforts. Customers who have subscribed to your email list are less likely to view these emails as spam and are more likely to purchase additional items and services from your company as a result of this marketing strategy.

This type of marketing is also beneficial for potential customers who have specifically requested more information about your products and services. Email recipients who have not requested information, on the other hand, are more likely to view your messages as spam. Spam is almost always seen as the fraudulent collection of email addresses and the use of these addresses to send mass emails.

Finally, message boards offer a great way for business owners to advertise for free that will be seen by members of their target audience. It's worth signing up to message boards and online forums for your business if the items and services you offer appeal to a particular niche. Here you will find a large number of Internet users who may be interested in your products.

Consider including a link to your organisation's website in your signature or sharing it if it is relevant to the discussion. However, you should read the forum guidelines carefully to make sure you are not doing anything inappropriate. This is a smart marketing strategy. On the other hand, if you reply to every message with a link to your website that has nothing to do with the topic, other users are likely to see this as spam. They are less likely to visit your website via the links you post if they perceive your posts as spam.