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When in social or networking events, I’m usually asked what I do for a living, which is kind of a tricky question to answer. If I reply that I work for an “Internet Marketing company”, I usually get a glazed-back look of mixed understanding. So naturally I proceed to tell them that I’m the guy that invented the annoying pop-up or spam e-mail, which typically leads me to dodge a punch in the nose. (That’s a Joke…but not too far from the truth.)

But in all seriousness, Internet marketing is loosely defined for most people in that they aren’t sure what it is or what it does. This becomes evidently clear in front of new prospects that want to know more about getting their business online and promoting their business into cyberspace. Even responses such as “We help your company get listed in search engines” or “we help customers find you online” is typically not descriptive enough for the guy that has been purchasing radio and yellowpage advertising for the last couple of decades.

This is unfortunate because the above phenomenon typically leads to general misunderstanding as to what one can expect when diving into online marketing…the so-called hottest advancements since television. So to benefit all, I thought I would take a stab at offering a more descriptive definition to marketing online for those who are unsure of what the web has to offer.

First, i would like to lay out the elementary components of the marketing mix (also known as the 4 P’s):

1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion

The main reason why I choose to spell out marketing in this fashion, is that many businesses that I have had the pleasure to meet with are only most concerned with the last variable “promotion” as the cornerstone of their strategy, when unarguably this is really only 1/4 of the marketing equation. I believe that this is significant point because most marketing problems rarely occur from this variable alone. I touched on this subject just a few of posts ago when i was discussing if search engine marketing was really marketing. In any regard, the message is simple. How you communicate, price, and place your products are equally as important as how you promote them.

With that said, here is what i believe to be the 4 key fundamental results of online marketing:

1. Increase or position branding & exposure
2. Generate Sales & Leads
3. Maintain or develop customer intimacy
4. Reduce operating costs

All of which utilize the 4 P’s of marketing in some capacity. (If you believe I have left something out, please don’t be shy.) Although you would beleive that generating sales or increasing leads would be the most important for any company, you can’t deny the importance of the other 3 as significant marketing outcomes that businesses also want to achieve.

Therefore, getting back to brass tacks, I would like to reply to those interested in what I do: “I help companies use the web to increase their exposure online, generate business, and stay in touch with their customers while reducing their overall costs.” All of which may not sound perfect, but I believe its the beginning of a solution to an age old marketing problem.