Internet marketers are responsible for creating, developing and implementing
marketing campaigns for a wide range of businesses and organizations on the
Internet.
Internet marketers can work for businesses. Or they can be self-employed,
sometimes working out of their own home office.
"The scope of the business now is enormous," says Susan Negen. She's an
Internet marketer, retail consultant and author. "I think there's a huge amount
of potential and the variety of opportunities available for marketing products
on the Internet is enormous."
Gregg Meiklejohn has been involved in marketing for many years. For the
last three years, he has focused on Internet marketing. He has seen this fast-moving
industry change over that time.
"There's a proliferation of Internet lead generation processes," says Meiklejohn.
"And there's social convergence technology like MySpace and Facebook that
have created different dynamics pertaining to how people talk together on
the Internet and how people communicate."
What this means is that the Internet has made marketing more personalized.
It helps marketers find good "leads" -- people who are likely to be interested
in a product or service. Thanks to the Internet, marketing is increasingly
about creating a message that will appeal to a particular person, based on
their unique needs and interests.
"The Internet has become more and more about creating these rich, interactive
communities of relationships than it is about a sort of one-dimensional pitching
of ideas, products or offerings," says Meiklejohn.
An example of personalized marketing is the growing area of "contextual
marketing." This means doing things like placing text ads on websites that
are likely to be viewed by people interested in what's being advertised. For
example, an ad for your dog grooming service could appear next to a news articles
about a dog show.
Another example of contextual marketing is when search engines place ads
that match your search terms on the side of the screen. It's all about getting
the right message in front of the right person.
"Search engine marketing in particular is the world's largest direct response
advertising medium, and it's the most effective and the most accountable,"
says Meiklejohn..
Working as an internet marketer does not have physical requirements. You
will work in an office setting and will need good communication skills for
interaction with other employees, employers and customers.
"There are as many different ways to market products on the Internet as
there are people who have imaginative ideas out there," says Negen. "There
are certain things that work better than others, but there are lots and lots
of different ways to be a marketer on the Internet."