Creating
a website is a vital step for companies aiming to establish a credible online
presence, catering to individuals seeking information about their offerings.
Even well-established businesses venture into the online realm, recognizing the
importance of providing a platform for potential customers to access
information about their products or services.
These
websites often indicate that the company hasn't fully harnessed the potential
of e-commerce as part of their strategic approach. One effective method to
attract visitors to their websites is to list them on directories and search
engines.
Email
marketing has gained popularity due to its cost-effectiveness and the ability
to send HTML emails with vibrant images, accompanied by advertisement banners
linking to business websites on various web pages.
Offline
advertising through television, radio, print, and text messaging is another
approach, although it tends to be more expensive compared to online methods. In
fact, about 75% of advertising expenditures for online events are allocated to
offline advertising, which can yield surprisingly high levels of interest from
audiences.
An
additional online advertising method involves proactive, targeted email
campaigns directed at specific age groups or consumer segments. This form of
advertising is assertive, as it doesn't rely on the recipient showing prior
interest in related products or promotions. The use of cookies, helps track
consumer responses to these email advertisements.
Another
avenue for acquiring email addresses involves employing software robots to scan
the internet and extract addresses from freely available sources. This
practice, however, has led to the proliferation of spam mail, which can be
equated to unsolicited, unwanted advertising. Spam is often described as
'postage due marketing' since these messages accumulate on the recipients' host
computers until they are manually deleted. Moreover, companies incur costs
related to storing these messages.
