No doubt about it, Internet marketing is big business and getting bigger. EMarketer projects that online shoppers in the U.S. will spend a whopping $224.2 billion this year, up 15.4% from last year. A PriceGrabber survey of 933 online shoppers found that 45% of the consumers surveyed said they will combine web, mobile, and brick-and-mortar shopping this year. That’s good news for Internet marketing companies in Houston and around the globe, as a growing number of clients are looking for new ways to leverage a strong brand and extend their reach to consumers and clients. An increase in gas and food prices could put a damper on some of the growth, but EMarketer reports that consumer optimism, homebuilding, and the number of people willing to buy goods online should keep numbers strong.
So what does this mean for companies as they try to develop strategies to grow their businesses? According to a study of the Institute of International Research, U.S. senior executives see marketing as a key area of expertise necessary for the next generation of leaders. Fierce competition is fueling the fire of companies who can no longer rely on a four-color brochure and cold calls to reach potential customers. Marketer Seth Godin says, This is the most cluttered marketplace in history — just about everything is available everywhere, all the time.
In an over-crowded marketplace, Internet marketing will be critical in reaching the number of consumers who shop online. And Internet marketing is a good investment. It takes a fraction of the traditional ad budget to reach a company’s targeted audience. And transactions online leave a trail of data that can be gathered, analyzed, and measured for developing new strategies and reaching new markets. In 2008, The New York Times and comScore found that the potential for collecting user data on the Internet was up to 2,500 times per user per month.
The growth of the Internet market has created opportunities for savvy marketers who have expanded their businesses to make more of their Internet marketing services. One Houston marketing firm calls Internet advertising an invaluable aspect of any marketing plan. Their customers in Houston want creative marketing with interactive features. Another Houston agency points out that businesses without an online presence are seen as incapable of meeting a consumer’s needs. As one Internet marketer says, The Yellow Pages are dead.
