By Francesca James
The Internet is not just a tool for business. It’s not just another form of media. The Internet is becoming, running and influencing our lives.
But, for something to play such an instrumental role not only in business, but in today’s society, it’s hard to believe that just a few years ago some companies thought that having a website wasn’t even a necessity.
Fast forward to today and almost every business, from small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s) to large corporates, has some sort of a web presence. It’s a key, if not the most important strand to any businesses marketing strategy.
Email marketing was one of the first techniques to start the internet marketing ball rolling, and it hasn’t stopped since. Marketers thought that this rapid way¬†of communication was the future, and not much thought was given to any further developments.
Then along came Search Engine Marketing (SEM), could there be an easier way to put yourselves in front of millions of potential customers globally?
Now, perhaps still in its infancy, social media is the new hot topic that everyone’s talking about. Web 2.0 has steadily seen the shift of visitors from popular Internet services like the search engines and email providers to online social media sites.
Due to the fast, ever changing and evolving pace of digital marketing it’s hard to know where the next technique to develop will come from.
Many experts have been arguing that the term online marketing become redundant now that everything is essentially moving online. Has offline marketing now become slightly irrelevant?
What will come next? Will the Web extend far beyond computers and cell phones? Will everything from watches to television sets to clothing connect to the Internet? Will users have a constant connection to the Web, and vice versa? Will the Web will evolve into a three-dimensional environment? Rather than a Web 3.0, will we see a Web 3D?
We can’t predict and guarantee which of these (if any) versions of the Web will come true.
It may be that the real future of the Internet and online marketing is far more extravagant than even the most extreme predictions.
Fresh Business Thinking visit AdTech London 2009, click here for the video http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/video.php
About Haroun Kola
