In today's day and age, it’s complete lunacy for businesses to ignore the importance of eMarketing and how it can ultimately benefit their bottom line. Already it’s now 2007 and eMarketing is in full swing, yet it seems there are a lot of organisations that still don’t want to know about it. This baffles me to no extent. I am often wondering why people ignore the fact that there are millions of potential customers out there and reaching them via eMarketing techniques is far more cost effective than any other means.

I guess I should probably take the time to define eMarketing for those of us who do not entirely understand what this new form of advertising is all about. First and foremost, eMarketing is the future. It is a form of promoting your business by utilising technologies such as the World Wide Web, e-mail and mobile phones. Using eMarketing techniques to promote your business not only exposes your products and services to a huge array of potentially new clients but it does so without limiting you and your marketing campaign to any physical location. Your new clients could come from Switzerland, California or Tokyo – the possibilities are endless!

So, you’re probably thinking to yourself that this new method of marketing sounds great but how can it benefit me and does it really work. Well, to put it simply, yes it does and it can work for you. It’s already working for millions of businesses worldwide such as EzyDVD, WeightWatchers and others. There are currently over 6.5 billion users online internationally with over 34 million from the Oceania / Australia region alone. In fact, over 53.5% of the population based in Oceania / Australia are online and using the Internet daily. Those are some huge figures and they shouldn’t be ignored. Exposing yourself to even a small portion of these users would be far more worthwhile than putting a small advertisement in the local rag.

When it comes to planning your eMarketing campaign, there are a number of things to consider. Primarily you need to determine which mediums you wish to advertise on, what you want to advertise exactly, who you want to advertise to and most importantly how. You also need to remember that much like any standard promotion, people are going to want to know what you’re offering and they’re going to want to know quickly. In some cases, Internet and mobile based users have even less patience than the rest of us and it is important to take this into consideration when designing your marketing collateral.

In a nutshell, you should consider marketing your business in any or all of the following areas. Initially you may choose to only promote yourself in one or two of these mediums, however a long term goal should be set to establish yourself in all of the following categories to ensure you utilise the technology around you to its full extent.

Company Website: Having a strong online presence is crucial to the success of your eMarketing campaign and as such it should be the first item on your list of things to do. Your website should be informative, well structured, usable and accessible to all kinds of users while retaining look and feel of your organisations brand. Spend as much time as necessary on your website as it is the most important tool in any eMarketers toolkit.

Search Engine Optimisation: Ensuring your website is “search engine friendly” is undoubtedly a key element to any successful eMarketing campaign. Never overlook the importance of Search Engine Optimisation. It is a fact that 90% of users will use search engines such as Google and Yahoo to find the products and/or services they’re after. Because of this, it is critical that your business appears as close to the top of the results list as humanly possible. If you cannot find yourself on the first three pages, you’ve already lost the war.

Internet Marketing: Marketing on the Internet through websites, forums, community sites and online stores can be a painstaking task, however there are well established organisations that can give you a hand. You must remember that the Internet is a diverse world and getting your message out there and to the appropriate users is not as straight forward as you may think. Seek professional advice to ensure your advertisements hit your specific target market every time.

Email Marketing: Sending newsletters and other promotional items via electronic mail is another form of eMarketing that can simplify the way you communicate with your current client base. Emailing your clients can be an exceptionally cost effective way of relaying important information quickly and easily while also promoting your new products and services at the same time.

Mobile Marketing: Mobile technology has reached a point where marketing your business on such a medium can be just as beneficial as advertising on the radio or the Internet. Users from the age of thirteen onward use mobile phones daily and often are found browsing mobile-based websites looking at content that interests them. This is a growing medium that has not reached its full potential and eMarketers who make use of such a technology now will undoubtedly reap the benefits in years to come.

Interactive Media: Another form of eMarketing that is often forgotten is the use of Interactive Media. Have you ever been at a trade show or networking event and wondered whether you could be doing something better to inform the people around you about your business? Interactive CD-ROM’s and DVD-ROM’s can be used to convey important information about your products and services to the people who matter in the form of a business card or displayed on a large screen.

Now that you know what eMarketing is all about and how you can use it to help your business grow in new and wonderful ways, where should you go from here? Start by writing up a complete marketing campaign that focuses primarily on eMarketing techniques and technologies. Do your homework and find as many online marketing agencies and creative design organisations as possible that will be able to accurately target your marketing online. Remember, it’s not what you advertise so much as how you advertise it and that’s the bottom line.