The increasing relevance of online marketing

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,7, University of applied sciences, Neuss, language: English, abstract: Executive SummaryThe internet developed from is shadowy existence to an interactive information, communica-tion and transaction medium. Interactive communication capabilities of web-enabled tech-nologies increase consumer convenience, reduce information search costs, and make choice assistance and customization possible. Consumers and companies populate two market environments today: the face-to-face and the virtual face-to-screen exchange relation.More and more people buy online over the internet. The reasons are convenience, Choice, customization, communication, cost and control. The internet brings more transparency for the consumers. The internet contains a lot of chances for companies: They can establish new distribution channels over the internet and herewith the possibility to deal global. Because these chances are the same for every company the competition increases rapidly. The challenge is to win this rat race and exploit all possible features in the marketing mix. Instruments of the online marketing are affiliate marketing, keyword advertising, search en-gine optimization, e-mail marketing and online advertising. Companies have the challenge to find the right online marketing mix and to convince the con-sumers that their product or services includes more value for them. It is important for the companies to find the right mix of online and offline advertising because despite the still increasing amount of online users the traditional media are necessary to reach a wide target group.