Before the introduction of internet, there were many different ways to advertise. Media channels such as radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, telemarketing or pamphlets were all a great source for selling a product. The approach was to getting the company or the brand name communicated to the masses with lowest possible cost.
With the introduction of internet, a larger platform for search option became available to the companies and industries. Businesses were assumed to have great value because of the advertising perception at that time therefore they traded on the stock exchange at astonishing rates. But the dotcom bubble brought down this assumption in 2001. Because of many failing website businesses, internet was almost marginalized at that time. However, online options kept being exploded by the consumers and companies.
With the passage of time considerable business models emerged and possible doors to e-commerce and search advertising came on the front. Researching behavior of the consumers and the online buying patterns started to interest the entrepreneurs.
With the implementation of broadband in homes, offices and companies, the advertisers a now capable to make massive hops and become globalized in just few minutes. eBay, Amazon, Google and You Tube are playing the role for marketing and advertising just as the television, film, radio and print media were doing for prior generations.
Now internet is being used as a tool for marketing and branding, internal communication or for business transactions. It has become one of the most powerful tools in a number of ways. A large number of search options have been unlocked by internet and it is more easily possible to highlight the distinct features of any item.
It is kind of called viral marketing, if we look at few big names such as Amazon. They are using their customers to market products to other customers via “other buyers, who looked at this, also looked at this”. Coca Cola and Sprite are storytelling through internet and mobile companies such as Mobilink and Ufone are winning the hearts by humorous video clips, thus all benefiting from the art of viral marketing.
This viral marketing easily spreads through social relations and is and is considered an advanced version of word of mouth marketing. Internet is now not restricted to just computers, cellular phones, mechanical calendars and portable music players are integrating rapidly. Almost all consumer durable devices such as washing machines, refrigerators, hot water tanks, ovens and many others are connected to the internet either through electric wiring system or through a community wireless network.
Pakistan as a nation is one of the progressing countries of the world when it comes to IT, infrastructure, public services and the private sector is available online. For banking, groceries and information are expected by the customers to have online solutions.
In order to gain full effect of the internet and to have increase sales, it is important to have dedicated customers and companies have been using this platform for advertising tools for to promoting their product. With few corrections and some additional resources it would become possible to gain the true benefits of internet.