Online Marketing Facts Every Business (Should) Know by Now

To quote a Wall Street Journal article, "online shopping in Southeast Asia only accounts for 0.2% of all recent retail sales. If it rises to 5%, the market could be worth some $21.8 billion." By comparison, e-commerce accounts for 8% of retail sales in China – essentially attesting the fact that e-commerce is set to boom very soon. Not to mention China now driving huge gaming demands as it recently generated $24.4 billion in video game revenues due to its recent softening in regulations, as compared to the U.S.'s $23.6 billion.

With a relatively low barrier of entry, there are plenty of opportunities for smaller developers, e-commerce players and startups to enter the market and make money online – exploring all available channels is the key to success - testing & measuring different options in order to determine what performs best for your business.

For business owners, the option of marketing products & services online has become inevitable to ensure your business remains sustainable in the long term. Should you be a newbie or pro in game development or e-commerce business, here are five online marketing facts you should already know to ensure every nickel spent online is worth the investment.

Fact 1: Google AdWords is Not the Only Online Marketing Tools Available
Google may be dominating the online advertising space because it is not the only source for growth. It is without a doubt that Google's AdWords have great functions but businesses can benefit greatly from other online marketing tools as well such as ExactSeek Traffic Program, Facebook Ads, and Clicksor. Rather than tweaking your marketing strategy based on the tool's capabilities, it is much more effective to rather choose the best tool to suit your strategy instead.

Driving organic traffic via Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to your site is another essential requirement. Though much investment of time, money and staff is required, businesses that ignore it might face huge risks without the needed expertise to implement an effective online marketing strategy.

Fact 2: Banner Ads Are Becoming Ineffective
Banner ads (and other types of ads) are a good source of traffic if you are looking to create awareness about your product or services. But marketers must be mindful of its limitations as customers nowadays are getting increasingly blind to banners.

According to Digiday and Adobe, banner ad blocking by internet users have grown by more than 400% in the past two years because they either click on it by accident or they find it extremely intolerable. Adding to this, mentions 54% internet users do not click on banner ads because they do not trust it, hence the rise of ad block apps being popular on web browsers. There are other ways to market your products & services rather than spending all your resources on online adverts. How? The next point follows.

Fact 3: Affiliate Marketing Is Great for Startups with Low Manpower
Although setting up an affiliate marketing can be complex, selecting a suitable partner can prove to be highly profitable and effective strategy in attracting the right customers for your business in the long run.

Affiliate marketing was perceived as suitable only for established businesses with great resources and manpower. This was true 10 years back when affiliate marketing was catching up, but given the advancements the field has undergone, there are plenty of SAAS tools like hasoffers.com that help make integration processes much easier and faster. "We have successfully integrated large product catalogues companies like Zanado.com into our website within a day," says Sandeep Raj, Vice President of Business Development in iPrice Group.

According to eMarketer, 46% of marketers consider affiliate marketing to be "very cost effective" and highly recommended to boost the growth of your business. There is no harm in experimenting to get the best results.

Fact 4: The Best Online Marketing Recipe Has the Following Ingredients: 50% Google Ads, 25% affiliate marketing, and 25% SEO/Social Media
There is no one size fits all when it comes to the right online marketing mix. The good news is that unlike traditional marketing methods, online strategies can be measured easily in real time

The best suggestion is to keep on trying and measuring the performance, and then adjust accordingly. For some niche market players, Google AdWords could be a great and valuable source of traffic. While for others, typically in the more competitive spaces, reliance on alternative sources of traffic is a must.

Any other facts I've missed out? Let me know in the comments!