Online marketing, also referred to as web marketing, Internet marketing, or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet.

The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Online marketing, both in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium. Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it refers to digital media such as the Internet, e-mail, and wireless media; however, Internet marketing also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems.

Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. Online marketing does not simply entail building or promoting a website, nor does it mean placing a banner ad on another website. Effective Online marketing requires a comprehensive strategy that synergizes a given company's business model and sales goals with its website function and appearance, focusing on its target market through proper choice of advertising type, media, and design.

User-Generated Marketing

While user-generated marketing can have powerful effects, it is worth bearing in mind that such an approach is not a magic bullet for every situation. Let me warn you then about some of the potential pitfalls and drawbacks of taking this approach, before you embark on your next user-generated campaign.

One of the potential pitfalls of turning to user-generated marketing, then, is that you may well find yourself with wildly inappropriate, or otherwise substandard contributions by the dozen. And that's if you invest in getting enough attention in the first place.

Among the issues to watch out for if you are considering a UGM campaign are:

• Poor quality media - if you use the likes of YouTube, expect to see a great deal of amateurish footage before you hit gold, in terms of both content and video quality
• Don't underestimate the time commitment - if your campaign is a success, expect to have to put in a lot of hours wading through contributions, a lot of which will be terrible
• Expect to hand over control - if you open up your campaign to the public, don't be surprised if you get some negative or unpleasant responses from pranksters and detractors. Once you invite users to create something in a public forum, you can't easily magic it away if you don't like the outcome
• Pressure to announce a winner - there is a very real possibility that you won't like any of the content offered to you. Once you have set a deadline and named a prize, you are going to have to choose a winner anyway

With good strategic planning these potential issues are all avoidable, but it is worth weighing them up before taking your first leap into the world of user-generated marketing campaigns.