What is Internet marketing?
Q: What is Internet marketing?
A: We really should have thrown this question out, because it's almost too broad to answer properly without a War and Peace tome-sized answer. It's one that we see commonly around here, though, so it can't be ignored. In the broadest sense, Internet marketing can be defined as using the Internet as a means to promote products or services. It's no different than "radio marketing" or "television marketing," really, except that you're using a network of computers distributed across the globe to get your message out.
Where this gets a little muddied is that there are so many different methods of Internet marketing out there. If someone wants to advertise their business on the radio, then the radio station composes the spot and starts broadcasting it. That process is virtually identical for pretty much every single radio campaign. With Internet marketing, though, you run the gamut of advertising methods. You have ad campaigns that are like old-timey postcard marketing, campaigns akin to traditional radio and television campaigns, and campaigns that leverage the power of the Internet to promote something in ways that have never been possible before.
See what just happened there? We started to confuse the issue, because it's a difficult thing to pin down. For now, let's just be happy with defining Internet marketing as - wait for it - marketing something over the Internet, and as we go forward with more specific questions, we'll start to nail down the details.