Marketing activities can be seen anywhere we look. All businesses want to reach as many potential customers as possible and increase sales of their products or services. Over the years, marketers' methods have changed considerably, but their goal is still the same – to gain new customers and retain the current ones. The goal of marketing, both traditional and e-marketing, is first and foremost to build consumer awareness that will be associated with a particular brand, product or service. A variety of techniques and activities are used for this purpose, and they have changed a lot over the years.

Traditional marketing?

When planning a marketing strategy, it is important to design activities so that they are effective and convertible into an actual influx of new people interested in a given product. These activities must also be of high quality. To ensure the above, you need to precisely define your target market and analyse its needs. Only learning about the real needs and expectations of customers will allow you to meet them and ensure the success of the developed strategy.

In the pre-Internet days, surprisingly not so long ago, the methods of reaching people potentially interested in your product or service range were quite limited. Nowadays, the activities carried out as part of traditional marketing are called real place marketing or offline marketing. Traditional, i.e. offline marketing, is characterised by:

• high distribution costs – we are talking about both finances and the time needed to achieve the intended effects,
• various distribution channels – radio, press, television, billboards, leaflets,
• profitability mainly on a local scale – carrying out localised actions in offline marketing is cheaper than organising campaigns on a global scale,
• one-sidedness – there is no contact with the client, creating relations with him; the message is one-sided and consists mainly of conveying some information, without the possibility of obtaining a response.

Traditional marketing takes several different forms. We can mention:

• direct marketing, i.e. the promotion and sale of a product by the producer directly to the buyer, without the participation of intermediaries, i.e. other media or entities; campaigns of this type use, for example, leaflets, mugs, vouchers or other types of printed materials,
• printed materials – here we can distinguish such media as newspapers, brochures, advertisements in magazines, in other words, all physically printed media,
• outdoor advertising – billboards, banners, and outdoor advertising at bus stops or other public places,
• radio and television – on-air advertising is the main source of revenue for television and radio stations; a popular form of television advertising is, for example, product placement in programmes or TV series,
• word-of-mouth advertising, which involves promoting products or services through referrals, usually by word of mouth; this form of marketing is most often spontaneous, and people recommending products do not feel like they are advertising anything; discount vouchers or loyalty cards are often used to trigger this type of marketing.

The Internet... a world of new opportunities

The advent of the Internet has ushered in many changes, both in our personal and professional lives. The marketing industry has also been affected by these changes. The Internet has changed the way we communicate; it has made communication two-way – you can now enter a discourse, reply to someone, or refer directly to a specific message. As a result, new marketing tools have emerged, and grabbing the attention of our audience has become even easier because reaching the right target audience was no longer a problem. What's more, the Internet allowed for greater selectivity of content, which could reach those potentially interested in a particular topic. Also, collecting data on users from all over the world has become easier with marketing research taking place online, which has also influenced the development of online learning.

All this has led to the emergence of a new offshoot of marketing, i.e. Internet marketing, otherwise known as e-marketing. Currently, it's easier to match the language of marketing actions to the recipient because you can choose the country you want to target. There are also no restrictions on the content published, although it must not violate the law. It might seem that everything has moved online. The role of printed newspapers has been taken over by online news sites, and discussions among product users have begun to appear in online forums, where response times are very fast, and everyone can express their opinions. Moreover, learning has also reached the next level thanks to the training available on online learning platforms. Today, anyone who wants to be noticed needs to be online. Companies are setting up websites and social media profiles, and this has led to the emergence of new professions, such as Social Media Specialists, or professions related to SEO and website optimisation, such as SEO Specialists. Also copywriters, who previously created content for offline marketing, now have new tasks of writing texts for websites or company blogs. Importantly, a person who wants to rebrand can invest in professional training.

E-marketing – a new type of marketing

The growth of the Internet has meant that many activities have organically moved online. Marketing was no different. The result is a new branch of marketing – e-marketing. It is the sum of online activities that are designed to promote a company and its services or products. To achieve this goal, tools are used to help increase traffic, leads and sales. Online marketing comprises many strategies and tactics that include the creation and distribution of text, video, and image content. It also uses paid media, performs activities related to search engines such as Google, and much more. What makes online marketing different from traditional marketing? The fact that in e-marketing, besides encouraging customers to buy your products, you also build a relationship with the customers. Thanks to the possibilities offered by the Internet, it is easier to establish a dialogue with the customers, and this relationship becomes closer. Thus, through online activities, you can build your brand's image as open to the customers' needs, which brings measurable benefits.

E-marketing tools – types and kinds

Internet marketing are the activities that make use of the Internet to promote a company and its products or services. It also gives us the opportunity to tailor our offer to the expectations and needs of potential customers, as well as to market requirements. In order to fully exploit the potential offered by e-marketing, it is worth getting to know the most important tools, without which it would be difficult to achiee satisfactory results. Among these tools, it is worth mentioning:

• website positioning and optimisation – the aim of SEO is to obtain for a specific website the highest possible ranking in the search engine results, which are shown after a certain phrase is entered,
• email marketing – using emails to communicate with customers, encourage them to try your product or service range and build trust in the brand,
• Google AdWords – paid advertising in the Google search engine which allows you to reach users looking for information related to the profile of the company,
• Content Marketing – content marketing can comprise images, videos, and articles that are used to build brand awareness and generate website traffic,
• Social Media Marketing – using social media to reach new customers and to build brand awareness and customer relationships,
• • Facebook Ads – advertising on Facebook which allows you to precisely define your target group,
• • buzz marketing – word-of-mouth marketing on the web which encourages users to share opinions about the product, builds brand image and increases brand awareness among potential customers.

Despite the emergence of new methods of marketing, the traditional methods continue to be important. On the contrary, to achieve the best results, it is worthwhile to combine e-marketing and offline marketing. Only this synergy will allow you to increase the effectiveness of your campaign. If you want to learn more about marketing, participating in relevant training will be an excellent solution.