Believe it or not, the question “What is online marketing” is one that takes a bit of pondering. Prior to the explosion of today’s technology, marketing was the design and promoting of products or services. This still holds true today, but with the creation of all types of wireless communications, such as computers, ipads, and handheld mobile devices, it’s no longer referred to as simply “marketing.” Several more names have popped up such as online marketing, Internet marketing, web marketing, e-marketing, and even webvertising. Like marketing of years past, online marketing usually consists of 4 stages of promoting a product or service: Design, Development, Advertising, and Sales.
But unique to the new technological age, online marketing also refers to
- Search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO): When a consumer is looking for a particular item on the Internet, a company wants their website to appear first in the consumer’s search. This can be done by paid placement, paid inclusion, contextual advertising, or search engine optimization “techniques,” which are free.
- Banner ads: These are ads which are displayed on third party websites or blogs to direct consumers to their company website wherein they will let them know of their product or service.
- E-mail and mobile device marketing: Reaching a target group of consumers through use of emails or mobile devices.
- Social media marketing: This is the same as e-mail marketing, but uses social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, instead of e-mails and mobile devices.
What is Telecommuting?
Telecommuting is where an employee works from home instead of commuting to a central location, yet they keep in touch and work with their company via computers, telephones, fax machines, etc.
Per E-How Money, Online Marketing is one of the Top Ten Home Based Jobs. Not only that, but Online Marketing is also flourishing in a depressed economy. This then begs the real question: Is online marketing a field where it makes sense to telecommute?
3 Advantages to Having your Online Marketing Team Telecommute:
- It is less expensive for you. Offices cost money. Leases, overhead expenses such as electric, phone, and Internet services as well as equipment expenses like furniture, computers, and telephones. When your employees can work from home, you save most if not all of these expenses.
- You save money on salaries. A home-based employee is usually compensated for work done versus hours spent in an office environment. However, you can maintain control over projects by assigning deadlines for each assignment.
- Comfort of your employees. Many employees are preferring their upstairs loft to commuting day in and day out to an office. The more comfortable a person is, the more work they will accomplish during the day, and in the case of online marketing, home based individuals are oftentimes more creative in their comfortable, home environment.
However, having your online marketing team telecommute can also present some disadvantages. Consider these:
3 Disadvantages to Having Your Online Marketing Team Telecommute:
- Lack of control. When your marketing team is not in the office, you lose some control over their time and productivity.
- Meetings may be less effective. Although web cams and conference calls make it easy to communicate with many people at the same time throughout the world, sometimes there may be a time lapse between conversations, which can cause people to talk over each other, sometimes connections are less than perfect, and time differences have to be a consideration (especially when your business is international).
- Slow pace. Changes and updates in equipment occur much more readily when your marketing team is located in your office. Oftentimes, your technical team need simply push a few buttons to update office equipment, and this is almost always done overnight. But when your employees work from home, while not impossible by any means, regular updating of equipment may be challenging.
So while allowing your online marketing team to telecommute can save you money and perhaps increase creativity, your company could potentially lose control and effectiveness. It’s really up to you to determine how large your company is and how important it might be to have your team in the office working together.
Do you think it’s a good idea to let your online marketing team telecommute? Do have a personal story about telecommuting? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Amanda DiSilvestro gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice ranging from keyword density to recovering from Panda and Penguin updates. She writes for HigherVisibility, a nationally recognized SEO consulting firm that offers online marketing services to a wide range of companies across the country. Connect with Higher Visibility on Google+ and Twitter to learn more!