Internet, marketing, also known as web marketing, online marketing or eMarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. Internet marketing differs from traditional marketing mainly through the implementation of a company's business model and sales objectives with its website function, appearance and target market.

So, what does all this mean? It means that an internet marketer's objective is to use web resurces in such an effective manner as to entice a customer to purchase the product or service being offered. Web markets use tactics such as article marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, online lead generation and social media optimization to broadcast their messages to highly targeted audiences.

The basics of internet marketing start with finding a segmented market to advertise to – finding your niche. Once the target market is identified, the next step is to isolate the particular audience to market to by gender or location, such as country, region/state, city, metro code/zip code, organization, Internet Protocol (IP) address, ISP or other criteria.

With the target audience identified, it's just a matter of connecting with your audience on a personal level to get them to perform some sort of action. An action is not just limited to purchasing, but could be anything from signing up for a mailing list to performing a survey in exchange for a freebie.

Once the customer makes a purchase, for instance, the internet marketer that generated that lead gets a commission from the sale. These commission-structured sales are what keep marketers coming back to this business model. Comissions can be very high depending on what you sell, but even with low commission products, you will find marketers advertizing two, three or sometimes more products to bundle up the net profits.

A lot of companies are turning to internet marketing becuase it is highly specialized and tracking is very specific. Marketers can determine where the customer saw the ad, what link they clicked on and how many unique visitors are landing on which pages.The other reason it has become so popular is due to low overhead costs.

Instead of dishing out thousand of dollars to get an advertisement on tv or on the radio, the internet offers a marketplace where buyers already know what they are looking for. The only challenge is to get them to do what you want them to do. For some, it's easy, for others, it's like getting a camel to go through a pin hole; it's all in how you look at it – half-full or half-empty glass?

People have said it before and they'll say it once again – internet marketers should invest their time into social media if they want to maximize their online internet marketing potential.

During a recent survey of men in the key age group 18 to 34, 75% said they spend most of their time online versus less than 20% watching TV, according to lifestyle experts askmen.com. Companies who are holding fast to the more traditional methods are risking missing the boat entirely. It's just not good enough any longer to stand by and wait for new marketing patterns to develop before getting on board. These days, the passive marketer risks being left behind entirely unless they're able to make decisions promptly.

The widely renowned Forrester Research fully estimates that at least 95% of business decision makers – globally, have taken an interest in and are working with social media in one form or another. While this is an incredible discovery, it's certainly worth while referring to internet marketer, whose research indicates that avoidance of social media as a kind of internet marketing stems more from the lack of clarity surrounding its methods and the issues encountered when actually monitoring and checking its overall effectiveness.

It seems that social media is almost certain to make a significant shift in the way that we go about our daily existence. As mass consumers we will have a much more interactive say in our products and services and will be able to interact with producers and suppliers on a much more constructive basis.

We can easily reference the Twitter pages of organizations like JetBlue and Comcast, both of which have developed highly interactive, two-way systems for communication between clients and their companies. Some people are amazed to see how these companies are effectively “washing their dirty laundry” in public, by engaging in this form of communication with sometimes irate customers. However, advocates suggest that this will ultimately improve the breed and that client to client interaction can help to enhance the reach of the product or service and create a kind of “social buzz.”

Will we reach a point of saturation, shortly?

The meteoric growth of Facebook and Twitter appears to know no bounds, but this entire industry is so volatile that we are yet to be able to see the overall size of the playing field. Facebook usage was up 700% year-on-year during April, according to Nielsen Netview.

Of great interest is the fact that many forward thinking corporate giants are now appointing social media directors and vice presidents to help steer them. Notably, Ford Motor Company chose to center their initial marketing run-out for the new Fiesta model around a social media platform, linking hand picked bloggers with Facebook and Twitter.

Social media allows companies to build prospects and clients rather quickly, capitalize on positive word-of-mouth marketing, move their customer service to a new level and micromanage their customers. Social media seems set to completely rewrite the corporate customer service manual and there are sure to be road bumps ahead as the potential legal implications of this form of “now” communication come up against established, considered channels.

Adam Toren, Co-Founder of Young Entrepreneur, specializes in developing the profitability of struggling businesses with a specialised and 'bottom line' approach. Adam, along with his brother, have created, purchased and sold a variety of companies over the years. At the moment, they own and manage a highly successful publishing company and several dedicated online enterprises.