In this article, we will give you an overview of online marketing in Australia. We’ll cover everything from marketing terms and concepts to tips on how to find and keep customers.

Terms and Concepts

Before we begin, let’s quickly discuss some key terms and concepts that you might not be familiar with.

Marketing Funnel

Speaking of customers, we’ll begin with the most important concept in digital marketing: the marketing funnel. The funnel shows you the stages that a potential customer goes through before making a purchase. As the customer is browsing your site, you’ll display various offers at the top of the funnel. They might be free shipping offers, discount codes, or a combination of both. Once the customer lands on the final page of the funnel, the action will be completed and you’ll have a new customer for life.

The funnel concept can be a little confusing. So let’s say you have a store called Superbrands that sells clothing and accessories for women. A customer might arrive at your site and browse your clothing line for several hours before making a purchase. In this case, you can have a funnel with three stages: discovery, interest, and conversion. During the discovery stage, the customer has arrived at your site but has not yet made any purchases. This is when you’ll show them advertisements or sponsored content that’s relevant to their interests. This could be something as simple as displaying a special discount code for customers who are interested in fashion accessories.

In the interest stage, the customer is considering making a purchase but has not yet converted. In the conversion stage, the customer makes the final click on a specific product or action and is, therefore, converted into a paying customer. So in this case, the funnel would look like this:

In some instances, a customer might arrive at your site, see your relevant offers, and then leave without making a purchase. In this case, you’ll lose the customer but you won’t have a funnel conversion. You’ll simply have a bounce-back where the customer came back for more. But if the customer makes a purchase before leaving your site, then you’ll have an opportunity to follow up with them later and try to convert them into a lifetime customer.

Cost-Per-Click Advertising

Another key concept in digital marketing is Cost-Per-Click (CPC) advertising. This type of advertising works just like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, but with one important difference: with Cost-Per-Click advertising, you don’t pay for each click. Instead, you pay a set amount (known as the bid) and every time someone clicks your ad, you pay this amount. It’s a win-win for both you and the customer, because you both receive the benefit of the click. This type of advertising allows you to test the effectiveness of various keywords and offers without having to spend a lot of money on expensive advertisements.

There are many different types of Cost-Per-Click advertising, such as Google AdWords, but the concept remains the same. Now, you might be wondering how you can benefit from Cost-Per-Click advertising. One of the greatest benefits is that you can target your audience more precisely. If you have a Cost-Per-Click advertisement on your clothing store’s website, and you target women between the ages of 18 and 24, you’ll start to see more and more relevant ads as you browse. This means your ad will start to look like this:

As you can see, the keyword “high-quality fashion” has now appeared in both the ad and the headline. So not only will your ad be relevant to your target audience, but the text will match their expectations. This type of advertising is also affordable, which is a benefit if your budget allows for it.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

One of the newest forms of online advertising is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. This is when you pay for each click on your ads, similar to Cost-Per-Click advertising. The major difference between the two is that with Pay-Per-Click advertising, you have a much higher chance of seeing relevant results. One of the reasons why is that you can set the targeting of your ads much more precisely. Another key benefit of Pay-Per-Click advertising is that you only pay for results. This means that if someone clicks your ad and leaves your website without making a purchase, you’ll only have to pay for that click. It’s win-win-win, because you, the advertiser, benefit from the click, the customer benefits from the sale, and the company that hosts the website benefits from the exposure.

As you can see, Google AdWords and similar platforms have changed all the rules when it comes to online marketing in Australia. It used to be that banners, text links, and simple websites hosted on Geocities were the only options for online marketers. Now, with the introduction of platforms like Shopify, Bigcommerce, and Wix, anyone can compete and thrive in the online marketplace.