While the title of this article suggests that there is one accepted answer, there is actually a lot of ambiguity when it comes to defining online marketing. Some marketers might argue that online marketing is essentially all of the activities they engage in online while others might say that it is only the tactics they use in the online world to gain leads and sales.

Regardless of the definition, everyone agrees that online marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses a lot of activities and goals. In this article, we will provide you with an overview of the different names for this important marketing discipline.

Marketing to Buying Decision-Makers

In B2B industries, such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals, technology, chemicals, and food, people have a lot of purchasing decisions to make. If you want your product or service to be purchased, you need to make sure that they know about you and your company. This is where marketing comes in.

Marketing to buying decision-makers (MBD’s) is the process of getting in touch with individuals who have the power to choose your product or service.

You might be doing some of this already, such as sending out a brochure or placing ads in a magazine. These are all forms of marketing, but they are mostly directed to reaching the masses.

Marketing to MBD’s is a bit more subtle. It’s targeting the individuals who have the money and the power to choose your product or service. These are the people known as the ‘bought’ or the’scooped’ demographic. To identify these individuals, you will want to learn about the buying behavior of your specific audience. Only then will you be able to formulate an approach that will gain them as customers – and keep them as customers!

Customer Relationship Management

Another name for this important discipline is customer relationship management (CRM). A lot of businesses implement CRM because they understand that keeping in touch with past, present, and future customers is critical to maintaining a long-term profitable relationship. They also know that using marketing automation tools isn’t just about reaching out to potential customers; it’s about keeping tabs on your existing customers too. This is where marketing automation tools like HubSpot come in.

Using marketing automation tools allows you to set up automated email campaigns, send out personalized offers and discounts, and track the activity of your leads all from one place. With CRM, you can organize your contacts, view customer analytics, track website traffic, and much more.

Digital Marketing

As the name suggests, digital marketing is exactly what it says it is – marketing done digitally. Thanks to the internet and social media, marketing has become incredibly accessible and flexible. As a result, you’ll notice that many companies follow a’multi-channel’ marketing approach, in which they utilize offline and online strategies to gain traction and make sales.

Due to the digital nature of the internet, a lot of marketing strategies and activities are now carried out online. This means that in addition to reaching potential customers, you’ll also want to ensure that they know you and your company exist online. To do this, you’ll want to get in the habit of doing SEO (search engine optimization) for your website. This is where tracking keywords and making sure your content is searchable comes in handy. It means that even when someone types in a question or comes across your content while browsing, they’ll be able to find what they’re looking for – and hopefully, make a purchase too!

Sales Enablement

The last name of this important marketing discipline is sales enablement. This is the practice of using marketing to help your sales staff generate more leads and make more sales. In a nutshell, sales enablement means using marketing to actively support sales.

When a salesperson calls on an existing customer, they sometimes struggle to answer specific questions about the product or to provide additional information about the reason they are calling. If you want to create more opportunities for your salespeople to engage with prospects, you can employ a marketing pro to help out. In addition to being able to answer customers’ questions and provide the additional information they need, the marketer can also engage with potential customers.

The key takeaway from this article is that there are several different names for online marketing, but in all cases, it is a form of marketing that is important to consider when creating a strategy for your company.