Explain the importance of Internet marketing to two contrasting businesses.

In 1999, Andy Grove, the chairman of Intel said this:

IN FIVE years’ time, says Andy Grove, the chairman of Intel, all companies will be Internet companies, or they won’t be companies at all. Just another example of the arrogance and exaggeration the information-technology industry is notorious for? Yes, in the sense that Mr Grove is as keen as the next chip maker to scare customers into buying his products. No, in the sense that, allowing for a little artistic licence, he is probably right.

Journalists obviously doubted him and some even said that “What Mr Grove was really saying was that if in five years’ time a company is not using the Internet to do some or all of these things, it will be destroyed by competitors who are.” but five years on from then perhaps this statement didn’t come true but it certainly rings true in the current year of 2016 where so many businesses have since folded as a result of the rise of the ‘real life to internet’ movement.

Internet marketing is important because it aligns with the way consumers make purchasing decisions and nearly every business will benefit from having an internet presence. Reaching customers—and potential customers—using online marketing is more a matter of commitment and strategy than it is a financial expenditure. It does not need to be expensive to reach online customers effectively. Using a market-led approach to Internet marketing, you can build an effective website and attract customers through various Internet-based marketing tactics.

Internet marketing involves the use of digital media to inform the market of your business and to entice people to purchase your products and services. The internet (and, by extension, mobile) is merely a vehicle