A recent study conducted by Pew Research Centre’s Internet and American Life Project had some interesting results to show. It claimed that search and email were among the most popular activities online. The exact numbers shown by the study will be talked about later, but let’s focus on how this result affects the marketing maxims that people have long held holy. For one, it dispels the popular myth that social media optimization is your best bet as an online marketer. Meanwhile, those who are religiously engaged in tipping the search engine scales to their favour can breathe a sigh of relief: SEO still reigns supreme in online marketing.

The guys at Pew seem to have done their homework. Tracking online activities of adults since the past 10 years, they come up with some numbers that might rearrange the priorities of online marketers. Coming to the numbers themselves:

1. Using search engines and reading emails tops the list at a dominating 92 percent,
2. Reading online news gets the silver at 76 percent,
3. Online purchases occupy 71 percent,
4. Bringing up the rear is social networking, which is placed at a miserable 65 percent.

An interesting point arises here: Although the rise and rise of social networking sites has heralded a phenomenal growth of SMO activities to raise brand visibility and attract traffic, it looks like sites such as Facebook, Twitter etc. have not yet managed to consolidate their hold over all demographics. It seems to be more cluster-oriented, really. Au contraire, search engines and email have consistently attracted a sizeable chunk of followers from just about every strata possible.

Does that mean that a change is in order? Should we, for the matter of debate, start paying more attention to email marketing in our campaigns, something that’s widely regarded as the ignored cousin of SEO and SMO? Remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: this study is sure to get online marketers rethinking their strategies.

Geographical targeting, shortened to geotargeting, is a means to display website content based on the visitor’s geographical location enabling localized and personalized results. Even though the term might be new to you, you must have experienced geotargeting many times, for example when browsing for latest news, advertising, shopping and the like.

An ad you see on a website in India might be completely different from what your friend sees sitting in Australia, on the same website! Isn’t it intriguing how the Internet delivers content based on your location? Well not really; the technology behind it is quite simple. When you request a page on the server, the server queries your IP address against a database of worldwide IP addresses. This database identifies your country, at times even your city and then as per your location, displays relevant content.

Companies require a cross-functional technology that can enable them to create immediate and direct connection with their customers. To enhance your business performance, you can make use of this technology for efficient online marketing. If you are interested in providing country-specific offers, you may want to enable geographical targeting on your website. For example, if someone in Canada visits your website then you can show him offers that are relevant to his location.

Geotargeting is an effective form of online marketing as it enables you to create an instant connection with your website’s visitors. It allows your brand to reach customers in a particular city or region. When you focus on the specific parts of population for whom your products or services are most relevant, you can raise the tendency of visitors to click on your ad, thus in turn leading to better sales and revenue.

When it comes to online marketing, geographical targeting proves to be a powerful tool that empowers businesses towards a closer relationship with customers. It facilitates you to reach your target customers at the right time and at the right place.