Potential Markets Of Internet Users In Asia

The online world has no boundaries and can be accessed from all over the world with an internet connection, the potential of doing business online to the world is huge. With only a small investment in domain name, hosting and a website, any scale of business, large or small can start marketing their business to the world through the internet.

However, it is sometimes difficult for new companies to target and market their businesses to everyone on the internet as the internet is huge, online businesses can get lost in the world wide web.

In addition, local and small businesses may not be ready to do business internationally online. Hence, it is wiser to break down the internet world into countries, then target and market to these segments.

Here, we want to highlight the potential of marketing to the internet users in Asia and especially Indonesia. The first thing we should look at is the statistics of Internet usage of the world and funnel down to the internet usage and penetration in Indonesia.

Looking at the internet usage of the world by countries by Miniwatts Marketing Group. Asia is leading other geographic regions in internet usage. Asia, with the largest population of the world of 3,776,181,949 compared to rest of the world population of 2,899,938,339. Its no wonder Asia has the largest internet users compared to other geographic countries of the world.

When look deeper into Asia and see the Top 10 countries with the highest internet usage in Asia and you will be surprised!

Indonesia is ranked No.5 of Asia’s leading internet usage country with over 25 million users in Indonesia (2008). See Internet Marketing Indonesia. Compared to other more developed Asian countries, it’s a surprising lead.

This lead is mostly due to the large population of Indonesia. With over 237,512,355 in population, it is the third largest country in Asia based on its population after China and India with a population of 1,330,044,605 and 1,147,995,898 respectively. The forth largest country based on population after Indonesia is Pakistan at 167,762,040.

So as you can see, Indonesia should, soon climb to the number 3 spot of the largest internet usage in Asia.  A 5 million increase in one year over 2007-2008 and a 10.5% penetration.

It has been announced that the government of Indonesia is targeting 50 million users by 2009 which by no means a challenging task to increase internet usage by two fold or a 20% penetration (with 20% of the population using the internet).

Having said that, China has 19% of its population use the internet. Neighboring Asia countries like Singapore has 58.6% and Malaysia has 59% of its population use the internet, not to mention Japan has the highest percentage of internet users achieving more than 73.8% penetration. Hence with the right support in infrastructure and commitment from the government, Indonesia should be able to achieve its target.

Indonesia Mobile Phone Subscribers

The government of Indonesia is however very confident that a 20% penetration should be easily achievable in 2-3 years especially when Indonesia has over 80 million in mobile phone subscribers, a 34% penetration in its total population which is expected to increase to 120 million by 2010 according to SMS Marketing Indonesia. With the support mobile technology and trend towards mobile phone internet, plus the increase installation of wifi spots throughout Indonesia. Indonesia internet usage future has great potential.

So with all the internet users statistics, Indonesia should see the huge potential in marketing their businesses on the internet for future growth. The increase in internet usage and penetration in Indonesia means that Indonesia is developing, its people are becoming more educated and sophisticated with the increase use of the internet media.

Incoming search terms:

• internet statistics in indonesia

Internet Marketing: Have a Strategy

Having a strategy before you start an Internet marketing campaign is just as important as having a business plan when you start your business. While most business owners will say that they are very mindful of their advertising dollars, many of them will not be able to tell you how effectively their hard-earned money is working for them; especially when it comes to their web presence.

Like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages to Internet marketing which is one of the major reasons you need a strategy before you tackle it. One of the major advantages is simply the availability of information that anyone can gather at any time or place, as long as they have an Internet connection. If you live in a small area, or don’t have a lot of money to spend on traditional advertising and marketing, the Internet can be a great way to reach millions of people at a relatively inexpensive cost.

However, there are also disadvantages to Internet marketing. You may have the most brilliant web designer, but if the website is not user-friendly, it will bomb quickly. Also, since the Internet doesn’t allow a shopper to touch, taste and experience the product before making the purchase, your website must appeal to a psychological need that they have; one they want to fill.

You must also get traffic to your website. You can use many different methods to drive your traffic; pay-per-click, link building, and banner ads are among a few. However, once you get the customers there, in the absence of face-to-face communication, your website must ultimately convince them to take action. What is the step you want them to take? Is it to buy a product? A service? Sign up for a newsletter? Only you know the answer to this question, but once you figure it out, you’ll have a good hold on what your Internet marketing strategy should look like.

Use Internet statistics to your advantage. Find out where your ideal customers currently shop and then benchmark their sites. What do they have that you don’t? Implement changes slowly, over time, to see what works. One of the easiest ways to land flat on your backside in an Internet marketing campaign is to do too much all at once. You can end up spending thousands of dollars, only to be left with no idea what made you money and what didn’t. Not only is it frustrating, it can deplete your budget pretty quickly.

A solid Internet marketing strategy can increase your leads, subscriptions to any ezines or newsletters you offer and increase sales. Who doesn’t like the sound of that? In addition, it gives you a quantifiable measurement to determine how well, or not, your marketing is working out.

Internet marketing doesn’t have to be difficult, it just needs to be focused and creative. There are a lot of businesses out there on the web competing for the same dollars you are trying to land. When in doubt, ask your customers for feedback about your site. What could you change to make it better serve their needs? Make changes slowly and see results in no time!