Online marketplaces target a highly specialized group of people who are interested in global, business-to-business (B2B) trade. They offer features and support services that are customized for this special group and provide an efficient way for SMEs to promote products directly to potential buyers. A standardised supplier storefront on an online marketplace has many of the same functions as a corporate website and can be updated anytime by the registered member. Unlike a simple search engine, online marketplaces also offer a like-minded sourcing community as well as industry news and trading resources.

Search engines trawl the Web, but their keywords are usually bought on a per country basis. If you are a supplier in India wanting to sell your goods in the UK, you could buy a few keywords on a search engine targeting the UK. But if buyers in the US, Australia or Europe are also potential customers, you will have to allocate a separate budget for each market. Suppliers advertising on online marketplaces can rest assured that for the same price, buyers from all over the world can find them by accessing the Internet.

EverFast Rechargeables, a French company, posted a new battery charger on Alibaba.com and experienced an instant buzz and excitement about their product that spread to blogs and technology websites worldwide. The company had to upgrade its server to cope with the huge number of visitors and shipped 200,000 chargers in the first 30 days. The speed and global reach offered by online marketplaces is unprecedented.

The benefit of the Internet is that businesses can easily measure the effectiveness of online marketing spend based on the number or inquires received. Since online marketplaces usually charge an annual subscription fee for storefronts, SMEs can budget for the fixed fee structure and pay the same price no matter how many clicks they get from potential customers.

I would advise SMEs getting started with online marketing to keep it simple and outsource what they don’t understand. To use search marketing it is best to have someone in-house with keyword marketing expertise. Otherwise you should consider using marketing firms that have a proven success rate of getting companies to rank higher in search results.

The right mix of search marketing and B2B websites can really help a business take, off but small companies need to balance return on investment with manageability. Make sure your business maximises the benefits of e-commerce by marketing through the right channels. For a small business new to e-commerce, an online marketplace may be the easiest way to start an online promotion.

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