Statistics about Web Marketing

Of all the technology advances that the world has experienced during the last decade, certainly the penetration in the usage of Internet and the magnitude of growth in web marketing activities have been spectacular.

World Internet Usage and Population Statistics

World Regions	Population ( 2008 Est.)	Internet UsersDec. 31, 2000	Internet Users Latest Data	Penetration (% Population)	Users Growth 2000-2008	Users % of Table
Africa	975,330,899	4,514,400	54,171,500	5.6 %	1,100.0 %	3.4 %
Asia	3,780,819,792	114,304,000	657,170,816	17.4 %	474.9 %	41.2 %
Europe	803,903,540	105,096,093	393,373,398	48.9 %	274.3 %	24.6 %
Middle East	196,767,614	3,284,800	45,861,346	23.3 %	1,296.2 %	2.9 %
North America	337,572,949	108,096,800	251,290,489	74.4 %	132.5 %	15.7 %
Latin America/Caribbean	581,249,892	18,068,919	173,619,140	29.9 %	860.9 %	10.9 %
Oceania / Australia	34,384,384	7,620,480	20,783,419	60.4 %	172.7 %	1.3 %
WORLD TOTAL	6,710,029,070	360,985,492	1,596,270,108	23.8 %	342.2 %	100.0 %

In the member nations of the European Union, the largest Internet markets are the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

According to latest statistics available, sale of products and services online has shown a 40% increase during 2008 in Italy.

Like their counterparts elsewhere in other countries, Italian businesses have found several facilities and options available to them to promote their businesses online, irrespective of their size. Most importantly, the cost effectiveness of advertising on the Internet and low cost of transaction in e-commerce is attracting a growing number of businesses to web marketing.

Online advertising expenditure is increasing and the European spending for online advertising has continued to rise sharply during the last three years.

The fact to be noted is that spending for online advertisement by the Italian business houses, which stood at 138 millions Euros in 2005, has seen an increase of 43% during 2008, indicating a growing interest in web marketing.

In such an evolving scenario, the introduction of web marketing has become imperative for business selling products or services that want to remain competitive.

For example any business, even a small business like a pizza restaurant serving the local community can establish a website of its own at a reasonable cost. The local customer base can be informed of the availability of the site by distributing printed pamphlets. Customers can then order items online, without undergoing the hassle of commuting, to get their orders delivered at their doorsteps. This same concept can also be implemented to large companies.

Traditional offline marketing efforts like print-media advertisements, bill boards, customer contact, sales talk with potential customers, can cost large amounts of money and have gradually been replaced with more cost-effective online marketing programs.

For a country like Italy, where the population of Internet users is estimated at 28 Million (from 13 Million in 2000), representing 48% of the total population, there is tremendous potential for web marketing. With 80% of Italians having access to the broadband/fast Internet and with the growing acceptance of this medium, businesses should not overlook this excellent opportunity to grow their business.