Before we examine article marketing we need a good working definition of the word marketing. In and of itself, marketing is defined as the process, a person or business entity uses to research and sell products and/or services to other persons or businesses (customers). These products or services are then promoted through advertising. In this process, customers and their needs are identified and hopefully satisfied through the research. Data drawn from the research is disaggregated and used to build a strong and substantial customer base and relationships. Thus value is created for the customer and the business. Here is where we hope to create customer loyalty or repeat sales, if you will. To recap, the main focus of marketing is to identify and satisfy the consumer/customer.

According to Wikipedia, article marketing, is a type of advertising in which businesses and internet marketers write short articles related to their specific businesses, products or services. These articles are primarily displayed on the internet. Article marketing comes in several structures and formats. Included in these are the following:

Online Magazine Marketing- this is an online magazine found on the World Wide Web that can be identified by its editorial control component. Editors review submissions and perform quality control to ensure that writers adhere to website guidelines.

Web Syndication-in this type of marketing, website material becomes available to various other sites. Web feeds are made available from a site in order to provide other people with summaries of newly added content.

Geo Marketing-this type of marketing includes the insertion of geography or geographic information into all facets of marketing research.

Article Video Marketing-this is a relatively new concept to internet marketing and advertising wherein short videos are created relative to a specific subject. In fact, videos can be created from articles.

Article Directories- these are websites where users submit unique articles. These articles are then categorized and then included in a specific niche. Articles with well written content can be released for free distribution and have the potential of increasing the writer's credibility within its market as well as attracting new customers.

Digital Marketing-this type of marketing includes all digital outlets; i.e. radio, television, mobile phones, internet, LCD displays and any other forms of digital media.

The primary premise behind article marketing is to get an article displayed on a website designed to specifically expose articles to internet marketers and businesses. When getting these articles published on the internet, the best or most common practice is to write an article with an "attention grabbing title' and a short body of somewhere between "400 to 500 words in length". It must be noted here that many pundits disagree on what is considered a short article. However, if you follow the websites guidelines, you'll have no problems.The best sites for article marketing are those that will not allow "self serving articles". In other words, an article should not be about the writer or the product or service; it should, although this phrase is somewhat over used, "provide value". Nevertheless, there are websites available that will let you be as self serving as you like, but I assure you that the exposure received from these sites is minimal. There are over 60 sites that will publish your article for free as long as you follow their guidelines.

Please remember that your article must be written in a manner that will entice your readers to click on your URL after reading your article.