Internet marketing faces a tall order when it comes to grabbing the attention of Web users. Given 30 minutes to surf the Internet, an average user may already come across hundreds, if not thousands, of advertisements in that short period of time.

Internet marketing campaigns are everywhere: as banner ads at the top of e-mail inboxes, as pictures on the side of the screen when reading documents, or even as simple text blocks when browsing for items on auction Web sites.

Clearly, advertisements are part and parcel of surfing the Web. There’s practically no way you can avoid them even if you wanted to. But even though ubiquitous advertisements on the Internet multiply faster than rabbits, they don’t always manage to actually sell what they’re advertising. Most of the time, they’re overlooked, disregarded, or completely ignored.

As a marketer, how can your Web site and advertisements turn average Internet browsers into actual buying customers?

Try multimedia Internet marketing. Multimedia Internet marketing is simply the promotion of products and services on the Internet using a myriad of formats. In contrast to traditional media forms that only utilize simple text, still pictures, and plain graphics, multimedia Internet marketing uses a combination of these things plus other formats such as animation, interactivity, and streaming video and audio.

Now, how can you add multimedia to your already existing Web site and ads? Let’s start with the audio multimedia format. Audio elements can be in the form of music, mp3s, sound effects, voice-overs, and the like. You may already be attracting Internet browsers to your Web site with eye-catching graphics and informative text, but you can still give them a better browsing experience by using audio elements as part of your Internet marketing.

Here is an example: let’s say you have an online travel agency and it’s summer vacation. You want people to check out the latest summer travel packages that you are offering on your site. Aside from featuring beach and resort pictures in your ads and on your site, you may add a lovely summer-like tune to set the tone and put potential customers in the right mood.

You can also enrich your Web site with audio elements such as a voice recording about your company and products. Something this simple can make your site seem more human and make your customers more comfortable. Multimedia tools can make it easier for customers to trust you and more likely to purchase from you.

Another multimedia format that can greatly enhance your Internet marketing is video. Moving images beat still pictures any day and, thankfully, modern technological advances have made it easier to access videos than ever before. You can make your own commercial and distribute it on the Internet without having to spend for production. You can upload a short clip demonstrating the proper way to use your product. You can add video testimonials from satisfied customers who purchased your product in the past. You can even make a cartoon animation just to liven things up if you wanted.

Internet marketing has come a long way from simple text and images. Internet technology has advanced by leaps and bounds and is now more capable of handling large multimedia files. And when the proper mix of multimedia is used, it can mean a dramatic conversion of average Internet users to actual buying customers.