Online or Offline

Where's the Money?

The online potential really took the marketing world by surprise. Companies invested millions of dollars to gain a heavy presence in the World Wide Web…and most of them lost. There were so many miscalculations, that it almost caused a recession (some people would even suggest that it did cause one).

That’s the past, and online marketing is beginning to stabilize. And we see the same kind of techniques that have always cluttered conventional marketing. For example, look through your favorite magazine, newspaper, or even church bulletin. You’ll see advertisements crowded into every available corner. Go to any of the top online news outlets and e-zines, and you can find the same thing.

Online marketing does, however, offer something that the offline world couldn’t. And that’s the ability to better test these advertising methods. Email advertising (spam) exists because it works…the test results prove it. It doesn’t work as well as some other forms of online advertising, but in bulk, it moves product. It’s also irritating…the same way door to door salesmen were irritating.

Copy For Sale doesn’t use this outlet…and I won’t write ads for other companies using it. But we have to accept this truth, because it’s a part of our marketing strategy. Even if we don’t use spam, we have to acknowledge it. Why?

Because so much of the market revolves around people’s reaction to spam.

Spam won’t go away because it still works. The government can’t stop it by making it illegal. Spam is here to stay.

It’s a force we must reckon with. When we send legitimate messages to subscribers or clients, we have to search for new ways to keep them from being automatically deleted. When we want to send files, we have to find a way to get past virus protection.

This forces us to find new and inventive ways to communicate and market. For example, I’ll soon be launching a workspace extension of my website. I’ll be able to publish my files online, and my clients will be able to log into their protected area and download the files. This will also give them the opportunity to take an occasional peek at their work in progress.

But even with this kind of system, I have to let my clients know when their work is complete. Which means I’ll eventually be pulled out of the online world, and on to the telephone.

If online businesses aren’t prepared to step out of their virtual world, then other entrepreneurs will always have one up on them.

Because the internet is a tool…not a haven.

And this, of course, includes marketing. Many companies are so concerned with search engine placement that they never bother with Yellow Page placement. The yellow pages are thought of as a phone directory. But they can be an internet directory as well. I myself have looked through a few ads and chosen the only ones that list a website. Then I go to the website and find the information I want.

So where’s the money? The fact is, there’s money in both. Online marketing works, but it works better when it coincides with offline campaigns. And offline campaigns are enhanced with online counter ads. Use them together, and you’re bound to see an increase in your conversions.

If you're not seeing it, then get some help with your campaigns.