Online vs. Offline Marketing

Originally Published: July 2006

The relative effectiveness of online and offline marketing and communications presents somewhat of a dilemma these days that results in great debate about the right and wrong approaches to marketing products and services in today’s marketplace. It seems that we can’t have one type of marketing without the other. As with all new media, people are quick to toss out the old and welcome the new with little regard for overall marketing objectives, audience demographics and purchasing behaviors or preferences. However, caution must be taken when contemplating the opportunity to reduce costs with an online program. Will your online program deliver the same or better results than your current offline program? Or are you actually wasting marketing dollars rather than saving them?

Unfortunately, as with many marketing solutions, the answer to whether you should use online or offline media communications can be answered with a nondescript… “it depends”. To answer the question, you need to ask yourself: What media is available that effectively reaches my target audiences? What media do prospects and customers access in the industries/markets I want to reach? What are the ROI projections telling me? Am I looking for new business sales leads, trying to strengthen the brand or looking for the most cost-effective means to retain customers? All of these questions – and many more – will drive the answer to the online versus offline decision.

Clearly, the answer for most companies is that an integrated marcom program that includes both offline and online marketing provides the most effective means by which branding, customer retention and new business development objectives can be met.

The goal of the marketer is to reward the prospect throughout the marketing chain of awareness, interest, desire and action. How do we go about doing that and which vehicles should be chosen? The following is bulleted information that provides food for thought when evaluating online and offline marketing alternatives for your company.

· Offline tools include magazines, newspapers, television, radio, direct mail, outdoor advertising, etc.
· Online tools include websites, online advertising, banner ads, content sponsorships/links, search engine optimization, pay-per inclusion, pay-per-click, permission-based e-mail, online coupons and promotions, blogs, podcasts, webinars, rich media like streaming video, etc.
· Online programs are normally less expensive to execute – the most notable savings come from the elimination of printing and postage and a reduction in production costs
· In-house, opt-in e-mail programs deliver greater effectiveness than rented e-mail lists or direct mail programs
· Traditional offline media still has greater reach but online media has less waste – typically, trade publication advertising achieves prospect acquisition goals whereas online media has proven to be more cost-effective for retention
· Branding can be accomplished through either online or offline alternatives but an integrated program using both is most effective
· Offline media is still effective in driving traffic to the website – but once online, the visitor must find immediate gratification
· Online media offers less expensive distribution, greater personalization, higher response rates and greater tracking capabilities than offline media
· Content is important in offline media but critical in online media
· Search is more effective than banners and button advertisements by a three-to-one margin
· 85% of US business managers use search engines
· 36% of searchers assume top listings, whether sponsored or natural results, represent top brands
· Paid search will grow from $4.2 billion in 2005 to $7.5 billion in 2010, accounting for 40% of total online ad spending
· 62% of search engine users click on links returned within the first page of search hits – 90% within the first three pages
· Searches were up 55% to 5.1 billion searches in 2005 compared to 3.3 billion searches in 2004
· Remember that search engines are a passive tool awaiting activation by the user whereas online and offline advertising, e-mails, direct mail and promotions are proactive, stimulating action
· Permission-based e-mail is an interactive communication channel
· Research shows that an integrated marketing program incorporating both online and offline media is more effective than either an individual offline or online program
· Research has shown that incidental memory for ad content is significantly lower in online media compared to print media – repetition online is even more important than offline
· 98% of businesses in the US are connecting to the Internet via a high-speed line, opening the door for rich media, particularly video
· 95% of B2B marketers indicate that the largest benefit of online media is its ability to complement and enhance the use of traditional offline media

While there is not a blanket answer on what combination of online and offline media will work for your specific situation, I do highly recommend an integrated campaign that takes both types of media into account. As consumers and business decision makers increasingly go online to conduct product and company research, online media will continue to garner larger portions of the marketing budget. However, there will always be a place for offline media in nearly all marketing situations. The decision of online vs. offline vs. integration of the two comes down to your target audience. What do they read, watch, participate in, believe, feel and think? Do they want to seek out information about your company or products or do they want you to interrupt their routine with a marketing message? Let them give you these answers, or go out and ask them with market research. Today’s sophisticated consumers will tell you how and when to reach them and what they think of you and your competition. Just remember, it is okay for the truth to hurt a little.