Can online marketing replace traditional marketing?

With all the hype that surrounds success stories by companies on the Internet, an interesting question is becoming more common. Can in fact online marketing successfully replace traditional marketing or more specifically sales for companies that are trying to grow?

While online marketing is certainly a marketing method that can yield great returns it generally works best when a company has a sizable budget to work within. Primarily a sizable budget allows for the all important repetition that is a must in all forms of advertising or promotion. An important point to be made here is that generally online marketing and promotion is geared towards the widespread Internet community on a national or global basis. It becomes somewhat more difficult but not impossible, to tailor online marketing efforts on a local or geographic basis. This local effort to some companies is really the only benefit that they are seeking. It is their contention, that while broad exposure might be of value depending upon what products or services they are selling, they are seeking local exposure to potential area markets. In some cases again depending upon what products or services are being sold, companies do truly stand to benefit from a broad national or international scope of exposure.

So what does traditional marketing truly have to offer a company seeking longevity that is not available through online promotional efforts? Many seasoned marketing people who have served both sides (online and offline marketing efforts) will be the first to say that one-on-one personal marketing and selling can never be effectively substituted through the other means. Probably one of the best examples of the power that one-on-one marketing and personal selling truly has can best be seen by observing the marketing efforts of a small company that is trying to position itself for growth. While such a company might not have the budget to allow for repetitive online advertising or promotional efforts, true success at achieving exposure and gaining potential customers can be done through strategic personal selling opportunities by company personnel. An example of this is when a company president attends functions such as business breakfasts where he can circulate and personally meet other business owners.

...generally online marketing and promotion is geared towards the widespread Internet community on a national or global basis.

There are many other similar types of personal marketing opportunities for companies. For instance a company may take every opportunity to actively provide an expert opinion for local newspapers or write an article on an area of expertise and have it published or contribute to a business column. Online there are similar opportunities with one of the most outstanding ones involving being a regular advice contributor to newsgroups or other on-line forums. These online opportunities provide anyone a genuine chance to give sound answers and get their name known which is a fantastic form of advertising and all without any heavy promotion involved.

We are so fortunate to live in a time where through our hard efforts and the balanced use of promotion we can all reap tremendous yields for the benefit of our companies.