The way we market has completely changed.   No longer do we spend a large portion of our marketing budgets on traditional media such as TV, radio and print.  Today, interactive marketing represents more than one-third of marketing budgets (nearly 34%) in 2008 according to B2B marketers, that’s up from nearly 27% cited for 2007.*

Today, we worry about our interactive strategy – driving website traffic, increasing online conversion rates, banner ads (and where to place them), email marketing (to whom and how often), blog creation and maintenance, search engine optimization, and understanding digital marketing.    To name a few.

Technology has changed how we communicate with our target markets (customers/clients), not just online but across all channels.  Interactive media has become the heart of marketing strategy.  Online areas that marketers plan to increase are website development (74% of marketers said so); email (70%); search engine marketing (64%); video (40%); webcasting (39%); and banners (36%).*

Are you thinking and learning about interactive marketing?  Do you understand how to apply interactive media channels to your overall marketing strategy?  On the surface, we might not think that interactive marketing or one particular interactive medium is right for our company, but don’t discount something too soon.  You never know what might come of it.

*B2B Magazine 2008 “Marketing Priority and Plans” Study .
Kelly Blake
kblake@ahs1.com