5 reasons why Internet Marketing kicks-ass over traditional marketing efforts:

1. Testing an off-the-wall idea is easy

With the Internet, you can go from idea to conception within a few days.  In many cases, digital is so much easier and quicker than having to go through a design/print or guerrilla marketing campaign.

2. It’s easy to measure ROI

With proper web analytics, you can judge the success of your campaign.  Whether it’s tracking traffic or conversions, show ROI!

3. It’s relatively inexpensive

With a budget of a few hundred dollars, you can test things out through pay-per-click – just to test out an idea.  Where else can you test out an idea on a massive targeted marketplace for that cheap?

4. More efficient – cost per click is going down, so targets are being fine tuned.

With proper keyword research and targeting, you can actually test your idea on a specific demographic.  Instead of throwing something on the wall to see if it sticks, at least focus in a bit and throw it on the wall in the direction of someone that may actually be interested.

5. It’s pretty quick.

You can get a campaign up and running pretty quickly compared to traditional marketing such as planning an event, attending a trade show, designing, printing, and mailing postcards.

Forrester Research projects that paid search marketing will grow 26% this year, reaching $11.4 billion in the U.S. In addition, the company’s “U.S. Search Engine Marketing Executive Survey” (conducted by Jupiter Research prior to its July acquisition by Forrester) forecasts that search budgets will remain stable through much of 2009.

Don’t get me wrong…if consumers are not spending money then Search and Internet Marketing WILL SUFFER, but not as much as traditional marketing efforts.  You’ll see a decline, but businesses still have to market for long term growth and they will focus on things that bring them more sales vs. brand building.