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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Will Offline Businesses Finally Turn to Online Marketing?

Two separate articles on MarketWatch.com talk about trends that connect offline businesses to online marketing, including audio video marketing.

First comes Subaye.com, a Software As A Service (SAAS) company that has contracted with large offline malls to create simultaneous online shopping malls for the vendors. Their software incorporates online video marketing as well. According to the article, they are charging approximately $100/month for 2,200 licenses they have sold to 11 malls. Not bad money, if you ask me.

Then, in a second article, Placecast talks about Digital Advertising Trends in 2009. One of the points they discuss is that people will start utilizing the web to do more localized advertising. With easy access to location-finding software, "simple applications from marketers will include couponing and advertising to users in proximity to potential offerings of interest (such as stores, cafes, restaurants, etc.)". They also predict that location will figure into future search algorithms to determine relevance, so if you are looking for a product or service, searches may re-prioritize rankings depending on where you are.

However, as someone who unsuccessfully spent the last year trying to talk offline businesses and Chambers of Commerce into participating in such online marketing, I have doubts regarding how fast this trend will move. Perhaps the sinking economy will push offline businesses to move into new areas, instead of doing the same thing and achieving the same (or worse) results. Their point of reference is very different from those of us who know and understand the internet, and what makes sense to us doesn't necessarily make sense to them.

What do you think about online marketing for offline businesses in your area? Do you think they will go for it? Is your community ready for such a move? Are you going to take the opportunity to be one of the first to bring online multimedia marketing to businesses in your area? Leave me a comment and give me your opinion regarding offline businesses and online marketing.

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