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Agency Talk: Assessing Your Internet Marketing Needs
by Kent Lewis

Too many marketers and communicators have bought off on the hype generated by Internet startups and agencies. The Internet is not the be-all-end-all, it’s just another communications medium that happens to have global reach and real-time interactivity capabilities. Or maybe it’s a little more than that.

The problem is fairly simple, at least from a marketing perspective. What you’re starting to see is a convergence between technology and communications. Traditional marketers are learning the technology while technologists are learning marketing principles. Similar to the "bricks-to-clicks" retail phenomenon where traditional retailers have to compete with "pure play" online-only retailers; marketers and technologists are scrambling to learn each other’s disciplines.

What you end up with, a vast majority of the time is a gaping hole of lost knowledge and poor results. You can argue either way, that it’s easier for a computer geek to learn the basics of marketing and apply it to the Web than a traditional marketer to learn new technology. Either way, you’re right, and wrong.

When looking to develop successful online marketing programs, the ideal situation is to hire an internal team or external agency that has traditional marketing skills yet is immersed in technology every day. Easier said than done. Most traditional agencies either lack the interest or funding to develop an online competency. Internet marketing agencies typically hire techno-savvy graduates that have little real-world experience.

What’s the point? No point really, just bitching is all. Actually, the point is that any company serious about leveraging the Internet for marketing and communications needs to thoroughly evaluate their internal capabilities and needs, as well as that of their agencies’.

A good litmus test is to ask yourself, your marketing department or your agencies the following questions:

1. Do you have experience developing and analyzing Internet-based market research?

2. Do you have experience optimizing and promoting Web sites to search engines and directories?

3. Do you have experience with site link development programs to reach the target market on industry resource Web sites?

4. Do you have experience planning, developing and placing online advertising?

5. Do you have experience communicating with press and analysts in the online realm?

6. Do you have experience developing Internet-based events and promotions?

7. Do you have experience developing electronic direct response programs?

If the answers to one or more of these questions are "no" you need to seriously re-evaluate your marketing efforts. Here are a few possible next steps:

• Conduct internal research to determine your areas of weakness.
  
  
• Read industry publications like Clickz, eMarketer, MediaCentral, ICONOCAST and The Industry Standard to stay on top of Internet marketing news, issues and trends.
  
  
• Hire consultants or talk with agencies to help you determine if you should build an internal Internet marketing team or outsource to an agency.
  
  
• Develop strong partnerships with leading Internet agencies specializing in research, site promotion, advertising, public relations, events or direct response.
  
  
• Set measurable objectives, specific metrics and an associated timeline.

Follow these steps and the joke is over. The only person laughing will be you, right to the bank.