In the current economic slowdown, the marketing budget is one of the first things that many businesses cut as they attempt to tighten their belts. This means that it is more important for marketing professionals to justify the money that they spend.

A study carried out earlier this year on behalf of the Online Marketing and Media Show (OMMS) revealed that methods such as email marketing provide businesses with a more accountable return on investment (ROI). The results showed that three-quarters of respondents to a survey said the ROI is easier to measure through the web rather than traditional offline methods.

As a result, it was also found that businesses were planning to use up to 25% of their budget on online marketing this year - a 15% increase compared to 2007. And, as the industry starts seeing improved measurement tools in place for social media, marketers will begin experimenting and investing more online.

This latest research, once again, demonstrates the importance of internet marketing to businesses. Success in these difficult times is about measurement and ensuring that marketing and advertising spend is being used wisely. It also reflects the importance of the internet as a means of attracting potential customers, either through email campaigns or by attracting visitors to a website through natural search engine optimisation and pay per click.

But not all is doom and gloom for offline. Whilst traditional marketing methods are a scatter gun approach and qualifying their effectiveness can be difficult, tying offline with online measurement and traffic analysis (with point of entry tracking) can bring the benefits of online measurement to offline advertising.

Matt Paines