I have noticed that some companies transfer their offline marketing strategy into the world of online marketing without doing a proper analysis of this new environment.

Let's face it -   the internet enables a number of things which is unheard of in the offline world. There's SEO, search, email, RSS, blogs etc…   which can be used by nearly anyone with a PC and internet connection (even people sitting in Mallorca – damn you Jon!)

Let's concentrate on just product and price for a second.   A company would have done a positioning audit and (hopefully) spotted a big gap in the marketing. They would go ahead and developed a product and pricing strategy to dominate this position (market).   Now transfer this positioning online and you'll see that there are a large number of competitors in the space which would prove your strategy ineffective.

The first reaction would be to adjust the online marketing strategy but this would misalign it with your offline marketing strategy.   You would now have one brand with dual positioning depending on the channel.   Making big adjustments to the pricing between the two channels – this will definitely anger clients.

I don't have to start quoting figures about online marketing growth to convince businesses to start advertising online. All I'm recommending is a proper analysis on the environment before moving online.

Ferdie ( Not on a yacht in Mallorca ) Bester