With the massive growth of online marketing there has been a decline in use and popularity of traditional forms of marketing. On the surface it appears that these new forms of digital marketing have replaced traditional forms but could it be that in reality the new way of marketing online is simply reproducing principles that applied prior to the Internet.

There are a number of different areas of digital marketing that utilise ideas used successfully offline or that integrate with offline activity to provide popular solutions.

Much has been written in the past few years regarding social media and a revolution in the way that organisations can use these new online networks to communicate directly with customers and prospects. Although the Internet has undeniably made the process far easier and reaching high volumes of individuals quickly is now a reality for even the smallest organization, it is important to consider what is new here? Yes, the technology is new but the principle of networking directly with customers and prospects is not new. Savvy marketers and business owners have, for example, been using events and trade shows to have direct contact with their customer base for many years.

Word of mouse as it is now known, is of course based on traditional word of mouth. The ability to refer a friend or spread an organisations’ message online is greatly increased but still holds to the same principle of communication.

In the world of ecommerce we see a mixture of both the online and offline worlds coming together with organisations that are referred to as clicks and bricks. Successful eRetailers understand that their customers want to buy online but return items to a traditional bricks and mortar store.

So, it can be argued that the same principles still hold true on the web as they always did in traditional marketing. Perhaps the reason for this is that humans have not evolved as fast as machines, we still prefer direct and honest communication. In the past that would often have to be face to face with an organizations representative but with today’s technology it is possible to extend this process into the virtual world.

The most successful digital marketing plans and campaigns will use the principles customers and prospects respond positively to such as one to one communication and personalisation and integrate the best tools from both off and online to target markets.