Since companies have been using traditional offline marketing for decades, many of them are unaware of, or afraid to use, online marketing strategies [even though they deliver a higher ROI than offline marketing].

Becoming friendly with the term 'Internet marketing' can help you to understand the most effective ways to increase visibility and sales. Below are a few of the statistics that highlight the effectiveness of Internet Marketing.

1. E-Mail

• E-mail provides the highest return on investment of the following marketing programs:

                * House e-mail marketing: 25%
                * Search Engine Optimization: 18%
                * Paid Search: 16%
                * Public Relations: 12%
                * Direct Mail: 12%
                * Print Advertising: 4%
                * Online Ads (banners etc.): 3%

         Source: MarketingSherpa Search Benchmark Guide 2008

• E-mail has the highest ROI of marketing vehicles producing $57 for every dollar spent. (OgliveyOne Worlwide, Jeanniey Mullen)

The following statistics are important to take note for the design of an email:

• 64% of key decision makers view e-mail on Blackberries and other mobile devices. (MarketingSherpa)

• 59% of e-mails are viewed with images turned off. (MarketingSherpa)

2. Lowest Cost Per Meeting

• Paid Search: $250
• E-mail: $700
• White Paper: $900
• Trade shows: $2,500      
  

      Source: Marketing Sherpa B to B Demand Generation Summit '07
 
3. Outbound vs. Inbound Cost Per Lead

• Outbound (trade shows, direct mail, print ads, TV/radio ads): $255 per lead

• Inbound (Search Engine Optimization, blogging, social media, RSS,   public relations): $45 per lead

       Source: HubSpot

4. Who Finds Who

• 80% of tech buyers say they found the vendor/product/service. 20% say the vendor found them. The most popular online venues are:

                * Google 83%
                * Vendor website: 26%
                * Online Publication: 21%
                * Online Directories: 20%
                * Online Communities: 19%
                * Analyst website: 13%
                * Yahoo search: 14%

       Source: MarketingSherpa/KnowledgeStorm Connecting Through Content 2007

5. CRM ROI

• Through 2010 enterprises that deploy CRM strategies (such as SalesForce.com and Eloqua) will return at least 25 percent better financial metrics than those that don't (0.8 probability).

      Source: Gartner, Inc. Ten Secrets for Creating a Customer-Centric Enterprise, by Scott Nelson, December 2005

6. PR ROI

• According to a Proctor & Gamble survey:

              * PR delivers significant ROI overall, much greater than advertising, and                  provides a halo effect over other marketing tactics
              * PR showed an overall 275% ROI
              * PR delivers high ROI with relatively low spend in comparison to other                    marketing vehicles.
              * SEO is a part of any PR program
 
      Source: Proctor & Gamble, as reported by Web Marketing Today