There’s a war going on, though few speak openly of it. The battle lines are drawn on Excel spreadsheets, heated skirmishes fought in budget meetings, duels to the death contested in the hearts and souls of marketing managers around the UK. It’s the Battle of the Budget, fought between Online and Offline marketing, and there can only be one victor. As budgets dry up and every pound of marketing spend needs to be made to count, one kind of marketing is going to walk away with the lion’s share of the budget.    

Speaking as (not entirely neutral) observers from the sidelines, it simply isn’t a contest we can see Offline winning. We are constantly amazed at the hundreds and even thousands of pounds that people are willing to spend on a few inches of print advertising for one day, when that same amount would fund a highly targeted PPC campaign for a whole month.   

From boxing matches to sailing regattas, romantic courtships to games of chess, no matter what kind of competition we put Online and Offline through, we just can’t imagine the result turning out any differently…

If it were a love triangle…

…Offline would win the heart of the fair maiden Budget with a painstaking researched gift, accompanied by a beautifully crafted PPC poem no more than 95 characters in length. Offline would buy roses only to discover his love was allergic to them, a fine mink coat that is thrown back in his face, a priceless diamond ring that doesn’t fit. 

See the pattern? Not only is offline advertising much more expensive than its online equivalent, it is much harder to target – that thousand pound broadsheet ad may not even be seen by a single interested person. With PPC advertising, you can show your adverts only to the people who are specifically looking for your product.

If it were a boxing match…

…Offline would be fighting without a trainer in his corner, while Online receives exact instructions on how to adapt and perform better. They split the first few rounds between them, but Online takes increasing command as the match goes on, before claiming the title in a spectacular sixth round ROI knockout.   

With the precise tracking available for online marketing, it can adapt faster than any other form of advertising. PPC campaign not performing as well as you’d like? Rewrite the low performing creatives and up the budget on the profitable key phrases. Struggling to make headway on generic search terms with your SEO? Renew your efforts on the long tail key phrases, and pick up the visitors who are ready to buy. No kind of offline tracking can provide the same precision as online – it’ll always be one step ahead of its opposition.

If it were a game of chess…

…Online has studied the results of thousands of previous games, and has crafted an unbeatable winning strategy. Offline used to do pretty well when his mum let him win. Lured in by Italian game and flummoxed by Online’s decision to aggressively castle queenside, Offline is soon checkmated in humiliating fashion.     

With the analytics available you can see exactly how your users behave when they are on site – which pages convert and which leave your visitors cold, the seasonal trends to watch out for and the most profitable sources of traffic coming in to your website. Every chess game is won through the planning, and a marketing campaign is no different – with the analytics data that you can acquire, it gives you the edge you need to achieve the highest possible Return On Investment.

If it were a regatta…

…Online would be sailing off into the sunset with the champagne and caviar in tow. Offline would be becalmed in poor weather, capsized in a storm, or captured by a particularly unsavoury band of pirates.  

The winds of change are with the online marketers, especially in the travel sector. A recent survey by New Media Age indicated that over a third of people are going to increase their online shopping and decrease high street purchasing in search of better deals. With the explosion of online travel resources on Tripadvisor and Twitter, online is increasingly where customers are researching and purchasing their holidays. So use your precious marketing pounds to buy a ticket on board the Good Ship Online – you’ll love the journey it takes you on.