The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

The more I study online marketing, the more I'm struck by the parallels to direct mail. Take this example: The other day in a client meeting we were discussing the different clickthrough rates (response rates) to various online marketing activities (lists).

This particular client was generating Web traffic from search engine marketing (i.e., organic search), pay per click (PPC), direct entry from mailings, and previous customers and links. It was realizing that it had potential to expand each of these traffic sources (prospect lists), and each delivered a higher or lower clickthrough and conversion to order rates.