Internet Marketing--The End of Traditional Marketing as We Know It.

• Author: Wolf, Lynn

The end of traditional marketing as we know it is here. Internet marketing will ultimately dominate the marketing world, with all other forms of marketing becoming subordinate to it. And CPA firms focused on traditional marketing are only doing the equivalent of straightening deck chairs on the Titanic.

Numerous advantages make e-marketing attractive to CPA firms, including cost savings, time savings, better response rates, and better communications. The discussion that follows is based on my firm's experience. While your firm's results may not be as dramatic, I encourage you to consider the potential benefits of Internet marketing.

Cost savings

There are significant cost savings when firms use e-marketing versus traditional (print) marketing. Consider the estimated printing and mailing costs for 1,000 seminar invitations, direct mail pieces, newsletters, or brochures, as compared with electronic preparation and delivery of materials.

Time savings

The following chart outlines the time savings of the electronic process over the print marketing process. The savings in time and the ability to share information immediately give the electronic process a considerable advantage over the print process.

Better response rates

The Internet is a direct, targeted marketing paradise. Typically a traditional direct mail piece yields a 1% to 2% response rate from nonclients, and 5% to 7% response rate from clients. On the other hand, sending electronic versions of direct mail pieces yields response rates of up to 20%.

Better communications with your clients and constituents

Believe it or not, many of your clients would prefer to receive marketing communications from your firm via e-mail, yet many firms are still sending materials "snail mail." The standard for e-marketing is a concept called "permission" marketing, which encourages companies to ask people's permission to send them information via e-mail. Firms, and their clients, will benefit from asking clients what medium in which they prefer to receive firm communications--e-mail or traditional, print mail.

Another way e-marketing helps improve communications is it can contain hyperlinks to your firm's Web site that clients can click on to access additional related information. For example, an electronic direct mail piece sent to promote e-commerce services to clients would include hyperlinks to other related e commerce information located on the firm's Web site, such as the quarterly technology...