We’ve run several Reader Polls on favored internet marketing tactics over the past year and a half flavored by a sentiment towards recession and also as a general indication of future plans. The state of the world and certainly the marketing world is as unique and challenging as it’s ever been. Many companies and vendors are scrambling to figure out how to make most efficient/effective use of resources to grow their businesses in this uncertain economy.
Traditional marketing budgets are increasingly shifting to digital marketing and why not? Internet marketing is often more cost effective, builds awareness quickly, fosters relationships and is measurable in ways traditional advertising just can’t match. Within the world of digital, there are many, many options and considerations. Situations, circumstances and objectives vary, but the commonality of digital delivery, interaction and measurement brings this poll together. We’d love your participation and insight:
What 3 digital marketing channels & tactics will you emphasize in 2009?
- Blogging (12%, 183 Votes)
- Microblogging (Twitter) (10%, 155 Votes)
- Search engine optimization (10%, 151 Votes)
- Social network participation (Facebook, LinkedIn) (9%, 137 Votes)
- Email marketing (6%, 90 Votes)
- Social media monitoring & outreach (6%, 88 Votes)
- Pay per click (5%, 73 Votes)
- Blogger relations (4%, 64 Votes)
- Video marketing (3%, 51 Votes)
- Social media advertising (3%, 39 Votes)
- Online/digital public relations (2%, 38 Votes)
- Affiliate marketing (2%, 37 Votes)
- Corporate web site (2%, 36 Votes)
- Viral marketing (2%, 34 Votes)
- Free content (eBooks, white papers) (2%, 33 Votes)
- Online communities/forums (2%, 33 Votes)
- Branded microsites (2%, 30 Votes)
- User generated content (2%, 26 Votes)
- Widgets (1%, 23 Votes)
- Link bait content (1%, 21 Votes)
- Webinars (1%, 20 Votes)
- Podcasts (1%, 20 Votes)
- Article marketing (1%, 18 Votes)
- Behavioral targeting/re-targeting (1%, 18 Votes)
- IM/Mobile SMS (1%, 13 Votes)
- Social news / Bookmarking (1%, 12 Votes)
- Online contests, giveaways (1%, 12 Votes)
- Online display ads (1%, 12 Votes)
- Contextual advertising (1%, 11 Votes)
- Sponsorships / Cross branding (1%, 11 Votes)
- Rich media apps/demos (Flash) (1%, 9 Votes)
- Mobile ads (1%, 9 Votes)
- Freemium services/tools (1%, 8 Votes)
- Blog advertising (1%, 8 Votes)
- eCommerce feeds & Comparison shopping (0%, 6 Votes)
- Advertorial (AdFusion) (0%, 6 Votes)
- Teleconferences (0%, 5 Votes)
- Advergames (0%, 4 Votes)
- Buy web sites and retool (0%, 4 Votes)
- RSS advertising (0%, 3 Votes)
- Virtual worlds (Second Life) (0%, 3 Votes)
- Virtual tradeshows (0%, 2 Votes)
- No holds barred spam (0%, 1 Votes)
- Rich media avatars (0%, 1 Votes)
- Paid reviews (0%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 532

Please share your insights in the comments and if we’ve left out significant digital marketing tactics, we’d welcome suggestions.
The most responses we’ve had to a poll was approximately 400, so please share, tweet, submit and vote as is deserved. We’ll share the results of the poll in a post next week.