• by December 6, 2000

In order to get results, marketers who need to drive traffic to their websites should invest in Internet advertising, print ads and email marketing. Online consumers rank these three methods "most effective in getting them to visit websites," according to a new consumer study released this month by PROMO Magazine and NFO Worldwide, in association with the Promotion Marketing Association. TV creating consumer action on the Internet is one of several Internet Marketing Myths debunked by the study, the first to probe what stimulates (and dampens) consumer participation in promotional programs. "Online and Offline Marketing Strategies: Making Them Work and Making Them Work Together" surveyed thousands of consumers representing both online and offline U.S promotion participants.

While 85% of online and 78% of offline respondents have participated in a promotion in the past six months, the online audience is especially attractive for marketers because it contains a greater per capita proportion of "frequent participators" than the offline audience. More than two-thirds of the online population participates in a promotion at least once a month, versus half of the offline population. In addition, respondents indicated that consumers utilizing the Internet are more likely to participate in both online and offline promotions than the general population. "This data reinforces the idea that the Internet is the ultimate one-to-one marketing and promotion tool," said Kerry J. Smith, group publisher of PROMO Magazine and American Demographics, "providing the ability to develop an ongoing dialogue with customers and potential customers." The idea that television drives Internet promotion participation is false. While 81% of respondents have participated in a promotion in the past six months, their main influence to do so was the Internet (60%), print ads (57%), and email (51%). Television didn't even make the top five. Privacy is not a major roadblock to online advertising. Over 80% of consumers have no problem sharing their name, age, occupation, gender, e-mail and home address - if they deem the potential reward to be of sufficient value. However, participants will not spend time filling out detailed forms. Eighty-four percent of online respondents have abandoned programs that required too much information. Among the information they will not give out: work or home phone numbers and household income levels. Seventy-eight percent have bailed out because a promotion has required too much effort. But consumers do worry about the security of information collected. Ninety percent of online respondents have abandoned a promotion because of concerns about the security of their data. "For marketers who employ online promotions as part of their strategies, the payoff can be more than just share of mind," said Smith. Two out of three online consumers say they would be extremely or very likely to buy a product associated with a promotion in which they p