Companies world-wide are cutting costs as well as looking for creative, high impact and accountable marketing. With concerns over the recession and its impact on marketing, I recently ran a poll of the 17,000 subscribers at Online Marketing Blog to discover their intentions for digital marketing tactics in 2009.

Poll respondents cast 1,559 votes for their top three digital marketing tactics (from a list of 45) for 200. Blogging, Twitter and Search Engine Optimization topped the list. Out of the top ten rated marketing tactics, six fell into the category of Social Media Marketing.

The actual question asked was, “What 3 digital marketing channels & tactics will you emphasize in 2009?” Here are the top ten tactics selected:

• Blogging (34%)
• Microblogging (Twitter) (29%)
• Search engine optimization (28%)
• Social network participation (Facebook, LinkedIn) (26%)
• Email marketing (17%)
• Social media monitoring & outreach (17%)
• Pay per click (14%)
• Blogger relations (12%)
• Video marketing (10%)
• Social media advertising (7%)

Email marketing rated higher than PPC which is surprising given the budgets spent on PPC vs email. Some tactics are much easier to implement than others, or less expensive, which may explain a few of the top choices, such as Twitter.

Corporate web sites didn’t rate in the top ten tactics. Does this mean the death of company web sites? Some companies are succumbing to the social media perspective to extremes, like the Skittles site which had been simplified to a page of search results from Twitter and then changed to their Facebook page. Others are adding social features to their company sites to complement existing messaging and functionality.

By now, most companies have their 2009 online marketing plans in place. Does this ranked order of tactics mean you should change up your online marketing mix? The answer is that digital marketing tactics should match the needs of the situation, company resources, the target market and end consumer preferences. The proper tactical mix for a digital marketing program could be anything from the 45 tactics listed in the poll and still be successful as long as they support a valid strategy.

Some companies are prepared for digital and social media marketing programs and many are not. To get “ready”, companies need to develop a social media roadmap and get up to speed on both best and worst practices. Whether those methods of reaching and communicating with customers reconciles with existing marketing plans or not, companies would do well to allocate resources to some level of ongoing social media training, testing and development of expertise in the social media space.

20 solid pieces of advice about business blogging from Microsoft’s A-List in-house blogger, Robert Scoble. Here’s a taste of the top five:

1. Tell the truth
2. Post fast on good news or bad
3. Use a human voice
4. Make sure you support the latest software/web/human standards.
5. Have a thick skin

Scobleizer: Corporate Weblog Manifesto

Boston Globe technology reporter Hiawatha Bray has been maintaining a blog since June 2003.

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Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble, a Microsoft employee whose role is customer "evangelist," regularly posts a dozen or two entries a day, often into the wee hours, on subjects ranging from business travel, blog culture and general tech trends, but it’s mostly all Microsoft, all the time. No question, Scoble takes to the medium like a fish to water, speaking his mind and engendering large and loyal following. A poster child for how to do business blogging right, both as a thought leader and customer servant.

One post is a useful one for all our readers, The Corporate Weblog Manifesto.

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Two new blogs from the London News Review, one on music and one on books.

Edmonton radio station’s community calendar. This is a perfect example of a business blog — many radio stations could copy this model.

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Another great example of a small organization using a weblog to keep the site dynamic and useful.

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Supporting the consulting business of Tim Slavin.

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Senator and 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry’s web site maintains a blog written by campaign staff.

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MediaMap, which services PR companies with information about trends in the media industry, recently started a blog.

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>From Hammock Publishing’s CEO Rex Hammock, whose company specializes in publishing client magazines. The blog focuses on the magazine industry, custom publishing and business communications.

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Terrific article on the trend of business blogging, with comments on blog initiatives by the likes of Microsoft, Verizon, DaimlerChrysler, American Airlines, Hartford Financial Services, IBM, Dr. Pepper and Macromedia.

The story notes that “to meet corporate demand, both UserLand and Six Apart, makers of popular blog software programs, are coming out with enterprise-level products later this year.” It also contains this great insight:

Corporate America is jumping onto the blogwagon for many of the same reasons all those journalists, brooding teenagers, and presidential campaigners are already on board. Unlike email and instant messaging, blogs let employees post comments that can be seen by many and mined for information at a later date, and internal blogs aren’t overwhelmed by spam. And unlike most corporate intranets, they’re a bottoms-up approach to communication.

Fast Company: It’s A Blog World After All

The blog is called FC Now, from trendy business magazine Fast Company, written by a buddy, Heath Row. Insights on the world of high tech businesses.

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Sporadic blog (posts seem to average once a week or so recently) from investors in August Capital.

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While not exactly a business blog, as it’s produced by the UK’s Leeds Business School, close enough.

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Web development and strategy company written by Adam Kalsey, moderator of MarketingWonk’s I-Blog email discussion list.

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B.L. Ochman

B.L. Ochman, PR consultant and moderator of MarketingWonk’s I-PR discussion list, has taken to blogging like a fish to water. A mix of PR advice, blogosphere observations, miscellaneous humorous stuff and uncontrolled liberal political rantings. (Just kidding; we love you, B.L.)

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Seth Godin’s forehead

Everyone’s favorite visionary marketing author, speaker and consultant, Seth Godin blogs, of course.

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John Porcaro

>From John Porcaro, with the big-ass title “Group Manager on Microsoft’s Home and Entertainment Division’s PR and Communications team.” A breezy combination of his thoughts on marketing and technology, as well as family and personal life. It’s not explicitly a Microsoft blog, but given his disclosure of his business title, it can’t help but to reflect on Microsoft to a degree. A nice blending of the professional and the personal.

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Not really a blog, but Rolling Stone has adopted RSS to let you subscribe to news about your favorite musicians. Cool enough to make the list.

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Of course, tons of media sites have blogs at this point, which I’m trying not to include many of on this list, as they’re not much different than a new kind of opinion column in most cases. I make an exception in linking to the Job Blog, as it’s so well focused on a business-related topic. Would be a great idea for an employment agency to duplicate (or better, to have thought of first).

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