Marketers are grappling with the decision-making process of harnessing and spending on new interactive marketing media.

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Which companies lead new channel adoption?

The following diagram from the Forrester Report best illustrates the degree to which industries are adopting emerging interactive marketing tactics:

This diagram shows company adoption of new channels in the following order:

1. Media, communications and consumer products companies
Forrester reports that, "While other industries find blogs or games difficult fits, these channels extend the core value proposition of media and entertainment companies." 

National Public Radio (NPR) is one of these companies that use podcasts to enable users to listen to existing broadcasts on demand. Another example is where studios promote movies like Batman Begins in action games such as Grand Theft Auto III."

2. Financial services and retailers
In contrast, financial firms and retailers are so established and invested in the use of email, search, and targeting that they are reluctant to shift resources to channels not deemed "proven."

Forrester says that, "Wells Fargo is one of a few firms we've spoken with that routinely tests new channels -- such as RSS, blogs, and advergames -- to evaluate effectiveness and determine where and when investment should be expanded corporatewide."

3. B2B firms
B2B firms are slowly attempting to shift media and technology budgets to direct and online channels to forge deeper customer relationships and to measure results. In comparison to financial services, B2B are also more willing to experiment with blogs and rich media. Forrester cites Microsoft's Channel 9 developer community site of wikis, news groups, videos, pictures, and blogs as an example.

Why create a channel innovation team?
While trying to optimize use of current channels and to discern consumer adoption patterns of emerging media, marketers are grappling with the decision-making process of harnessing and spending on new interactive marketing media.

Forrester sums up the paradigm through the words of the interactive agency marketer:

"The intention to test new media is good, but it means a budget tradeoff. Do you spend money testing something new or go with what you know works? It's a big mistake to move into multiple interactive channels without having a clear internet strategy first." (interactive agency)

Opportunity costs should be weighed when shifting resources or investing to test new media, and particular care should be exercised when attempting to test multiple interactive channels. For this reason, Forrester recommends the creation of a channel innovation team to develop such a "clear internet strategy" with specific budget allocation.

How should channel innovation teams experiment with new channels?

Online Ad Targeting Channels
Apply search marketing smarts to online ads based on performance. This is a cost-efficient way of using existing online advertising frameworks to identify compatible channels and price-reduced inventory.

Forrester recommends applying strategies based on the size of campaign and the category of ad targeting:

• Behavioral targeting for small campaigns-- customize on-site offers to repeat visitors, e.g. Victoria Secret's approach
• Contextual, behavioral, or both, targeting for aggressive campaigns-- use specialists to buy either the contextual (ContextWeb), behavioral (TACODA), or both (Marchex), targeted ads.

Advertising In-Game Channels
Forrester's study shows that the audience of gamers now extends from young consumers to older consumers and women, and that gamers have high recall rates of in-game ads.

Emerging games -- contrary to stereotype -- foster moral and educational perspectives where marketers can introduce in-game experiences building brand interactions that support education or positive behavior. Forrester illustrates how Deloitte & Touche use digital role-play games to encourage high school students to consider an accounting career.

Rich Media Channels
B2B firms can greatly benefit from the services offered by rich media companies -- such as Rovion, BlueStream, RegOnline, and TechTarget -- that guide customers through online buying or registration processes.

Forrester suggests experienced rich media agencies such as Avenue A | Razorfish that can help companies identify the specific rich media applications most appropriate to the needs of their customers, to their business and budgets.

RSS, Blogs, Podcasting Channels
The emergence of social media is still in its infancy and may or may not suit certain business needs. Forrester recommends not diving in without proper preparation and resources, and instead to "Monitor your company's buzz with a brand monitoring service from Cymfony or BuzzMetrics."

Other recommendations include researching new RSS marketing tools demos, drafting WOM policies, and gradually testing community tools with customer adoption.

Through this report, Forrester tells marketers which Interactive Marketing Channels to Watch in 2006, provides tactics that marketers can embrace to optimize their current use of interactive marketing channels, gives tools to measure customer needs and results, and offers advice in evaluating emerging channels most appropriate for business and customer needs.

The full report can be purchased on the Forrester website.

Fiona Torrance, an iMedia contributor and editorial intern, is a senior in Business Communication and Finance at USC Marshall School of Business, Center for Management Communication, and a Teacher's Assistant in Advanced Business Writing. Fiona is a published writer, author of Biz Blog Review and is currently conducting independent research under Dr. Sandra Chrystal on the corporate blog as an effective business communications tool.