Collaboration between marketing and internet marketing took Obama to the White House. It is fundamental to the success of most Fortune 500 companies. There are ways for a small and midsized business to maximize on the marketing and advertising techniques that will become tomorrow's benchmark success stories.In a world of internet marketing where exposure doesn’t mean traffic, and unique visitors does not necessarily equal sales, it is hard to accept the concept that Obama’s marketing was built on direct mail and social networking.

Fast Company magazine recently awarded the title of ‘world’s most innovative company’ not to a marketing company, but to Barack Obama’s presidential. It outperformed Google, Facebook, Amazon and the largest print media campaigns.

"The team has become the envy of marketers both in and out of politics for proving, among other things, just how effective digital initiatives can be," according to the article. "Barack Obama’s presidential team relied on technology ... to connect with voters better, faster, and more cheaply than ever before."

In a world of internet marketing where exposure doesn’t mean traffic, and unique visitors does not necessarily equal sales, it is hard to accept the concept that Obama’s marketing was built on direct mail and social networking.

What the marketing community and small business owners need to understand is that Obama’s campaign started back in 2007 when he emailed a 20-page book and 8-minute DVD to hard-core Iowa caucus attendees.

The Obama campaign did highlight one aspect of marketing that internet marketers have been trying to impress on their clients. The new technology is not ‘a short cut.’ In fact, while direct mail targets people in their home. Reaching them on the internet is more difficult, mainly due to the fact that you have to find them first.

Many land-based marketing companies are collaborating with internet marketing companies. Dollar for dollar, many firms are re-learning the fact that direct marketing is still the most powerful advertising tool. I’ve spend many hours debating why with other marketing professionals, advertising agents, sales, and creative directors. Everyone has their own theories. Everyone agrees that direct marketing works.

The most powerful aspect of direct marketing is that you can target the mail. It is possible to mail to people based on their past behavior. I collaborate with www.adaidm.com a dental marketing company. The objective is to attract XX number of dentists a day.

The catch 22 is that no one can guarantee that XX number of dentists are online on a particular day, searching for marketing products, or visiting websites where PPC ads appear. The new media is severly limited by the voluntary, self-directing nature of the potential consumer.

Despite the fact that everyone agrees that Direct Mail Marketing is not dead, a white paper from Winterberry Group reports that direct-mail spending is down 3% in the last year, and is expected to drop 9% in 2009. Ramesh Ratan, exec VP-chief operating officer of the Direct Marketing Association, reports a decline in direct-mail spending, down from $54.8 billion in 2007 to $54 billion in 2008.

The current economic downturn will force more collaboration between land-based marketing companies, advertising agencies, and internet marketing firms. Obama’s campaign proved that using Direct Mail as a foundation for multi-channel marketing. Internet marketing works. However, more than any other type of marketing venue, internet marketers know the value of optimization. The future depends on optimization whether with a search engine, or direct marketing campaign.

One comment I took to heart was made by a representative at ADAIDM Marketing. Anyone who doesn’t value their direct mail marketing campaign are focusing on the cost of printing and postage, not the value of new clients. This is an invaluable mindset for anyone starting a marketing campaign in today's slow economy.