Offline marketing:
Larger audience
Expensive
Can be highly targeted
Tough competition
Online marketing:
Faster
Measueable results (precisely)
Can be expensive
Search engine listings can be achieved for free.
The bottom line is that it completley depends on the product being sold. I am an affiliate for Walmart but I do not put much effort into that campaign because I know If I want something at wallmart I GO TO WALLMART! My target market would be invalids and cripples. If I want to sell software through clickbank then online is best by far. This is not like comparing apples and oranges because alot of products can be marketed both online and offline successfully.
I began my marketing career offline. I actually made a profit with my very first product which was an info guide that I delivered through snail mail. I made my first website about 12 years ago to move away from my brochure to an online web page. I liked the fact that I could see exactly how effective the response rate was. 100 websites later I believe that online marketing is the best way to test new products and market them. If the product is a success then absolutley market offline if there is a positive ROI.
source: http://forums.digitalpoint.com
