Perhaps the most vexing question for any marketing executive examining today’s world of new media is whether they should advertise on the Internet.

There are obviously a lot of people still scratching their heads about this question -- the reality is that on-line advertising revenues today remain but a pittance of overall marketing spending.

And there is also a real disparity of views about the nature of the opportunity. I talk to a lot of companies with sophisticated Web sites who are eager to sell "on-line ad space" and who express frustration with the fact that advertising dollars are not easily forthcoming. And on the other hand, I hear skepticism from advertisers as to whether the Internet is truly a viable and established medium in which they should invest.

I hear a lot of confusion, excitement, skepticism, hype, and concern about the whole concept – in other words, all the typical emotions that surround anything having to do with the Internet.

Unfortunately, it would seem to me that already, the question "should I advertise on the Internet," is often boiled down to the rather simplistic question as to whether a company should purchase a few "clickable ads" here and there which will take people back to an existing corporate Web site, which is often of rather dubious quality.

Reducing the concept of marketing on the Internet to the concept of a "clickable ad," while easy to comprehend, doesn’t do justice to the medium, and causes a company to fall into a trap of limiting their thinking. You can’t place a new medium like the Internet under the old paradigms which you have become used to and comfortable with.

Stop for a moment and think about what the Internet really represents – a completely different and significant change in the way that consumers obtain the information which might come to influence their purchasing habits. Customers who surf the Net are slowly changing their behavior, such that they are now beginning to take the time to study the basics of a potential purchase before committing to it.

The Internet customer isn’t interested in a superfluous 30 second commercial that contains a great concept but little substance, nor are they interested in a print ad that contains but a few sentences and phrases. They want content – and lots of it. And you can’t satisfy their desire for content by simply translating existing information to an on-line format. After all, you know that radio didn’t translate well to the television, and print advertisements don’t necessarily translate well to direct marketing campaigns. And so quite clearly, trying to reduce the concept of advertising on the Net into the concept of the "clickable ad" is a bad mistake. The Net is a new medium, with a completely different set of ground rules, and should be treated as such.

To reach this new consumer, you have to realize that you aren’t trying to reach them with simple advertising – the "clickable ad" is but one small tool in your kit. The clickable ad is merely a means to an end of trying to make the customer aware that you have lots of useful information on-line. Product specifications. Testimonials. Support and service information. Detailed marketing literature. All kinds of stuff that will help the electronic customer make up their mind.