As marketers continue to increase online spending, they are moving beyond search marketing and experimenting with several online tactics that effectively generate leads, according to a panel discussion held Wednesday at BtoB's NetMarketing Breakfast, reports BtoB (via MediaBuyerPlanner). For example, with 80 percent of Avaya's marketing efforts web-based, it has expanded its online budget 33 percent for 2006 and its marketing plan includes short message service (SMS) and podcasting tactics. It is also experimenting with word-of-mouth research and planning.

Assistant director-national marketing at Ernst & Young, Michelle Lee Puleio, said the company has experimented with "branded entertainment." It started with rich media to pull people in by asking them to respond to a question about a business challenge. That sparked a "full-blown videogame," which the company recently launched, Puleio said.

Verizon now employs click-to-chat on its website, which brings in about 500 click-to-chats in a month on its business DSL product, producing a conversion rate close to 10 percent. The company combines its new technologies with offline media, as direct mail drives 40 percent of traffic to the Verizon's microsite.