On February 21-23, online marketing professionals will gather in San Diego for an educational and networking extravaganza. Electronic Retailer sat down for a Q&A with Aaron Kahlow, managing partner for BusinessOnLine and conference chair of the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) to discuss online marketing and details about the upcoming event.

Electronic Retailer: In your opinion, why does the marketing community at large continue to struggle with online marketing?

Aaron Kahlow: The marketing community struggles with online are based on the change in the fundamental human behavior and buying cycle shifts. Many still look at online as "another" medium to advertise in. So, their websites, search campaigns, e-mail marketing, etc., focuses on advertising to an audience that won't tolerate advertising. With the web being a two-way medium with the user in complete control (i.e., one click, back button, or delete button away from leaving), we need to give users what they want first then we have a chance to market to them. The push equation of getting someone's attention as you would see in, say, a print ad, is completely false for online marketing because they are on your site and their attention is there (versus stopping them from flipping the page). So, we need to focus on the behavioral change and how to properly communicate and not try to translate from offline to online.

ER: Is there one specific area that you've seen marketers have trouble with time and time again?

Kahlow: The concept of usability seems to really escape us marketers. We say we put the customer first, but rarely do we actually back that up with action. Most sites are still very poor at serving the user and even the big companies misuse cool and interesting graphics/pictures to drive interest due to ad agency creative push, and this is just dead wrong.

ER: Facebook seems to be in the news as much as Britney Spears lately. Do you think the advertising platforms on these social networks will be successful and continue to evolve? Are these sites simply a fad?

Kahlow: Social networks and social media as a whole is by no means a fad. The web was created as a giant bulletin board back in the early '90s, and that concept has not changed. It's just reached a maturation point now with tools and broadband proliferation that have allowed all people to connect and communicate. This is just the beginning.

As for ads on social networks, it's much like a magazine. If there is a good balance of great content and an occasional ad, then we are all OK with that. But, like MySpace, if you over leverage your real estate, you will turn off your users and they will leave.

ER: If you were teaching a seminar on online marketing and you could suddenly only give your audience one take away, what would it be?

Kahlow: Think of your website/online strategy as a new business and build it on the merits of what will succeed in this medium, versus trying to add it on to all the other marketing endeavors.

ER: Considering its invitation-only status and rave reviews, the OMS has positioned itself much differently than other conferences. Explain the meaning behind the exclusivity.

Kahlow: This is the place marketers want to be to really learn about best practices in online marketing. The exclusivity is built to ensure that only marketers were in attendance to create an environment of sharing, networking and camaraderie. By eliminating any sales folk, vendors and the whole exhibitor approach, it really becomes a great place to learn, share and connect. Remember, OMS is not-for-profit with the sole mission being to raise the bar in education on the subject of online marketing to help marketing professionals execute on their online marketing efforts.

ER: In what way do you cater your content separately so that you don't alienate those attendees who've only been in the game a few months, while at the same time looking out for the benefit of those who have been in the game for years?

Kahlow: We have sessions that are marked by expertise level (novice to expert) and give the attendees a choice of three sessions on any given subject at various level of expertise. The thing to remember is that most of us are relatively new to this space, so the disparity of education is not as much as one would think.

For more information on the Online Marketing Summit, visit www.onlinemarketingsummit.com.