Finland traditionally scores high in technology related studies and we take special pride in our hi-tech companies such as Nokia. According to Tilastokeskus, a market research and statistics company, 78% of Finnish households own a computer and 82% of people between the ages of 16 to 74, use the Internet weekly.

Online shopping itself is also featured on the list, rising slowly but steadily. Judging by these figures, Internet should be very important marketing channel for almost every Finnish company selling consumer goods and/or services.

So why these companies are not willing to invest money in online marketing? Why do they see it as a secondary way to promote themselves? Why in international researches, such as the ones conducted by IAB Europe, Finnish companies spend well below average on Internet marketing, leaving clearly behind of other Nordic countries.

One of the main reasons for this is that Finland has very strong traditions in newspaper and television advertising. To put it bluntly, marketers are used to pay to be seen and nothing more. In online world, you have to change that way of thinking and start being active. That means that marketers should participate in discussions, operate in social media and really pay attention on their web presences, adjusting to changes as they happen. That of course takes time and effort as well as willingness to communicate with your customers in much different way than before.

This is not currently happening, and we are in a situation where Internet marketing, as a word, does not quite have the right ring to it. When marketing executives hear it, they instantly think of passive advertising, when in fact they should think of it as a new way to approach marketing with ads being just one part of it, not the whole show. That, I feel, is the main challenge the Finnish online marketing world has to overcome in order to start flourishing.