I agree with you on this Maria. The "cost" of marketing is not just the dollars & cents spent, it's also the "time cost / value" which translates into dollar value as well.
The promotion of product-X via all the media forms you mentioned are what get's people to "look" at product-X but that is only the first & toughest part. Once you get Jane & John Q Public to look, you have to draw them in and get them to explore your offering in more detail and increase their interest to where they want to try it.
As a "Techie type" if I am exploring a new product, service or even a new grid, I always look at the ancillary materials related to the site/service etc... I would consider these as closing points (buying in to try it) which would make me look. I look at forums, wiki's, blogs, trouble reporting system (Jira/Mantis) etc... to see what the activity is, what level of support is being given, how much client <-> developer/support is shown publicly. I find these are a good "snapshot" which 99% of the time will tell how active and how responsive the support to client is and tells the bigger story.
When I see an active community within forums, blogs etc and based on what clients/users are saying & how the general support is (be it from product-X support or the client community itself) then I will investigate if the feedback is positive and things are progressive. If there is little to no activity / interaction that I lose interest at that point and don't bother to look any further... First Impressions are so critical to drawing people in. There are many key points which people look at, read or watch which make that first impression and leads to second impressions resulting from their continuing to investigate Product-X.