Key Marketing Methods for 2008
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Isn’t online marketing by definition, expensive? Not necessarily. Online businesses are coming to the realization that in an organic environment like the Internet, organic marketing is required; paying for ragged or static marketing only gets you so far before it becomes ineffective. The consumer now controls your marketing. What is wrong with the old methods? Old marketing methods are failing because users are beginning to wise up (Rise Up) against the dilapidated brute Force advertising that tries to win users over through sheer volume, using abrasive web-page banners, unrelated Adwords displayed on the page, or repeated newsletters (most being restricted by anti-spam laws). 
The stale methods no longer work effectively for two key reasons. One is the fact that they are a ‘flash in the pan’, directing users to websites only so long as you continue to pay for the campaign, the second reason is consumers are now at the stage where they either ignore them or go out of their way to block them (with plug-in based browser or email filtering). Let’s like a flash accelerate through some of the “primitive” ways to market on the web, and their failings. Paid Campaigns – (These only work while active) Paid campaigns may lure people to your site, but they are regularly not your target market and after arriving they promptly leave (High ‘bounce’ rate). Banner Ads – People abhor banner ads. Most of the ads on the Internet are loathed because they aren’t relevant. Seeing a banner for a better insurance rate when on a gaming site is a massive disconnect for the audience and a necessary portion of banner ads are plain abrasive to users. Filling one third of your page with banner ads will not increase the likelihood anyone will care. Adwords – Adwords (PPC, Pay Per Click) have the same problem as banner ads, though to a lesser extent. Adwords work by displaying “sponsored results,” in search engine results. Adword results are separated from normal search results so not many people win them and the unknown quality in the users eye causes distrust (how do I know that a sponsored result is better than an organic result). Competition is fierce, with prices spiraling upwards, and returns staying constant. Newsletters – One word: Spam. Because of the spam epidemic, users are becoming ever more wary signing up to receive mail from any online source. Legislation and the ever increasing ability of spam filters mean a continually shrinking audience (Restricting the ability to send newsletters, and filtering them before they reach your audience). The “Outmoded World” marketing relied on one or two large marketing sources to drive traffic with gigantic budgets and marketing firms. You have to get people to create the “news” then you pay other people to distribute the “news”, so you are pulling people into your “store” to show them what you have (whether they want it or not). New methods for marketing These days having other create and distribute your content for you is in vogue, this can mean syndicating your articles for other users to repost, paying users to review or rate your services, guiding users directly on forums or having users note up to receive exclusive information. In every case, the handiwork of distribution is left to others. Lets quickly run through some of the new “web 2.0″ (web 19.0) ways to market on the web, and the reason you should try them…
The theme of the original marketing methods is tailoring your content to the audience. The intent is to create something reader want to read. Marketing is not about trickery or insincerity, it’s about communicating your ideas with honesty and authenticity. If it is worthwhile to your users, then they will happily talk about the bid and spread it around, you have to communicate authentically with your customers and it simply doesn’t happen using “traditional” online marketing. A word of caution: if you try any of the above methods but approach them traditionally (as a direct marketing channel) then not only will you annoy a colossal deal of users, you can also damage your company image. Again I stress the above point, gain the content something people want to read, not just marketing material. Old marketing methods that are now approached differently Benjamin Franklin said insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This is increasingly true for some of the more traditional forms of online marketing. It’s not so much what people are doing, but more a case of how they are being done. Let’s take a look at how we should be approaching some of the old marketing methods today.
Old-world communication can still be effective but you need to ensure it is not your only approach. The Conclusion? Reevaluation is the key to a healthy online presence. You need to be constantly measuring and reevaluating your marketing methods to ensure you are not wasting money, and can take advantage of effective unusual methods. If you’re only using the old traditional methods, then you may want to give some of the new methods a try. The links below will assist you get started. Marketing Tips and Advice Blogs Articles News Releases Mailing Lists / Newsletters ————– |
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