Using technology as a business tool...
Don't use the internet. |
Using technology as a business tool... Don't use the internet. |
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Have you ever thought of not using the web to promote your website? Much of what I see on the Internet is folks talking about using the internet to promote the internet. I see a missing element here, and hope I can shed some light and spark some thoughts. Personally, I'm trying to get people to think about visiting my website before they sit down at their computer. I've seen all kinds of numbers, 40 million new web surfers hitting the highway this year. Even if I can catch a small percentage of these, get them while they are new, I hope to "grow" faithful followers. This is the first in a multi-part series on combining the power of the Internet with traditional marketing concepts. Let me start with the following example. In advertising you will often hear the word frequency in determining the cost effectiveness of a marketing campaign. The concept of high frequency on a low budget involves giving something to your clients which they may see hundreds of times during the course of the entire year. According to Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Best Selling Guerrilla Marketing: "One of the most delightful, versatile, rewarding, winning, cost-effective, proven, and disarming of all marketing weapons is free gifts... regardless of their income group, people love free gifts." Think about it. Did you ever get a magnetic card from a pizza delivery place? If you stick it on your refrigerator at home or on your filing cabinet at work, how often do you see it? Probably a few hundred times during the course of the year. While take out restaurants use this marketing weapon, it has also been used effectively by professionals such as realtors and doctors. Another often-overlooked item is the calendar. There are an enormous variety of styles to suit any business. Here again, you have high frequency exposure. It is something that we look at nearly every day. If you find a design that interests the majority of your clients, you'll have an added benefit. Not only will your client see your name and logo on a regular basis, anyone that comes into their home or office where your calendar is displayed will also see your message. For only a few hundred dollars you could easily get anywhere from a couple hundred mini magnets or desk calendars to a hundred or more wall calendars. Your clients will not only appreciate these gift items; they will see them numerous times during the coming year. While there are many different "gift" items, I have detailed the advantages of calendars and refrigerator magnets because of the ease in distribution. The key points to remember: Gift giving items are a great supplement to your existing marketing campaign. Their effectiveness increases when used as part of a total marketing package. It's not simply the fact that you've given something away, but how you give it away. You can say thank you to someone with a coffee mug, pen, and magnet, for only a few dollars, and you will keep your products or services,(and your website), at "top of mind" awareness throughout the year. |
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