online marketing Tag

Offline Marketing for an Online Business

As more and more businesses search for ways to cut down on costs, the business model of owning a brick and mortar store with a leased space and employees is beginning to dwindle. Rather, people are turning their efforts and concentration to the online market. But even with a strictly online business, it doesn’t mean that marketing has to be confined to the online arena. Instead, companies should combine online and offline marketing tactics to drive business to their online store.

Utilizing these two channels simply makes good sense. After all, interest in your site is always a positive no matter how that traffic was generated. So whether you’re getting an influx of visitors because of a print ad or because of a viral video, increased traffic means the increased likelihood of sales. So why not double the potential traffic by releasing a viral video and a print ad?

For your offline efforts, consider some of the following tactics and techniques.
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Social Media Versus Search

It seems like it’s impossible to get away from articles nowadays that start with the phrase “In these hard economic times…” But gear up for another, because in these hard economic times, companies are looking for any excuse to yield revenue and cut costs. Perhaps that accounts for part of the reason social media tactics are so very popular right now.

After all, sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace can disseminate information about your company’s products and services in a quick and (most importantly) free way. And this ability has many touting this means of marketing as the next best thing.

But there’s also something to be said for holding off on any fad that simply seems too good to be true. After all, any new marketing efforts require time and energy. Even if there isn’t any money required upfront, there is still the necessary dedication of manpower. And this can be viewed as tantamount to expense, because time is most certainly money. As such, before you or your company launches an organized social media effort, make sure it’s right for your business and make sure your business is ready for that kind of campaign.
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Psychology Your Way Into Sales

It’s no surprise that humans react in odd and irrational ways, particularly when it comes to spending money. To that end, Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions, offers many insightful lessons into the quirky (and largely predictable) human psyche. And in turn, these lessons may help web businesses shape their image and behaviors in order to garner as many sales as possible and become a successful online destination. Here are some important aspects of online sales tactics to consider when running an e-commerce or service-oriented business:

Relativity
It turns out Einstein knew what he was talking about—relativity does matter. Although this kind of relativity isn’t exactly what the theoretical physicist had in mind, there is something to be said for comparing your products to others. When products are offered in a standard and deluxe version, the standard version suddenly looks like a bargain and tends to sell. Create instant price comparisons on your site, and people are less likely to leave the site to shop around.
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Italian Plumbers Rejoice, Nintendo Dominates the Internet

Everyone below the age of thirty-five who is even remotely interested in videogames holds strong to one steadfast truth—Nintendo rules. There’s really no way of avoiding that simple reality. Looming large in the development of many 80s-bred children, Nintendo has been able to seamlessly take their business online while others have fell short. What allows Nintendo to translate its awesome into the world of online business so well? Here are just a few of the possible contributing factors.

-Nintendo was the game of choice throughout the 80s. The children that grew up addicted to Tetris and 2-D Mario are the same kids that are currently addicted to MySpace. In short, their client base constitutes the “internet generation,” and it’s only natural they’d continue their love of Nintendo through online venues.

-While many companies hoard and protect every aspect of their intellectual creations, Nintendo has had a (relatively) open attitude. The iconic games and characters have been translated into just about every new technology, and they are often discussed, altered, and lampooned across the internet.
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Comedy Central Presents…Jokes.com

For everyone that thrives on a daily fix of humor, there’s good news in the world of online funniness. Comedy Central has officially announced the reopening of Jokes.com, a website dedicated to all things stand-up.

The site currently offers upwards of 5,000 clips of stand-up comedians, and this archive includes many of the popular comedians that have been previously featured on Comedy Central.

Other site features will include a database of 12,000 text-based jokes as well as a search feature so that users can easily find any of the comedians within Jokes.com. The site currently has over one thousand stand-up comedians and only looks to grow in the coming months.
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Marketing Basics: The Online Press Release

Think a press release is an outdated, “old media” approach to marketing? Think again.

There’s countless studies and articles highlighting the benefits of a press release for online businesses. From generating traffic, inbound links and business or product buzz, to getting positive press and top billing on search results, the new online marketing standards certainly include press releases as a vital and important component for better exposure. But it isn’t as simple as writing a release and sending it off; there are many factors when it comes to effectively using a press release to market your business. Here’s some things to consider to ensure you’re getting the most out of a press release and why you should have done one yesterday:
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