Marketing and advertising is the life blood of business. Without it, business ventures would simply be unproductive. If no one knows about your product are service, they certainly cant buy it.
Having said that, there are many marketers that seek to market and advertise their products, but dont gain the response they seek.
They apply all of the marketing principles they have learned by observing others and still arent able to break through the seemingly impenetrable barrier between them ad success.
What these marketers dont know is that the people they are watching are either pumping in large amounts of cash to get noticed or they are failing also. If what I have written so far seems to correlate with what you have been experiencing, this is where you need to pay the closest attention. You are not alone.
At first glance, that statement seems to assure you that philosophically there are others in the same failing marketing tactics boat as you. While there are many that are failing at marketing just like you are, that really isnt what I was getting at.
When I say that you are not alone, I mean that there are more people trying to get the attention of the same people that you are. These other marketers may not offer the same type of product that you offer but they are all competing with you nonetheless. See, ATTENTION is what every product marketer wants for his or her product or service. Unfortunately, ATTENTION is governed by time. There is only so much time in a day that a potential customer can devote to considering a product and every marketer in the world is fighting for that small block of time slot in the potential customers mind.
This window of time is so important that to miss it often means the marketer looses the sell. Compounding the problem for advertisers and marketers that find themselves in an ever-growing competition for the ATTENTION window, is the fact that the attention window is not a stable block of time. It shrinks and grows erratically as the potential customer deals with the vicissitudes of life.
For instance, lets take a person that plays golf a lot. That is the perfect person to send a sales pitch for a new style golf club right? Not necessarily. What if you pitch the sale on August 19 and he is dealing with problems with his son getting into trouble on that same day? His golf game is a very low priority at that point and his window for carefully considering a product is very small or non-existent all together. I am not saying that it has to be something quite that drastic. It could also be something as simple as the potential customer being tired after having worked long hours. I am just making the point that timing is very important in marketing and advertising campaigns. It makes a very big difference in how deeply your product will be considered and how much time the product sales pitch will be given by the potential customer.
When a potential customer is distracted by the desire to learn more about his/her original search engine search, they dont pay attention to ad placements that interrupt them. Here is a test, on the last 3 websites that you visited, what did the banner ads on those pages say? Cant remember? That is exactly my point. You didnt ask for those ads so memory of them is difficult to maintain. OK..here is an easy one. On your last search engine use, what was the top 5 domains that appeared on the ads to the right of the search results page? Still nothing? Again, that is my point. We instinctively tune out and forget those ads because subconsciously they are often interruptions to what we really are looking for. Dont limit your ad placement to that type of attention seeking. If you do, you have a high chance of mediocre results.
When internet users are interrupted by an ad, most times they ignore it, other times they click over and click back in seconds. The pattern of visiting a website and only staying for a few seconds before leaving can be noticed in the website logs. When this is happening to your website it is frustrating, to say the least, because you know that it takes more than a few seconds to read the information that you have provided about your product. Then, what happened? The ATTENTION window shut very quickly and that customer was long gone before you could grab their attention.
In the above analogy, how long the attention window remains open is crucial. How crucial is it? Companies spend billions of dollars per year researching and implementing plans to prop that window open and hold that window open long enough to have their products and services carefully considered and remembered. Much of that money is wasted testing flawed theories. Thats enough bad news. Lets get to the part where I tell you the solution to this problem. The solution is simple. First, avoid following the herd when it comes to marketing. In its self it is not a bad thing. It is just that many marketing and advertising campaigns have failed due to attempting to make a big splash using already over-saturated marketing techniques. Remember, only so many ads can successfully get through the attention window. The task is to get the potential customer to see your ad coming and fully open the window until your product has been properly consider.
The art is to be innovative with your marketing efforts. For instance, a new advertising website TypoBounty dot com uses a patents pending method called error marketing to create and maintain the open window scenario. By conditioning the visitors prior to them arriving on the advertisers website, TypoBounty dot com helps advertisers receive more attentive and focused web traffic. The potential customers come looking for an error on the advertising web property for a small reward. In an effort to find errors, they read every word on your website, resulting in them staying longer and catching the full impact of your sales pitch. The customer remains focused on understanding what you have to say and offer and the ATTENTION WINDOW remains wide open longer for interaction with the customer.
To summarize be innovative and be willing to embrace the new marketing techniques early in the game or you will find yourself in the same spot in a year from now. Catch advertising angles while they are new and reap the benefit of boldly going where noAwe you get the idea.
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Direct Response Advertising, Is Everybody Really Doing It?
The direct response advertising business is a $250 Billion dollar industry. Yes, Billion with a capital B. Yet people think they are not affected by direct response - until you find a George Foreman Grill in their kitchen. Even the most unsuspecting people are roped in by DR advertising. This is why it is a growing industry for medium to small business owners to get their products and services sold.
Many of products you use today got their initial launch through DR advertising: TheraBreath; OxyClean, the Ab Roller®… and the list goes on.
Ironically, many people think they know nothing about it and are not affected by it. It is the most unsuspecting, yet highly workable, marketing method today. Why? TV. A newsblaze.com article Why You Can't Ignore the Power of Direct Response Ads to Boost Sales, cites television as reaching a whopping 98% of the homes in the U.S.
And according to a study from the Electronic Retailing Association, called The Evolving Role of Direct Response Television in Multichannel Marketing Execution, multichannel marketers are growing the DRTV industry. (Multichannel marketing is offering customers more than one way to buy something -- for example, from a website as well as in retail stores.)
Bob Francis, the Vice President of Commercial Production for Event Management Services, Inc. is a pioneer in the world of direct response. With 25 years under his belt in the DR advertising industry and accolades like having been the creative genius behind the well-known 8-Minute Abs campaign, when Francis comments on what it takes to be successful in DRTV, people listen.
To hit it big with DR, one needs:
- A product that has mass appeal
- A good ratio between hard cost & retail price
- An irresistible, generous offer -- give away way more than what the consumer pays for (Victoria Principal’s skin care line is a great example).
An added advantage is to have a consumable product. “Once they [consumers] like it, wear it or use it and get compliments three days in a row, you can guarantee when they run out they will buy it again.” says Francis. “Consumable products have lifetime customers.”
DRTV is not just for celebrities. Today’s small to medium businesses can reap the rewards. The benefits include:
- Building brand name recognition
- Retail backup – in other words, take your product with proven DR advertising and sales backing it up, that retailer is already ensured they have a product that is going to sell in their stores.
What’s the ultimate goal of DR advertising? Going to retail. George Foreman made millions before taking to retail. Jane Fonda’s videos were once sold via Direct Response – now you can even rent them at video stores.
Francis’ acumen lies in not only writing, producing and directing Direct Response ads, but also in assessing what products are viable candidates for this type of marketing approach. He imparts his knowledge to entrepreneurs from many different industries nationwide at marketing boot camps organized by Joy Gendusa, CEO of PostcardMania, and Marsha Friedman, CEO of Event Management Services, Inc.
One factor Francis claims he loves is disabusing entrepreneurs of the misconceptions of direct response advertising. DR advertising is very workable today because:
- The costs of production is low
- With the advent of cable TV, media time is inexpensive
- You can target your audience with cable like never before
“You can’t just utilize one channel of advertising these days,” says Francis. “DR advertising coupled with an aggressive web and retail presence can boom your business.”
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Many of products you use today got their initial launch through DR advertising: TheraBreath; OxyClean, the Ab Roller®… and the list goes on.
Ironically, many people think they know nothing about it and are not affected by it. It is the most unsuspecting, yet highly workable, marketing method today. Why? TV. A newsblaze.com article Why You Can't Ignore the Power of Direct Response Ads to Boost Sales, cites television as reaching a whopping 98% of the homes in the U.S.
And according to a study from the Electronic Retailing Association, called The Evolving Role of Direct Response Television in Multichannel Marketing Execution, multichannel marketers are growing the DRTV industry. (Multichannel marketing is offering customers more than one way to buy something -- for example, from a website as well as in retail stores.)
Bob Francis, the Vice President of Commercial Production for Event Management Services, Inc. is a pioneer in the world of direct response. With 25 years under his belt in the DR advertising industry and accolades like having been the creative genius behind the well-known 8-Minute Abs campaign, when Francis comments on what it takes to be successful in DRTV, people listen.
To hit it big with DR, one needs:
- A product that has mass appeal
- A good ratio between hard cost & retail price
- An irresistible, generous offer -- give away way more than what the consumer pays for (Victoria Principal’s skin care line is a great example).
An added advantage is to have a consumable product. “Once they [consumers] like it, wear it or use it and get compliments three days in a row, you can guarantee when they run out they will buy it again.” says Francis. “Consumable products have lifetime customers.”
DRTV is not just for celebrities. Today’s small to medium businesses can reap the rewards. The benefits include:
- Building brand name recognition
- Retail backup – in other words, take your product with proven DR advertising and sales backing it up, that retailer is already ensured they have a product that is going to sell in their stores.
What’s the ultimate goal of DR advertising? Going to retail. George Foreman made millions before taking to retail. Jane Fonda’s videos were once sold via Direct Response – now you can even rent them at video stores.
Francis’ acumen lies in not only writing, producing and directing Direct Response ads, but also in assessing what products are viable candidates for this type of marketing approach. He imparts his knowledge to entrepreneurs from many different industries nationwide at marketing boot camps organized by Joy Gendusa, CEO of PostcardMania, and Marsha Friedman, CEO of Event Management Services, Inc.
One factor Francis claims he loves is disabusing entrepreneurs of the misconceptions of direct response advertising. DR advertising is very workable today because:
- The costs of production is low
- With the advent of cable TV, media time is inexpensive
- You can target your audience with cable like never before
“You can’t just utilize one channel of advertising these days,” says Francis. “DR advertising coupled with an aggressive web and retail presence can boom your business.”
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Going Viral To Promote Your Business
As an online business owner one of the many tasks you are required to under take is that of business promoter.
With several thousand new web sites being started every day the typical site owner has to be aware of the many different avenues that are available to promote their site.
Some are more traditional than others such as search engine optimization and submitting your site to directories related to your particular niche. Others take a little more imagination to implement.
One such tactic is creating a viral report or ebook.
This has nothing to do with passing a virus to the computers of unwary surfers.
Going viral simply means that the report or ebook is given for free with the encouragement to the reader to pass it along to others who may be interested in the subject matter which is covered in the text.
This can usually be accomplished by offering an incentive to the reader through a gift, bonus item or monetary reward.
In most cases the viral concept works in conjunction with an affiliate program where an affiliate link is embedded into the report itself or through an email from an autoresponder.
When used with an autoresponder it is usually with what is called a tell a friend script.
These are basically scripts that automatically place a piece of code into a link in an outgoing email. The reader is rewarded when entering the name and email address of three or more friends. When the link is clicked on by the recipient the click is credited to the person who referred the respondent.
Another method used is with what is referred to as branding software.
In this scenario the report or ebook is written with one or more clickable links that lead to either a sales page or a squeeze page.
Squeeze pages are simply pre sales pages that are set up with an autoresponder form on them so that visitors will leave their name and email address.
This is an incredibly useful tool that puts interested prospects into a sales funnel and allows the site owner to contact them with follow up messages at set intervals.
However some links will simply lead prospects directly to the sales page which then adds a cookie to their computer for tracking purposes.
When a sale is made the affiliate who sent the prospect then gets credited with the sale and gets the commission.
Rebranding software is a great tool because it can be used with PDF documents which are widely used on both PC and MAC platforms and are hailed for their security. This means that you are reaching a bigger audience than if you were to use software designed for an EXE application.
By writing good informative reports and short ebooks with brandable links and encouraging or rewarding readers to pass them along, you too can build a large viral marketing system that can bring prospects for months and possibly years to come.
Source http://www.articlesbase.com
With several thousand new web sites being started every day the typical site owner has to be aware of the many different avenues that are available to promote their site.
Some are more traditional than others such as search engine optimization and submitting your site to directories related to your particular niche. Others take a little more imagination to implement.
One such tactic is creating a viral report or ebook.
This has nothing to do with passing a virus to the computers of unwary surfers.
Going viral simply means that the report or ebook is given for free with the encouragement to the reader to pass it along to others who may be interested in the subject matter which is covered in the text.
This can usually be accomplished by offering an incentive to the reader through a gift, bonus item or monetary reward.
In most cases the viral concept works in conjunction with an affiliate program where an affiliate link is embedded into the report itself or through an email from an autoresponder.
When used with an autoresponder it is usually with what is called a tell a friend script.
These are basically scripts that automatically place a piece of code into a link in an outgoing email. The reader is rewarded when entering the name and email address of three or more friends. When the link is clicked on by the recipient the click is credited to the person who referred the respondent.
Another method used is with what is referred to as branding software.
In this scenario the report or ebook is written with one or more clickable links that lead to either a sales page or a squeeze page.
Squeeze pages are simply pre sales pages that are set up with an autoresponder form on them so that visitors will leave their name and email address.
This is an incredibly useful tool that puts interested prospects into a sales funnel and allows the site owner to contact them with follow up messages at set intervals.
However some links will simply lead prospects directly to the sales page which then adds a cookie to their computer for tracking purposes.
When a sale is made the affiliate who sent the prospect then gets credited with the sale and gets the commission.
Rebranding software is a great tool because it can be used with PDF documents which are widely used on both PC and MAC platforms and are hailed for their security. This means that you are reaching a bigger audience than if you were to use software designed for an EXE application.
By writing good informative reports and short ebooks with brandable links and encouraging or rewarding readers to pass them along, you too can build a large viral marketing system that can bring prospects for months and possibly years to come.
Source http://www.articlesbase.com
Viral Marketing On The Internet
Many internet marketing gurus will push the idea of "viral marketing" in order to bring traffic and increased sales to your marketing ventures. Viral marketing is simply a form of marketing that
"facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message." In other words, it is establishing a marketing campaign that simply spreads on its own, and the internet has become the perfect venue for marketing campaigns to spread like a virus.
Every time an email is forwarded something, every time someone sends a YouTube video to a friend, and every friend request that is sent on a social network, individuals are participating in the idea of viral marketing. Because the overall success of a viral marketing campaign is determined by the interest of the recipient, any successful venture is built around the hope that those who find it will pass it on to others. If the recipient, reader, or viewer appeals to what is being said in the email, video, or other form of presentation, there is a strong chance of passing it along to others.
This forum of marketing can progress at an incredibly fast rate. As more people forward the information, the message is distributed to more people who then have the opportunity to pass it along to others as well.
Viral marketing, when implemented correctly, can be an excellent way to facilitate the branding of a name or product. In the internet marketing community, providing a good piece of information in the form of an ebook can spread very quickly and earn credibility for the creator. This idea is increased when resell rights are provided for the given ebook.
The most important ingredient to a success viral marketing campaign is to arouse curiosity and/or humor to a piece of information. Curiosity will cause a reader to dig deeper into a topic and be more receptive to the marketing message. Humor and/entertainment help one to establish a good rapport with the reader and, more importantly, causes others to pass the message onto others.
While the concept of viral marketing is nothing new, the internet opens up new opportunities for people to tap into its power. On the internet information highway, quality pieces of information, funny videos, and any thing popular will spread like wildfire. By creating something of value and distributing it correctly, the internet can work in your favor to make your marketing campaigns absolutely viral.
Source http://www.articlesbase.com
"facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message." In other words, it is establishing a marketing campaign that simply spreads on its own, and the internet has become the perfect venue for marketing campaigns to spread like a virus.
Every time an email is forwarded something, every time someone sends a YouTube video to a friend, and every friend request that is sent on a social network, individuals are participating in the idea of viral marketing. Because the overall success of a viral marketing campaign is determined by the interest of the recipient, any successful venture is built around the hope that those who find it will pass it on to others. If the recipient, reader, or viewer appeals to what is being said in the email, video, or other form of presentation, there is a strong chance of passing it along to others.
This forum of marketing can progress at an incredibly fast rate. As more people forward the information, the message is distributed to more people who then have the opportunity to pass it along to others as well.
Viral marketing, when implemented correctly, can be an excellent way to facilitate the branding of a name or product. In the internet marketing community, providing a good piece of information in the form of an ebook can spread very quickly and earn credibility for the creator. This idea is increased when resell rights are provided for the given ebook.
The most important ingredient to a success viral marketing campaign is to arouse curiosity and/or humor to a piece of information. Curiosity will cause a reader to dig deeper into a topic and be more receptive to the marketing message. Humor and/entertainment help one to establish a good rapport with the reader and, more importantly, causes others to pass the message onto others.
While the concept of viral marketing is nothing new, the internet opens up new opportunities for people to tap into its power. On the internet information highway, quality pieces of information, funny videos, and any thing popular will spread like wildfire. By creating something of value and distributing it correctly, the internet can work in your favor to make your marketing campaigns absolutely viral.
Source http://www.articlesbase.com
Mobile commerce - The next big thing
Wherever you might be in the world, and whatever your business, chances are you have not missed the most important prediction since the internet first appeared – the internet will be mobile.
You've probably seen all of them; the handsets and other devices that let their users log in and browse the web at the click of a key or even a tap on a display (as is the case with the latest uber hyped device: the iPhone). People are today checking emails or browsing for the latest cinema listings, wherever you turn. The internet is simply on its way to become something you can access wherever you are.
How does this apply to you though, as a small or medium sized web owner, you ask?
The answer is quite simple. Once the growing ache of the mobile internet has started to settle, and people get more comfortable with their mobile internet features they will start also to demand that they can do their shopping on the road.
For those web businesses who have already stepped out into the "unknown" of mobile interfaces and development difficulties, you may learn that it is not an easy time to enter, unless you are ready for a bit of an uphill struggle.
While we know that the mobile devices are out there and ready to b used (actually, more people in Europe and Asia have mobiles than have desktops and notebooks), the web businesses are not quite ready to step up to the challenge it seems.
Why?
Because while there seems to be an urgent demand or even requirement for businesses to sign up for a mobile domain, many have no idea how to go from there. Developing a mobile site, optimizing it and then promoting it seems like a whole new science to most.
Around the creative agencies, you are starting to see the service of "creating mobile presences" show up. But it is not yet in the mainstream offering. Maybe because it is a process that requires skill in using applications to deliver real time mobile content, or displaying current offerings of services or products in an entire new kind of interface.
Today there is probably no emergency-like requirement for an online business owner to get a mobile domain (like .mobi). But, the benefits of having a mobile domain is that a very savvy mobile audience will recognize your efforts. And, you may boost your image significantly as a result.
But is it really that different from just building a website? Can't I just use what I already have?
Yes and no. It is different. And you should (if you are smart and serious about taking the leap) start from scratch with a new site, just for mobile users. Kick and scream all you want, there are no shortcuts.
Now, I'm not saying that the processes or technologies are any different from the traditional world-wide-web, but if you will to sell goods or services through a mobile interface you need to make sure all your ecommerce processes are quick enough for the mobile devices, and of course accessible. You also need to make sure the wireless transport layer security provides enough encryption and that your servers (hosting your commerce) support the WTLS protocol.
So, you're thinking now that you can get help with all of the above – what next?
Don't forget to make sure your site is optimized for mobile search – and of course that it is compliant with mobile standards (not too heavy site, jump links that work etc etc). Then go ahead, hit the ground running with your marketing and PR efforts like you would to any of your media or customer interfaces.
Sure, it's early. Sure, it's still in a very emerging phase. And sure, it's hard to find the tools and skills you may need to get there and be successful. But what's more sure than anything else, is that the mobile internet is coming. The question is just when, and if you are going to be there or not.
Article Source: http://www.myarticlemall.com
You've probably seen all of them; the handsets and other devices that let their users log in and browse the web at the click of a key or even a tap on a display (as is the case with the latest uber hyped device: the iPhone). People are today checking emails or browsing for the latest cinema listings, wherever you turn. The internet is simply on its way to become something you can access wherever you are.
How does this apply to you though, as a small or medium sized web owner, you ask?
The answer is quite simple. Once the growing ache of the mobile internet has started to settle, and people get more comfortable with their mobile internet features they will start also to demand that they can do their shopping on the road.
For those web businesses who have already stepped out into the "unknown" of mobile interfaces and development difficulties, you may learn that it is not an easy time to enter, unless you are ready for a bit of an uphill struggle.
While we know that the mobile devices are out there and ready to b used (actually, more people in Europe and Asia have mobiles than have desktops and notebooks), the web businesses are not quite ready to step up to the challenge it seems.
Why?
Because while there seems to be an urgent demand or even requirement for businesses to sign up for a mobile domain, many have no idea how to go from there. Developing a mobile site, optimizing it and then promoting it seems like a whole new science to most.
Around the creative agencies, you are starting to see the service of "creating mobile presences" show up. But it is not yet in the mainstream offering. Maybe because it is a process that requires skill in using applications to deliver real time mobile content, or displaying current offerings of services or products in an entire new kind of interface.
Today there is probably no emergency-like requirement for an online business owner to get a mobile domain (like .mobi). But, the benefits of having a mobile domain is that a very savvy mobile audience will recognize your efforts. And, you may boost your image significantly as a result.
But is it really that different from just building a website? Can't I just use what I already have?
Yes and no. It is different. And you should (if you are smart and serious about taking the leap) start from scratch with a new site, just for mobile users. Kick and scream all you want, there are no shortcuts.
Now, I'm not saying that the processes or technologies are any different from the traditional world-wide-web, but if you will to sell goods or services through a mobile interface you need to make sure all your ecommerce processes are quick enough for the mobile devices, and of course accessible. You also need to make sure the wireless transport layer security provides enough encryption and that your servers (hosting your commerce) support the WTLS protocol.
So, you're thinking now that you can get help with all of the above – what next?
Don't forget to make sure your site is optimized for mobile search – and of course that it is compliant with mobile standards (not too heavy site, jump links that work etc etc). Then go ahead, hit the ground running with your marketing and PR efforts like you would to any of your media or customer interfaces.
Sure, it's early. Sure, it's still in a very emerging phase. And sure, it's hard to find the tools and skills you may need to get there and be successful. But what's more sure than anything else, is that the mobile internet is coming. The question is just when, and if you are going to be there or not.
Article Source: http://www.myarticlemall.com
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