Guest post by Christopher Wallace
Imagine that you’re a budding rock band, strumming out your dream in your garage after work. Fame has never been more accessible. Just hook up your laptop, start laying down your tracks, and upload them to iTunes and CD Baby. In no time, you’ll be selling out major clubs and collecting a monthly check from your online sales.
That’s not exactly how it works, is it? Actually, it’s simultaneously easier and more difficult to ‘make it’ than ever before. The web gives bands (and businesses) a portal to instantly convey their message to EVERYONE. People can learn all about what you do from any country on earth, without you having to pay for TV ads, direct mail, or an airplane to pull your banner down a crowded beach.
BUT (and that’s a big one), the wide open accessibility raises the quality standard of information that people want to consume. By solving one problem — how to make a message available to everyone — we’ve created another one: How to make a message people care about hearing.
If you want to drive people to your website and generate business, you’ve got to start at the core.
Don’t Launch Until You’re Ready
Whether you’re a brand new start up or a veteran company, you’re not going to generate business without a solid product. Yes, a good salesman will tell you they can sell the gum off the bottom of their shoe, but in the wide open world of the web, nobody’s even going to open that door (or click that link). Don’t put all your energy into marketing — your first priority should be a product that sells itself, because it’s so good, so effective, so game-changing that everyone has to have it.
Conduct a Social Media Beta Test
Alright, you’ve designed your perfect product. Your in-laws and cousins tell you its genius. Now, it’s up to the public whether or not they’ll want a smart phone attachment that makes waffles and brews coffee. Test the waters with social media, starting with Pinterest. Not familiar? You’re already behind. The site quadrupled its traffic between September and December 2011, attracting 7.5 million unique visitors in the year’s final month alone.
Whether or not Pinterest is overtaken by some other social media site two years from now, the ease with which it allows users to ‘pin,’ and thus share content, isn’t going anywhere. Start a Pinterest page and put your product on it (put it on Facebook and Twitter as well). Are people sharing it? If it spreads quickly, you better higher new employees and up your production. If it’s stagnant, well, back to the drawing board.
Video Killed the Email Star
After Facebook, YouTube drives more referral traffic than any other social or forum website. For consumers, search engines are still the number one referral method, but social networks are hot on their heels (and have already surpassed email marketing). Instead of putting weeks of effort into a glitzy PR email marketing campaign, bound to be met with one-click deletes no matter how incredibly awesome it may be, put your budget toward a video crew.
It doesn’t take a doctorate in social observation to understand that our culture prefers watching to reading. But how do you make a video that people will want to spread? Start with humor and a good tune. Think Super Bowl ad, not infomercial. You don’t need to pitch your product for 30 seconds. Warm viewers up, make them chuckle, then flash your logo and website to spark curiosity. Instant hits.
Keep Up With Silicon Valley
If this post had been written in September, there would have been no mention of Pinterest. Four months later, the site is a game changer. If you’re a company owner, either you or a hired marketing executive needs to keep their finger on the pulse of the changing landscape of online marketing. Sites like mashable.com are a great source to stay up to the date on the latest social media trends.
What’s the bottom line to creating online buzz? Start with a solid product. Whatever you’re selling ought to hold it’s own at a cocktail party. If you start talking about what you’re marketing and people begin to politely excuse themselves, you won’t stand a chance in the cutthroat world of today’s Internet. Give the people something they want to talk about it, and you’ll watch your product sell itself.
About the author:
Christopher Wallace is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing, a leading provider of personalized pens, promotional pens, and other personalized items such as imprinted apparel and mugs and customized calendars.
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