On-line Advertising: A Great Idea?
I just attended a seminar on “digital marketing for local businesses” hosted by a local Chamber and presented by Justin Carder of CapitolHillSeattle.com and Michael van Baker of Seattlest.com. These are two of the more prominent voices in the independent (i.e., not backed by the traditional media like newspapers) blogging community of Seattle. I was curious what these guys were up to these days and what they had to say about small business marketing.
Here’s what I learned, with some of my own pointers to round out the lesson:
- Talk directly to your people.
In today’s marketplace, the gatekeepers of information (i.e., media) are constantly losing ground to social media, independent presses, and customer reviews. Don’t waste time sending press releases. Engage your customers yourself. - Contribute.
Your expertise, insight, news or stories can be interesting to people like Carder and van Baker, who compiles and edits local news and stories for their blogs. Make sure your story is focused, interesting, and your own. - Localize your point of view.
Whatever you know, whatever you can talk about, make it local. All of a sudden, you have a compelling stories that are just for the people around you. - Advertise with the end in mind.
Yes, local on-line ads are cheap (the cheapest ad on Carder’s Capitol Hill Seattle Blog goes for $.50 per day). But that doesn’t mean it’s a throw-away. To get the most of your money, you want to make sure you start with a clear objective (like, “I will sell 50 more Twinkies today”). - Offer something specific.
Don’t just scream “I am here!” Whisper a specific, targeted offer (“For two days, only for you, $50 off on the first 50 iPhones out of the store”). Van Baker, who is also a marketing consultant with Newbridge Partners, says, “More narrow you can make your offer, more effective the ad will be.” - Then, prepare for the results.
Once you place an ad, you need a place for people to go, and you need to make it easy for them to take action. Prepare landing pages with more information, let your sales people know of the offer made, make signs, forms to fill out, etc. - Test, measure and refine.
Unlike print media or yellow pages, on-line ads are adjustable by mere minutes. Take advantage of it—you can put two different versions of the same offer (A/B test), you can adjust your offer, etc. But do measure the results consistently so you aren’t just meddling. - Work with people.
Find a media that works for you (there are 29 local “neighborhood” blogs in Seattle), and work with them for the long term. Ask questions, offer contents/suggestions. And, if you are a busy entrepreneurs with more important things to do than watch clicks come in, find someone who can work your on-line marketing for the long-term, from concepting, production to evaluation. - Commitment.
Marketing isn’t just fluff. As someone in the audience put it, “the preparation, management, training of staff (to support an on-line advertising campaign)... it’s all cost.” There’s no such thing as free marketing. There never was, and this “web 2.0” thing sure didn’t change that. You need to commit time, energy and money to making more sales, whether you use on-line marketing tools or not.
The duo is presenting the same seminar again at Office Nomads (1617 Boylston Ave, Second Floor, Capitol Hill, Seattle) on Tuesday, Feb 10. You can find out more about it and RSVP here. There is a link from there to the slide stack used at the event as well.
I am curious what other take-away’s people had from this event. If you have something to add, please do so in the comments!
