Marketing A Small Business Using Viral Techniques
One of the best ways a small business can gain a large following quickly is by advertising
their goods or services online using viral marketing techniques. Viral marketing is an effective way of marketing a small business online for very little or no money, but it does have a bit of a learning curve if you are not familiar with the techniques.ARTICLE MARKETING
Article marketing can be a very valuable way to market your small business. It involves creating a series of articles which are related to the specific goods or services you offer. The articles can then be strategically placed on your website or through various article sites online. Consumers seeking out information a particular product and service will then be directed to your article when they search for that term online.
Although on the surface, it seems like a pretty easy process, it is actually a quite bit more involved than that. First, just because you write an article and submit it, doesnt mean your article will make it to page one on Google and therefore, it may not be seen. There are some additional steps you will need to take to make this happen. Most often, a good marketing consultant can provide you with the necessary formula to make this viral marketing tactic more effective and keep costs down. It will involve understanding SEO practices for which they are extremely well-versed.
VIDEO
Another way of marketing a small business online is with Video. Some consumers just prefer to take in information through video rather than by reading articles. Many find it as an easier way to learn. Video is particularly effective if you offer a product since you can create custom videos which highlight the features of your product or act as How-To guides for setting up or working with the product. For instance, if you offer a weight bench product, you could create a video showing the end user how to assemble the bench or how to perform certain exercises with the bench.
Many consumers value video and will often share it with people in their social network making it very easy for promotions of this type to go viral and get into the hands of many potential customers.
GIVE AWAYS
Everyone loves to get something for nothing and offering a free item online is a sure fire way to grab peoples attention. Social sites like Twitter are known for promoting contests and giveaways since many people tend to Retweet (Twitter speak for sending out a message that was sent to you) these types of offers more than other content offered.
If you have a product with some true value to the consumer, you can gain popularity by offering up one for free. A great way to do this is to write a promo Tweet asking users to ReTweet your company name or product name and a winner will be chosen at random, among the Tweets. This will get everyone talking about you and sharing your name among the millions of users. Very powerful for getting your name out there and all it really costs is the price of one product.
Companies like Apple and Nike have effectively used this technique when launching new products to their market.
AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
Advertising has always incorporated the use of salesman (or women) who are informed about the product or service and gain a commission by telling others about it and effectively closing a sale. Affiliate Marketing uses this same process, only the sales people promote almost exclusively online. One of the big draws to creating an affiliate programs is it is a quick way to get many people working to sell your product at the same time who already have an established base of customers that they sell to regularly. This can help to quickly promote your service to a very large audience.
Affiliate programs do get a bit tricky though and it is best to consult with a marketing firm which has some experience in setting up these types of programs. Most firms know what works and what does not for your particular product. This can save you from overspending on the set up costs involved in this type of program.
Marketing a small business using some of these techniques, or all of these techniques, can help you to get the word out to a very large potential customer base quickly and even compete with the bigger guys.
A very appealing choice for the small business owner who does not always have the same large marketing budget the big guys do.
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