How to Promote Your Online Presence
Author: Sue Currie
Some websites are designed as an on-line brochure for your business, yet others really drive the customer to make their buying decision. But what is the point of having a fancy brochure if no one is buying your product or service. A website can be a cost effective public relations tool for your business. It can help you attract prospective clients who may not hear about you otherwise and increase sales without adding overhead.
Don’t just launch your site and then wait for business to come knocking at the door – it may not turn up. If you’re looking at creating a website or wanting people to know more about your on-line presence, here’s a few public relations tips to promote your site on and off-line.
One of the first things you need to do is look at who your ideal customer or client is and who you want to attract to your site. It is important to know your audience so you can target your public relations campaign to them.
Send out a media release to attract interest to your site through the appropriate media. Is it a business magazine or a women’s weekly? Perhaps the ideal avenue for you is your local newspaper. Of course just issuing a media release doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get a run so let’s consider a few other points.
Spread the Word Off-line
* Put your web address on all your communication collateral such as brochures, newsletters and on business cards, postcards, flyers about your products, catalogues and posters
* Don’t forget to include it on letterhead, fax cover sheets and invoices
* On stickers used for mail outs, packaging and products
* Include it on promotional products such as pens, caps, coffee mugs, fridge magnets, t-shirts or uniforms and key rings
* In your voicemail messages or your on hold message service
* Mention your website address during radio or TV interviews and speaking engagements
* At meetings suggest to clients they can find out more information about your company by visiting the site
* Put it on all media releases
* Include it in all your advertising – print, TV and radio
* On the company car or van
* Yellow pages, white pages and other business directories
* All your email signatures
Think back to your target audience and include your website address anywhere a potential customer is likely to see it.
You’ve sent out your media release but don’t forget to let existing clients know your site is now up and running. Use direct mail, send them a note – a good reason to communicate with them – or send them an e-newsletter with the latest news. Or perhaps use in-store posters to announce the site launch to your existing customer base.
Consider running ads in the local paper or business magazines if that is where you attract your customers. In short, keep doing what you’re doing to attract clients or customers to your business but add your website address to the mix.
How to Find You On-line
The way most companies promote their websites is by search engine submissions, but search engines and their effectiveness can be a bit of a maze. It does pay to talk to the experts on this one, try your web designer or web host first, as just registering with search engines does not guarantee you traffic. Also just because you have a lot of “hits” on your site doesn’t necessarily mean they are your ideal target market.
Most search engine traffic comes from Google and Yahoo! By using a combination of these search engines and using the right words and phrases on your site you would optimise your chances of being found. You don’t need to spend a great deal of money as some sites don’t charge at all and others charge a nominal fee. Perhaps you could explore Google Adwords. Again it pays to seek advice from your web expert.
Once you do get that traffic to your site, here are a few ideas to keep them there and to encourage them to visit again and again.
* Keep your site interesting. Commit to updating on a regular basis
* Optimise. Again talk to your web expert on this one but make sure your site is user friendly so visitors don’t log out because it’s too hard to find the information they want or it takes too long
* Portray a professional image. Ensure consistency of your web design with your other marketing materials and don’t forget to include your logo
* Present interactive features that keep visitors returning, perhaps a competition or an on-line survey. And don’t forget freebies. You must give your visitors something of value such as articles or e-books
* Send out a regular e-newsletter to your data base that offers tips and information and a link back to the site
* Post articles on other websites with links back to your site
* Explore online advertising or sponsorship on another busy website
* One of the most effective PR tools to drive customers to your website is through link exchanges with sites of similar interest. Locate sites that make a good match to your own and contact the owner to ask if they’ll link to your site in exchange for you linking to theirs
Like any public relations campaign, attracting visitors and potential clients to your website will take hard work, creativity, perseverance and commitment over an extended period of time. But don’t let your website just sit there – make it work for you so you can allow your expertise to shine.
Blow Your Own Trumpet for Positive PR
Author: Sue Currie
You can become famous. Maybe you don’t want be famous but at least you can learn to make your product or service well known. Of course that will in turn help the bottom line and you might become rich and famous! Is that what you want - your 15 minutes of fame? Your opportunity to shine in the spotlight.
So how do we get that opportunity? Why not tell everyone who you are, what you do and how you make a difference. The way of doing that is through public relations and it is simply communicating who you are and what you do, it’s having “relationships” with your “public”.
One way of letting people know who you are is through publicity. Getting that free editorial coverage in press, on radio and television is what we all want. It’s our way of letting people know about our product or service or how terrific we are. But most of us don’t like blowing our own trumpet. But without promotion something terrible happens - nothing!
If you are an independent business owner you have a lot of things to juggle, a lot of hats to wear, that of lawyer, accountant, manager, entrepreneur, technician and of course marketing expert and under that umbrella comes PR, promotion and publicity. So let’s get rights down to the basics - the publicist. That’s what you need to be. You need to write a media release, send it out to the media and ring them up. Talk to the media about who you are and what your product is.
You need to sing your own praises or at least that of your own business. Publicity is very effective. They say it is seven times more effective than advertising.
No point writing that fancy media release with the dynamic headline, strong opening and all the elements of who, what, when, where and why - that’s all very well but you also need to follow through. Find out the name of the person you want to send that media release to and phone them up. Find out whether they want to receive the media release by fax or email - build a relationship. Get that message out and then follow through.
The first step is to go and buy the magazines. Have a look in the front for the name of the editor. Their phone number is usually there - it’s that simple. Then write and send your media release or perhaps even an article. Pick up the phone and promote your story idea to the media.
If your story is interesting it may be published in the newspaper or magazine and then you will reap the rewards of people contacting you and wanting to know more about you. It’s not that hard really. You can do it. So I hope to see your name on the front page someday - on your way to fame and fortune.