Proactive Online Marketing

Most companies base their Internet strategy on a, "build it and they will come "philosophy.

After you've optimized your site for the search engines, you should begin to employ outbound marketing techniques.

An outbound marketing strategy refers to any technique on the Internet that is pro-active and takes you to the consumer, rather than being inactive, waiting for the consumer to come to you.

Good examples of "Outbound Marketing Strategies" include the creation of Affinity links, Targeted email campaigns, Newsletters, "Reminder Notices", Newsgroups postings and Discussion List participation.

AFFINITY LINKING:
CKA will create a campaign of contacting sites in aligned fields with the offer of creating reciprocal linking relationships. A page on your site called "favorite links" is easily updated and will facilitate your site being seen and accessed by visitors to other sites. This win/win strategy is most effective.

TARGETED E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS:
This is a campaign of sending individually personalized e-mail to all members of your targeted audience. The initial correspondence must be well written, to the point and include an invitation to visit your www site. The offer of a free newsletter, contest or useful information are things which will attract visitors.

NEWSGROUP POSTINGS:
There are many search engines which point to newsgroups where topics related to your site are discussed. Careful monitoring of these newsgroups, with the thought of "how can I add value" can create a posting program which can bring many new visitors to your site. A simple signature file with your URL will point the way.

DISCUSSION GROUP PARTICIPATION:
For this technique to be successful, the list members must be part of your target market. You must add value to the list through direct participation with the group. This approach will keep your name/company name in front of your target market on a regular basis. This can be a powerful tool in creating contacts and bringing new visitors your site.

REMINDER NOTICES:
Reminder notices typically highlight activities about the company, new announcements, highlights of additions to your Web site and specific URLs where detailed information can be found, etc. These can be sent to previous visitors who have asked to be updated about the above mentioned changes.

NEWSLETTERS:
A newsletter can also have an impact by acting as an extension to the Web site with the objectives of strengthening the brand image, increasing sales, and creating a sense of community with their readers. Visitors to your site are prompted to sign up and receive your letter.

AUTORESPONDERS:
An auto-responder is an automated computer generated response to a request for information via e-mail. This response may consist of a sales letter, price list, or any information that would be useful to a potential customer. This service can be a very powerful tool if you intend to market a product or service on the internet. They are also known as "mailbots"or "infobots".

Here’s how an autoresponder works. Upon reading your online marketing material,, a prospective customer decides to reply by email and get "more information". As soon as any message is received by the autoresponder, it automatically sends out your "more information".

ADVERTISING BANNERS:
Banners advertisements are an excellent and cost effective way of getting visitors to your site. The selection of sites on which to place your banner and negotiating for a fair price is essential. Today there are many sites who offer inexpensive rates either on a per view or "click through" basis. Sites looking for a niche audience should always investigate advertising rates at aligned sites with in their industry.

PRESS RELEASES:
A press release is a brief document generally 1-3 double spaced type written pages, which announces news about your company, product or service to media professionals. The key to obtaining media coverage is to properly format and organize the information contained in your release and come up with a good "angle" or "spin" that you put on your news to make it exciting.

MODERATED DISCUSSION GROUP SPONSORSHIP:
There are over 20,000 email groups covering the gamut of issues open for discussion. You can find a directory listing and search capabilities at E-mail Discussion Groups. There are two kinds of these groups; moderated and unmoderated. Moderated groups are directed by the moderator and usually follow an orderly path.. Unmoderated groups send you each piece of mail that any group member sends and can be quite "noisy"

Sponsorship of a moderated discussion group of the audience you wish to reach can be a powerful and effective way of gaining new contacts and getting the word out about your site.

YOUR SIGNATURE FILE:
Your "sig file" is a short "footer" (usually 2-5 lines) that you configure yourself. This is an excellent way for potential customers to learn about your products and services. Since it shows up on the end of every message you send, the signature can constantly advertise what you have to offer.

The typical signature file can consists of your company name, a brief description of your products or services and webaddress, email address, phone and fax number. This is a creative exercise, use your imagination.

One major advantage of outbound strategies via e-mail is that almost 100% of Internet users have e-mail access, while only about 50% of users have access to the Web, which is the backbone to most Internet inbound strategies.

It's unfortunate that most companies base their total Internet strategy on inbound approaches without considering the use of outbound approaches. An Internet outbound marketing strategy is an ideal way to keep your product in front of customers, rather than counting on them to come back to your Web site.