Cross promotions are not a new idea. They have been used by businesses for a very long time. For example, a real-estate company may promote a certain lawyer to close a sale, as the lawyer will promote that agency in his firm. The system is somewhat similar to the primitive barter system, where people traded items rather than using money. How can anything primitive fit into the online world of Internet marketing?
Very easily. Cross promotions are, simply stated, a trade of advertising space. Instead of paying for advertising space on a site, you would place their ad on your page and yours on theirs. There are many ways to use cross promotions in your internet business that can be an effective and cost efficient way to advertise.
One way is to use link exchanges. This is very effective when doing cross promotions with a company that is similar to yours, however you should be sure and never link to a page that is in direct competition with yours. One of the best things about link exchanges is that some search engines are factoring in hits from the sites that are linked to your page to when determining the ranking. Therefore linking to a more popular site, can not only increase your advertising, and traffic, but also increase your search engine ranking.
When customers or potential customers subscribe to your ezine you can use this as an opportunity to use cross promotions. On the same page that the customer subscribes to your ezine, make available the opportunity to subscribe to another company's ezine. You can even exchange ad space in ezines, and provide recommendations for those whom you cross promote with. You might even want to exchange column space in one another's ezines.
Writing free articles that inform customers or potential customers with information that is useful and accurate can create a reputation for you and your business. Soon readers will come to know you as an expert on the subject. In these articles the author uses a byline to help promote his site. Bylines can be a way to use cross promotions as well. You can use part of the space in your byline to recommend another's product.
If you have been considering writing an ebook, a joint venture could mean increased profits for you and the person you are partnering with. Cross promotions through ebooks are an excellent way to allow for a wider topic and to promote both your business and your partner's business. The ebook should contain information that will benefit both businesses and still be helpful to the reader.
A good example of using cross promotions through an ebook is to a site selling used video games partnering with a site selling gaming devices. These are two subjects that would interest the same reader and most likely lead the reader to both sites.
You should keep in mind that the recommendations that you make are a direct reflection of you, so choose your cross promotional businesses carefully. Also keep in mind that it would be nice as a shopper to be able to link from one site to another as a way to "shop around." Since this is usually not beneficial to you, never link or recommend a site that is in direct competition with you. Instead, recommend those who are similar, such as health and life insurance.
How can you reach your target audience? How can you converse the merits of attending useful events? Well, read on?
It depends upon how you opt to promote your event via e-mail, phone calls, direct mail, etc. Your event schedule will be striving against several other events such as London Events or Cambridge Events, which shall put on an attendee's schedule. Your battle is to somehow get the attention of the potential attendee and get your event agenda on his schedule. In other words, provide a convincing argument for him to attend your event.
Let us check what other ways are there to let your message spread all over, before that let us talk about what not to do. Please be aware: In case, you are utilising any of these publishing methods, you are wasting your time and money.
Fashion-style invitations: Most of the event managements like Manchester Events or Liverpool Events, in an effort to seem classy and elegant, spend huge amounts on carved invitations that list little more than the time, date, and place of the event. That is fine - your attendee certainly needs that information. However, they also need much more than that to think whether your function delivers enough value to warrant taking the time from their busy schedules. Moreover, the odds are against you if you will be expecting probable attendees to go through too many steps to get more details.
Advertising: Occasionally you will see advertisements in trade magazines; tends readers to visit a company's booth at a trade show or to attend a seminar, etc. These can be extremely expensive on a cost-per-attendee basis. Now that we have talked about what does not work, here is what does work ? if used judiciously. Create an Event Organizer profile, we provide advertise events in our website.
Press Releases: Sending press releases about your event to local business publications that publish event calendars may fetch you good approach. To send it with a bigger hit, enlist the business publication as a co-sponsor. This will certainly give you more exposure, both before and after event.
Direct mail: Direct mail works better ? long or short copy. You may feel that short copy is better than long, since most people are so time-pressed. In fact, research shows that long copy, separated into readable critiques with bullet points and sub-headings, is usually more effective. Pass every piece of message via this filter: will my target audience be concerned? It is great if you want to keep a presentation of your new software release. However, what tangible benefit attending this event offers your customers? In all your communication, stress your value proposition. Furthermore, incline your message toward your targeted audience.
E-mail: This is the trendiest way to promote various styles of events. As of today, corporate spam filtering as little as at least thirty percent of email from outside addresses that land in the recipients Inbox. Telemarketing: Telemarketing is recommendable in your pre-event promotion. After you have sent out letters and e-mails, approach VIPs who have not responded. If you have shaped an event with a convincing benefit, you would not need a clever topic or a bribe, such as a sketch for a cruise, to fill up the seats.
For example, one company needed to approach the top 10 hedge fund managers. Therefore, for its event, this company promised a PDA to every event attendee and asked each person to check-off in the RSVP box, which item he or she wanted. Let us take another example: A company tried to mail a violin bow to each member of an elite group of executives and promised that if they come to a seminar, each of them would receive a violin that they could give it to their kids, play themselves, or display on a shelf. Again, because the cost of such promotions is so high, they thought of reaching a small, sought-after audience.
Now that we have covered the ?how?, let us talk about the ?when?. It is essentially important that you hit your target audience repeatedly with your message. Two months before the event date: Send a ?mark your calendar? message that urges event invitees to save the date.
One month before the event date: Send a second communication listing all the reasons for which they should attend and urge them to reserve a space. If you are sending e-mail, include a link they can click on to enroll online. In all cases, send an immediate confirmation that gives guidelines to the event and encourages guests to invite their co-workers and friends.
Some event managements like Oxford Events and UK Events might also include a pre-event questionnaire asking event attendees what they would like to gain from the event. This can help you customise the content, and guests are more likely to show up if they feel their critical concerns are addressable. After the event: Thank each attendee, by mail or by phone, for attending the event. Always remember that frequent communication is the key to the success of your event. It does not matter what your motives are for the event ? moving customers further along in the buying decision, educating them about new products, or simply introducing them to your company ? you need to fill your seats. A well-executed promotional campaign will always help your event pay off.
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