You probably already know some good methods for getting a lot of traffic to your site(s), but in my opinion, buzz marketing ranks at the top, and the best part -- it's Free! If you aren't using buzz marketing, you are missing out on an avalanche of links, swarms of traffic, and yes -- even fame and fortune!



What is Buzz marketing?

Buzz marketing is the art of creating a "buzz" or generating excitement and making your audience hungry for more. With buzz marketing you can be featured on some of the major sites and go viral, without buying a paid review or link, resulting in a swarm of visitors to your site. How would being on the main page of Digg, Propeller or Reddit impact your business? Your traffic would skyrocket and people would link to you creating even more traffic (you might even get so much traffic that your server will go down).

What is Viral marketing?

Viral marketing is the art of creating a message that will be spread voluntarily by others for free.

Benefits of Buzz and Viral Marketing techniques

I can explain this in just four simple words: links, traffic, name recognition and money. As webmasters we all want links and traffic as these lead to money in the long run. Without traffic our sites are dead in the water.

Step-by-Step Buzz Marketing Methods

Here are some topics that are crucial if you want to create a buzz for your articles, websites or blog posts.

1: Your Information Needs to Have Broad Appeal

You all know what the meaning of "niche". This might come as a surprise to you, but niche-specific articles often don't have the mass appeal and are more difficult to spread virally than content that has a broader appeal.

Here is an example: Let's say you write an article on Digg, a popular Web 2.0 site and your title is "Digg Censors Content." With a dull title like that, you could have killer content but not create a buzz or get linked to or even read. Most likely, readers will be skimming titles and pass that one right up.

To make this article have a broader appeal, change the title of this article from "Digg Censors Content" to "Ding Dong, Digg is Dead", as Problogger did. Now that is a headline that will certainly stir up controversy and curiosity, create a buzz and get linked to and spread virally. In one simple step, you can increase the probability of this article being a success simply by changing the headline and topic to one with broad appeal and one that makes people curious enough to read it.

2: Be Negative and Go Viral

Notice also that the article, "Ding Dong, Digg is Dead" is a negative article about Digg. Content with a negative slant will get discussed more than a positive slant! Search engines are very adept when it comes to finding information, especially reviews. Many readers out there search for the negatives of a product, website or even a person or event.

Bad news travels faster and farther than good news, and you can use this to your advantage. Have you noticed what proportion of the news is bad news? It is a huge percentage.

Negative topics cause controversy. Readers will comment agreeing and disagreeing with you, and that creates great content and buzz and spreads virally.

Look at the buzz stories of the past several months and here are some of the articles you will see:

o Mortgages/Foreclosure (negative)

o Gas Prices (negative)

o Britney Spears stories (negative)

o George Bush/Politics (negative)

How many headlines do you think Britney Spears would get if all the Paparazzi had to say is that she was a glowing example of motherhood, she was at the top of her career, and her marriage sound? Not many, is my guess. Trust me, a negative slant always has more chance of creating a buzz.

3: Resource Lists

People love lists! Resource lists, Tips and Tricks, Helpful Hints, "Best Of" lists -- readers love lists. Anything in list format is a guaranteed winner. To create interest, simply add a number to the headline. As an example, using our "Digg" topic, you might use "Ten Reasons Why Digg Sucks. This combines both a negative slant and your list technique -- easy but deadly!

4: Be Unique

This trick applies to both your headline and your content. The Internet is a very crowded place, and everyone is trying to grab some attention. So if you want to get noticed, you must provide interesting, unique content that stands out from the crowd.

Think creatively, don't be afraid of controversy, be edgy or even weird, - try it all. Put some personality into your posts and articles. You can never be too creative!

5: Curiosity Killed the Cat and Gets Readers Attention

If you want to create buzz, arousing your reader's curiosity is a dynamite method. Use a teaser in your headline and you'll create a headline that makes people want to know more.

Looking at the existing Digg front page content today, there are some articles that attract curiosity:

Here are their titles:

5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do

The Science of Toga Parties: Are Belushi and Animal House to Blame?

The 5 Best Foods That Will Kill You

Wouldn't you want to read those stories? Notice that not only do they use a teaser in the headline, but they also use the list method.

6: Packaging

Your website template and overall appearance are crucial too. Something as simple as adding an image in your blog post that brings your topic to life visually can make all the difference.

7: Shifting the Focus From Me to You

Shift the focus of the article from first person "me and I" to second person "you".

Example: Do YOU want to know how to make ....

Doing this puts the focus on the reader, involves them, and helps to keep their attention. How do you feel when you are talking to someone who only talks about themselves? Pretty boring, isn't it?

Summary

Above are seven methods I use to create buzz. I have personally seen thousands of people swarming to an article after bookmarking it, using these techniques.

Most would agree that links are one of the most valuable assets of any website or blog. They drive traffic and help to increase pagerank. This, in turn, makes your web property more valuable and better able to sell text links, paid reviews, and affiliate products. They also help you to rank higher in Google which can bring a huge amount of traffic daily.

Is the Traffic Targeted?

I'm not going to pretend that the traffic from a winning buzz marketing campaign is highly targeted traffic. If you want laser targeted traffic, you can always run a PPC campaign. The point of these techniques are they are FREE. Anyone, regardless of budget constraints, can use buzz marketing to get traffic and search engine ranking.

So How Do I Make Some Money With Buzz Marketing?

Think of buzz marketing as a launching pad or your 15 minutes of fame. It is a way to get noticed. Always follow up successful buzz campaigns with more interesting content or your new found readers will quickly lose interest and move on. Use the attention you get, the traffic and links, your opt-in email subscriptions and feed subscribers to monetize the success of your buzz campaigns.