Need help promoting a new product and a new web site?
- October 26th, 2009
- Posted in Other - Advertising & Marketing
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We have recently designed a unique dog food product and a new website to advertise it (www.bestnaturalpet.com). Now, we need help promoting it. We have tried most of the “send traffic to your site” programs as well as bulk e-mailers with no success. We have also tried the free classifieds with no success. We have got it listed with google and yahoo but it is low on the ranking list. Our efforts have depleted most of our budget for advertising at this point. Can anyone give me some solid ideas on how to get this product out there and get people to our web site for a relatively low investment?
I have reviewed your site and I feel your pain. In fact, I hear this type of thing every day. Your approach to this point has been too disinterested and stand-offish. I think you have some serious issues that need to be addressed.
First and foremost, I am assuming that you are the manufacturer or packager of this product. If not, perhaps you should take a look at my blog on the topic of disintermediation. It is a tough road to be strictly a reseller and high volume is paramount.
So, working from the assumption you are the packager, I recommend the following:
1. Your site is in dire need of providing a connection to its users. I like to refer folks to the Stanford University study on Web Credibility – - as guidance on the types of questions your site should answer to establish credibility with a buyer.
2. Get a customer, any customer, and then work on building a relationship with that customer. The days of starting an e-business and “build it and it will sell” are nearly gone. You have presumably a great product and it needs a great story to go with it. That story comes from your customers. You are NOT just selling a product, you are selling an experience.
3. Specific purchase point advertising. If you are not advertising on PPC against specific buy words for your product, you are missing the point of search engine marketing for eCommerce. It does you no good to show up in the search engines organically for “dog food” if someone is looking for a recipe for how they can make their own dog food. You need to have a list of specific buy keywords and promote them.
How do I build such a list? You start with a very long list on a pay-per-click campaign. Then you set up tracking so that you can see which words on that list convert to sales. From there you can narrow your list to converting terms (we usually allow 90 days to determine the conversion value of a term) and focus on those converting terms. Then, and only then, should you venture into organic search marketing utilizing SEO. It is only then that you will have the terms that correctly convert for your business.
4. Return to the buyer. Once you have a buyer, treat them like gold. When you ship your product, make sure the presentation is top notch. Include a coupon for additional products on your site. Include a “free sample” for them to share with a friend and a coupon for the friend. Your customer base will be your best source of income.
5. Collect email addresses from your customers and treat them very gently. DO NOT DO BLASTS. Use permission based email lists from your own lists of buyers. Once a month or on a birthday or on a pet’s birthday, send out a personal email with a special promotion.
6. Build a residual income stream. Don’t just let your customer buy once and go away. Create a product set that allows them to buy again and again. Think subscription dog food service. This must be an option for the long-term sustainability of your client base.
The least expensive and the MOST efficient way to get people that are interested in what you are selling to your new website is to write articles. Articles about the topic of your website.
Articles about pet nutrition.
If you have never written an article before, simply write the same way that you talk!
Just like I am doing right now. Think of yourself as explaining something that you are very familiar with to maybe your mom or dad.
Be sure to put a link back to your website in the copy, as I will do in this post.
Give excellent information, and people will visit your website. They have already shown an interest in what you are selling since they have read your article.
Search engines index Article Websites and websites like this one almost daily. Your article or posted comments will get indexed and listed. The LINK to your website is in your listed article!
And there you have it!
Targeted traffic, that is free.
If you can find the extra time in your busy schedule please take a look at a few of my articles on Home Based Business and Advertising on pay per clicks.
Here’s the link below.
Peace,
Nick B.