Top 5 Tips For Free Online Promotion
Tip 1: Social Selling
Set Up a Facebook, MySpace and Twitter Account. It is important to set up an official profile on these sites. Make sure you know what employees are posting to the company profile. Set guidelines as to what is acceptable, and more importantly what is not appropriate. Check out my full article about Social Marketing Tips at: www.sellautopartsonline.com
Tip 2: Newsletter Marketing
Seems like a no brainer right? Although most companies are collecting addresses many are not sending out emails to subscribers. Newsletters are a great way to increase orders and retain customers. Just make sure your strategy follows the can-spam guidelines available at www.ftc.gov/spam. Fines for improper use of email are heavy. Use email list software to keep track of all your subscribers. Try collecting all their names so that you can personalize each email that you send out. Always provide your subscribers with original, high quality content. Lastly, double check for errors and spelling mistakes before sending anything out.
Tip 3: Blogging
While anyone can set up a blog in a day and start publishing articles, it takes far more work to be a great blogger and see the real benefits of blogging. Blogger Relations is what blogging is all about-starting and maintaining a conversation. Unlike Public Relations or Media Relations where you are trying to pitch your story, with Blogger Relations you initiate and participate in ongoing discussions with other bloggers and your target audience. As the conversation progresses, you get to know the other players in your industry; you gain credibility by listening as well as commenting; and you gain new readers as other bloggers provide links back to your blog to give you credit for your ideas. The more you conduct Blogger Relations, the more successful your blogging will be. Set up a free blog today at www.wordpress.com.
Tip 4: Tip Get Involved On Industry Forums
Do a brief search on Google or Yahoo! and I'm sure you will find numerous bulletin boards or forums with active communities. Most forums will list the number of members and dates of posts. Make sure the sites you choose to participate on have a large number of members and recent posts. Once you join DO NOT shamelessly post P.R. material or blatant links to your website or blog etc. .. In some cases this will get you black listed. The best technique I have found is to use your expertise to answer relevant questions and adopt a strategy truly helping users. Post responses to questions about your product or service. It is a good idea to include a link to your website or blog in your signature on all posts. This can help your search rankings.
Tip 5: Videos
Although it is tempting, don't try to do a funny video. It won't go viral. If it does, it will be for all the wrong reasons. What I advise is doing a "Tip Video" explaining the installation or benefits of an individual product or service. The best part is it does not have to be professionally filmed or done with a large budget. We're talking about "FREE" promotion here. The most effective videos are shot on a home video camcorder in plain English. Talk to the camera as if it were a friend or customer. This type of video is effective because it is not viewed as an infomercial or direct marketing video. Next upload your video to YouTube, AOL, VEOH, SPIKE and any other video sites that are relevant. Search engines are starting to display video results in their searchresults! There is currently a low level of competition in video marketing.