Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with promotion and advertising

How to promote companies product with zero dollars online?

UMDirector — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:14:35 -0800

Having trouble getting promotional traction for new webservice, despite being an avid blog reader, possibly because of split audiences. Any suggestions? So we have a new site that combines AI with actual advice from experts to help people make decisions, especially on product purchases. I am having a very difficult problem driving much traffic as we have almost no promotional budget. I think this may be related to having to promote two websites.

1) Our corporate website is for business clients and partners. We would love for them to use our tech on their website to promote their product or create a new advertising platform for themselves.

2) Our actual guides such as our HDTV Buying Guide for actual end users.

The problem is it seems if we promote one it is at the expense of the other especially with our no budget advertising. You can get to the guides via the home page, but it is not as easy as posting just the guide link. My guess is this could also hurt our SEO.

Problem number 2 is that I can't seem to get any traction. Our product is truly far better than a normal filter as it helps people find what they actually need, not just what they think they want. As someone told me," Most other websites would be as if you went to the doctor as told him what medication you want whereas your guides are like going to the doctor telling him your symptoms and he, as a professional, telling you what to take". So we offer people a good thing. We also offer businesses a good thing as a new advertising platform for a portal or increased sales and brand interaction for manufacturers or online retailers. Yet I can't get any traction.

Most people I email simply ignore me. I am trying not to be that annoying Press Release PR guy and actually contact these people as a human but they ignore me. Even blogs I read religiously like Gizmodo, don't seem to be doing much. Sometimes they email me back but when I send more info I tend to not hear back. I would love to contact TechCrunch and the like but now worry I may waste my one shot.

We do have a sales guy, but he is only dealing with larger companies while I am trying to drive traffic to the website and guides themselves.

So questions:

1) What else should I try? We have a twitter feed and a facebook page.

2) Can anyone suggest any other blogs I should target? Less obvious ones than TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Engadget, etc?

3) What are your thoughts on the balance of human conversation versus a press release or story pitch?

4) Any other recommended resources?

Thanks!

It's the way to go...

phrontist — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 06:57:47 -0800

A few friends have started a Go Club at our school (we meet weekly, and we want to raise attendance at these meetings). We've introduced a fair number of people to the game personally, but now we're looking to introduce the general public (university and otherwise) to the game and club. I think flyering is the obvious first step, and I'm looking for advice on that and other promotional tips. As far as flyering goes, the strategy is to put up a flyers such that any theoretical student/faculty member would have to see them at some point over the course of the week (the main classroom buildings, the various departmental office bulletin boards, dorms, etc). Where else would you advertise for something like this (particularly off campus)?

Designing the flyer to capture people who already play (probably a fairly a small group in Lexington, Kentucky) shouldn't be too hard. How do we encourage people who have never heard of this (practically everyone), or don't play board games in general to come out?

How can a local business just starting out effectively advertise?

ShawnStruck — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:59:05 -0800

My wife recently took her home-based and internet-based candle/incense/etc business into the bricks-and-mortar stage. We have a good idea on what to do for internet advertising, but need suggestions for effective local business promotion. The store (link to the site and more about the store is in my lone Projects posting) is located in Arlington, TX, down the road from a well-trafficked shopping center with a Tom Thumb (grocery store chain), Starbucks, Blockbuster video, etc-- in a smaller shopping center that is also fairly active.

The shopping center the actual candle store is located in a moderately well-traveled, and is two stores down from a few other fairly-well-trafficked stores (a Chinese restaurant, a barbershop, pizzeria, etc). Business has been ranging from slow-to-okay-to nil. She's set up an ad with the Yellow Pages, and will have a coupon for the store in an Arlington Memorial flyer given out at the hospital that suggest local businesses to go to for gifts. She's dropped off some promo cards at the businesses in her immediate shopping center. But we're at a loss as to how we can more effectively advertise and get the word out to get people into the store.

Any ideas?

How can I promote the relaunch of my website?

MaverickX — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 13:54:51 -0800

How can I promote the relaunch of my website? I've been running a technology bargains/deal daily news site (a blog I suppose) for about 7 years now and we're just about to undergo a pretty major relaunch.

My question is: how should I promote this? My total promotional budget is in the neighborhood of $800-1000MAX, which would include any prizes I would have to buy out of pocket.

I'm considering:

1. Definitely a contest (iPod nanos?)
2. Advertising on other sites (banners?)
3. Getting the relaunch/contest linked or otherwise publicized on other tech-related blogs

How can I promote my graphic design and web development business?

robotspacer — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:56:08 -0800

I have a freelance graphic design and web development business that I'm working hard to make a living off of. I've been fairly successful thus far but I'm not quite there yet. Where can I advertise my business on a modest budget, either online or in print? Other ideas for promoting my work are quite welcome as well. To be more specific, if it will help with suggestions: my business is a one-man operation, although I do have another designer/illustrator I work with on occasion. So I'm looking for clients/jobs where that fits well... Mainly small to mid-sized jobs for small to mid-sized companies. While I might be able to pull off a million dollar ad campaign, or a huge, complex site like Amazon.com, I'm probably not the best man for the job! If you'd like to see some of my work and current clients, have a look at my site.

Most of my current clients I've found through word of mouth and a little bit of luck. I've tried some online advertising (on MetaFilter and the Morning News, for example) and some print advertising (in a local magazine) but haven't had much luck with either. I plan on keeping at it, but the more options the better.

I've also tried Google's AdWords program, but I found the whole setup a little confusing. In particular I've had a hard time coming up with appropriate, specific keywords. I can't use something simple like "graphic design" because I just can't afford such a common search term. So any tips on using AdWords would be greatly appreciated as well. (Not to mention your own thoughts on whether it's worth using.)

Promoting a Garage Band

phrontist — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 18:44:41 -0800

I'm the webmaster (well, host is more like it) for a band of talented young men with whom I attend high school. They're having a concert in an auditorium with seating for over 500 and I'd like to see it filled. How do you go about promoting a small local band's concert? [mi] Concert is in 8 days, genre is funk/rock, band is doing it's first recording at this show (which restricts promotional oppurtunity, I know).

Successful Artist self-promotion

Grod — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 14:57:06 -0800

Question for self-promoting artists. Any advice on how/where to promote oneself online, what pricing is most likely to make sales, how to build an online reputation, etc? IANAA (i am not an artist (at least, not anymore)) but I my significant other is, and I am curious about alternative business models for artists as the gallery scene is a pain to get into.