cross-media strategies

As much as you love the web and could think about it and talk about it all day long, at some point, you have to look outward. Most people spend about 20 minutes per day online, leaving 23 hours and 40 minutes for other pursuits. Subtract 8 hours for sleep (don't you wish!), and you have roughly 15 waking hours to reach your users off the web.

Problem is: It's a great big, expensive world, filled with people who may not even be Internet users. But the ranks of the wired are growing at an astonishing pace. And as the online population increases, it makes more sense to reach them through traditional venues. At last count, 88% of the U.S. population was online, and that number (220 million Americans) is growing, according to Nielsen NetRatings.

So it's actually easy to reach Internet users when they're not on the Internet. The challenge is getting them to follow through.

"One of the hardest things about marketing a web site is getting people to cross media," says Hunter Madsen. "There are a lot of opportunities to put your URL on an ad in a public place like a urinal, or on one of those postcards you can pick up at a bar-a tactic I don't recommend," Madsen says. "These are low-cost opportunities, and we tried a lot of them. But they tend to perform very poorly."

The problem, he said, is human memory. People don't often remember your site's message-or address-the next time they're online. "There's a huge fall-off in memory from the offline venue to the online venue, because you're not usually close to a web access point when you see the ad."

The trick, Madsen said, is to reach the user when they're as close as possible to an Internet access point. So you could target them on their way to work, through billboards or transit ads, or at home, with direct mailings intended for placement near the computer.

Cross-media marketing tactics:

• Press coverage has two advantages: It's free and it's legitimizing. News stories give your site an air of importance, but they seem to have little effect on its popularity.

• Industry awards like the webbys, provide a badge of honor (you can call yourself an "award-winning site" if you snag one) and give you exposure to the press.

• Newspaper and magazine ads reach potential customers when they're already in the mindset of absorbing news, especially if you can get them to take the ad with them when they next head to their computer to go online.

• Billboards and transit ads can be effective at reaching users on their way to work. This is useful, because most people access the web from work, and they can follow up on the ad when they get to their desk.

• TV ads reach a mass audience and reinforce your brand's legitimacy as a major player and a safe place to shop or surf. Also, some sites have seen immediate results from the roughly 20 million home users who use the web while watching TV (Media Metrix).

• Postcards, fliers, stickers and other guerrilla tactics are low-cost ways of getting the word out and reaching some younger and hard-to-reach audiences. They're not known to be terribly effective, however.

  "There's no food or medicine-just free online service."

  

• In-store promotions are useful for businesses that exist both on and off the web, because they let your existing customers know they can also find you online.

• Direct mail reaches home users at their primary web access point and gives them the opportunity to literally carry your message with them. If your offer is good enough, they're likely to place the mailing near their computers, to use when they next go online.

• Promotional merchandise-like clothing, pens, or bags with your site logo-helps strengthen your relationship with existing customers (if they're wearing a ski hat with your logo, they're likely to think about your site during the day) and also spreads the word to their friends.

action section: how will you promote your site? You've got what it takes. Now you have to let the world know. Your promotion plan should take advantage of everything the web has to offer: hassle-free linking from site to site; measurable advertising techniques; grassroots energy; and, of course, email-the best thing to happen to marketing since...well, perhaps ever. word-of-mouth strategies How will you let users spread the word? From your site, will they Email their friends (an article, for instance) Poll their friends Fax their friends Instant message their friends Show their friends something Include their friends in the fun Explain: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ cross-media strategies How will you promote yourself off the web? Nominations in industry awards Press coverage In-store promotions Web address written on real-world takeaways (receipts, etc.) Fliers, postcards TV, radio, print ads Billboards, outdoor, transit ads linking strategies How many sites link to yours? Google says: HotBot says: Alltheweb says: Which sites should link to yours? Competitive/similar sites: Complementary sites: Get other sites to link to you site   link requested? link listed? __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ email strategies To whom will you send email? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ When will you send email? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Why will you send email? _______________________________________________ What kinds of email will you send? Newsletter Headlines Bite-size content: _______________________________________________ Customized report: _______________________________________________ Announcements for Events Sales Activist alerts Content updates Email check-list: task done? Start collecting addresses Integrate newsletter sign-up form on site Choose email software Send first round of email messages Experiment with email frequency Experiment with approaches to email (Those were trick questions. You're never "done" experimenting.)   online advertising Who are you trying to reach? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ When are you trying to reach them? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ What will go in your banner ads? This ad is Compelling (visually) Contextual Functional Compelling (financially) Entertaining No-nonsense This ad is Compelling (visually) Contextual Functional Compelling (financially) Entertaining No-nonsense What will go in your text-based ads? Google Ads __________________________   Title = 25 characters Short pithy ads. Targeted to _________________________ keywords. Available now. _________________________   2 lines = 70 characters http://www.google.com _________________________   URL = 35 characters