The big question.... Marketing?

[themugman]

I have started a new business making business promotional mugs and more. I use the sublimation process so it is a beautiful full color mug. I have had a site up for a month now and posted on Facebook, Linked in, Twitter.... etc. These are cool to show my friends but how do I get real visitors to my site?

Please tell me what everyone is using that is truly effective online. I know you can't beat word of mouth and am doing my offline marketing but I really need to get the word out to the businesses across Canada and the US. I am also making aluminum and wood photo panels and custom photo gifts on the same site so I also want to get the word out to everyone, not just businesses.

Thanks,
Ron

[vangogh]

A certain amount of marketing is patience. Word of mouth is the best kind of marketing and it takes time to happen.All marketing takes time. So while you're looking for some quicker ways to attain customers don't ignore the long term ways too.

If you really need to get people to the site right away, you're best bet is to advertise, probably with Google AdWords. That's one of the quickest ways to gain some visibility.

Also don't miss an opportunity to let people know about your site. For example here on the forum we allow people to create a signature that includes a link back to their site. Why not add one. People here have businesses. Some might like promotional mugs, but wouldn't know you sell them. With Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn do your profiles link back to your site? Where else might you be allowed a link, but didn't take it.

Speaking of social a month or so posting to the sites isn't how you attract visitors. All social networks are the same online and offline. The same thing you would do to make friends and build relationships offline is what you have to do online. You're just connecting with people. Think first what you can give to the community. Help the group without expecting anything in return and the group will usually notice and give you something in return. Beyond that the way traffic typically flows from social sites to your own is other people recommending information on your site to their friends. Make sure you have information on your site worth sharing and then make it easy for people to share.

Again though if you want quick, advertising with Google or Bing is the way you'll have to go. Marketing takes time to really work. The thing is it'll take the same amount of time whether you start now or start 2 years from now so you might as well start now.

[themugman]

Cool thank you for your input. I figured out the signature here to start.

[David Hunter]

Go to the source... businesses! Email, call, send direct mail to these businesses. Make an offer. Create a separate page with a special offer and send the link to businesses with an opt-in to collect contact info.

[KristineS]

Are you using business pages on Twitter and LinkedIn? Are you following strategically, which means following people who would be interested in your product and not just friends and other random people? A lot of social media success is getting your message to the right people, not just any people. You have to think about how your target market is and how you'll reach that group.

Vangogh's advice about building relationships is very good and definitely on target. You can't just sell at people, you have to participate in discussions and build a sense of community. The more people trust you, the more they are likely to buy from you, and trust comes from familiarity.

[Barcode Parade]

Social media is not good for this kind of product. Well, it's only good as a showroom for current and past clients, but not good for acquiring new ones.

Do the following:
-Every single day you must target customers and call/email them offering your products. Use these addresses to create a mailing list and periodically send them a small catalog. Make it seasonal. Don't overdo it.
-Join Alibaba.com to sell and advertise your product. It's the only real B2B outlet out there. You will need to spend money on a subscription, but it's worth it.
-Sell your stuff on Amazon. Get buyers to give you reviews. It helps build brand recognition immensely.

[cblakedavis]

I'm a bit partial because my business is videography/marketing, but video is one of the best marketing tools.
Our culture is currently obsessed with visuals (pinterest, facebook, alibaba, instagram, these are all largely centered around images), but people won't watch one 5 minute video, but they'll watch twenty 1 minute videos back to back.
If you put short videos and images on every one of your marketing sources (facebook page, twitter page, alibaba, etc.) it speaks volumes. This is one of the reasons Zappos.com became such a huge hit, because they have little short videos on nearly all of their footwear.

There are freelance videographers like me scattered everywhere, probably many local to you. Many of us have had to teach ourselves a combination of video, video-marketing and social media management (because that's where the need is). Find someone who has a good looking reel (like a video resume), a good strategy and hire them to either do a weekly video for you, or do them yourself with lower quality until you can hire someone.

[PrincePatridge]

Hi,

I think it would be A valuable asset to you to learn the skill of internet marketing.

I DO NOT know exactly what your business is and what you sell...but as for online...

I would suggest the following.....





1. Build A captive audience via email marketing
2. Educate them about your products and services
3. Build A relationship with those subscribers
4. Sell your product




This is A very rough sketch of the marketing method I am talking about...

but I think you would highly benefit from doing so. You can then send

those list of subscribers to like your social media websites.



Causing these websites to go viral and get more free marketing to them...

Anywho that is just what I would do hope this helps!

[Patrysha]

Why would you send your subscribers to social media? That doesn't make sense.

Okay. So first...Your site hurts the eyes and is all over the place....it's all about you and nothing about who would want this stuff or why? Are you looking to appeal to small business owners or brides? It's hard to tell with the canvas prints. Who are these trying to appeal to and why?

What are you posting on your social media channels? Why? Are you doing things on social media to build relationships or drive sales? Or both?

Why are you looking for national and international sales when you live in Cochrane? Do you have a strong following there, or do you just want to build everything online because you've heard it's easier? I know it's not Canmore, but it's got a lot of small business owners that you could get up and sell to on a personal basis. Heck of a lot easier to promote a local business in a small town than an online one if you want to make dollars quickly that is for sure.

Are you producing this stuff yourself or are you having the work portioned out? Because if you are producing it, there are all sorts of things I would suggest. If you're just a front for out of town operations, my ideas won't work.

[Picasso1]

Post ads on local classifieds, drop fliers at major offices in town. Make a few samples for a company to get the idea out. Google ads??? try that to expand the business?? But firstly I would post many adds in local papers and magazines. Then call a few locally owned companys that have a large employer count and do a sales pitch to there HR team?