You're most likely familiar with the popular pay-per-click advertisements that many E-Biz owners employ ? you may even use them yourself. They can be a very effective tool for driving traffic to your web site. But according to Jackie Peters, Chief Creative Officer of http://HeavyBagMedia.com, "The real question is, Once that traffic gets to your site, what is their experience going to be like??
Peters? company helps many of its clients launch campaigns designed to pull, not push, customers in through a process known as interactive marketing. By engaging your audience with relevant content they can actually experience, you give them a reason to stay once they're there ? and a reason to come back. Online gaming, message boards, short videos, mobile content, email and SMS are just a few examples of interactive marketing strategies.
Be Relevant to Your Market
You need to know who your customer base is, and design your interactive marketing campaign to fit their needs. If you sell fiber supplements to a target audience that's over fifty, online gaming and SMS are probably not your best advertising bets. On the other hand, if your niche market is teens and ?tweens, those could both be very profitable investments. There are basically three keys to interactive marketing: relevance, relevance, and relevance. Following are a few practical examples of using interactive marketing to connect with your audience:
? Provide Relevant Content. If you send out an e-newsletter, give your customers a reason to read it ? don't just tell them what you're selling. Talk about something they'll care about. If you sell shot glasses, your customers would probably like to know how to play the new drinking game you learned over the holidays. And while they're reading, they'll just happen to see the new products you're offering as well.
? Get creative ? find some popular blogs that would appeal to your target market, and send them samples. Ask them to review your product on their blogs.
?With mobile content, you're sending interesting and relevant messages to opt-in customers? mobile phones. You're providing them with a service, but you're also reminding them that you're there. The Mobile Marketing Association (http://mmaGlobal.com) can provide you with information on the way mobile content is being used, and resources for incorporating that option in your advertising campaign.
Branding
A brand is more than a company and a logo. It's a relationship between the brand and the audience. Interactive marketing can really give you a leg up on making that connection with your audience and engaging them. That's how you differentiate yourself from every other web store out there. Instructs Peters, "The goal is for your brand to become a part of your customers? lives ? you're on their phones, their computers and in their inboxes. When they think of the type of goods you sell ? they think of you."
