CHENNAI : Last week we talked about start-up ideas for senior citizens. We got queries about how they can market their products and hence today, let’s talk about some ways of marketing, that anyone can take up.If you intend to sell your product to people visiting the Internet, you need to market it on internet too. If you market your product on offline channels — pamphlet distributions or newspaper insertions etc, you are adding one extra step for your buyer — he needs to first fire up his laptop, type the web address and then buy your product. Instead, marketing online shortens the process.
Try marketing ads on social media or email campaigns. Even ads on search engines can help you get some intended traffic. You can target search keywords to make sure that the audience you are reaching out to is custom-oriented for your product. For instance, if you are selling a vacuum cleaner, why not advertise it to a person who is already searching for “vacuum cleaners” online?
Another way of marketing online would be to partner with affiliate websites. They drive traffic to other websites. From e-commerce giants to hotel booking websites, huge traffic comes from affiliates. Some of these websites act like deal discovery platforms where users come to discover the best deals in a particular category. Try searching which affiliate works best in your category. Offer them a good commission and let them find leads for you — for no upfront payment.
Referrals are another way. Who wouldn’t like their customers to be walking billboards? If you already have some sales, you can turn those buyers into your marketing agents by introducing referral programmes. If you give yourcustomers a reason to be a walking billboard, some of them might end up doing that.
A well-crafted referral programme can just do the trick. Remember how your friend made you download an app and book a cab from it because he himself was getting some hundred bucks cashback?
That’s referral marketing. Yes, you are again not paying anything upfront — until you get another customer. For any queries, write to me on Rajeev@TBSPlanet.com