Research yourself on the Internet

Often it is helpful to know where and how you stand on the Internet, that means what data can be found about you on the world wide web. Good websites that you can use to check your status are the following: www.google.de, www.yasni.de, www.stalkerati.de, www.spock.com, www.wink.com. Of course, you can also do research on other people.

Never put information of yourself online, that you would not give out to someone you do not know very well. Everything you put on the Internet can be found by anyone. The more you disclose about yourself, the more transparent you become.
Also, remember that the Internet does not forget anything. Even if you believe you deleted something, the data is further stored on a server somewhere in this world and people will continue to have access to this data.

Your digital image plays a large role on the Internet, as well as on the outside. For example, if you apply for a job, then you can be sure that the company you applied to did some research on you on the Internet. If something negative is among the information, this could mean that your application will not be pursued.

Of course you can also control what is available on the Internet about you. You can provide nspecific information about yourself online. If you are expert in a particular subject area, you can post in relevant forums on this topic or comment on the contributions of other users.

Target audience: aliens - does advertising in outer space make sense?

If you advertise for a specific audience, you certainly expect this group of people to utilize your services or buy your products.
But not the "Touristikgemeinschaft Heilbronner Land", a tourism association for the area around Heilbronn in Southern Germany, which now advertises on a rocket - for a knocked-down price of 4000, - €.
Whether this makes sense is debatable. Extraterrestrials probably will not visit the area. Nevertheless, the tourism community is getting a lot of attention through this advertising campaign.


Press article from the regional newspaper Suedwest Presse Ulm, from 27.10.2009

Problems with guerrilla marketing

Many museums draw back on guerrilla marketing. A very popular method is to spray graffiti on the sidewalk. This is requires relatively little effort and is very cost effective. However, the paint being used stays on the sidewalk for a long time. The Edwin Scharff museum in Neu-Ulm, Germany, had a “Wilhelm Busch” exhibit in 2008. In order to advertise the exhibit, graffiti was sprayed on the sidewalk near the bus/train station, all the way to the museum – it is still clearly visible today. Visitors might be disappointed once they realize the exhibit has long been over. Locals walking past the graffiti will wonder about the museum.

Make sure your guerrilla marketing campaigns are not ‘too sustainable’, but up-to-date.

Ad design

Your ad should consist of several elements: the eye-catcher - this can be a photo or an illustration; a headline - the headline that appeals to the audience, of course; the text – which explains to your audience in brief what this is about; and of course the logo and the address of your company.
It is important not to forget the A.R.A.-principle (Action - Reaction - Action)!

Impact of your ad

It has been scientifically proven that the first impression is crucial in an advertisement.
Therefore, you should have your ads made by a professional – this will cost you, but you will set yourself apart from the poorly designed advertisements of your competition. Updates ad can be made later by the publisher of the magazine in which the ad will appears.

To function, your ad should not be oversized. A small ad is absolutely fine. Also, if your ad is smaller, you will have the money to advertise several times in a row!

Economics - quote by John Ruskin

“There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey.

It is unwise to pay too much, but it is also unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...
It can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

John Ruskin (1819-1900), English author, artist, art historian and social thinker.

Ads

Are you sure that it necessarily has to be an ad? Perhaps you can find a cheaper alternative to draw the attention of your target audience to your company?

In daily newspapers there are usually not many ads (that means little competition for you), because ads are very expensive. Ads in advertising newspapers on the other hand, are slightly cheaper, but you have much more competition as they are cluttered with ads. Thus, your ad will drown instead of drawing attention. Moreover, it is questionable if you can reach your target audience with an ad in a newspaper. Only if you are absolutely sure that the readership of the newspaper accurately reflects your target audience, you should place an ad.
A cheaper alternative to ads in newspapers are ads in local and official gazettes. These also have the advantage of being read, as important information for all citizens of the city can be found here.
If you offer your products / services for a very specific audience, I recommend ads in relevant journals. However, you should offer your products / services nationwide, as journals do not have regional or local editions.
Ads in popular magazines tend to have a high circulation. Thus, prices for ads are also extremely high. However, you will reach a very large number of readers. Whether these readers are your target audience is questionable.
Other magazines that might be helpful for your ad campaign are city magazines, as well as student newspapers. Since the circulation is very small, ads are cheap. If readers of the magazine match your target audience, you should seize the opportunity advertise here.

Ad strategy

In order to have success with your ad, you should only advertise in a certain time frame – advertise six times in a row. Only with repetitions your audience will notice your ad.

The size of your ad is irrelevant. Instead of advertising with a rather large ad, rather advertise with small ads that you can repeat more often for the same amount of money.

Have your ad designed in black and white design - this saves money. Of course, color ads are more beautiful, but all the other ads are in color too. Your ad will stand out much more if you keep it in black and white.

Viral marketing – word-of-mouth on the Internet

Viral marketing is a form of advertising where customers voluntarily speak about the product or the advertising measure. Consumers for example tell their neighbors or their colleagues about it. On the Internet the advertising message then spreads like a virus. However, this type of advertising is difficult to control, as the clips have to be well made in order for consumers to talk about them. Most of the clips are one thing above all: entertaining. The product or brand steps to the background.
Often companies camouflage their blogs and video clips so they are not directly identifiable as advertising. If, however, it turns out that it is disguised advertising of the manufacturer, companies often suffer brand damage.

The most popular video on YouTube with the topic of viral marketing (about 2.926.786 hits) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkTDDeuytM8




Example: Viral marketing campaign of a Swabian business (about 743.798 hits)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj5_pSwJ0Ao

Marketing and PR

"If a young man meets a girl and tells her what a great guy he is, then it’s advertisement. When he tells her, how beautiful she looks, it's promotion. If she decides to take him, because she has heard from others that he is a great guy, it’s public relations. "/ Alwin Münchmeyer

On the Internet nowadays marketing and public relations cannot be separated anymore. Beyond the Internet, however, many companies still have a marketing department and a separate PR department.
Through the Internet, especially blogs and Internet communities, boundaries between marketing and PR dissolve. Therefore, it is important for companies to recognize that marketing and PR go hand in hand now.