Tips for this posting are a modification of my radio show and a posting from my other business blog. I hope you’ll find the information helpful when planning your next marketing campaign.
Many entrepreneurs market via outreach events, be it trade shows or presenting seminars, and budgets to schmooze clients and impress friends are getting tight. Well these work for affiliate marketers too; however, most affiliate marketers don’t think to utilize this type of marketing.
Now that the economy is back in the spotlight, with gasoline at $3.60+ a gal., big companies announcing layoffs, and prices rising across the board, the time is here to tighten our belts and squeeze that marketing dollar until it squeals. Believe me the rhetoric that the economy is getting better is just that – political rhetoric, and isn’t coming from the business community in the trenches. We know better!
This brings us to the topic of today, how guerilla tactics can help your affiliate business. The creative entrepreneur can still use events as a marketing tool if he/she rolls up sleeves and goes into “guerilla marketing” mode. Creativity is the key! The first’s thing to remember, is that no amount of cajoling, marketing, or freebies will compel anyone to make a purchase (or attend an event) if it doesn’t offer real value to them.
So remember when it comes to marketing of ANY KIND, people expect to be exposed to valuable content!!! With that as a given, let me give you some guerilla marketing tips.
- Use referrals. Save the expensive advertising you usually do 6 to 8 weeks before the event, launch or release and use “referrals”. Many of your pasts event, launch or release attendees are either employees of companies or in business themselves, and have contacts and friends they talk with regularly; or they own a company or business which maybe looking for ways to expand, streamline or extend their offering. This source is often overlooked, and you’ve got direct access to them. Send them an invitation as if they were customers, and ask them to pass it on to one or two people they know that might be interested. You could even make it more enticing by having a form at the door for attendees that asks who referred them, and providing some incentive for the person that referred the most attendees. This works whether you are hosting an online event, such as a webinar, or live event or teleseminar.
- Don’t overlook clubs, associations or other local groups. Many not-for-profit groups have charters that state their members will be informed about opportunities that will enhance their membership, career and education. Put together a promotional kit announcing your event, launch, release (or that of whomever you’re an affiliate marketer for). Include an agenda of the event etc. and offer a discount to the group’s members.
- Never miss a speaking opportunity. Yes, that’s right, affiliate marketers can become professional speakers too. After all you understand affiliate marketing, business start up (assuming you are running your own affiliate marketing business), sales techniques and all about the products you are selling or offering (if you are the ones doing the affiliate offering). Don’t miss the opportunity of offering your services as a speaker at some of the group or association meetings, and even bringing some of your affiliate marketing brochures with you after you have the leader’s approval.
- Local business – the bookmark brigade. If your event relies heavily on local participation, then work through the businesses used every day. A most successful and fun outreach program is to implement a Bookmark Brigade on behalf of the businesses. These are special announcement bookmarks printed with the name of the event, dates, location, and Website on one side and the local business name on the other. Make them big and bright, and get a team loaded with bookmarks to visit every business shop, coffee shop, bookstore, grocery stores, newsstands, cleaners, music stores, and libraries all over the area. Whatever you niche is, find someone that is involved in it or profits from it or has products used for it and shop the brigade to them.Yes this can be done for affiliate marketers too. The links you use are the same as the ones you are already using online or you can set up “sub-domains” that forward to them from your website just so you show credibility of your own company. The printing bill is bound to run less than half or full-page ads in the relevant weekend newspapers.
- Use your event support staff. If you are throwing a live event, your event sponsors and exhibitors are your best allies, as well as a support network of resources for recruiting attendees. Twenty percent of them will support your event because they can, the rest won’t due to limited resources or conflicting agendas. Use any of the tools already mentioned with your partners, or trade a contact database of theirs to be used for telemarketing for promoting the sponsor in the telephone blitz. Offer this database a discounted rate and attribute the discount to the sponsor for their client. Everyone wins!
- Give to Get.It’s a widely held fact that people don’t appreciate “free” things; however, in business, it’s not true. If you are hosting a live event or an online event, offer your sponsors tools like posters or tabletop signs they can post in their lobbies or a banner for their website. Visitors can learn about the event while waiting for their appointments or click through out of curiosity from the sponsor’s website or blog. This is presupposing that you’ve already negotiated an event logo and listing presence on your sponsor’s website – haven’t you? (Major hint there).Anyway, this expands your word of mouth, and may even draw additional sponsors, patrons, potential customers or referrals.
Some key points to remember in any outreach promotion are to build in a tracking method on each marketing piece, such as unique URLs and/or codes on registration. Be ready to offer incentives such as discounts or gifts to gain access to clubs or sponsors members, lists or audience. Lastly, have the appropriate marketing tool kit ready before you start. It should contain such things as Web banners, email templates, sample sales copy, and special offer announcements packaged for easy access.
In good times or bad, these tips will help any entrepreneur draw more interest in their activity or event. A good outreach program promotes special relationships with your sponsors, community and attendees better than any other marketing activity can before the event. Using guerilla marketing tactics in lieu of bucks takes creativity, elbow grease, and luck.
And it works online or offline!
Until next time,
Dr. Ande
Author of, 65 Tips for Affiliate Marketing Success
Host of, Marketing Radio with Dr. Ande
Within affiliate marketing, everyone involved in the program will benefit. Each time the affiliate refers a visitor to the website of the merchant, he will earn income. On the other end, the merchant will produce sales without spending a lot of money for advertising and promotion.
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