Internet Marketing Strategies of a Superhero
Photo by cogdog
If you are a mom, there is probably a pretty good chance you have seen more than your fair share of superhero TV shows and movies – I know I have. My son used to run around the house and with an apron tied around his neck and the fabric flying behind him shouting, "Shicka, shicka, boom! I am Weather Man!" (from The Magic School Bus).
So, I have my kids to thank (or blame) for my "Superhero Internet Marketing Strategies" - a few things that must be used to the level of "super power" in order to powerfully succeed.
Mind-Reading Super Power
The average marketer would simply call this market research, but the superhero marketer places laser-like focus on how to discover the needs and desires of her marketplace, so that it seems as if she's reading the minds of her customer or prospect.
Internet Forums & Groups - Great Source for Market Research
Photo by said&done
The internet is a rich resource for market research. One of my favorite tools for reading the minds of my customers are forums and groups. There are thousands of forums and groups on the internet – some of the more common, not privately hosted, groups can be found here:
- Yahoo / Google / MSN Groups
- Facebook or MySpace Groups
- Ning Groups
Then there are many more that are privately hosted on a variety of subjects:
- mom groups
- boomer groups
- business groups
- fan groups
- pet groups
- gamer groups
There is probably a group for any topic. Using forums and groups for market research is as simple as joining a group with members of your target market. If you are marketing a product to moms with toddlers, find groups with that target audience. Your goal is to build relationships by joining the conversation. Ask questions, answer questions, make comments – become a participant in the group.
Whatever you do, DON'T start pitching your product. First of all, the group owner or moderator may ask you to leave the group or delete your posts to the group. Secondly, the members will not engage you in any online conversations out of fear that you'll spam them.
Your discovery process is in paying attention to and observing the conversations of the community. What questions do they ask, what problems do they discuss, what solutions or advice is offered by others in response? With an active, longstanding group, you could read the posts and find the top 10 questions asked by your target market. A product or service developed to answer those questions would potentially have greater feedback in the marketplace.
The answers that you post on forums should be informative and not a sales pitch. Depending on what the group guidelines are, you might be able to add a few lines of copy to your signature – and again – don't make this too much a sales pitch. Trust me, as your helpful reputations builds, you'll see traffic coming to your website from the links within your signature.
If you are an "infopreneur," the forum or group discussions become the topics that you write about in your blog, discuss in your podcast, for which you create an ebook, or report with a well-researched answer. Of course, you never want to copy comments directly from the discussion posts to your blog or other information product or tool – but you can use the topic as a reference.
If you sell a product or service, forum discussions become the basis for upgrades and improvements as you uncover needs in your marketplace.
How do you use the internet to conduct market research? Head over to the Blissfully Domestic social network and share your ideas!
Melody Campbell is a business coach. You can read about useful Internet Marketing Strategies on her blog and listen to her weekly show "Get More Business" podcast at TheSmallBusinessGuru.com.
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Good information.There are many advantages that you can realize through the establishment of a home based internet marketing business.
Well said, Melody… And I loved the photo of your son so much I had to include it with my comment on SU.
What you say is so common sense, but in the Internet world, there are a lot of neophytes who really need to know this.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Interesting article, i will come back to your blog soon, best regards