Why outsource your marketing?

To run a successful business in today’s increasingly technologically advanced and globalised marketplace it is essential to develop an effective marketing strategy. Recognising this, many companies are outsourcing their marketing to ensure this is carried out by professionals using the most efficient and up-to-date methods in a rapidly changing world.

But what does outsourced marketing involve? Basically, this is when you decide that the best way to present your company to the wider world and bring in new customers is to bring in a marketing expert for a certain period of time in order to define a strategy and set you off on the right path. So why is this a good option to take?

Less overheads: Outsourced marketing is particularly suited to small-to-medium sized businesses which may not as yet be able to afford a permanent marketing department. This way, you can get the best of both worlds by bringing in a highly experienced marketing expert to identify how you might best present your company to the world, whilst tightly budgeting for how much you are able to spend on this.

A new perspective: Sometimes an organisation’s employees can be so immersed in their own little niche and company culture that they forget to see the bigger picture. An independent marketing consultant can come in with a fresh outlook on how you can achieve your goals.

The latest know-how: When you are running a company there are so many things to consider and marketing is really just a part of this. It would, therefore, be almost impossible for you to keep up with all the latest trends as well as the newest software and the strategies your competitors are using. But with a marketing consultant, their entire job consists of staying abreast of these developments, so when you hire one in you will be benefitting from the very latest methodologies out there.

Defining objectives:  Particularly if your company is very young, you may be lacking clearly defined goals and objectives with which to develop your future direction. Many business owners opt for outsourced marketing for this reason alone, as one of the jobs of a good consultant is to help you work out what it is you want from your marketing strategy and how you will achieve this. They will also help you identify the needs of your customers, and once you have done this you are a long way towards working out what it is you need to do.

Time control: Lastly, if you have a dedicated in-house marketing department, some tasks can drag on and on as they are re-defined, honed or discussed. Meanwhile your competition is already out there winning customers. By outsourcing, you are bringing somebody in for a previously specified length of time who can act decisively and efficiently to bring your marketing efforts in line with the current market condition.

Why you should always Consider Niche Marketing for your Business

Marketing is a vital part of running a successful business but you need to be aware of your niche market. This article will explain the reasons behind this and why you should thoroughly investigate this area before you get started.

When you first start thinking about marketing for your business it is important that you consider the niche that you wish to target so that you can focus your attentions in the right area. There are a number of reasons why niche marketing is so important and it is vital that you plan and prepare well in advance to avoid wasting time and money.

Niche Marketing Explained

As you begin to think about your internet marketing campaign and how best to tackle your advertising you should make sure to choose a specific niche, otherwise you could end up losing sight of your goals. It is absolutely vital that you are aware of who you are targeting and also what proportion of the market is perhaps not currently being sufficiently targeted. Should you select an area of the market that already has considerable competition then you are unlikely to be successful and make the profits that you need to run your business.

Niche marketing is also key when considering search engine optimization, or SEO. This is an important part of internet marketing and it is wise to know the niche that you wish to target so that you can utilise the keywords that they use so they are more likely to find you. Failure to plan your SEO marketing thoroughly will result in an ineffective advertising campaign and will therefore not generate the traffic you need to your website. Perhaps one of the most useful aspects to niche marketing is that it will help you to remain focussed at all times and prevents you from losing sight of your overall target audience.

Overall you will find that niche marketing is vital for a number of different reasons and is an area that every business owner should consider before beginning to advertise. If you are not sure of how to go about this then outsourced marketing could be a choice.By simply carrying out adequate research and then finding out where your target audience visit online you should find that you can attract people to your site and increase your sales!

Get Your Business Talked About – Start a Viral Marketing Campaign

You can create a buzz around your products and services through viral marketing, although some businesses are more naturally suited to viral advertising than others.

A successful viral marketing campaign always begins with the development of a quality viral, whether it's a video, e-report, image, or interactive game.

Equally as important as creating quality content is seeding your viral ad. Seeding means distributing your content online by placing it within sites, message boards and communities frequented by ‘opinion formers’ – and trusting that they will see fit to ‘pass it on.’

Effective methods of seeding include:
Editorial
Approaching blog and web editors and encouraging them to post your content.
Online distribution
Uploading content to video sharing and viral websites.
Twitter promotion
Encouraging Twitter users with a large following to share the content.
Paid for placement
Paying blog and web editors to share the content.
Forum posting
Posting content on relevant forums.

Six Key Elements of a Viral Marketing Campaign

1. Give away products or services
The word "free" attracts attention, whether it's free software, a free trial, or free report. Alternatively, if you don’t have any freebies available, consider holding a competition to draw attention to your business.

2. Make sharing content easy
Viral content needs to share easily if it is to spread. Alongside the viral content on your website, include an 'Email a Friend' button. If posted on your blog add a line of links to the main social networking sites, such as:
Add to: YouTube | Digg | Furl | Blinklist | Yahoo! | Del.cio.us

3. Design your ad around common motivations
The desire to be popular, liked and cool drives people universally. Design a viral ad that builds on these motivations – and don’t be afraid to use humour where appropriate.

4. Use existing networks to communicate your message
Try to place your message into relevant social networks. Viral marketing companies are particularly adept at doing this as they generate exposure for viral content through placing it on blogs, forums, email newsletters, social networks, as well as video sharing sites.

5. Ensure your business is prepared for large numbers of visitors
Make sure you have enough bandwidth built into your website. There's nothing worse than creating an excellent viral marketing campaign only for your efforts to be hampered simply because your website couldn't cope with the volume of visitors. By the same token, ensure that your staff, systems and stock levels can cope with the extra demand.

6. Utilise other people's resources
Use other people's websites to host your viral content by constructing it so that it offers a benefit to them and their readers. Article submission works in this way, with websites accepting free articles because of the benefits offered to their visitors.

A viral marketing strategy does not have to include all of the above elements, but combining several of them at once will dramatically increase your chances of success. If you are looking for someone to help you with this a consultant who offers outsourced marketing will be able to help.