Archive for March, 2010

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Marketing is changing and due to the fact that people are moving more and more into social media, the Inbound style of marketing is more about conversation others are having about your products and services.

The time has passed where you send out tons of emails, letters or faxes to possible targets – or put an ad in a newspaper. The costs are too high to acquire a new client.

People don’t like it when they are interrupted endlessly with Outbound marketing. The way is now to get them interested, communicate with them and direct them to your website where they can interact with you.
The newest researches show that this way costs only a 10th (or less) than before. Additionally your audience increases dramatically, and if they receive value, will spread the word about you.

But this means that you have to change your marketing strategy dramatically. You must present yourself in a much more personal way than before:
“People don’t buy from shops or websites – they buy from people”

This means that you have to create a presence on the internet that people are aware of you – we call this visibility. And that your web presence attracts people to you – and your services and products.
And it will build and raise the awareness of your brand – locally and international.

It will be some effort at the beginning, but it’s long-lasting. An ad in a newspaper has a very short life-time, it costs money – and this multiplies the more often you use it.

This slogan says all:
“Outbound is temporary – Inbound is forever”
There is nothing more to be said.

Was ist Inbound Marketing und warum brauche ich es?

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Inbound Marketing (“eingehendes Marketing”) ist der Marketing-Stil des 21. Jahrhunderts. Im Unterschied zum traditionellen Outbound Marketing werden nicht mehr Massen-emails (oft auch als SPAM gekennzeichnet) verschickt. Emails werden nur mehr an Personen versendet welche sich an Ihrer Webseite (Opt-In) angemeldet haben.
Um potentielle Kunden zu Ihrer Webseite zu bringen muss die Sichtbarkeit im WWW erhöht werden.
Bedenken Sie: Millionen von potentiellen Kunden sind im Web die Ihre Produkte/Dienste noch nicht kennen!
Eine Verbesserung der Sichtbarkeit heisst, dass man leichter gefunden wird und dadurch mehr Personen Ihre Webseite besuchen.

Was kann man tun um die Sichtbarkeit zu verbessern?
– SEO (Search Engine Optimization) richtig machen
– Eingehende Links mit Partnern aufbauen
– Aktiv werden auf Twitter, Facebook und anderen Netzwerken (dies erzeugt zusätzliche Links!)
– Blogs schreiben (mit relevantem Inhalt)
– Beteiligung an Foren (vorzugsweise jene die von Google gecrawlet werden können)

Mit allen diesen Aktivitäten erzeugen Sie etwas längerfristiges – jede Aktivität summiert sich auf in Informationen über Ihre Firma. Dies ist billiger und effektiver als reines Outbound Marketing in all seinen Formen (emails, Briefe, etc).

Wie lange dauert dies?
Abhänging von Ihrer Geschäftstätigkeit und der Konkurrenz dauert es etwa 3-6 Monate.

Sind Sie noch nicht sicher oder wollen Sie durchstarten? Besuchen Sie mich auf http://www.haschek.com und ich berate Sie gerne.

Being certified – now what?

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Several weeks ago I received my Inbound Marketing Professional Certification for my comprehensive understanding of the Internet and Social Media Viral Marketing.  Talking to several clients in middle Europe about these latest developments on the Internet did not bring any results.  Is this because they don’t understand the concepts of Interactive Internet Marketing and Social Media and the impact it is having on the rest of the world?
Social networking and understanding how to use Social Media for marketing products and service to what is now a global market is not a passing fad, it is marketing for the 21st Century.  Did I miss something here, or is middle Europe just lagging behind the rest of the world?
Comments please?

Michael