Image by DavidErickson via Flickr
It is important to assess the level of popularity that your brand enjoys on the internet before planning your online marketing strategy. If your brand is highly recognized and valued on the internet, you may not need to start from scratch. On the other hand, if nobody knows your brand on the internet despite the fact that you enjoy good brand recall in the offline world, you may have to tinker with your strategy accordingly.
One option is to create a blitz involving contests, freebies and gifts when you are starting out on the internet. If people recognize your brand, they will be interested in participating and may not hesitate to submit their e-mail address and other contact information to participate in the contest. On the other hand, if your brand has zero credibility on the internet, people may be very hesitant about providing their contact information.
In such a scenario, you stand to gain irrespective of whether your contest succeeds or fails. Of course, make sure that the offline and the online segment remain separate. The last thing you want is for your failure of online contest to affect your offline reputation. On the other hand, if your contest is highly successful, you can easily use your online presence to boost your offline credibility as well.
There are many scam and fraud artists who offer freebies and gifts to attract the masses. If your business is recognized as a separate entity from such fraud artists, it is clear that you have a hit start in so far as your online marketing strategy is concerned.
