Emagine Web Marketing

Marketing Ideas for Tough Times

home title Posted by Michelle Harrington on Apr 12th, 2009 | 2 comments home title

Times are tough and your message to potential customers should reflect what consumers are concerned with – and at present it is the economy.  Remember to think like a consumer when you are designing your Pay Per Click ads, website copy, or any advertising for that matter.  Figure out why buying from you is an excellent value (especially in these tough economic times) and be sure to use that angle in your customer-directed sales copy.

If you can provide an ebook or whitepaper download that is relevant to these challenging times that also relates to your business/product/service, you are providing one more reason for a buyer to choose you over the competition.  If you own a vacation rental – you could put together a document highlighting all of the free and/or relatively low cost things to do in your area for travelers on a tight budget.  This document could be offered as a free download from your website and shared on any number of social media websites.

Another way to gain valuable exposure for your business is to participate in Q & A relevant to your business/expertise in online discussion groups -  Facebook discussion, Google Groups, Yahoo Answers, LinkedIN Answers,  Twitter are just a few of the many online.  For any answer or input you provide, be sure to include your company name, web address and contact info.    Do a search on these sites for “kauai” or your specific industry and you’ll be amazed at the amount of chatter there is about topics you may be able to provide helpful answers for – while at the same time providing free online exposure for your company. Here’s an article about a small business that was able to land a new client just by answering a question posted on LinkedIN answers.

In my daily online surfing and perusing of Google alerts,  I see many opportunities for Kauai business owners to enter into online conversations with visitors planning upcoming trips to the island.  Visitors are asking what are the best things to do here, where to eat, and where to stay.  If you are willing to share just a little bit of your time and knowledge you may find that the exposure for your own company pays great dividends in the long term.  Keep in mind that the input you provide is not just being read by the person asking the question, but by the many others who are watching the conversation as well.

In Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters.  One represents danger, the other opportunity.   So don’t sweat it if your small business marketing budget has taken a big hit, there is still plenty of opportunity out there for those willing to invest the time into creating relationships with their potential customers online.

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Author | Michelle Harrington of Emagine Web Marketing
Michelle is a web development and internet marketing professional dedicated to helping small businesses in Hawaii achieve success online. Michelle provides free advice, tips and how to's on the Small Business Internet Marketing Blog.


home title 2 Responses home title
  1. Paul says:
    April 15, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    Nicely done clear, concise, to-the-point,helpful
    You — Goood….

  2. Josh Morgan says:
    April 16, 2009 at 2:14 pm

    Thank you for including a link to our story about success using LinkedIn.

    -Josh Morgan

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