The Top 3 Ways to Get Free Advertising on the Internet
Company budgets are tightening world wide to compensate for the economic crisis that has spread across the globe.Give your employer a reason to keep you by finding free advertising space online.Maintaining a free advertising campaign online takes planning, patience and networking skills.Here are the top three ways to get quality free advertising space on the Internet.
Press and related media coverage are hands down the best method for free advertising.Whether you meant to be in the news or you are manufacturing the news of your company or product, you need to learn how to take advantage of the media.One of the best ways to get your news message or press bite out there is to put it in the form of a press release.
Free press release sites pepper the Internet and are frequently used by content editors and writers to come up with fresh content.Make a healthy list of free press release sites using Excel or a similar spreadsheet software.You will need to make an account and password for most of these sites.Send your press releases out to each of the sites checking them off as you go.Once your press release is approved by the press release site it will be sent out to thousands of writers and editors for consideration.
When you write your press release make sure to give it a newsworthy edge.If there is a story there or an editorial angle already in place it is more likely to get picked up by writers.To follow the success of the free press created by your press releases monitor the online coverage of your company and product.To do that you will need to use something similar to Google Alerts and Google Analytics.Google Alerts will send you a message each time your keywords, or company name and product, are mentioned in online articles and blogs.Google Analytics will allow you to see who is coming to your website and how they are being referred.
The second best method for free online advertising is to get direct coverage or advertising space on blogs and community websites that are geared to your industry or demographic.Contact editors directly and pitch stories based off of your press release.Ask if they would like to trade advertising spaces or if they would be willing to post an advertisement for you on their site to add content.
Make friends with editors by maintaining contact and building a professional relationship through courtesy and persistence.Often times editors will not have room to cover your company or product but you can set yourself up for future coverage by keeping your presence in front of their minds with monthly calls.
As you build your relationships with sister sites, companies and service providers, look for ways in which you can collaborate with other companies.Sponsoring an event or product giveaway is the third best way to win free advertising space online.As part of your participation in the event ask that participants be required to give their email addresses to enter the contest and that you receive that list at the end of the contest.As part of the deal, you might want to negotiate a banner space on the website of the company you are working with.
Be sure to utilize the customer base that you built through your contest participants by reeling them into your company or product.Send out a newsletter to the contest participants shortly after the close of the contest and offer some sort of incentive for them to utilize your product or services.When you get a satisfied customer you get free advertising because the first thing they will do is tell their family and friends about their great experience.
Press and related media coverage are hands down the best method for free advertising.Whether you meant to be in the news or you are manufacturing the news of your company or product, you need to learn how to take advantage of the media.One of the best ways to get your news message or press bite out there is to put it in the form of a press release.
Free press release sites pepper the Internet and are frequently used by content editors and writers to come up with fresh content.Make a healthy list of free press release sites using Excel or a similar spreadsheet software.You will need to make an account and password for most of these sites.Send your press releases out to each of the sites checking them off as you go.Once your press release is approved by the press release site it will be sent out to thousands of writers and editors for consideration.
When you write your press release make sure to give it a newsworthy edge.If there is a story there or an editorial angle already in place it is more likely to get picked up by writers.To follow the success of the free press created by your press releases monitor the online coverage of your company and product.To do that you will need to use something similar to Google Alerts and Google Analytics.Google Alerts will send you a message each time your keywords, or company name and product, are mentioned in online articles and blogs.Google Analytics will allow you to see who is coming to your website and how they are being referred.
The second best method for free online advertising is to get direct coverage or advertising space on blogs and community websites that are geared to your industry or demographic.Contact editors directly and pitch stories based off of your press release.Ask if they would like to trade advertising spaces or if they would be willing to post an advertisement for you on their site to add content.
Make friends with editors by maintaining contact and building a professional relationship through courtesy and persistence.Often times editors will not have room to cover your company or product but you can set yourself up for future coverage by keeping your presence in front of their minds with monthly calls.
As you build your relationships with sister sites, companies and service providers, look for ways in which you can collaborate with other companies.Sponsoring an event or product giveaway is the third best way to win free advertising space online.As part of your participation in the event ask that participants be required to give their email addresses to enter the contest and that you receive that list at the end of the contest.As part of the deal, you might want to negotiate a banner space on the website of the company you are working with.
Be sure to utilize the customer base that you built through your contest participants by reeling them into your company or product.Send out a newsletter to the contest participants shortly after the close of the contest and offer some sort of incentive for them to utilize your product or services.When you get a satisfied customer you get free advertising because the first thing they will do is tell their family and friends about their great experience.
About the Author:
Alex Wu loves numbers and marketing. He operates a free advertising website that combines social networking with business marketing in this free ads network.
