Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Conclusion
To wrap up this chapter, remember that part of the effort that
should be put into a microsite project is getting people to visit it.
Therearemanywaystogetpeopletocometoyournewsite.
Some of those ways cost money all the way through the project
and eventually in the end, while others cost a little bit up front
but resolve to no cost in the end. On top of being virtually free,
viral advertising can last just as long as people are still talking
about it. There are even times when the talk may die down for
severalmonthsonlytohavesomeonebringitbackuptotheir
friends at a later date (which could stir the viral effect back into
motion).
Don
t forget that search engines can be your very best friend
when you want to drive people to a microsite. By utilizing their
paid search terms, you can guarantee your client a spot in the list
of results returned on a search of a given word. Additionally, some
search engines also tie in with blogs to offer an additional point of
contact with potential customers. In the end, the benefits of using
paid search far outweigh the cost involved with doing so.
Another avenue clients (and sometimes even agencies or
developers) forget about is that of the client
'
s main Web site. There
are not many reasons I can think of that would prevent you from
linking from the main Web site to the microsite and vice versa. The
visitors are already there, they are already familiar with the brand,
and they obviously like it enough to be at one of the two sites in
the first place. Why not take advantage of that built-in audience
and offer them a way to get to the other site to find more enter-
tainment or information about the brand?
Don
'
'
t rule out getting other people involved in your viral
marketing. Send e-mails around notifying friends, family, and
coworkers about the launch of the site. If you maintain a blog,
write about it to let the world know of your company
swonderful
work. Contact other blog owners who are already interested in
your client
'
s brand, and, after telling them your intentions and who
youare,mostpeoplewillbemorethanhappy(andeventhrilled)
tobeapartoftheadvertisingeffort.Someofthoseblogowners
are even signed up to blog-advertising networks on which you can
purchase space to run your ads. By utilizing a blog-advertising net-
work, you can run your ads on blogs that you have targeted based
on as specific of a criterion as you see fit. Let
'
'
s also not forget that
“
isthecurrentwordoftheday,andatthetimeofwriting
this, it is a very big word with a huge amount of advertising poten-
tial. From LinkedIn to Facebook and Twitter, you should definitely
find ways to utilize these tools to their fullest.
Finally, keep an eye on what your users are doing while they
are visiting your microsite. If you keep reports on areas of higher
social
”
