When your company’s Web site is there for all eyes to see, where does cross-promotion fit into your efforts?
If the answer is not much, then it is time to go back to the drawing board to see how you can better leverage exposure in your marketing efforts.
As more and more businesses look to leverage the power of the Internet, some still are a day late and a dollar short (literally) when it comes to maximizing the potential exposure to their brand and its reputation. The end result is that the company’s return on investment (ROI) ends up being negatively impacted.
In order to best cross-promote, however, you need to keep several things in mind:
- Stale content is like expired food – None of us want to consume stale food, so it should be a given that we don’t want to waste our time trolling Web sites, only to come across those whose content is outdated. Before you even consider cross-promoting your content, make sure it is both updated and of value to those who will view it. If you’ve got a bad product, no reason to promote it;
- Mix and match – One area where cross-promotion can be effective is bringing old and new together. For example, if you are promoting a piece on a relative subject matter that you addressed a few months back, link to it in your latest efforts. Some folks may have missed the original item, so you’re getting them to look back on something you did months ago, giving them more belief that you’re an expert in this particular line by addressing it again but in a different manner. This also holds true by mixing and matching blog content, podcasts, video promotions and more;
- Appreciate your customers – Your customers are the life and soul of your company. Remember, without them, you don’t have a business. Use your cross-promotion efforts to on one hand thank your customers, and then offer them something else that would likely be of value to them. By doing this, you keep them involved with your company and feeling appreciated. That being said doesn’t mean to use these opportunities to spam them death with offer after offer. Remember, there are only so many newsletters, webinars and such that you can throw at them;
- Don’t forget social media – I hear and see numerous instances where companies are dropping the ball when it comes to social media. SM can be a great tool in leveraging your cross-promotion efforts as a business. If you are promoting your company’s latest white paper on how to sell, market it on social media with a similar cross promotion you’ve done using a video, podcast or other communications tool. You get more bang for your buck, essentially killing two birds with one stone.
Cross-promotion efforts have to be instituted to be successful; that being said, is your business taking the time to cross-promote all it is doing?
I have a feeling in many cases the answer is no.