A new marketing trend is “inbound marketing” — positioning your information
to be found by prospects when they want
to receive it. Think of the last time you
needed to know something, like where
the closest dry cleaner is. You probably
didn’t flip through the newspaper for an
ad, go through old mail for a coupon or
even open the phone book. Instead, you
most likely went to your computer, opened
your favorite search engine and typed in
a few keywords.
If your target market is more likely to
use the Internet to find information, then
you should place your information in as
many places on the Web as possible. The
more real estate you command, the better your odds of being found.
There are many sites available on the
Internet where you can place information
about your next meeting or event — and
most are a fraction of the cost of outbound methods. These inbound marketing options include blogs, social media,
RSS feeds, article marketing and e-newsletters.
BLOGS & MICROBLOGS
Search engines love blogs. Essentially,
a blog is a Web site and each time you
post an update, the search engines see
that as fresh content and give it a favorable ranking. So if you have a blog for
your organization and your meeting, you
are significantly increasing your chances
of being found. Link your blog to your
Web site and vice versa for even more
exposure.
SOCIAL MEDIA
This single category covers a multitude of
Web sites. The 400-lb. gorilla that cannot be ignored is Facebook. An account
must be opened by a person who creates
a profile and connects with friends. This
can be supplemented with a page to
attract fans. A page can feature an organization, product or event. There also is
an events application where you post any
kind of event and invite people to attend.
