The Digital Revolution

Well how are you today? Yes I know that I could have found that out by following you on Twitter or looking at your status on Facebook but some times I just like to be a little bit old fashioned. I'm great, and thank you for asking.

It seems that there are some companies out there that think that the tried and tested means of marketing themselves are becoming old fashioned and that they should therefore stop doing them altogether. Now of course it is important to show off your company as innovative and "down with the kids", but why let go of things that worked for you previously. Better still, why not combine the two?

"But how can we do that Paul?" I hear you cry. Actually, it's really rather simple. It all comes down to looking at the end result. Runners don't visualise the starting pistol or the years of training - they picture themselves crossing that finish line. Unless they're Usain Bolt, in which case they just picture a massive blur as they whizz past it.

Ask a lot of people what they want from their marketing and the answer will be very similar - brand awareness. But what does that mean exactly? I'm aware of loads of brands, but it doesn't make me a customer. Negative publicity can create brand awareness, but it's not exactly going to get you any more customers is it?

It's not enough for people to know you exist. People have to be convinced of a reason to use your products and services. Now you may well have the coolest website around. It could be presented by virtual video hosts, a totally new type of navigation system and the coolest graphics since The Matrix came out, but there's still a problem.

"If you build it, they will come". No - they won't. If you build it, market it, update it, market it some more and then get some of your visitors talking about it, they MIGHT come. People spend so much time thinking about Search Engine Optimisation that they miss one very fundamental point. If you've got something that noone has ever seen before, then they are NOT going to be searching for it in the first place.

Think of all of those products that you can buy that you can not physically hold - minutes on your mobile, comedy ringtones, credits on sites with questionable content. We've become a society that's ready to accept a virtual presence, but we still need an old fashioned means to get us there.

Some of the oldest, and, dare I say, most ordinary merchandise can do wonders for driving traffic to your website. How about sending your customers a mousemat with a screen grab of your home page? You could send them a calendar with twelve different shots of the coolest images from your site. If all else fails, how about a pen with your web address on it? Yes I said it - A PEN!!!

We're all of us searching for the next big thing. The next killer application or piece of hardware that will change the way we do certain tasks forever. Your company may very well have already made it, but if you don't tell us it's out there, how are we supposed to know?

Right. I'm off in my time machine to check out the year 1955. Don't worry, there's little chance of my interrupting my parents from meeting each other as that didn't happen until 1967. For details on time travel, you can visit www.imadeitallup.com/obviously.html

See you next time.