Press Releases and the Olympic Games: Effective Marketing - Essay Example

Outline Thesis: There are six strategies that one can employ to market their company at little to no cost. I. Press releases. A. Writing an effective press release will drive loads of customers to the business. B. Press releases should not be overdone or it detracts from the reputation of the business. II. Marketing with Social Networking Sites A. Social networking sites provide avenues for business to reach their consumers. B. Social networking sites also enable people to spread the word about the business through various tools on the site. III. Marketing with Brochures A. Brochures can be printed spending very small amounts of money. B. they are easily distributable. 1. They can be left in establishments with permission of their owners. 2. They can be passed out to people the business owner talks to. IV. Article Marketing. A. Articles can be written that target a niche. B. They can also help search engine rankings. V. Marketing with Postcards. A. Postcards can be sent to a targeted niche. B. Postcards can be used to announce certain events or promotions. Marketing is necessary for the survival of a company. Without marketing, it is impossible for the company to stay in business, as there will be no customers, and no profits will be made. In order for a company to not only remain in business but thrive for many years into the future, there must be an effective marketing plan in place that not only enables profits to soar but also keeps marketing costs to a minimum. When it comes to the Olympic Games, effective marketing is crucial, as it is what drives millions to these events. Without effectively marketing these events, spectators will not show up, which will not only hurt the company that is working to put on these events; it will also hurt the players, as they will not receive their due compensation, which comes from their spectators. There are six strategies that one can employ to market their company at little to no cost. Marketing a business via press release is a method that has been around for quite some time and still continues to be the method of choice. Because businesses will have to do a great deal with public relations, as they work with and serve the public interest, press releases are just one more way to keep the public engaged, so they will be more than likely to seek out the products and services that businesses offer. Press releases can be used to market the opening of a company. They can also be used to promote new products or services. If a company is sponsoring a special event, such as that of the Olympic Games, a press release can also be used to announce this, so people will not only attend the event but will possibly become customers for many years to come. While press releases are wonderful for getting word out about the business with very little effort at all, there are a few rules that need to be followed, should this particular method be utilized. An article titled, "Still the One, Crafting the Perfect Press release," sheds some insight into what they are. First of all, press releases need to be concise. They must not contain a bunch of useless rhetoric. Should press releases not be concise, the attention of their audiences will be lost, thus making them ineffective and a useless waste of time. Secondly, press releases must communicate real news. They should not talk about things that are of no real concern. The news that is being communicated has to be something that is really going to affect the audiences. Finally, when constructing press releases, the inverted pyramid method needs to be used. This method is to start out small by engaging the readers, build up larger and larger throughout the press release, and then give a call to action at the end, meaning that this is the largest point of all that needs to be made. Something else to remember is that press releases should not be overdone, meaning being released much too often, or it will detract from the overall reputation of the business. Should a business release press releases too often, their audiences will begin not to take them seriously, feeling that whatever the business may be reporting in their press releases is not news worthy enough to get their attention. Sooner or later, the business will be ignored altogether, which will detract from the business's reputation, as people will view them as a company who cannot take matters seriously. To avoid this, businesses must be careful of the amount of times press releases are used, and they must be used when only there is serious news to report (Laskoski, 14-22). Most of the time, marketing with press releases costs nothing at all, unless the business owner should choose to submit them to various online press release sites or newswires that may charge a very small onetime fee for the submission. Best of all, press releases do a great deal of work for the business owner, as they get the word out and call numerous people to action if done correctly. Social networking sites are a remarkable way to reach prospects for a number of reasons. One reason that social networking sites are great for reaching prospects is that there are a number of tools that the social networking sites provide that business owners have at their disposal that will enable them to gain thousands upon thousands of prospects in a very short period of time with very little effort. One way that this can be done is through the use of building friend's lists. All social networking sites have a feature that allows a person to meet people, connect with them and then add them to a friend's list. Of course, social networking sites have a spam policy, and a business owner cannot just add an abundance of friends without being warm and inviting, such as by sending them an introduction explaining who he is and being less formal than with traditional marketing. Something else that the business owner can do is to start groups that are centered around his particular field. For instance, if a computer service technician want to start a following that could possibly become his customers in the near future, he can then start a computer users group, answering people's questions and having fulfilling conversation related to the subject. In addition to starting groups that are in relation to the business owner's field, the business owner can go over to the forums and answer members' questions that are in relation to his field. Let's say that a computer service technician is on the forum of a social networking site, and a user has a computer related question, the computer service technician can then answer the question and then at the end of giving his answer, he can give the invitation for the member to contact him. Should the member contact him, he can then have conversations with this member to build trust in him and his company, and then once the trust is built, the computer service technician can up sell the member when the time is right. If he does this enough, he will have a very large client base before he knows it, and just think about it, he gained all of this through being casual, friendly, and informal. The same can go for the Olympic Games. Someone responsible for marketing the events can join a social networking site and do the same exact thing the computer service technician has done. This individual can also start groups centered around the subject of the Olympics, such as by talking about the upcoming even, who will take part, and where the event will be held. Questions can also be answered at the forums, and a clientele list can be built upon. One might think that if the business owner is less formal and does not stick to traditional marketing trends, then success will not be at its highest. However, this is not true, as one journal article that was written about a study that compared traditional marketing to informal marketing done on social networking sites said that when business owners marketed their businesses on social networking sites compared to traditional marketing, the results were longer lasting, and marketing this way allowed word about the business to spread much faster. It has already been proven that word of mouth is one of the best ways for a business to gain notoriety and clients, and social networking sites make it all the more easier for clients who have dealt with the business to get the word out, as it can be done with a few simple keystrokes and a few clicks of the mouse (Trusov, Bucklin, and Pauwels, 90-102). Most social networking sites are free to join; however, some will charge a nominal yearly or monthly fee, especially social networking sites that are geared toward professional networking. In addition to marketing the business through the use of social networking sites, brochures can be made and distributed that give prospects information about the products and services that the business offers. Chief points that the business owner needs to see to it that the brochure contains is the business name and the purpose behind the business, products, services, and expertise offered by the business, and the clientele that it wishes to serve. Short biographies along with photos can also be included to enable the brochure to have a warm and personal look (Shenkman, 61). As it concerns the Olympic Games, a brochure can be printed up that gives the name of the company sponsoring the event, the different games that will be played there, the names of the participants, and perhaps, some photos and biographies of each participant to make people be intrigued enough to want to attend. If done properly, brochures can be printed at very low cost. One way to keep the printing cost down is to choose the type of paper that will be used. For instance, brochures do not have to be printed on gloss paper to have a professional appearance. They can be printed on heavy paper so the brochure has a high quality appearance. Another way that the cost can be kept down is to either find a company who is willing to print brochures at a low-cost bulk rate: or, the brochures can be printed right at the business itself, which will enable the business owner to save money that he would otherwise have given to printeries to print them out (Shenkman, 61). Once the brochures are printed up, they can be easily distributed to clients in a number of ways. Brochures can be left at the front counters or in waiting areas of various establishments with permission of their owners. Furthermore, a business owner can carry them on his person and distribute them to various people that he converses with about the business. There is no limit at all to the ways that brochures can be distributed. Writing articles to target a specific niche is another way that one can market their business or firm for free or low cost. Such articles can be written on topics that provide information for the field in which the business operates. For instance, if one should have a business that specializes in computer repair and troubleshooting, articles can be written on topics such as how to keep a computer safe from viruses and other threats, how to reformat an operating system, which memory is the best to make a system run optimally, most recommended spyware and virus protection software, which software to avoid, unsafe computing practices to avoid, and recommendations on which types of hardware a customer should use to optimize the computers performance, just to name a few of the many subjects that one in this particular field can write about in order to reach his targeted niche. The same can be done as it concerns the Olympic Games. Articles can be written about individual participants in these events, how to participate in the Olympics, and sports related topics, just to name a few subjects on which they can be written. Articles enable the business owner to build trust with prospective clients by providing them information that they can actually apply to certain events in their lives, which gives them a taste of what the company is like and also enable them to build trust with the company. Once the prospective clients get a taste of the company through the informational content that is provided through these articles, the seed will be planted within them, and once these prospective clients gain a level of trust, the seed will grow, so to speak, which will in turn, cause them to want to possibly do business. Concerning article writing and its effectiveness, one journal article states that articles are versatile in that they can be used in reused in a number of ways. Articles can serve as more than articles. They can even be used as speeches, should a business owner want to set up an event where a speech would be given about certain aspects of the field (Shenkman, 60). For instance, if a person specializes in computer repair, he might want to base a speech on the topic of one of articles, such as how to protect the computer from spyware, viruses and other threats. If someone is marketing the Olympic Games, he might give a speech on how one might be able to participate in the Olympic Games, perhaps not only getting people inspired to follow their dreams, but these same people will attend the Olympic Games to watch their favorite stars compete. Besides as being great tools for speeches, articles can also be used to boost search engine rankings for websites. When a website has a high search engine ranking, potential clients are more than likely to find it (Wiley, 63). Articles can be written to be focused around one or two key words or phrases that have a high search ranking. Then, these articles can be submitted to article directories with a link at the bottom of each one that leads back to the business website. While on the topic of search engine optimization, videos can be used to market a business's products or services, and depending on how well these videos are optimized for the web, they can draw in a load of viewers. Just like the articles, these videos can be made to pass along information concerning a particular field. For instance, let's say that a computer service technician wants to use a video to give information in regards to an aspect of computer repair, such as how to reformat a hard drive. He would make his video, upload it to various video sites, label it with key words and phrases that are well searched to guarantee that it will be found by a great number of people, and use the most searched key word or phrase in the title. Someone marketing the Olympic Games can make a video that shows various highlights that took place at the last Olympic Games, making it enticing enough that the viewers will feel as though they absolutely have to be there. If the video is well liked, viewers can click on the share link that most video sites provide, and the video will fall into the hands of even more viewers, such as the friends and family of the original viewers. Before too long, the business will have a great number of clients, just by what the video has drawn in (Wiley, 63). Along with article and video marketing, marketing with postcards is another low cost way to effectively reach hundreds or even thousands of potential clients. According to an article titled, "Marketing Tools for the New or Small Firm," states that postcards can be written in the form of announcements, enabling people to be reminded that the business exists and their services or products are available. Postcards are a good way to keep the business in the forefronts of the minds of potential clients. Postcards can be written to announce things such as the opening of a new practice, a new office or store location, promotions concerning products or services, and when the business partners with another company. Marketing with postcards is one of the most professional ways to get the point across to prospects, as well as being one of the friendliest, and it is not in the least bit difficult. To make things easier on the business owner, he can select a particular niche in which he wishes to target. Then, he can get the addresses from the phone book and send them each a postcard. Selecting a specific niche will insure that the business owner gets great results, as he will be targeting people who will more than likely want his products or services and be in the market for them. It will not be a waste of time because he will not be sending the postcards to people who want nothing to do with what the business has to offer, hence the importance of selecting a specific niche to target and tailor the products and services towards. A good business owner realizes that he cannot be all things to all people, nor can he spread himself too thin, wasting time and money. He realizes his time is valuable, hence the reason for targeting people who definitely appear to be interested in what his business has to offer because these individuals will be the first to become paying customers (Shenkman, 60 and 61). The one marketing for the Olympic Games would more than likely try to target people who show an interest in sports. He can not only use the phone books to find names and address, he can also look online for leads, such as by communicating with various sites that can supply him with targeted leads. These six marketing strategies enable a business to grow leaps and bounds without digging to deep into the budget, which is very important in this economy. Rather than spending loads of money, which businesses often make the mistake of doing, the business that employs these six marketing strategies into their marketing plan will not only reap loads of profit, but the operation will be able to expand beyond ways that were ever thought to be imaginable. If all of these strategies are employed at the same time, the success of the business will be overwhelming, as the business will be surpassing all of his competitors. While this business's competitors are spending a fortune on traditional marketing techniques, and while it is taking them longer to reap a decent sized profit, the business that is making use of these six marketing strategies will gain drastically. There is nothing better than to have an abundance of strategies under one's belt that will enable them to have their hands on piles of cash in almost no time at all, and what's more, a huge crowd showing up to watch the next Olympic Games! Work Cited Laskoski, Gregg "Still the one: Crafting the perfect press release." Public Relations Tactics 16.3 (2009): 14-22. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009. Shenkman, Martin M. "MARKETING TOOLS FOR THE NEW OR SMALL FIRM." Journal of Accountancy 167.2 (1989): 60-64. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009. Trusov, Michael, Randolph E Bucklin, and Koen Pauwels "Effects of Word-of-Mouth Versus Traditional Marketing: Findings from an Internet Social Networking Site." Journal of Marketing 73.5 (2009): 90-102. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009. Wiley, Deborah Lynne "When Search Meets Web Usability." Online 33.6 (2009): 63. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009. Read More