Wise Man Marketing

It is a sunny morning and you are sitting in your office. With a cup of hot coffee by your side and memories of your last holiday still fresh in your mind, even if you say so yourself, today at least, life is sweet.

You take a sip of new blend coffee and then feel a rush of cool air and a movement catches the corner of your eye. Like a rabbit pulled from a hat there is now an impeccably dressed stranger sitting in front of you. Surprised, you sure are; you didn’t hear anyone knock and before you have time to say anything something he begins in a calm and reassuring voice.

‘Here's the deal’

‘I will advertise your product on billboards at the busiest junctions of every city of the world.'

‘I will tell you how many people see this advertisement and I will tell you their age, nationality and gender.'

‘I will tell you what they think of your product and in many cases I will give you their contact details. While they are reading the billboard I will make it possible for them to view your website and, if they feel the urge, make a purchase.'

‘I can have all this setup in two days and it will cost you less than a small advertisement displayed in your favourite trade journal.’

He pauses momentarily. ‘Interested?’

Now you might think that you should beware of offers that sound too good to be true, that you are going to wake up soon or maybe that you really should get a lock for that office door.

But let's just take time to reflect. If you are still reading this I am that man who has come from nowhere and offered you a deal.

The advertising site is on the Internet and the billboard I'm offering is the humble online survey.

Take a fresh look and start to associate an online survey with ‘marketing’ and not with 'market research'. And not any type of marketing this is 'Marketing' with a very large capital 'M' and in flashing neon lights. Marketing that is quick, direct, effective and low cost.

You can advertise a published online survey on a website, or via email and like a billboard by the side of a major road junction, your message will appear in front of people. Unlike billboards where it has to be estimated as to the number of people actually see an advert, the online survey records the number of times a survey is started.

Online surveys can ask demographic questions such as age, gender and nationality and in doing so allows you to collate metrics about the effectiveness of your promotion and confirm that you are interacting with the target respondent on a one-on-one level.

Unlike billboards where the message is often subliminal, or maybe just trying to achieve brand awareness, with online surveys you have the opportunity to connect with the public to find out what they really think about your product, how it relates to them, how it is perceived.

Using an online survey website it takes only minutes and hours to create a survey and using the power of the Internet an online survey can reach hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis.

Throw in a prize as an incentive for people to complete the survey, maybe some Pay Per Click advertising to capture an even wider, or more focused audience and you are still talking low cost effective marketing.

'Tell me then. Is it a deal?'