Well, after seeing the rise of various invite only websites, I figured “why not make an article about it”. Everyone wants to be able to own or manage a very good website. Invite marketing, is a very good way to jump start your site with a very good on-coming crowd and also generating returning visitors. Invite marking has also became known as building “hype”. The dictionary definition for hype is; 1. to create interest in by flamboyant or dramatic methods; promote or publicize showily or 2. to intensify (advertising, promotion, or publicity) by ingenious or questionable claims, methods, etc.. “This is how sites like Hotmail, Gmail became such a hit so quickly, Gmail used the “invite” system to create a viral marketing campaign, which cost them nothing! People do the marketing for you, by writing blogs about Gmail, selling them on ebay, posting on forums and the like (EarnersTalk: Marketing Your Websites). ”
Techniques:
- Creating Deadlines, this is also known as your “expected release date”. If an user is appealed by your sites topic or just can’t wait to see how your site will turn out, then set a good expected launch date, that you and your staff know you can guys can meet.
- Splash Pages, creating a very appealing splash page “eye candy” can draw in a lot of attention. It shows that a lot of time was put in to the image of the design.
- Newsletters, getting users to sign up for a newsletter before launching can also be a very effective way. It helps to keep in contact with your users, and it also helps your using to feel comfort and belonging. A site that sends out weekly or monthly newsletters will mostly likely attract those returning visits.
Pros:
- Very cheap compared to other various forms of marketing (adwords, paid advertising). For instance, google adwords can be very costly, especially if you are trying to get a good campaign. The traditional banner advertisements can also be costly and can put a huge dent in your pockets.
- Builds returning users, this option can vary dramatically depending on the type of website. If you have a fairly unique website, versus a website with a free forums skin, and a bunch of advertisements; it is obvious that the unique one will be popular. Users look for a clean atmosphere with an unique image to be portrayed. If this unique image is a good one, it will generate your site a lot of returning visits.
- Builds large sites, building hype can be the cheapest way to get your site off its feet. I have seen many sites take off, just from this simple marketing strategy. To name a few, sites like gmail, hotmail, joost, and moola have taken of tremendously.
Cons:
- Ineffective promotion, this can ruin your start in a great way. For instance, either launching the site too early or launching your site with too many bugs or too little features.
- Missed Deadline, if you missed your release date, then your site is basically starting off with a bad image, which can be very hard to get out of.
Article taken From: Gainor Bostwick’s Blog
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