Black Belt Web Marketing.pdf - Costa del Sol

What Makes an Announcement Work?
An announcement is like a press release, only not for the media but for the general public. Hyped
up promotion pieces are probably not suitable for an announcement. Tone it down but still end it
with an invitation to visit your site.
For an announcement to encourage visitors to your web site it should describe an event in terms
of:
Newsworthiness
Benefit to reader
Curiosity
Better results come from emphasizing the newsworthiness of the event rather than just the event
itself. Describe what the event means in terms of benefit to the reader to the reader, or what’s
special about the event that justifies an announcement and is worth checking out.
Where to Post Announcements?
An estimated over 20,000 discussion groups exists in which, at least in theory, you could post
your announcement. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of these would be appropriate. For the
vast majority of groups in which your announcement wouldn’t be appropriate, the members
would get upset and probably "flame" you with hate email. You wouldn’t want to target them in
the first place. The primary objective of increasing web traffic is to get more of the right kind of
visitors, not just more visitors.
The announcement campaign should be directed toward general Internet audiences through
popular forums created specifically for such announcements and, more importantly,
targeted audiences in special interests discussion groups where they hang out.
Ordinarily, announcements are a good way to initiate web traffic but don’t have a lasting effect
unless you are prepared to build on this initial momentum and the interest generated. Sustaining
interest in your web site over a long period is the subject of Lesson 11 – Building Long Term
Success.
Post an announcement consistent with Internet’s own "netiquette". This means avoid blanketing
the net indiscriminately hoping that tens of millions of net users will see your announcement.
More harm than good comes from that approach.
Lesson 3 Pg. 4