Internet marketing is a powerful way to introduce a new product and build a brand identity. When combined with a television marketing plan companies can reach new target audiences and reap more profits. You may think the only way to market a product on the Internet is with a website. Social media has opened up a new avenue for companies to catch the attention of new demographics of potential customers. With creative thinking your company can open up new markets and get your product in front of as many people as possible.
Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Strategy
One company that recently took advantage of the power of social media is Colgate-Palmolive. Their new Wisp portable toothbrush was targeted for an urban and young target audience, 18 to 25 year old men and women. This was a new target audience for the company that normally markets to mothers. By combining social media, video and television, Colgate was able to reach their target audience and not only introduce their new Wisp, but add a new demographic to their consumer base.
Colgate’s Marketing Goal: Colgate wanted to break into the young urban professional demographic of 18 to 25. This group is typically very active daters and concerned with their appearance. The company needed a strategy that would target these consumers in a new and different way.
How They Did It: To do this they employed the social media marketing agency, Big Fuel. The advertising executives at Colgate knew they needed outside help to think out of the box. This is a good course of action if a company has never considered social media and the Internet a viable means to market their products. Big Fuel and Colgate spent many months on market research. The questions they tried to answer were what does the product represent to the target audience and how can they get their attention. Their findings helped them to formulate an advertising campaign that combined television, social media and internet exposure.
The Big Push: In order to introduce the Wisp to their target audience, Colgate worked with Big Fuel to produce funny and inventive videos. These were posted on the major social networks, a mini site and on the television. Sites like YourTango and College Humor were used in order to create a viral video buzz.
Another facet of their marketing strategy was a photo contest to find the most kissable person in America. People could upload pictures of themselves with their favorite color of Wisp and have people vote for them. Spin the Wisp was another innovative creation by Big Fuel and Colgate. This was a Facebook app which accessed users Facebook friends and randomly picked them to participate in the contest. This generated more buzz about the product and reached an even greater number of the target demographic.
Out of the Box into Stores
With Colgate’s innovative campaign to reach an entirely new demographic, they opened the door for future campaigns. Thinking out of the box drove sales and got the product not only into stores, but into consumers’ hands as well.
If you’re setting up a marketing strategy you might also want to:
1. Determine who will most likely be using your service or buying your product and create your marketing strategy with that in mind.
2. Get in touch with an experienced media marketing agency. The vision of experts in the field of marketing might come with a price but perhaps you can find an experienced freelancer that can help you determine which media outlets will suit your campaign and how you can reach your potential customers best and turn them into clients etc.
The post is contributed by Calvin Scott. Calvin is observer, traveler, writer and social pundit. Visit his site for internet and internet en televisie