Jan
2008
People have become almost immune with most of the conventional websites that are present on the internet today. They all look alike. An element of surprise may hit anyone’s eyes and prompt saying “Wow, This is unbelievable!”. This would help any webmaster cutting through the clutter and make people generate “word of mouth” and say “You need to see this, it is incredible indeed”. Among the big shifts that you can select for your unique website would be shifting the website-marketing from a “riding-shotgun” approach to a well planned strategically designed surprise oriented campaign.
An interesting ‘surprise twist’ has recently been offered by ‘Disney’ with its “The Year of a Million Dreams”. This brilliant twist says,” imagine walking through one of the ‘Walt Disney Theme Parks’ when a cast member taps you on the shoulder to offer you a dream come true. Right now, over a million extra-special dreams, some thought impossible, are being randomly awarded to people just like you”.
Surprise web-marketing need to follow generally the golden oldie “giveaway” thumb-rule. We are observing that many of the web-marketers are shifting their attention to this thumb rule, though slowly. Giving away of ‘eBooks’ is one such helpful tool that certainly attracts people. One more innovative concept has slipped in these days. Some of the popular websites and many of the blog marketers also have started giving away “concept papers” and “white papers” to their viewers and customers for no cost. These kinds of free offers are becoming very popular among the websites that are focused on information sharing concepts. Subject and field specific websites are also adopting these new techniques in order to enhance their reach to the common readers. Recently we are observing a sudden rush in the news specific websites also. These kinds of giveaways are actually ‘knowledge enhancers’ and many people love to have them.
A simple surprise element on any website has very high chances of kicking away the annoyance of a viewer on an average. It helps him forgetting and forgiving the wasteful clicks .An element of surprise will always keep a website alive and fresh as it would attract many new and come back visitors to have a feel of the surprise.
Website marketing has full potential if combined with surprises. It’s the key to great entertainment. Surprise fuels great marketing, creates innovative opportunities and generates revenue. Website generally thrives on updating of its contents regularly and the advertisements pushing in the revenues. There exists a large gap in creative conceptualization and marketing of a website. This large gap contains immense potential for creating multiple opportunities with creativity. Montreal entrepreneur Andy Nullman, an authority on surprise marketing says,” small businesses have a great chance to make a difference in their marketplace by using the power of surprise to delight and astound their customers”.
Internet marketers and website marketers need to remember always the golden guiding principle, “little things make a huge difference”. In this world where people tell their friends and believe what their own friends tell them. It is the “word of mouth” that drives sales up to great extent and “not ads for the umpteenth surprise sale that is not a surprise at all”, according to Rogers Wirelesses’ initiative “Share the Joy”.
Website marketers must also understand how to start with surprise marketing. Think what you did last month and try exploring new ideas in order to see if you can do something different. “Ask you, what we could do that we never dared to do?” says Andy Nullman. He further advises, “Marketing is about a relationship, and like all relationships, you have to keep it fresh”.
Surprise web-marketing is not a massive investment proposal in itself. Its cost effectiveness is also a surprising fact. Internet marketers are always leveraged with tactics. If one tactic does not click, try another one. Create one more buzz .After all the website marketers are their own masters. They can opt for more risks and do not require permissions for that. The risks involved in such type of ‘surprise oriented website marketing’ are comparatively very light and a webmaster practically has nothing to loose much. A contest, for instance, may cost a few dollars more to the webmaster but the amount of website traffic that would be generated with such contests would be almost unimaginable. Surprise web-marketing thus proved to be a cost-effective technique to enhance the web traffic, page rankings, revenue, and of course the popularity among the viewers.
Surprise web-marketing will definitely add new tools to the existing approaches with low cost, high speed, flexibility and other components. Success depends much on the use of maneuver, surprise, and speed to find an opportunity. It is more like the fighter pilots who understand the importance of “getting inside” in a dogfight by turning and maneuvering quicker than the enemy to fix their guns on the enemy plane well before it comes to know the intentions. This clearly means that such type of web-marketing means knocks with fast and unpredictable tactics giving out surprises. Business with surprises is thus no less than the fighter’s war.
