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Getting the Word Out: Three Alternatives to Traditional Advertising

January 5, 2017 By Chris Farmer 8 Comments

The old model of digital advertising is broken—but that doesn’t mean marketing is entirely dead. Here are a few clever alternatives to old-school ads.

Getting the Word Out: Three Alternatives to Traditional Advertising

The writing has been on the wall for some time. The majority of users no longer trust display ads. People are increasingly ignoring online banner and video ads. And ad blockers have never been more popular.

Jeff Kunzler of Design is Law explains:

A large part of web ads are malicious, misogynist, full of malware/ransomware, and are a risk to your computer. Adblock rose to popularity due to people growing fed up with risking their computer being infected by malicious advertisements, and the Internet’s going to have to adapt.

That means that if you want to foster awareness of your brand, you need to adapt as well. Luckily, there are plenty of alternatives. Here are just a few.

Table of Contents

  • Native Ads
  • Influencer Marketing
  • Contests and Giveaways
  • Closing Thoughts
      • Chris Farmer
      • Latest posts by Chris Farmer (see all)

Native Ads

Traditional ads are designed to stand out. They are clearly not part of any website on which they appear. And that’s exactly the problem with them. Either they interrupt the user’s browsing experience, or users overlook them entirely due to a phenomenon called banner blindness.

Native advertisements solve this problem by blending with the websites that host them. Some examples include advertorials, infographics, branded content, and sponsored content.

There are a few keys to doing native ads right:

  • Serve them to the right audience.
  • Tailor them to the site that is hosting them. 
  • Do not promote your business directly.
  • Choose the format that best fits your demographic.
  • Make sure people can identify them as promoted content.

Influencer Marketing

The era of social media has given rise to a new class of individual: the influencer. Whether because of pre-existing celebrity status, skillful marketing, or a high level of knowledge, people look to these men and women as experts. When these influencers endorse a product or brand, others listen.

That said, there are a few things to keep in mind when seeking influencers:

  • Choose influencers that match the “personality” of your brand. You generally would not seek out a hip-hop artist as an influencer if your customers are primarily high-level executives.
  • Rather than looking at how large influencers’ social followings are, look at their audience engagement. Do the followers regularly share their influencer’s content, or are they mostly passive?
  • Ideally, seek influencers that are already engaged with your brand. A well-known professional who follows you on Twitter would be a good example.
  • Offer influencers something of value, and show respect when communicating with them. You should treat them as valued business partners rather than just another advertising stream.
  • Look for influencers where your audience is. Fashion companies, for example, stick to Instagram.

Contests and Giveaways

Although they have been around for a long time, brand-sponsored competitions remain one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal. Not only do they inspire your audience to do your advertising for you but they also help you gather more data about your customers in the process. And if you manage to make your contest go viral, that success is infinitely more valuable than even the most expensive banner ad.

“Online contests are one of the easiest ways to find new customers and reconnect with the customers you already have,” writes social marketing expert Brent Purves. “They are quick to set up, affordable to run, and consistently see excellent ROI.”

As with the other entries on this list, there are a few keys to running an effective contest:

  • Make sure the prize is something your audience will want.
  • Set a clear time limit to create the illusion of scarcity.
  • Target your contest at a specific audience to foster a sense of community in participants.  
  • Get influencers involved in promoting your contest.
  • Encourage participants to talk about your contest on social media, or share their contest entries.
  • Most importantly, make your contest fun. Your contest should incorporate something you know your audience already enjoys doing. For example, it could involve taking the best picture at a festival, writing the best short story, or simply attending a concert or fundraiser.

Closing Thoughts

Digital advertising has evolved, but the fact that it has isn’t a bad thing. If you know what you’re doing, it’s easier than ever before to spread the word about your brand. When you abandon banner ads, you will find that the alternatives are far superior—and you might wonder how you ever went without them.

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Chris Farmer

Chris Farmer is the Cloud Sites Product Manager for Liquid Web, a fully managed hosting company focused on web and cloud professionals. He has experience both hosting and supporting sites on cloud-based platforms. He develops strategy to help clients easily transition to and manage mission-critical websites on reliable cloud-based technology. Liquid Web's Cloud Sites offering is an innovative Platform as a Service solution engineered to make launching websites easier and to host even the highest-traffic websites.
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Filed Under: Advertising (Free, AdWords, ppc), Marketing (WOMM, Inbound), Small Business Advice Tagged With: advertising, advertising tips, inbound marketing

Comments

  1. Maq says

    June 10, 2018 at 5:27 am

    Hi Chris !

    You have rightly pointed out the 03 alternatives to traditional advertising. I have tried the second one during my campaign.

    Maq would love you to read My Health Articles

    Reply
  2. Muhammad Ramzan says

    April 7, 2018 at 6:31 am

    Hi Chris Farmer,

    I love the way you write this article, very informative.

    This is really fast and best way to advertise, Keep up the good work.

    Thanks for Sharing.

    Reply
  3. Kumar says

    March 10, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    This is really a nice way to advertise, I never saw live these things, But they are looking so cool also. Thanks For Sharing …
    Maybe you like articles i write.. Whatsapp Funny

    Reply
  4. William Tomato says

    March 14, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    Among the easiest means to begin your internet marketing efforts is engaging in associate advertising.
    Ahaa, its good conversation regarding this piece of writing
    here at this blog, I have read all that, so
    now me also commenting at this place.
    William Tomato would love you to read ..Graphitii Review And BonusMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Nimesh says

    January 27, 2017 at 4:43 am

    Awesome article Chirs! This is really great help for B2B marketers who have limited budget to spend on marketing. We are into Application development services and we know how much it’s important to get FREE publicity :P. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  6. indrajit says

    January 10, 2017 at 4:33 am

    Social media is the best alternative to the traditional marketing.It’s cheap and easy way and you can start at the immediate effect.
    indrajit would love you to read ..Happy To Have A Horrible BossMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Akash says

    January 6, 2017 at 11:05 am

    Hi Chris Farmer,

    I love the way you write this article, very informative.

    This is really fast and best way to advertise, Keep up the good work.

    Thanks for Sharing.
    Akash would love you to read ..January 2017 Latest Whatsapp Status, Short QuotesMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Hemant Kumar says

    January 6, 2017 at 10:54 am

    Hey there thanks for such an amazing post. You made it really easy to understand and personally I love this one- contest and giveaways. This is really fast and best way to advertise.
    Thanks again 🙂
    Hemant Kumar would love you to read ..How to be an entrepreneur without going to schoolMy Profile

    Reply

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