Any marketing advice would be appreciated...

[VitaSmartLucas]

So we have recently finished developing our product, a vitamin supplement for brain health which we currently sell through Amazon. We're happy with everything about it but are at a loss as to what to focus on for marketing.

We initially tried a small campaign with Google AdWords, but the cost per click is just not worth it. Add to that the fact that, I suspect, one of our competitors noticed our ads and systematically used up all of our clicks to get rid of them (our campaign was, after about 4 days, half-way through the money we'd allocated, and the other half was used up over the course of about 2 hours). We probably won't try Google Ads again.

One thing we've been thinking of is placing ads in college newspapers and on college websites, promoting the study-aid aspects of it. We really like the idea of going this route, but don't have a lot of cash in reserve, so we're trying to find low cost alternatives and are sort of at a loss.

Does anyone have any advice for us? We'd love to somehow get the Website advertised in some way. We're extremely happy with the site (it's superior to any competitors' sites, in our opinion) but have no idea how to get it "out in the aether" so to speak. We're on Google Webmasters but even after indexing, it's nowhere to be found on the search results, so we need to do something to drive traffic.

[joiedevivre]

You can give social media optimization a try. Try to create a profile with your name in Facebook and then build some fan base and when the number of fans cross 25, build a fanpage based on the particular product and then start promoting. You can try the same thing in Youtube. You just need to post some high quality education things therein and promote your business slily. I hope this will work in the short time and as you have burned your hands in Google Adwords already, i hope you are trying organic SEO at the same time.

[Mobile Marketing]

Facebook would be a good start. Do you have a budget (monthly/annual)? Can you build your brand locally, where you live first?

[best craigslist post]

The cheapest method to redistribute for an item like that would probably be the recommendations above, but those recommendations probably won't bring a lot of income. Since I have no idea what the business plan or finances look like. I have a few recommendations:
1) You could start a multi-level marketing sales division (very cheap to start) and if you do things right the sales division will have a snow ball effect into some massive sales profits.
2) Sell business to business. This may be hard to start out with but if you can sell your first few stores give the a great promotion to stick the product on a display case you can work with a very small budget (you might need to send display supplies) and the store will start marketing for you just by having the product on display.

[WHUK]

There are multiple way of marketing any of the product. The product could be online or offline. When ever i plan some sort of marketing strategie i always make sure that i market my product online as well as offline. There are majority of marketing promotional idea such as addvertisments, press release, social networking promotional campaigns and many more. The above mentioned stuff could be some sort of marketing trick which will definatly work for advertisment.

[marketingquotes]

Hey There,

Indeed PPC advertising is a tricky one; if you have a relatively low value product - it is very hard.

Social media could be a good route, but SEO is really the angle that you want to push. It is free (mainly) and is there always day and night.

Once your SEO is in place, that is when you can look at PPC (as the costs will be lower due to your site being better optimised for your keywords).

Have you spoken to anyone about SEO?

Regards,

Marketing Quotes Support.

[Elsoft]

I strongly suggest you go for SEO,its much reliable than Adwords,of course a bit expensive to get a professional.But getting organic traffic to your site is a much better opton in the long term and its worth the investment.SEO process usually takes 4 to 8 months to show results.Of course you can go ahead with your off site marketting.

[iPowerCoach]

Hi.

1. Begin doing SEO right away.
It takes time and is a long-term strategy but, once it is in place, you have a solid foundation that nobody can take away.

2. Social media is another great long- and medium-term strategy.

3. Video marketing will be stronger when you have testimonials.

4. Good old cold calling (brrrrr...)
Yeah - pick out one day and just pound out some phone calls to potential distributors, such as pharmacy chains, health food chains, etc. You may only need one or two to start with.

My two cents.

Phil
www.iPowerCoaching.com

[tjmollahan]

Many of the above comments are great but I would also look into setting up an affiliate program. If other people can make some money off of your product they will start to push it in ways they know best.

[PennyBartlow]

Are you using an email autoresponder series to educate your prospects about your product and build a relationship with them. There are posts about email marketing on this forum for more info on that topic.

I can recommend a book to you that will give you more business and marketing ideas - The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris

Penny Bartlow
Receive the ‘WEALTH MINDSET REPORT’
http://apps.attainresponse.com/home/...f5.com/WMR+Q11

[katereber]

Hi there, you can try this method..
Top 5 traffic source.
1. SEO and Search Engines
2. Article Marketing
3. PPC - Pay Per Click Advertising
4. Social Media Sites
5. Email Marketing and Follow up Lists

Hope this can help.. Thanks.

[edith1334]

Start a blog with daily updates, link posts to your Facebook feed, provide lots of free article contents on various sites, and start collecting email subscribers. You can do most of the marketing through an email marketing software to handle your newsletters, company updates, or promotions. Most email marketing softwares let you combine these efforts with social media marketing as well. Good luck!

[Kim Marren]

Dear VitaSmartLucas,

Do you know exactly who your target market is? Can you clearly explain their characteristics? Have you conducted any market research to learn how your target market is likely to make purchasing decisions?

I recommend that before you begin any sort of media campaign, you start with some basic market research. Find out everything you can about the people you believe are most likely to purchase your vitamin supplement. How much disposable income are they likely to have? What do they enjoy doing in their spare time? Are they active in sports? Which ones? What types of products are they likely to purchase that will complement yours? Do they shop on-line or at stores? You get the idea.

Consider using all the market research tools available - - including surveys (face-to-face, on-line, written, and telephone) and focus groups. (A great on-line survey tool is SurveyMonkey.com) Consider how best to conduct the research. For example, if your target market includes teenage athletes, consider conducting a focus group meeting shortly after sports practice. (Obtain whatever approvals and permissions are needed in advance.)

As you go through this process, you'll generate ideas on how to market your supplement. You may, for example, decide to sponsor a 5k - - and have a booth with a huge banner and plenty of product give-aways for race participants. Also consider park districts, YMCAs, and other local organizations that might work with individuals within your target. Get to know who handles programming there - - offer to speak to program participants about the benefits of vitamins and vitamin supplements. Post flyers and have materials on hand that attendees can take home or give to their friends.

Does your product require FDA approval and, if so, have you obtained it? If this is a route you've successfully navigated, consider approaching your local newspapers with a press release announcing the launch of your company and the successes you've achieved.

Start locally and build momentum for regional and national sales, if this is your intended reach.

There are many ways to promote your product and your company, and not all of them require a great deal of money. However, all of them do require you to know who your target customers are. Failure to understand your market will result in lost money and ill-suited marketing efforts.

[barbaragabogrecan]

Grow your business with a practical, results-oriented marketing plan. These articles cover the basics. Good business cards that use both sides and project a professional image, Also include all information to contact you on and offline. The image should inspire viewers. Join business groups on and offline to develop a network. It’s not who you know, but who knows you. If possible, join committees – it puts you on a higher footing with the most influential members. Blog, This effort expands your expert profile, gets you publicity, builds a niche audience and motivates you. Blogging makes you a thought leader.

[katereber]

Hi there, I also want to suggest this..

> Link Building
> Forum posting
> Blog posting
> Articles
> Social media
> social Bookmarking

For me those are the effective way of generating traffic.

Hope that this can help.. Thanks..