Zachary ClinchSpring 2015

Nineteen Traction Channels which are:

1. Viral Marketing

2. Public Relations

3. Unconventional PR

4. Search Engine Marketing

5. Social and Display Ads

6. Offline Ads

7. Search Engine Optimization

8. Content Marketing

9. Email Marketing

10. Engineering as Marketing

11. Targeting Blogs

12. Business Development

13. Sales

14. Affiliate Programs

15. Existing Platforms

16. Trade Shows

17. Offline Events

18. Speaking Engagements

19. Community Building

But with so much information and so little time, I will go in depth on only a few….

My 4 Channels

Existing Platforms

Affiliate Programs

Social and Display

Ads

Targeting Blogs

The channels I will focus on include…

Let’s Start with Existing Platforms

What are they and why are they important???

Existing platforms are websites, apps or networks with huge numbers of users,

sometimes in the hundreds of millions!!

These platforms include the Apple and Android App Stores, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, and many others.

Why are they so important? These platforms already have the members, you just need the

content.

Companies like Zynga started on Facebook because of how easy it was for friends to share

their product.

The world famous YouTube got their start by using an existing platform. That platform was MySpace believe it or not.

Users were directed back to YouTube when clicking on a video, giving YouTube major exposure with how big MySpace was.

Focusing on the App Store

The main goal when being apart of app stores is to have a high rating or to be featured. For this to happen the app needs to have good content

or give some sort of value to the consumer.

Now let’s talkabout…

Why target blogs?

Targeting blogs can help you connect with your specific customers. The challenge is finding the blogs that will be most useful.

Ways of finding the right blogs

Search Engines – simply search for “Blogs for (blank)”

YouTube – Simple keyword searches can do the trick

Delicious – lets you use keywords to find links that others have saved, which can help you find new blogs

Talk to people – the most effective, just go out and ask people!

How about some info on

AffiliatePrograms

With affiliate programs, you pay people or companies for performing

certain actions such as selling a product or service.

How they work?An example would be Amazon.

An Amazon affiliate program pay’s between 4-8.5% of each sale depending how many items an affiliate

sells each month.

Finding affiliates

Most companies do not have their own affiliate

programs. Sites like Commission Junction,

Pepperjam, and Linkshare provide

affiliates for companies like

Wal-Mart, Apple, Starbucks, etc.

Big $$$ in Lead Generation

Lead generation is a $26 billion dollar industry.

Lead’s include email addresses, home addresses, a phone number, or even credit scores.

Some frequent consumers of lead’s are insurance companies, law firms, and mortgage

brokers.

Last, but not least….

Social & Display Ads

Display Ad Networks

Some of the biggest are Google’s Display

Network, Advertising.com, TribalFusion,

ValueClick, and Adblade. They give people the

capability of reaching specific demographics

and offer a variety of ad formats.

The most common display ads are the banner ads seen across websites.

Social Ads

The goal of social ads is not as much getting

people to buy the item immediately, but more

creating awareness of the product. The hope is

later on down the line a purchase may occur.

One of the main targets for social ads are new

potential customers.

Different, but the same

Yes, display and social ads are different but they both share the principle of understanding your

audience, experiment your message, and reaching people in a way they will remember.

The Finish!

Of the nineteen channels talked about in Traction, the 4 I found interesting and insightful

were Existing Platforms, Targeting Blogs, Affiliate Programs, and Display & Social Ads.