Reverse Marketing

In normal marketing you seek out the customer. Instead, reverse marketing is the concept of making potential customers seek you out. There are many approaches to this, and it is easiest explained by example.

One example of reverse marketing would be a company that sells spa filters. They add to their web site a long E-book or essay about subjects that potential customers are searching for on search engines. Perhaps something instructional about spa repair.

Also they could post helpful answers on the newsgroup message boards, with a small advertisement at the end of each message. This type of reverse marketing allows customers searching the topic to find someone who has already demonstrated their knowledge on a subject with helpful information, it makes them more credible.

Reverse marketing can attract very high quality customers who are ready to buy, compared to putting a banner on a web site. Especially after knowing that a company is helpful and knowledgeable about a product they wish to buy.

Another example of reverse marketing would be to put up an unbiased review site, with links to your web page for more information or a similar product to those you're reviewing.

The main idea is to put useful content out there where people will find it, when they are researching a product or enterprise. Paid links often return poorer results in this case, as the search engines display them separately. People do respond much better to content when it's main purpose is not an actual advertisement. It gives you a chance to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise first, and provide the potential customer with some free information and help.

Don't be worried about putting in a plug or two for your company, but it is be best to put a let the customer know up front, that you run a business that sells these types of products, and to be as unbiased as possible. If it's just a thinly veiled promotional letter instead of a truly useful gui del, people won't get very far into it. Balance it well with useful information not only to build up confidence of the customer with your firm, but also to keep it from looking like a blatant ad. Another benefit of providing lots of real content is that you will move higher in the search engines.

Reverse marketing techniques are often most powerful when done well, as people will let their guard down when they are getting the information they need. Often this is what induces them to buy on the spot, rather than put it off. They have gained a great deal of confidence in the company they are purchasing from. Plainly, I'm a huge fan of reverse marketing and I highly recommend you use it.