You probably already know some good methods for getting a lot of traffic to your web site. In my opinion, Buzz marketing ranks at the top, and the best part is - it's Free! If you aren't using Buzz marketing, you are missing out on an avalanche of links, swarms of traffic, and yes - even fame and fortune!
What is Buzz marketing?
Buzz marketing is the art of creating a "buzz" or generating excitement and making your audience hungry for more. With Buzz marketing you can be featured on some of the major sites and "go Viral" without buying a paid review or link, resulting in a swarm of visitors to your site.
What is Viral marketing?
Viral marketing is the art of creating a message that will be spread voluntarily by others for free.
Benefits of Buzz and Viral marketing techniques
I can explain this in just four simple words: links, traffic, name recognition and money. We all want links and traffic, as these lead to money in the long run. Without traffic our sites are dead in the water.
Step-by-step Buzz marketing methods
Here are some topics that are crucial if you want to create a buzz for your articles, websites or blog posts:
- Your information needs to have broad appeal - You all know the meaning of "niche". This might come as a surprise to you, but niche-specific articles often don't have the mass appeal and are more difficult to spread virally than content that has a broader appeal.
To make the article have a broader appeal, change the title to a headline that will stir up controversy and curiosity. Create a buzz, get linked to and spread virally. In one simple step, you can increase the probability of this article being a success simply by changing the headline and topic to one with broader appeal and one that makes people curious enough to read it.
You could have killer content, but if you don't have a great broad appeal title, you will not create a buzz, or get linked to, or even read. Most likely, readers will be skimming titles and pass it up.
- Be negative and go Viral - Content with a negative slant will get discussed more than a positive slant! Search engines are very adept when it comes to finding information, especially reviews. Many readers search for the negatives of a product, website or even a person or event.
Bad news travels faster and farther than good news, and you can use this to your advantage. Have you noticed what proportion of the news is bad news? It is a huge percentage.
A negative slant always has more chance of creating a buzz. Negative topics cause controversy. Readers will comment agreeing and disagreeing with you, and that creates great content and buzz and spreads virally.
- Resource lists - People love lists! "Resource" lists, "Tips and Tricks", "Helpful Hints", "Best Of" lists. Anything in list format is a guaranteed winner. To create interest, simply add a number to the headline. For even greater effect, combine both a negative slant and a list technique - easy but deadly!
- Be unique - This trick applies to both your headline and your content. The Internet is a very crowded place, and everyone is trying to grab some attention. So if you want to get noticed, you must provide interesting, unique content that stands out from the crowd.
Think creatively, don't be afraid of controversy, be edgy or even weird - try it all. Put some personality into your posts and articles. You can never be too creative!
- Curiosity killed the cat - and gets reader's attention - If you want to create buzz, arousing your reader's curiosity is a dynamite method. Use a teaser in your headline and you'll create a headline that makes people want to know more.
For example, have a look at these titles:
"5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do"
"The Science of Toga Parties: Are Belushi and "Animal House" to Blame?"
"The 5 Best Foods That Will Kill You"
Wouldn't you want to read those stories? Notice that not only do they use a teaser in the headline, but they also use the list method.
- Packaging - Your website template and overall appearance are crucial too. Something as simple as adding an image in your blog post that brings your topic to life visually can make all the difference.
- Shifting the focus from "me" to "you" - Shift the focus of the article from first person "me" and "I" to the second person "you".
Example: Do YOU want to know how to ....
Doing this puts the focus on the reader, involves them, and helps to keep their attention. How do you feel when you are talking to someone who only talks about themselves? Pretty boring, isn't it?
Summary
Most would agree that links are one of the most valuable assets of any website or blog. They drive traffic and help to increase page ranking. This, in turn, makes your web property more valuable and better able to sell text links, paid reviews, and affiliate products. They also help you to rank higher in search engines, which can bring a huge amount of traffic daily.
Is the traffic targeted?
I'm not going to pretend that the traffic from a winning Buzz marketing campaign is highly targeted traffic. If you want laser targeted traffic, you can always run a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. The point of these techniques are that they are FREE. Anyone, regardless of budget constraints, can use Buzz marketing to get traffic and search engine ranking.
So how do I make money with Buzz marketing?
Think of Buzz marketing as a launching pad or your "15 minutes of fame". It is a way to get noticed. Always follow up successful Buzz campaigns with more interesting content or your new-found readers will quickly lose interest and move on. Use the attention you get, the traffic and links and your opt-in email subscriptions to feed subscribers to monetize the success of your Buzz campaigns.