3 Theories Involving the Decline of Indirect Marketing

Indirect marketing is far from being a new idea, but it has shown remarkable success as the internet has begun to change. The growing influence of social networking sites has changed our very culture, allowing for some old tricks to be reapplied in new ways. But, how do we tell if they are paying off? How do we tell the difference between the conversions we made through direct channels, and who came in because of the more passive promotions?

It is difficult to find anyone today that has never heard of Facebook or Twitter or even the idea of the social network. All of us, to some extent are still fine tuning the best ways to get our message to the people so they can judge for themselves if the products and services marketed are worth laying down that credit card number for.

Some marketers still take a much to direct approach, almost to the point of spamming.

A more indirect approach tends to generate more organic conversions when the information is:

• Interesting
• Entertaining
• Useful
• Bizarre
• Funny

Your site has to be so magnetic that people can’t help but want to find out more about what is offered in the way of products and services. One of the key tricks that is also the most difficult to pull off is trying to look like you aren’t selling anything at all, which is an art form all to itself.

Indirect marketing has many good qualities that make it a good part of a much larger marketing strategy. Relying on indirect marketing alone will not get the job done, because while there may still be spikes when you post certain relevant information, you will probably start to see your contacts become jaded and start passing up link after link unless directly guided there.

There are three main theories as to why this occurs. Firstly, the most successful indirect marketers already had a massive store of authority before began their indirect marketing campaign, which is why this tactic works so well for people who are already famous.

The second theory is that far too many marketers split their focus too much. Each individual social network profile should focus on topics that are as specific as possible. When a profile spews out random links without any sense of priority or importance, their contacts start to ignore everything because they don’t know what really applies to them.

The most cynical theory is that while the users on the internet become more familiar with different advertisements, they simply learn to spot a soft sell when they see one. As online marketers, this is a particularly disturbing prospect, because it means that our visitors and contacts will become more and more impervious to our marketing efforts. The next fortune will be made by the company that invents a marketing strategy that specifically appeals to and attracts the internet user.

To Your Success,
Joerg Weishaupt

P.s. Get more information on social media and marketing in my free primer "Building A Successful Marketing Strategy". Sign up for your free copy today.

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