Different Marketing Options - Any More You Can Add?

[Lee]

After just having refreshed my memory about the different types of marketing options available to many different types of business, i figured it might be an idea to share a small-ish list and perhaps we could collectively discuss the pros and cons of each method when it came to online/adult marketing, i know a few GWW Community members have tried several methods of advertising that dont use online banners and buttons, itd be nice to figure out what methods there are other than ad buys online that could potentially increase our revenues.

That being said, here are a few of the ones that i think could be used well for online/adult businesses in addition to just regular link exchanges and button and banner ads...

Specialty Advertising - Things like pens, mousepads, magnets, coffee mugs, etc.

Articles / Columns - Writing articles for industry sites, either directly selling your products or including a tagline at the bottom of the article.

BillBoards - Not so much for 'porn' but i know i have seen several billboards driving up and down i95 for places like Adam N Eves sex stores.

Brochures - Im thinking this would probably be something only used at conventions or in local gay bars, like the barrag Cybersocket has.

Canvassing - I really cant see any use of door-to-door canvassing in adult, anyone?

Classified Ads - I know a few people have used classified ads in industry publications and also regular porn magazines in the back pages.

Coupons - Again, not really sure if these would work well for porn sites, but id imagine using coupons for things like sextoys would work well?

Television Ads - Again, not really thinking 'porn' here but more enhancement, dating and of course physical product sales - Unless that is you are broadcasting on TVs at a show with a captive market audience.

Free Samples - Id imagine 'free trials' would count for this but also 1oz packs of lube that i know have been handed out at conventions before would work well, especially on a B2B basis.

Inserts - Interestingly enough, im surprised we dont get more inserts sent out with our checks from sponsors who handle their own payouts and places like CCBill and Epoch.

So, out of that list above, how many of the methods have you tried yourselves and, are there any in the list you wouldnt use or more that you would add?

Regards,

Lee

[markwolff]

Sorry but i don't really think any of these would be worth the time and money invested. maybe in the late 90's but not today. The exception would be writing articles and getting your name or company out there ( only cost is time). with the rest i feel your return would barely cover the cost of the pen or brochure or sample etc.
One of the most cost effective ways of promotion i have used over the past 10 years is bartering a few photos of one of our feature models for the cover of a local or even national magazine. In exchange for a small ad. These regional mags are always looking for high quality models for there cover but simply don't have the budget to shoot it themselves. This is getting more rare since allot of mags have been shutting down but we still do at least 10-15 of these deals a year. I just did one for this crazy Japanese physique/super hero mag? that contacted me looking for cover models. It's now gotten my foot in the door in japan and sales have been steady from a magazine i never even knew existed but has this massive underground following in Japan for muscle models and super hero type guys
I have also bartered photos to club owners and circuit party promoters for there flyers. With model courtesy of www.markwolff.com or www.jockbutt.com printed in bold on the bottom of every brochure or flyer. This type of promotion costs me $0 but can create plenty of sales and branding.

[jIgG]

sure they are
Depends on what your end goal is.

Even though we're in a gated community we get fliers hung on our yard doors regularly. That's how we found there was a Rotelli nearby in this big shopping center you can hardly see it, so we went and spent like $60+ on food!

Not all promotion methods are good if your end goal is to drive sales. Plus there's testing involved. I did a media buy not long ago in Google's Ad Exchange blew trough over a million impressions and 13k clicks without seeing anything for it

[markwolff]

Sure fliers work fine for selling groceries, but were not in the food business, Were selling gay porn. Don't think a flier hung on the door with join Assblasters.com is going to go over very well. I think Lee has simply created a list here of well know marketing ideas to see which would work in adult. I'm saying with the nature of our business and this being 2010 very few on this list would work or create any type of return on investment.



You say
"Not all promotion methods are good if your end goal is to drive sales".

Actually this should be your only end goal, if your going to be spending hard earned working capital on marketing and promotion. Otherwise you are going to be out of business quickly. Sure there can be some secondary benefits like brand awareness and getting your name out in front of people. However none of that means anything if your not making sales and NET INCOME from the promotion.
I don't know of any business who spends money on marketing and promotion who's end goal is not to boost sales and profit. That's what marketing is.