Combination marketing
I like combinations. In marketing, combinations are very effective.
Combination marketing is using multiple techniques, tools or concepts to get the word out about your product or service. A classic example is using direct mail and then follow-up with a phone call. This can still be an effective combination marketing campaign with the right list.
I’m very excited about Facebook’s new combination marketing opportunity. Facebook’s custom audiences allows you to upload e-mail addresses or phone numbers to target people on your list with Facebook advertising. Using this feature as part of an e-mail campaign is a good way to follow up with the same message found in your e-mail to reinforce your call to action. It’s too early to know how effective it is, but I would suspect this is a great use of the combination marketing technique.
One of my favorite combinations is using YouTube and Facebook. When I’m trying to share a message, placing my YouTube video on my Facebook brand pages is often a deadly combination.
Another combination that I have found effective is search engine marketing (SEM or pay-per-click) supporting my SEO campaigns. People seem to have more confidence in both listings if they see the other backing it up. Make sure you have a custom landing page for your SEM campaign to earn the best results.
Of course I can’t forget the combination that helped to put me on the map: my blog combined with Twitter. My blog was doing fine in the early days and attracting traffic via SEO. Twitter was cool and I enjoyed engaging with new online friends with the social media tool. I never took the time to post my stuff; I felt it was the wrong thing to do. That changed quickly when I decided to innocently share one of my posts with some of my Twitter friends. At the time I had less than 1,000 followers, but the traffic from the one post opened my eyes and I never looked back. Facebook is also another good combination with your blog, but Twitter is made for sharing good blog content.
Combining different marketing techniques is effective. Remember, you need to test various techniques because not every combination works. When you put the right pieces of the puzzle together, you will drive results.
What effective combinations have you found?