Discover how one savvy Internet marketing professional increased her targeted website traffic beyond her wildest dreams and generated 252,978 new email newsletter subscribers worth more than $3 million. Learn the simple steps she took to get on TV and drive targeted website traffic to her niche media website.
Executive Summary
- Other People’s Media (OPM) can be leveraged to dramatically increase targeted website traffic like no other source available to niche media publishers.
- You can get on TV if you do something to deserve it.
- Once you get on TV, you’ll need a website that can do something to turn a massive increase in targeted website traffic into a massive increase in website revenue.
In early December of 2005, Sara Campbell got 120 seconds of fame on NBC’s Today Show that will generate more than $3 million in 2005/06 sales for her print magazine, books and special reports. Her total marginal investment is under $10,000 as she used content from her December issue to drive the Internet Marketing PR program, get on TV and dramatically increase her website traffic. She spent no money on media to generate her massive increase in targted website traffic.
How to Get on TV With Your Cookies
Back in the summer of 2005, Sara and the editors of America Cooks made the decision to transform an article for the December 2005 issue on making Christmas cookies into a reader-driven contest. The call went out via her website (a well-done Mequoda Internet Hub) and 500,000 circulation free email newsletter for reader’s best Christmas cookie recipes. They were not disappointed. By mid-September, the editors had received several thousand submissions. Sara’s editorial team went about the process of sorting and choosing just over 200 recipes to be made and scored in the magazine’s test kitchen.
By mid-October, the recipes were tested and 25 winners were chosen to be featured in the December issue. But as the cookies recipes were double-checked and photos were selected, the decision was made that the magazine could only feature the top 10. Undaunted, the editors decided to publish all 25 on the website where space would not be an issue. This quickly evolved into a 32-page downloadable guidebook called America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005, from Sara Campbell and the editors of America Cooks.
Sara and her PR team then went to work contacting editors and producers far and wide to get on TV and radio and to get America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005 featured in as many newspaper food sections as possible. The story was an easy sell as winners had been selected from across the country and local newspapers were happy to feature a local resident who had won a national cooking contest—including all 22 honorable mentions.
The Increase in Targeted Website Traffic Would be Met by Masterful Conversion Architecture
By late November, America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005 was available from the homepage of AmericaCooks.com and with its own Rapid Conversion Landing Page at AmericaCooks.com/cookies2005. To get their free copy of America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005, readers were required to register their email address, as the guidebook would be sent by email. The welcome email would include a link to download the free eBook and verify the recipients email address as valid.
The Internet marketing team at America Cooks created a masterful order flow that, in addition to the free copy of America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005, offered visitors the opportunity to receive:
- A free subscription to America Cooks Daily—their free email newsletter.
- A free copy of America Cooks—the print magazine.
- A one-year, risk-free subscription to America Cooks—which they would be billed for and could cancel if they chose not to subscribe for any reason.
The December issue of America Cooks offered readers the opportunity to go to the website and claim their free copy of America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005. Articles began to appear in local newspapers across the country and Sara was featured on several local radio and TV morning shows. Downloads quickly hit 2,000 and then 5,000 per day and everyone was very pleased with the Christmas Cookie PR Internet marketing program.
Then came the call from an associate producer at the Today Show. Could Sara and the three top cookie makers be in New York City the following Monday for a two-minute segment that would feature the top three cookie recipes and mention that viewers could get all 25 winning recipes by downloading America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005?
With no small effort, Sara and her three winners were on the plaza at 6AM Monday morning. The segment ran for just under two minutes and gave the AmericaCooks.com website URL on screen for 10 seconds near the end of the spot.
Targeted Website Traffic Spikes
Between 10AM and 11AM EST, when the Today Show had aired the segment in all three US time zones, downloads for America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005, peaked at 17,467 for that hour. By December 31st, the massive increase in targeted website traffic had resulted in the following key metrics for their Christmas Cookie Internet Marketing 2005 PR Campaign:
- 356,000 downloads of America’s Best Christmas Cookies 2005.
- 252,987 new, opt-in email subscribers for America Cooks Daily who will spend about $12 ($3M) during their first 12 months on magazines, books and special reports published and marketed via America Cooks Daily’s high frequency email editorial and promotional efforts.
- 51,846 new gross orders for America Cooks, of which, an estimated 14,000 will pay, which generated $280,000 in immediate sales.
The Key to Increasing Targeted Website Traffic: Other People’s Media (OPM)
Getting on TV is just one of many ways to leverage other people’s media. From simple search engine optimized press releases to radio talk shows and local newspapers, PR is an effective Internet marketing tactic that works best when the story includes a crystal clear reason why readers and viewers need to visit your website.
So what are you waiting for? Get on TV, generate tons of targeted website traffic and millions of dollars in marginal revenue using your Mequoda Internet Marketing System.
Note: The details of the case have been modified to protect the identity of the publisher and program. If you’ve got a case study you’d like to share, send me an email. Your privacy is my top concern.
