The internet enables small businesses to use creativity and originality in place of big budgets.

Part 2 – con’t
About pages: I am not a number!
An About page does for a company what the rest of the site does for its products and services. But let’s face it: Most About pages sound exactly the same and are as exciting as a stale rice cake.
Depending on the industry, an SMB’s About page can be an excellent way to connect with potential clients in a way that larger companies can’t. They can use it to give themselves and their business more personality—showing visitors that the company consists of real people and not just a faceless corporate entity whose only attempt at originality is to dole out clichés like “paradigm” and “thinking outside the box.” An SMB’s About page can include not only the professional pedigree of its members, but also some quirky personal information, giving visitors a more intimate association with the company.

While an About page can do a lot to further a small business’s identity, it’s vital to match this page—and the rest of the site’s content—to the tone of the business. Those in creative fields like web and graphics design, writing, and photography can liven up their sites with offbeat content as long as it’s imaginative and well written. But those in more serious fields—where the goal is to instill confidence— might not be able to get away with this approach.

Viral marketing: Creating a buzz
It sounds like something that broke out of a test tube and escaped from a biohazard laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control. But despite the negative connotations that may arise from its name, viral marketing can be a valuable, low-cost way of gaining exposure for a business.

Viral marketing is a type of word-of-mouth
strategy that encourages people to pass along marketing content to others by taking advantage of preexisting social and digital infrastructures. The theory behind this approach is that, like a biological virus, marketing content can be rapidly spread from user to user, creating exponential growth. One person will find an interesting piece of content and send it to 10 colleagues and friends; if each of those 10 people do the same, and the process continues, the results can be staggering.

Small businesses benefit from this because it gives them the potential to reach a global audience— garnering big returns on a relatively small investment. But the viral marketing content must be interesting enough for a user to pass along, and it must be interesting enough that the recipients will want to receive it and respond identically in turn.

Viral marketing content comes in many forms, but the best types are those that offer high entertainment or functional value. It can be as simple as an e-mail article or as elaborate as fully functional software. Most, if not all, of this viral marketing content is best accompanied by a “Send to a friend” link that allows users to easily pass it on to others.

Because of the prevalence of spam, text-only e-mail content has ceased to be an effective viral marketing agent. But there are other, more creative ways to get a message across.

Viral videos
Viral videos are short web-based films that attract visitors’ attention through humorous or offbeat content. They can be either live action (accessible as MPEG, Windows Media, RealPlayer, or QuickTime files) or computer generated (such as Flash).

A popular viral video technique is to spoof well-known commercials, television shows, or movies by centering the message on the business’s industry and target audience. They don’t need big-budget Hollywood-style production values either. The goal here is to grab users’ attention through the use of imagination and creativity.

Games
Offering business-sponsored games—usually based on Shockwave—is a great way to draw users to a company’s site. Although these games can be fun for users, they’re a poor medium to carry a marketing message beyond simple identification.

Viral marketing games are branded with the business’s logo either before the game begins or during gameplay in the background. But most users will be too busy concentrating on the game to notice any advertisements. A clever way around this is to work the type of business into the gameplay itself.

Stealth marketing: Be vewy, vewy quiet …
One of the more controversial techniques available to bolster an online identity is with the use of stealth tactics, a subset of guerilla marketing where the target audience isn’t aware it’s being marketed to.

Guerilla marketers exploit the relative anonymity afforded to them on the internet by using unconventional methods to promote their identity. A common strategy is to create positive buzz on various industry-related internet forums and communities under pseudonyms, so it appears as if those posting are impartial outsiders.

Here’s how it works: A small business starts or contributes to an internet discussion group in the guise of various nonpartisan “personalities” who seem to have no connection to the business being discussed. They would extol the service and professionalism of the business, claiming to be satisfied customers. In reality, the majority of the contributors to the discussion thread are actually part of the business.

There are a lot of risks in using this type of marketing, and more than a few ethical issues. If used, it must be played out very carefully. Internet users are great at sniffng out fakers in online forums and communities. It helps if the people running the “discussion” are good creative writers or social engineers, and have the ability to write outside their own voices.
This type of “e-shilling” is considered by many to be a form of deception and misrepresentation. If discovered, the damage to a business’s image will far outweigh any positive buzz created.

Say it like you mean it
With all the digital tools and media available to small business owners—and the ease with which they can be used—it might be tempting to go for the quick-and-dirty solution. But a digital brand identity can’t be created overnight. It requires all the planning and thought associated with traditional forms of branding, promotion, and marketing.

A business’s brand identity should never be rolled out half-baked. Presenting an amateurish or incomplete identity is almost as bad as not having one at all. And constantly recreating an image will defeat the purpose of brand recognition. Potential clients need to know whom they’re dealing with. If it looks as though the company doesn’t know itself, clients will move on to the next candidate. For all the fight that the digital world provides to the small dogs, they still have to have the skills. Otherwise, they’ll just be chasing their own tails.

About the author
Paul Chin is an IT consultant and freelance writer. A professional in the IT field since 1994, he previously worked in the aerospace and competitive intelligence industries. Paul currently writes on a wide range of topics including intranet development and content management.