Forum Moderators: open
All different.
So, are the promotional tools and tricks of the trade different for each or are they simply deployed differently?
Example: News release: Works well for 'an event' promotion, but what about for building a clientele or user base? Oh, the event is the launch? What else?
PPC? I see it used.
Affiliate program? Don't see it in action.
Targeted mailings? Probably a lot of lists.
Contribute articles about online directory marketing? Hmmm.
What's different about the tools and processes to grow a directory through advertising or marketing strategies that are distinct to this form - a directory - versus any other form of online presence?
How do you promote a directory differently than you would promote a portal?
Remember, there are 2 distinct classes here: Users and advertisers.
If you are defining "directory" in the purist sense of link list, the only way to market it is as the most extensive or (more unlikely) the only one with such a unique list of undiscovered treasures. And the likelihood then is that various people will come and mine it, making it a very short-lived advantage.
Anything else (descriptions, reviews, articles, community) turns you IMO into a portal and then you market your difference from the thousands of other portals.
