Whether it’s for a product launch, brand building, or just good old fashioned sales, everybody wants to grow their traffic. There are myriad ways to do this, and you’re probably familiar with a lot of the big ones.
But there are more ways to grow your traffic then sending 100 cold emails to people you’ve never met. Instead, here are three simple ways to boost your traffic that you haven’t heard before:
1. Flip your vacation responder.
The vacation responder function on your email client may be great for getting some peace and quiet during the holidays, but if that’s all you’re using it for, you’re missing out. The truth is, your autoresponder is your best friend when you’re in the thick of working, too.
The next time you’re gearing up for a product launch, try setting up your autoresponder with a little status update and a link to learn more about the product. Here’s a sample email template:
Hey there,
I’m getting ready for the launch of *name of product*, our brand new *what product does*. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, but I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be pretty swamped until after launch day.
If you’re interested, feel free to sign up for our newsletter here. It’ll give more details as to when the product is out, and correspondingly, when I should have a little more time in my schedule (and sanity).
Thank you for your patience. I’ll reach out as soon as I can!
Best,
Ben
There–five minutes to set up, and you’re making your contacts feel heard, building your email list, and turning every email you send into an opportunity for growth. Talk about bang for your buck!
2. The expert method.
We all have digital or SaaS products we love to use: I know my team couldn’t live without things like Slack or Trello. But chances are beyond just the big brand applications, you also use tools by small, mid-size, or even solo independent developers. For my part, the Lazarus chrome extension has saved my life many a time.
If you have tools or products you love, you can actually use them to create a new traffic channel to your website and position yourself as an authority–all while providing great value to the developer of the application.
To make use of this technique, take a look at the product’s website and see if you can find a testimonials page. If they have one, take a look at what’s already there and write your own testimonial. To give you the best chance at success, try to highlight features or benefits of the product that haven’t already been covered.
Email the testimonial to the product owner, then ask if they’d want to feature it on their website. Not only does this position you as an authority, but it also gives you a backlink to your own website and a new referral source for leads.
3. Try to advertise without advertising.
Some say that we’re experiencing the end of advertising–and while we can debate the truth or falsehood of that statement, consumers are getting less and less responsive to advertising in the traditional sense.
So what’s the solution? Keep advertising–just don’t sell anything.
Instead of advertising products in the traditional sense, try running a social ad campaign that promotes content your customers will enjoy and includes your brand, but doesn’t explicitly sell your product.
This technique lets your customers ask the questions, instead of shoving the answer down the customer’s throat. Instead of the traditional advertising model, which involves telling the customer to buy, this technique allows customers to ask where can I buy this product?
For an example, check out this video by Piques, an Instagram influencer, that we ran as part of a campaign for Rootstrap, our roadmapping and development studio:
This content in no way feels like advertisement, but if you look closely, you’ll notice that Piques is wearing a Rootstrap sweatshirt. 15,000 comments, 339,000 likes, and over 8 million views–and just take a look at our sales metrics:
Look for hidden opportunities.
I love these tricks because they’re so simple and so effective. And even better, they stray from the more traditional, obvious methods of boosting traffic like pay-per-click ads or cold email campaigns.
As the online space gets more and more competitive, tips and tricks like these become more important for setting yourself apart and getting ahead of the competition–so don’t stop with just these three. Always be on the lookout for unconventional, innovative ways to market your product and boost your traffic.
Who knows–those unconventional tactics may just be the difference between a stagnant user base and explosive growth.
