Hi everyone, Looking for some opinions here, as I'm unsure about which way to go about promoting my new site. It's a news satire site, which I'm hoping will be a kind of UK version of the outstandingly brilliant theonion.com. For the site design and reporting style I'm playing things completely straight, so a part of me thinks my marketing should be leaning towards promoting the site as a proper online news source, despite the fact it's a humour site. Only thing then is I miss out on all those people looking for satire, so maybe I should be promoting it as a comedy site. I can't see me ranking very highly in the SERPS for comedy keywords, however, as in order to maintain the vaguely authentic feel I don't want to go plastering the site with satire related keywords. I'm still working on the initial content of the site, so haven't promoted it anywhere yet, but before I do I'd love some opinions on the best way of going about it. How would you go about promoting this site: www.theobservant.co.uk All suggestions welcome!
Hello I'd defintely go funny. Not over the top funny, just the same laidback humour you are displaying on your web site. You need to maintain the consistency of your brand in order to strengthen your brand. So, go funny. Cheers bambi P.S: Love the site concept.
I think good satiracle headlines would work well in ads, it would also focus more on those who really want your site not some stuffy, real news site.
Thanks guys! I think you're probably right. If I market it as a straight news site then a lot of people are going to take a look at it, realise it's not what they're looking for, then click the back button. I think, however, that there might be some scope to try both approaches, and I may well submit the RSS feed to a few serious news feed sites and see if I can make it in. But yes, I think you're right and highlighting the funny side is the way to go. Cheers for the advice! Baz
Yeah, I'm with the others. I say make your advertising appear visually serious then with the text make it funny. That's how a lot of satire is done (think fake news on tv) they look professional but the actual words that come out of their mouths don't fit how they look.
I would have to agree. If you tell them its a news source, they may not want a news source. And the fact is its NOT a news source. It's a source of satirical humor on UK news. So if you give them a little to laugh at, then they may think, "Hey that was funny. If that site has more where that came from then I'll check it out." Skinny
Thanks all. Funny is definitely the way forward, it seems! Today, for a laugh I submitted one of the new stories - "University Scientists Discover Life on Other Planet" - to digg.com in the science section. A lot of people seemed to get the joke, but a few hours ago I got an e-mail from someone criticising the journalist who reported the story for not researching their facts correctly. They went on to say that what the science students claim is impossible, and that their claims will be dismissed by the Astronomy Commission. Some people just have no sense of humour. If you take a look at the story on www.theobservant.co.uk you'll see what I mean Baz
If you posted the reply on your site it would create a informal funny forum for people to interact and laugh! Which in turn will spread...