When should I start marketing?

So bear with me, I'm very VERY new to building websites, but have started one which is 2 days old now. I've paid a little bit for some Facebook advertising but other than that, I haven't spent anything on Adwords or anything else.

I'm just wondering when should I start paying to advertise? Should I do it from the beginning or wait until my website is more established?

 

I think the best time to market is when you have something to offer. Do you know:
1. How many people use your product or service?
2. What makes yours BETTER that what's already out there?
3. Is that audience online or on facebook?
4. What convinces them to believe in your type of product or service?
5. Who else is talking about your stuff?
6. Is the image in the ad eye catching HUGE.
7. Do you have content: pr release, how to's, guides, videos, where they can get to know you and therefore TRUST you?

If your missing that, or if you are linking straight to the place to buy, no millenial or gen x person is going to buy. They need social proof and info that sounds impartial. My experience. Good luck.

 

Thanks for your answer @TimetoTakeOverTheWorld
My website is a spoof news site, so I don't have anything for sale as such. My aim at the moment is just to discover ways to get traffic to my website and to get people sharing the posts.

 

Then in that case you'd have to be HILARIOUS and BRILLIANT. There are already spoof news sites so what makes yours different or better than The Onion, daily mail, etc. I would try to research where those sites are linking to with a link research/trackin software like market samari or somthing and then see if you can do something similar on similar websites and guest post for bigger sites with a link back to yours. See if you can find a way to get on someone else's mailing list who has that sort of content already. you would have to contact them directly.

 

also, all the questions still apply. Consider your comedic articles as a product and answer the questions. Knowing who, how many , when, and how people are using that sort of content is huge.

 

If you are just starting out, I think sticking on Facebook Ads for a little while is much better. Adwords can really be costly especially if you don't know the work around.
I don't think it will be a good idea to consider adwords if your aim is to just get traffic to your site, social media can do that job for you.
Besides getting viral on social media is easy if you really have a catchy topic.

 

Probably wait until you're a little more established. You're likely to just burn money paying for advertising if you don't know what you are doing.

 

Since you are a spoof news website, why don't you try some Public Relations activities with the real news sites? Reporters and editors will be likely prospects for your website, anyway. Write up a compelling press release telling them why your website is important news for their readers. But don't just send the press release out blindly. Try contacting the reporter/editor directly first and pitch him or her on your story to see if they will agree to look over the press release. Offer to make whatever changes they would like to make the story more suitable/interesting for them. Again, be sure to focus on why your website is unique and will offer specific value to their readers that they cannot get elsewhere, such the very established site TheOnion.com.

You must be really excited about launching your first website. Be sure that excitement comes through when you are pitching it to the reporters/editors. The good news is that a good PR campaign does not require any funding, just your time and effort.

 

Thank you for your advice. Why would real news sites be interested in my website?

 

Fair question. The NY Times probably is not interested. However, there are tons and tons of other news sites, blogs, etc., that might find your website interesting or, more important, of interest to their readers. Some news sites have new website reviews, for example. The key is to research these potential news outlets and find the top 20 to target. Then, and this is the most important piece, YOU have to tell them why they are interested in your website. If you cannot answer that question enthusiastically and in great detail, then a PR campaign may not be the best way to go.

But if you took the time and trouble to build the website, there should be compelling differentiators that you can talk about.

 

Try reaching out to other bloggers with related sites, forums, social networks. A couple of reviews of your new project on the right places will bring you a lot of traffic. For the social networks I would advise to refrain from using FBAds and AdWords just yet. Being inexperienced in PPC can easily eat up a lot of your budget. Try participating in big groups where people might be interested in your type of news. Interact with people, discuss stuff with them, your personal relations can easily turn into professional relations too. For starters the best bet is to spread your efforts to as many places as possible, monitor and see which ones work best for your type of site.

 

Isn't the whole point of satire news sites to have news stories go viral? I don't understand why you are paying for advertising. How exactly are you expecting to make money?

 

Well I don't know yet, I'm sure there are ways though.

 

I'm sure there are ways, too, but the marketing plan shouldn't include paying for advertising at least not right away.

Paying for advertising is a very systematic process. You know how much each visitor is worth. You know how you will monetize the traffic.

Right now it just seems as though you're doing facebook advertising to start getting traffic with no idea how you will make money with the site, which is basically just burning money.

 

In my opinion, you should advertise when you start developing your website, it's about building branding, introduced to many people about your website. If your budget is limited, you do not have to pay to advertise your product. Many ways to promote a website that is new and free, for example, you can enter the website link on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

If you already have a stable funding, then you can pay for ads, facebook ads for example. My advice, do not be too hasty to pay for advertising, make planning and a clear ROI.

 

I would stay away from paid advertising until you know that you can get a return on that investment. And besides it is not necessarily needed. I have been running howtogurus.com online and making my living completely online since 1996 and I almost never use paid advertising. There are just too many great ways to get traffic without spending $. The only time I will pay for visibility is when I know that I my promotion will easily return a profit, like the email service I use. Just don't believe in spending dollars on hope marketing.

 

I guess I just don't know enough ways to advertise at the moment then!

 

When I started out with my previous company, I found Facebook advertisement useful to attract likes to my group and then I could market directly to my followers. I also made use of twitter and linkedin as again this is free marketing. I also found networking at events and conferences a powerful tool, grab business cards and connect on linkedIn.

 

Poke around this website. There are lots of people with great advice on this site!

 

Firstly you start your business properly and run your business in the market. When you get customer and product or service will popular then you can take step for website development.