Want More SEO and PR? Consider Donating Online Subscriptions to Worthy Individuals

Someone wise once said, “You can’t optimize everything.” I’m not sure if there were in online marketing or not, but I’m sure most online

Someone wise once said, “You can’t optimize everything.”I’m not sure if there were in online marketing or not, but I’m sure most online marketers would agree. At the very least, you can’t optimize everything without going crazy.That’s why this week’s Case Study on A Story Before Bed is such a great read. The site, started by former Microsoft employees, had expert software programmers and little marketing expertise.Yet A Story Before Bed has been able to generate tremendous PR, word-of-mouth, and organic search rankings for numerous keywords, primarily through one very generous act: Donating online subscriptions to deployed military personnel.By giving away one-year subscriptions to deployed parents, the site generated tremendous customer enthusiasm, as well as the general respect of the media. In addition, the decision to support worthy individuals based on what they do — not randomly selected individuals or sweepstakes winners — A Story Before Bed is able to tug on heart strings without being emotionally manipulative.And it looks like the good karma has come back ten-fold. A Story Before Bed gets an average of 10,000 unique visitors a month, and nearly 30,000 around the holidays. Not to mention that deployed parents and their children will be able to recall their brand and service for years to come.This is a tactic every subscription site should consider, if possible. B2B sites may want to donate subscriptions to fellowship winners in their industry, or organizations that seek to increase entrepreneurial skills.And B2C sites should look for worthy organizations to partner with, from the military to nonprofit groups. Just make sure the subscriptions are going to a group of people who work hard on a daily basis, not one lucky winner (that’s a marketing tactic to discuss at another time).

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