A few years ago I joined a ‘direct to desktop’ broadcasting system aptly named Desktoplightning 1.0. As a marketer I was attracted to the intriguing idea of being able to place my advertisements directly into a tiny software app that pops up in the lower right corner of the windows(R) desktop. I purchased the platinum version so that I could use HTML and personalization throughout my messages, and so that I would benefit from the extra bonus network members.
Email marketing was not my specialty at the time, although I was slowly learning the ropes about writing enticing subject lines and exciting body copy. Those skills are directly transferable into direct to desktop broadcasting. With the latter you have to build up your network first, because you can’t purchase leads to broadcast to. But it has one major advantage over email marketing: deliverability! There are no spam traps or junk mail folders for your marketing message to fall into, because everyone in your network has agreed to be there and to receive your recommendations. The only way to completely ‘opt out’ is to uninstall the tiny software application. I believe that was happening a lot before the arrival of the 2.0 version about a week ago. One other criticism I have is that, short of running surveys, I am doubtful how targeted the network members are for anything other than Internet marketing and business opportunities.
Enter The 2.0 Era
Viral marketing and rapid growth appear to be the hallmarks of the second generation of ‘direct-to-desktop’ broadcasting applications. The scripts are built in for reaching your contacts at Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, etc., with the messianic message and that method has proven itself over the past year sufficiently to have been adopted by the heavier hitting ‘gurus.’
As a result of the new viral features that have been implemented in this new version of Desktoplightning, lots of marketers are switching to DesktopLightning instead of using email marketing at all, or they are using a mix of the two forms of broadcasting, together with article marketing and press releases. Multi media is always the wise choice to make with any advertising campaign online, because Internet marketing is a huge numbers game. It will always be that way.
This writer believes that email marketing is indeed ‘the killer app’ but also that desktop broadcasting, seriously, is one of the most powerful marketing tools available right now.
Tags: intriguing idea, junk mail, learning the ropes, mail folders, messianic message, network members, platinum version, spam traps, tiny software, viral marketing