ISRAEL -- Answers.com just sent out an announcement saying it offers a downloadable tool for teachers. The company sent out a standard press release on all the news wires. I am willing to bet that even hometown reporters will pass on this release.
Speaking as a journalist, I know I would pass on this "news." There is absolutely nothing exciting about the "story" here.
Answers.com did issue a second release, spelling out the strategy for their new marketing plan. There are some great ideas here, such as hanging posters in classrooms. If you go through and read all of their ideas, you'll see they planned a very conservative approach to getting the word out about the company. I'm sure that, if executed properly, it will bring positive returns for Answers.com but there is one action item on this list I think is a horrible idea.
"Targeting college campuses, advertising in student newspapers and the isual sponsorship of racks from which the students take their daily papers." -- This approach likely costs more money than it promises to bring in returns. After all, college students are less interested in reading advertisements than anybody, and hardly anyone pays attention to a sponsors name on the side of a newspaper rack.
A more effective approach would be some type of hand out program. For instance, partner with bookstores to give out a small Answers.com postcards that show students how to use the search engine as a resource. During exam season, set up tables outside libraries on major university campuses with Answers.com reps announcing they are providing research assistance and citation guideance, creating face-to-face interaction -- the most successful approach -- with these students.
Maybe I should pitch Answers.com to hire my company to provide them with new marketing strategies.
Having said all of that, Answers.com is a great search engine, although it is not really a search engine.
Type any topic into Answers.com and you'll find a brief, you guessed it, answer to your question. There are not pages and pages to sift through while conducting research. I like Google, but I hate that it spits out dozens of pages for each search query when really only 2-3 pages contain relevant information.
Still, just to see how well Answer.com works, I typed in the word "phish." Of course, the answer it gave has to do with e-mail scams, not the band. However, the search results do point to other links, most that have everything to do with Phish from Vermont.
I recommend giving Answer.com a whirl. Post a comment and let The Business Scribe know what you think.
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