Promotion

Just because a consultation is online, doesn't mean that people will flock to it. A consultation is not a better mousetrap. You still need to promote it, just as people do for traditional consultations.

The objectives of promotion, using both online and offline marketing strategies, is to drive traffic and build public branding to the e-consultation project.

Online Marketing

Search engine optimization (SEO)

submission of e-consultation websites to Top Search Engine and directories.

Electronic Joint venture (JV)

Initiate joint venture with other public (i.e., government), private (i.e., sponsors) and NGOs websites to make your e-consultation weblink available on their site.

Blogs

e-consultation advocators should start to blog and make their presence in the electronic world (e-world). Example Steven Clift at http://dowire.org/notes/

E-forum & e-community

the e-consultation group can use the already establish e-forum or e-consultation to tap into their existing customers and solicit for ideas and input to questions posed in e-consultation.

Use Meta-tags in web-building

to get to the top ranking in Search engines. For example, <Meta name = “descriptions” content= “e-consultation study group research project”> <Meta name = “keywords” content = “e-consultation, e-consult, econsult, econsultation, e-participation, e-participation, e-democracy, edemocracy”>

Use data-mining technology or Webstats

to monitor the traffic to the e-consultation website. Refine the keywords and also understand the behavior of the user of e-consultation site to better understand their movement in the e-consultation webpage.

E-mail strategy

E-mail marketing is the most cost effective way to market on the Internet today. E-mail marketing tactics can be used to build relationship with existing database customers and prospects.

E-newsletter

Send newsletters to users in the e-consultation website to inform them about the latest happening in the e-consultation projects.

Security and Privacy

Ensure the data protection act (1998) which includes security and privacy information, clearly stated on the e-consultation website.

Offline Marketing

Press conference

A joint press conference by all e-consultation stakeholders to promote the e-consultation benefits (tangible and intangible benefits) to all parties and relate the e-consultation progress.

Publications

Paper publications in Journal will raised the awareness of such project in the academic world.

Exhibitions and workshops

To exhibit the e-consultation project and seek for feedback from target audiences.

Surveys

will help to gauge the citizen perceptions and to increase their awareness in e-consultation.

Joint venture

Partnership with big corporations, for example International Business Machine (IBM), Fujitsu-Siemens, CISCO and etc companies to borrow their expertise and outsource some of the work to them. [This initiative will help to raise profile of e-consultation and increase broad range of expertise]

Networking

Network and raise the profile of the project in international arena by working with government from different countries.

World first E-Consultation conference

to be held at QUB: The group can organize the world first e-consultation conference. [publicity]

Get politicians involved

in spearheading and advocating the e-consultation projects.