I totally think Mojeek needs more marketing of sorts. I believe that Mojeek could be a great asset in the search engine game. !!! If there is anything I can do to help market the search engine, let me know. I love helping out where I can.
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Word-of-mouth is always key in marketing. I am likely a little off base saying this, but the brand image of Mojeek would be “less is more” when it comes to marketing.
As an end user, and someone like you who is fond of this sort of endeavour, I would say sharing is the best plan: Mojeek posts to their blog, you share that somewhere, for example.
If you have friends that like this sort of thing, invite them to the community. I should try that, but everyone I know uses Google, except for a few Ecosia users.
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I feel that Mojeek is right on the edge of leaping from early adopters to mainstream users.
When I was first introduced to it, Mojeek was rarely even included in lists of search engines or even privacy search engines. That’s changed a lot and Mojeek is showing up on the privacy lists more (but still notably absent on some). So I think there is still outreach to do with privacy advocates, search engine fans and anti-monopolists.
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This is def true
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I’m chasing up your sticker suggestion from Mastodon @stu, the one thing with merch/giveaways/physical things is that we always do our absolute best to ensure that the supplier and process fit with our principles. No cheap rubbish that’s easily discarded here.
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I don’t want to knock on a pretty decent service, but I am on board for paying a little extra for something as simple as a sticker. I am thinking about a certain site that comes up when searching for stickers, redbubble. The choice is there. I am sure that there are some great stickers available from that site. I have bought a number from them. Quick delivery, decent prices, but wow, some of the stickers I bought are just pixelated bitmaps stretched out to sticker size. I was not especially impressed.
Years ago I ordered from another site. Can’t recall which. The quality difference is still obvious because, 10 years on, those stickers are still perfect.
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If you are doing merchandise, I like reusable bags for the market.
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At the moment I think we’re looking at things which are on the smaller side, so this one definitely fits @mike, I’ll dig into it. Once we’ve got some draft versions we’ll bring them here in front of you all.
Maybe there is some kind of environmental company you can partner with. Ex:
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Perhaps Mojeek also needs more publicity in general? Mentions on suitable forums would help to broadcast the Mojeek name. The only relevant forum on which I’m a member is Wilders’ Security Forum, which is US-based.
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That’s definitely an easy way of getting the word out; I guess the issue we’ve found with this approach in the past is that if it comes from us, it seems like an advert. I don’t suppose anyone @here has any idea of a relevant forum?
OK, what about a mention in a respectable publication such as The Register? If that’s out of the question, a bit more guidance would possibly be helpful.
Apologies if I haven’t made myself clear here, but I completely agree with this approach, and want to support it in every way possible.
What I am saying is that it is unlikely that I would be well received as Head of Marketing joining a forum and posting about Mojeek, as it comes off as me just engaging in self promotion.
As @bbbhltz says:
People you’ve interacted with would add more weight to your words if you recommend us in a specific forum, over and above me. I consider myself to be a pretty honest good-faith actor, but if I go into a tech forum and say use Mojeek it’s quite clear to people that I have an agenda.
Unfortunately we’re in a time where everyone has something to sell you, and that has jaded people on this kind of direct approach from the company in question.
If you have any forums in mind, and you think there’s a way of assisting this, then I am all ears, it’s a great idea.
On:
We’re working on our approach to the media currently, there are a bunch of things (functionality, perspectives etc.) that we think are interesting about Mojeek and that we’re trying to get some eyeballs on, it’s an avenue that takes some time, but definitely worthwhile. If there’s anything in particular that you think is story-worthy/pitchable then let us know 
you can’t always know from the inside all of the things that people might find cool.
For @stu, we’re in the later stages of getting some cool designs printed for stickers; I’m pretty sure there will some people here who would enjoy these. They’re standard Mojeek ethos - had to be biodegradeable and we’re using a local company. I will be more than happy to get them mailed out and will let people know when they’re done.
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Marketing is such an umbrella term now. I teach marketing at a business school and a specialised marketing school. It is hard to keep up with how strategies can change and and which techniques would work for company A and not for B. Is it worth doing a focus group? Should a company do like their competition and pay for sponsored content? Which companies are direct or indirect or secondary competitors? Do those competitors change by age group? It is all fascinating a sometimes fast-paced, which is why the majority of my students want to work in marketing or something adjacent.
A very basic thing everybody can do is to think up a positioning statement. This is somewhat dated, but quick and painless. It would look like this:
- For [target market] who [statement of need] MOJEEK is a search engine that [key benefit]. Unlike [competitor], our product [differentiation statement].
And then you decide how to get that target market to listen to your message. Who has access to them, who do they trust, etc.?
I for one am looking forward to some stickers or merch, something to start a conversation with students.
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@bbbhltz I wouldn’t call a value proposition statement you mention (below) dated. But timeless.
For [target market] who [statement of need] MOJEEK is a search engine that [key benefit]. Unlike [competitor], our product [differentiation statement].
You might be shocked how many startups never do one. I’d guess, based on working with many, that the 90% failure rate would reduce to 80% if they all used them. To be fair they are now more widely used in the last decade.
We use various techniques.
A relatively recent one that I think is a great contribution is April Dunford’s which we’ve adopted & adapted as here. Great for B2B as you’d expects since developed by her based on experience working with many B2B statups.
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That is very reassuring to hear. I teach in the language department and have never had any practical marketing experience. When I do teach my units on marketing, students in their 4th year have told me that they have never heard of such a thing. I will will present it differently in the future — especially with April Dunford’s content! Her book is available to download through my school’s library too.
Thanks!
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Obviously Awesome (paper copy) has passed from @Colin to myself and is now with @sam, so these ideas have been making their way through the team 
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I just wanted to share an example I saw today (online), not as a suggestion — just for the sake of sharing.
I noticed a number of bus stop posters for Google around town this week (I live in France), and then today someone shared on LinkedIn what Qwant is up to in terms of advertising:
The copy reads:
You’re wondering who uses Qwant? Us too.
Zero search tracking
Zero sales of personal data
Zero ad tracking“Qwant: The search engine that knows nothing about you”
There is some very careful wording at play here. Qwant also makes numerous video clips that they share on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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