To help you make the most of your marketing budget in today’s tough business climate, you need to think outside the box and examine new and innovative ways of reaching existing and potential customers. These methods also need to be very cost-effective. This is where technology can come to your rescue and with this in mind, we have devised ten top tips on the ways in which PC and Internet technologies can be used to enhance the marketing mix in a small business.
The principles of good marketing remain the same no matter what medium you choose, but following some or all of our tips will save you money and project a dynamic, progressive image for your firm and its products, while improving your relationships with existing customers. In fact, using the electronic marketing channel could also help you to attract some new customers in markets you might have never thought existed.
Top ten e-marketing tips:
1. Use PDF documents
PDF (portable document files) are essentially the electronic version of a printed document and are an ideal replacement for printed brochures. PDFs are different to Word files or Websites because they retain the exact fonts, formatting and graphics their creator intended. They display the same on everyone’s computers and will print exactly as they appear on screen.
PDFs are extremely versatile and can be updated easily. You can print them out, e-mail them, save them on CD ROM, or put them online and hyperlink from within them back to your Website or to an e-mail contact in your company. Your customers can read them using the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe.com. You can reduce or eliminate brochure printing costs by using PDFs and save time and money by cutting back on the use of couriers or express mail.
There are only two real drawbacks to using PDF. First of all, the program used to create them while easy to learn how to use, is expensive to buy — Adobe Acrobat retails in Compustore for EUR545, but this is a once-off charge. Secondly, if your customers are using dial-up Internet connections for e-mail, PDF brochures depending on their size and on how many images you include in them, can take a considerable length of time to download. Common sense can help you get around this problem — keep your brochures short and don’t fill them with bandwidth clogging high resolution product shots.
2. Create opt-in e-mail newsletters
The most popular form of online marketing is the e-mail newsletter. Such newsletters are used to keep customers updated on your products and services, and to encourage readers to click back to your company Website.
To make a success of your e-mail newsletter, you need to collect e-mail addresses from your customers and obtain their permission to use those addresses. Decide how regularly you will send the newsletter and stick to this timetable. It will reflect badly on you if your weekly newsletter becomes monthly or occasional or non-existent.
Try to offer value-added content in every issue of your newsletter. It could be a special offer on your new product or service, a link to another interesting and relevant site, or a funny or informative story relating to your firm. The Brew Crew newsletter, for example, typically has a competition to win free beer, beer trivia, links to other beer sites, quirky beer-related news and customer testimonials.
3. Keep your Website clean and simple
Do keep it simple. Don’t confuse visitors to your Website with unnecessary clutter. Have three columns on a page, at most. The centre column should contain your main content. The left and right columns should be used for navigation buttons. If your site is reasonably small and clearly laid out, ditch the right hand column. Always remember: the simpler the better.
Don’t be tempted to use a lot of graphics or Flash animations. They are distracting and take time to download. One or two well-chosen graphics will be more effective. Don’t use coloured text or coloured backgrounds for your main content. Black text on a white background, or at least dark text on a very light background, is by far the easiest colour scheme to read on screen.
Do remember the three-click rule. Visitors to your Website should be able to get from any page on the site to any other page in three clicks. At a minimum, every page should have a link back to the homepage in the top left or top right corner, a link to the help page, the frequently asked questions page, and Contact Us page.
Search engine optimisation is one of the most effective online marketing strategies. A 2001 study from NPD Group found that search engine listings are five times more effective than banner ads in terms of creating brand awareness, driving traffic, and inspiring purchases. To enjoy these benefits, you need to label every page on your Website with relevant keywords or metatags and then submit the site to all the major search engines. Review the search engines regularly to make sure your site is not slipping down the rankings.
For better results, you can pay for premium listings on most search engines. You can also pay specialist consultants to ensure that your company performs well on search engines but this service is expensive and may not prove cost-effective for your business.
Improving the quality of the traffic to your site is as important as generating a large quantity of new visitors. Register your site with any relevant specialist search engines. For example, a company engaging in biological research should be listed on biolinks.com.
5. Banner advertising
Banner ads have lost their sheen in recent years. Although they are still useful in terms of raising customer awareness, only about 0.33% of people who see a banner ad will click through to the advertiser’s Website.
Instead of paying for banners, contact non-competitor companies in the same sector as your firm and find out if they would like to barter banner ad space on their site. Your company displays their ads and they display yours. You can also use this concept in your e-mail newsletter.
Whether you are paying for banner ads or not, the most important thing to do is research your campaign properly. What other sites are your potential customers likely to visit? Large general sites have more visitors but smaller specialist sites may attract more people who would buy from your company. All sites are likely to be open to negotiation on the price of ad space.
6. SMS marketing
According to research firm Amárach, over half of Irish mobile phone users would not object to receiving commercial messages by SMS, so this could be the most effective electronic marketing tool for your company especially if your target customer group does not comprise regular Internet users.
SMS marketing has many benefits. It’s personalised, interactive, and is still seen as ‘cool’ by most consumers. Seventy-seven percent of Irish people own a mobile phone and all of them can access SMS messages.
SMS is cheaper than most other forms of advertising and response rates are high, at about 11%. Some campaigns can attract response rates of as high as 70% within 24 hours.
Amárach advises marketers to use SMS for marketing lower-cost items to younger users as older users tend to use SMS less and are less interested in receiving mobile marketing messages. As with email marketing, remember NEVER to send unsolicited SMS advertising to anyone.
7. Reduce costs by using e-mailshots
As well as using e-mail newsletters to build a solid relationship with your customers, you can also send out periodic mailshots to your database of customers. Again, you must request their permission to do this when they first give you their e-mail address.
E-mailshots are most useful for sending out carefully targeted special offers without having to plan such offers weeks or months in advance. If it’s a slow week in your widget department, for example, you can boost sales by e-mailing some or all of your customers to let them know they can have three widgets for the price of two for that week only.
Although e-mailshots can deliver a great return on investment, don’t be tempted to overdo it. Sending an occasional e-mailshot will prove more effective than bombarding your customers with offers every few days.
8. Use freephone numbers
Freephone and low-cost telephone numbers are a great way to encourage existing and future customers to get in touch with you. They also help you to measure the response to your advertising campaigns if you use these numbers only when marketing your company.
With the rise in text messaging, people have become used to alphanumeric keypads so it is worth investigating if you can get an American-style freephone number such as 1800-WIDGETS. More potential customers are likely to remember this type of number and they will remember it for longer.
If you get a freephone number, you pay the entire call costs when your customer calls you although you will get a discount for volume. You can also get callsave and local numbers where the price of the call is shared by you and your customer.
9. Use PowerPoint for presentations
PowerPoint is a must when giving presentations to potential customers these days. A PowerPoint presentation resembles an old-fashioned slide show with all the slides stored in sequence on your computer. The program is easy to use and it shouldn’t take you long to put together your own slides.
PowerPoint helps makes your presentation more interesting. You can add animations or sound effects to different slides to maintain the attention of the audience.
When visiting potential customers, you can bring your PowerPoint presentation with you on a floppy disk or on your own laptop. Most overhead projectors now facilitate PowerPoint presentations, although you should check with the company you are visiting beforehand.
If you don’t want to go to the expense of printing out copies of the presentation for others to take away, you can share the presentation afterwards via e-mail or by posting it on your Website.
10. Customer feedback & research surveys
It’s well worth running a customer survey online every six months ago. This surveys provide more or less instant feedback and give you a snapshot of your customer base. There are a number of online survey providers such as Zoomerang.com. Consider offering customers an incentive to fill out the form so you get the highest possible number of replies.
If enough thought goes into the planning of the survey, the customer will enjoy filling it out and feel positive towards your company. You should get useful feedback, which will help you decide on future initiatives for your company. You may even be able to generate media coverage if you uncover some interesting findings.
And remember…
Choose the technologies that are most suited to your business. If your customer base consists of a small number of major clients, then you may not need to establish an e-mail newsletter or have a freephone number but you will enjoy value from the use of PDFs, PowerPoint and online feedback forms. Technology in marketing can help every small firm to do better business.
Electronic marketing in action:
DirectSki.com
DirectSki.com was established in 2000 to sell ski holidays directly to customers in Ireland and the UK. The company has never used a print brochure, preferring to market its products on its Website. “The flexibility of the Website is brilliant,” says Una McEvoy, marketing manager with DirectSki. “We can add or pull down a resort or a hotel at a moment’s notice and flag special promotions easily.”
Marketing holidays online allows DirectSki to maximise its profitability while still passing savings onto its customers. “Every print brochure costs between EUR1 and EUR2 and may be 1 in 12 brochures will produce a sale. So every sale costs a traditional travel company about EUR15. We don’t have that expense. There are costs involved in running the Website but they are far lower. And it’s environmentally friendly!”
As well as a Website, DirectSki also sends out a regular e-mail newsletter, engages in search engine optimisation, pays for a freephone line, and is considering the introduction of PDF resort brochures and SMS snow reports.
The Brew Crew
The Brew Crew delivers kegs of Irish beers, complete with taps, to homes or offices in the Dublin area. Its director Kieran Curtin, says he is a strong believer in the power of online marketing. “It’s difficult and expensive for a small company to advertise in traditional media. The web is speedy, efficient and results-driven.”
The Brew Crew uses its e-mail newsletter, its Website, SMS marketing, online surveys, and a freephone number (1800-BEER ME) to stay in touch with its customers. The company doesn’t use search engine optimisation as it is only selling to the greater Dublin area at present so there is no real need to spend on this type of marketing.
The company has gathered subscribers through competitions, users of the service, and partnerships with other sites such as P45.net. When it began its list three years ago, it had 25 subscribers. Now, it has almost 3,500. “In the beer business, you have no chance of competing directly with the big guys,” says Curtin. “We have used technology in marketing to show we are an Irish company selling an Irish product.”
McGowan’s Pubs, Dublin
John McGowan, owner and manager of McGowans’ Pubs in Phibsboro and Churchtown, is a fervent convert to SMS marketing.
McGowan used to send his regular customers birthday cards offering them a free drink to celebrate. The process was labour-intensive it cost EUR3.20 to send each card. Furthermore, about 25% of all cards were returned undelivered.
John McGowan found out about SMS marketing through one of his customers, Dave McCarthy, sales director of Saadian Technology. He decided to switch to SMS birthday messages instead of cards and asked Saadian to develop a suitable application. He collected his customers’ mobile numbers by leaving forms out in the pubs. Within three weeks, he had 2000 numbers and now has over 5000.
The best thing about SMS marketing, says McGowan, is that customers often reply to messages from McGowan’s. “They treat the messages as a desirable notice, not an advertisement.” Another benefit is that the SMS birthday messages cost 90 percent less than traditional birthday cards and are considerably more effective.
26/02/2003
Ltd
