The internet is experiencing it’s first economic downturn. No pureplay dot com company has had to deal with the effects of the weakened pound, the tightening of the nations money belts or an economy in recession. So, how as a marketing professional do you engage your consumers to ensure forecasts are hit and your own business survives and possibly flourishes through the current climate?
Now, more than ever, companies need to watch their pennies. If marketing budgets are not already slashed, they’re certainly being watched with a vigilant eye. 2 years ago when you may have signed off an experimental page ad in your industry press “just to gauge” response your budget will be better spent on more qualitative and quantifiable opportunities.
Recent statistics have already shown that companies, retail or service based, are failing due to a lack of investment of finance and time into Internet Marketing. Your potential customers, now more than ever, are turning to the internet not just to “research” products but to buy products.
What can be done and is it too late? I’ll answer the 2nd question first, no. It’s not too late to develop your online presence. Take 5 minutes and analyse your competitors online… are they taking advantage of online advertising? Do you see their names appearing in Google? Are they advertising through Adwords? If so, there’s usually a reason… revenue, cost effective and qualified traffic.
The first thing I look at with any client is how your website represents your products or service. At first glance can a potential customer understand who you are? where you are? and most importantly what you do? I often experience situations whereby a design team has taken your initial brief and through constant amendments based on the “look and feel” rather than the actual message, lost the opportunity to build your online visibility. What’s the point in having a great looking website that neither reflects your business ethos, nor can be found by your potential clients or customers? Is this where your competitors are succeeding and your business is failing?
Based on the opportunity available and your own business needs, I then develop the web formula that suits your business. I use a completely transparent and focused approach to achieve your targets. Firsthand, is their margin available to compete with your web-based competition? If not, how can this be achieved? Don’t necessarily think that you need to slash prices or offer new costly initiatives in order to win business. Web presence, a professional campaign and a valued and required offering can go an awful long way to acquiring new customers.
The “formula” consists of a variety of online mechanisms tailored to your goals. Is the aim to win new clients or customers? To make use of your current database? Maybe you have seen a dramatic downturn in online sales year/year? Why not resell to your existing clients through a range of targeted email campaigns?
Are you seeing the necessary or expected traffic levels, but left scratching your head wondering why they’re looking but not buying? Without the necessary analytics and site data it’s impossible to tell what your customers are doing. Are you seeing a tremendously high bounce-rate with customers leaving within seconds let alone minutes? Are you driving customers to the pages you feel they SHOULD be?
If you’re already running adwords are you frustrated by the lack of impressions let alone click thru? Working to ensure each individual campaign not only reflects WHAT your potential customer is looking for, but PLACES the customer where you want them. Not only does this enhance your presence through adwords, but most often, reduces your costs whilst increasing clicks.
Using the formula approach you set a direct % of your sales margin aside for your online marketing. If a product has a greater popularity and higher margin then ensure this is reflected in your online budgeting. This ‘portfolio’ approach is extremely effective with our SoSo (Switch On/Switch Off) Pay-Per-Click advertising. Ensuring each keyword purchase is optimised individual rather than simply saying “okay, we can afford a £1 a click throughout” will lead to a huge revenue growth opportunity.
Similarly, instigating and managing your affiliate marketing campaigns, we communicate directly with your affiliates to drive the necessary traffic to the products YOU want to sell. If the margin is there this should be reflected in your CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) and filtered to your affiliates. Not only does this incentivise the affiliate to promote your goods over your competitors, it also builds the engaged relationship to ensure a long term partnership.
