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Low-Cost Marketing Tactics for a Down Economy
by M. H.
(Mac) McIntosh
In these
difficult times, as the customer pool shrinks and budgets tighten, companies
must fine-tune their marketing efforts. Here are tips on refining your
marketing approach to maximize effectiveness and minimize costs.
Eliminate
marginal investments
Interview your salespeople to identify which marketing tools have been most
instrumental in successfully selling your products or services. Determine
which marketing program has the biggest role in snaring recent sales and
allocate your marketing budget toward those programs. Then take these steps:
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Eliminate
marketing communications projects you might never get around to anyway.
These
“wish list” projects can be added back to the marketing to-do list when
the economy turns around and you have the money and resources needed to do
them right.
-
Eliminate
marketing designed only to enhance your brand.
These marketing programs won’t have much affect on your short-term sales
results. Instead, focus on generating leads and sales from a well-targeted
group of prospects and let the quality of your marketing communications,
response materials and website take care of enhancing your company’s
image.
-
Eliminate
marketing programs that have not shown a significant positive ROI, as
measured by leads or sales.
Determine which programs will have the biggest impact on generating
qualified, sales-ready leads and short-term sales. Make sure these stay at
the top of the list for funding and implementation.
Increase
direct marketing
Increase your use of e-mail and postal mail to deliver targeted offers to
your most desirable prospects.
Postal mail
may get through when your e-mail gets blocked as spam. To cut costs, use
laser-printed business letters rather than expensive full-color mailers.
Rather than doing one-time postal mailings to rented lists, improve your
results by sending repeat mailings targeted at known prospects (such as your
own prospect database). Save money by sending expensive literature or
materials only to those who request them — not to every prospect in your
database.
If you don’t
have your own e-mail lists to market to, consider having publishers send
your e-mail to their lists for you, or placing ads in targeted e-newsletters
or e-zines. These are economical ways to get past e-mail filters, reach your
prospects directly and generate a quick response.
Negotiate
discounts on trade publication advertising
In these difficult times, you will likely be better off with a
high-frequency or high-impact presence in one or two key publications than
with an occasional presence in several. Study circulation information to
clearly understand what percentage of the magazine’s readership is really
part of your target market. Ask your media rep to give you statistics on
what percentage of their subscribers also read competitive magazines, and
consider this information when calculating your true cost per thousand.
Be sure your
print ads are benefit- or solution-focused (rather than emphasizing
“features”) with strong calls-to-action designed to generate leads or drive
sales. Read more in 16 proven techniques for better B2B sales leads
generation with print advertising.
When the
economy is soft, trade publication advertising sales are often weak. This
allows you to negotiate an attractive rate with publishers.
Use trade
shows smartly
Trade shows can be expensive, so consider eliminating those that haven’t
previously shown a favorable ROI. Instead, concentrate your investments in
those shows and conferences which have proven effective in generating leads
and driving sales.
Then look
for ways to reduce your trade show costs and boost your ROI. For example,
consider hosting a smaller exhibit. Ask your dealers, distributors or
resellers to help you staff the booth. Eliminate expensive cocktail parties.
Send pre-show mailings to increase the number of visitors to your booth and
lower your overall cost per lead. Send post-show mailings and use
telemarketing follow-up to convert casual inquiries into qualified leads.
Enhance your
website
A few cost-effective changes can turn your website into a sales lead
generation machine. Select and use keywords carefully so your site appears
in the search results for your intended audience. Post keyword-rich articles
and case studies on your site. To turn visitors into leads, place offers or
calls-to-action on every page of your website. Back up your claims with
proof, including certifications, awards and customer testimonials.
Move to virtual seminars and workshops
You can cut some of the cost of your seminars and workshops by hosting them
online. Webinars, online product demonstrations and other virtual meetings
eliminate travel expenses of presenters and staff. And virtual events
sometimes enjoy better attendance than live events because attendees don’t
need to leave their offices. You still need to spend some of your marketing
funds promoting your virtual events, but you can save a bundle on travel,
meeting rooms and refreshments.
Put marketing collateral online
My research shows that three in ten requesters still want printed materials
to share with their bosses, colleagues or clients. This ratio also means
seven in ten will be happy and instantly gratified to be directed to your
website or sent PDF files.
You can also
save on printed literature production costs by avoiding expensive metallic
inks, or by taking advantage of excess paper supplies your printer is
willing to discount. Die cuts can be costly, but not if you use a die the
printer already has created. You can also make items in smaller sizes or
print two-sided materials to reduce printing and shipping costs.
Publish
articles on your subject of expertise
Take advantage of inexpensive opportunities such as writing or contributing
articles to industry publications, business magazines, blogs, websites and
even Vistage View. Articles showcase your expertise to a highly targeted
audience of your prospective clients. They can learn more about your company
if you put a short biography at the end of the article and a link to a free
whitepaper or how-to guide.
Use your
article to gain media attention by shortening it and distributing it as a
press release with a newswire service. Make sure your release links back to
the full version of the article posted on your site. Additionally, you can
post comments on relevant online news stories or industry blogs, and in your
comment include a link to your article.
You may also
consider writing a more in-depth version of the article, a white paper or
special report, and offering it to website visitors.
Use
newsletters
Newsletters are another great way to provide customer value and keep your
company’s name top-of-mind without spending a fortune. Consider using your
newsletter to help you identify and qualify prospects. That is, make
newsletter subscription involve filling out a brief survey which asks
questions about people’s level of interest in your products, buying
authority and purchasing horizon. This information can go into your database
for immediate or future follow-up, as appropriate, by marketing or sales. Be
sure to also publish your newsletter on your website.
Provide speakers to meetings and conferences
Another economical marketing tactic is to promote your company’s executives
as potential speakers at key meetings and conferences. Speaking at prominent
events positions those executives as experts. You can also use these events
to generate leads by offering audience members a copy of the presentation, a
free white paper or some other valuable information if they give you a
business card.
Find a marketing partner
Stretch your marketing dollars by teaming up with a company whose products
or services complement yours. By pooling your resources, you and your
partner can get far more mileage from your respective investments than
either of you could alone.
For example,
consider jointly sponsoring a mailing to promote products and services of
both partners to their mutual universe of prospects. Not only do you split
the costs, but you also gain access to additional prospects.
Create a
referral program
Leverage the power of your existing customers by creating a referral program
that rewards customers for sending prospects to your company. Getting
referrals from happy long-term customers may be as easy as simply asking for
it. Additional incentives, although worth considering, may not be required.
These ideas
may trigger additional ways to cut the fat in your marketing programs and
better focus your marketing efforts on driving short-term leads and sales
during these difficult economic times. Doing so will help enhance
marketing’s reputation with senior management as a valuable contributor to
the corporate mission.
M. H. “Mac"
McIntosh is described by many as one of America’s leading
business-to-business sales and marketing consultants and an expert on the
subject of sales leads. For more information, or to request a free
subscription to his newsletter, Sales Lead Report®, visit
www.sales-lead-experts.com
Copyright
2008 Vistage, Inc.
All
rights reserved.
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