Marketing Survival Newsletter - The Best Marketing Vehicle for You
One of the most difficult and costly decisions a developer can make is how to market their product. Difficult because it’s hard to know what marketing vehicles will get you the best results, and costly because it can take months to find out your campaign is not working, and by then you’ve already blown your budget.
In this article I’ll give you three marketing examples and explain to you how and when we used them. Understand, my examples are specific to their application and any marketing plan must be customized to each application. But, what is true for all plans is that they must begin with matching the marketing vehicle with the objective. If that can be done successfully you will save money, time, and open the door to success.
EXAMPLE ONE
50 Blue Chip Clients
For several years I owned a company in England that sold technical software directly to CAD users. When I started the company most people told me I was nuts, that large CAD users in the UK would not purchase product from a mail order house. I thought they would.
My strategy was to build an image for the company as a knowledgeable, professional software vendor (which we were), that provided easy access to quality product. If we could build the image, I knew that we could then sell product. This is the field of dreams theory, “Build it and...”
In this example I looked at media advertising as a vehicle for introducing the company and products. We wanted broad exposure quickly, and ads reach a large number of people and can create an impression quickly. We ran a series of one and two page advertisements over a one year period. We used techniques like keeping certain parts of the ad the same to create an identity. We also implemented a multi-step follow up campaign that included direct mail, telemarketing, and a 5 minute fax response policy.
By the end of the first year we had achieved our goal. Companies knew of us, and over 50 of the top 100 blue chip companies in the UK had placed us on their suppliers list. This was the first time most of them had ever purchased technical software by phone.
To summarize, we used a combination of
to achieve our goal and stay within our strategy.
EXAMPLE TWO
New Dealers, New Markets
More recently we had a client who was looking to expand sales through his dealer channel. He had an established product, but felt that he was not exposing his product to a wide enough audience. Our strategy was to first expand his existing dealer channel (to open new markets), and through this expanded channel, improve sales.
This is the "2-step" strategy.
For this client we developed an aggressive, multi-step, direct mail campaign that was focused on dealers. In each piece we made a compelling offer, fully explained the benefits of our products, and directed them to take an action. Each response was pursued with a multi-step follow up campaign. After several filtering steps we arranged for a product demonstration.
In this campaign we used only direct mail and telemarketing because we had a small well defined target market. Within four months we had contacted a pre-determined number of dealers, exceeded our goal for responses, and signed several new dealers in strategic geographic areas.
To summarize, we used a combination of
to move them to the next step of meeting the company’s representative.
EXAMPLE THREE
Momentum, Step by Step
A third client came to us with the challenge of introducing both their company and a new product, with the ultimate goal of distributing through a dealer channel. We knew that in order to build a dealer channel we first had to demonstrate demand for the product.
Our strategy was therefore to first build company and product awareness in the market, then create sales, then build a dealer distribution channel.
We call this the “Next Small Step” strategy.
Just like the company in example one, this client needed broad exposure quickly. But, they also needed to create sales quickly for a narrow line of products, and that required filtered leads. To achieve broad exposure and pull in hot leads we created a multiple strike strategy that included ads, postcards, direct mailings, PR, and application articles. Each activity was scheduled to maximize the others potential and take advantage of the momentum created.
As in example one, we also implemented sophisticated response activities that included data-collection, mailings, demos, and telemarketing. The result was an 82% close rate on evaluation programs, and significant market penetration.
Once we had created company and product awareness, and established the product in the market, we then approached dealers, by direct mail and telemarketing, with a solid dealer partnership offer. This included support materials, offers for free demos and product, and ongoing technical support. Within two months we had over 35 dealers with the expectation of 100 within one year.
To summarize,
These three examples illustrate how a combination of marketing vehicles can be used to create a complete and effective marketing plan. Each is different, but similar in that they began by matching the marketing vehicles with the marketing objectives, and then effectively following through on each activity.
Of course there are other factors that contribute to successful marketing such as long-term, consistent, multi-faceted marketing, testing, measuring results, and quickly responding to those results. But, in all cases starting with the right match of marketing vehicles opens the door to success.
You might feel that some of the marketing activities I listed are outside of your budget. Effective marketing does not have to cost a fortune. In fact, results are never directly relational to cost, they are almost always relational to the quality of the campaign and its implementation.
~Nick Vasilieff
This newsletter was written by Nickolai N. Vasilieff; freelance writer and marketing consultant specializing in high technology industries.
For more information see www.nvasilieff.com. To contact Nick with questions or feedback, call 503-267-6339 or email vasilieff@mac.com.
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