Marketing during a financial crisis

So, what do we do then? Marketing by definition is a task that requires the expenditure of money. It can’t be helped. In order to do a proper job, cash needs to be spent as free marketing will only get you so far. As that’s the case, marketing spend needs to be kept tightly in check, else that all important marketing yardstick known as ROI will be unacceptably low. Fortunately, online marketing is extremely measurable and there are a number of ways to exploit this, as well as making the most of performance based budgets. This post will cover 2 distinct areas that you can quickly and immediately try to optimise.

Let others do the hard work

Unless you’ve found a truly magical niche market where you’re the only player, the chances are pretty good that you have competitors. Just about everybody’s who’s anybody is going to have a presence on search engines’ paid ads areas. There you’ll be fighting against all sorts of online competitors, some who will be selling the same products and those who are just comparing them or talking about them. But do you really need to have a presence for every product class and type that you sell? Probably not, as you might find that you only sell a small percentage of your product portfolio, or that only some of them will be able to sufficiently cover the costs of your marketing spend. So you can instantly cut out the chaff and focus on your bread and butter products.

Then there are the keywords that you’re bidding for. The high level, broad, generic keywords are the most competitive and are a great statement of intent. It shows everybody what exactly you’re about and corporate responsibility may dictate that you have to be here as it is your Oxford Street. But, in belt tightening times, it might be more prudent to let these slip a bit. There are far better converting keywords that you could be focusing on. If you have a big brand to protect, then it might not be possible to drop the Oxford Street generic keywords. If, however, you’re a much smaller organisation without much of a brand, it’s probably safe to be a bit sneaky. Let the bigger fish get their speculative traffic, target those people who are ready to purchase, those who are right at the end of their purchasing cycle. These long tail keywords are probably your best bet, particularly if you’re price competitive too.

Collaboration is the key

Love them or hate them, affiliate marketing is probably the best model for online marketing. Remember, it’s a win-win situation a lot of the time. You might be giving a bit away in terms of profit margin, but it is for a guaranteed sale. If anybody approached me and said that my marketing spend would come in every week at exactly 4% of overall sales, I’d call them crazy. Although it’s probably unrealistic to make affiliate marketing your entire marketing plan, it is possible to make them a bigger part of it instead. Provide as much information as you can and try to meet as many of them as possible. In an industry with seemingly little loyalty, you’re going to have to work very hard to get hard working affiliates onside.

Also put a bit of thought into your commission structure and levels. Big market players who have massive brand strength will automatically draw the attention themselves. They’ll get the lion’s share of the affiliates, as well as the lion’s share of the end users. Smaller guys will struggle a little more, but is there an alternative to just offering more commission. If you happen to be a market leader in price, you should definitely consider offering slightly less than the going rate and convince your extended sales force with your undoubtedly stronger conversion. If your conversion is not so good, even though your prices are low, then you probably want to focus on fixing your site!

More to it than that

Of course, this is certainly not everything that you should do with online marketing in a recession. There’s much more stuff you can look at, including improving relevancy with email communications and website personalisation. However, these are quicker fixes than everything else that makes up your online marketing mix and if you are struggling to know where to begin, PPC and affiliates are a good starting point.

Online versus offline marketing

I’m going to try to explain a little bit about the differences between online marketing and offline marketing based on my experience. It’s a good exercise to do, especially when you have to pitch to a potential client or when you’re trying to convert a new supplier to online retailing. For me, the first step is to understand the differences between online and offline shopping behaviour.

Offline shopping

For those who are “nonline”, shopping is all about the experience – wandering around, browsing, chatting to those who you’re with and enjoying a bit of spending therapy. As a result, all the marketing campaigns that surround you have got a tough job in catching your attention. Advertisers have their work cut out to produce the most outrageous bill boards or point of sale posters, whist marketers will be trying to catch you when you’re actively looking for something to buy. It’s extremely likely that you will miss a lot of the activity around you. Marketers will be looking to drive footfall with their work, though they will not really be able to track how successful they will be. Adverts, posters, gimmicks, short skirts… they’re all out there and they’re all trying to generate leads.

Online shopping

Online shoppers know what they’re looking for and are not prepared to be interrupted when looking for it. Advertisers must understand that their messages have to be targeted. Banner blindness exists mainly in mature online shopping communities such as that in the UK, but not so much in countries such as Hong Kong, where online shopping has not taken off. Trigger happy surfers will be the advertisers’ best friends. Marketing activity online will then be focussed around converting the long tail searchers, people who are ready to buy and looking for the best deal. PPC, affiliates and shopping comparison sites will be the core of your marketing activity and you’ll be able to distinguish between which ones are your best performers.

Integrated campaigns

If you are able to do both online and offline marketing, don’t treat them in isolation. From my time at Comet, I knew of an online marketing manager who was prepared to remove his best selling “TVs” PPC campaign on Boxing Day, the busiest trading day of the entire year, because he was afraid that he’d only end up driving footfall instead of increasing ROI on paid search. It made no sense, TVs are the bread and butter of Comet, easily the largest product in the sales mix, but this marketing manager didn’t care, and it seemed that he just wanted to protect his reputation. Flip this example on its head and you could imagine TV adverts that didn’t have website addresses written in at the very end. Would this be marketing suicide?

The most fundamental thing to remember is that more and more people are using both online and offline to shop. People are quite happy to put physical effort into going to see a product before looking for a bargain online. It’s perfectly normal to do so. If you want the product today, then you might even look online to see if your local store has it in stock or at least sells the item you’re looking for.

Conclusions

So, there you go, a very brief explanation on what the differences between online and offline marketing are. There is so much more detail to get into, and it would be impossible for me to put it into a blog post, it would turn into something more like a white paper. If you’re going to take anything away from reading this, remember that you need to remind yourself of the modern day shopper that will use as many forms of research as possible. This population of shoppers is growing all the time, so if you think the Internet is still a fad then you’re going to be in for a bit of a surprise. Define the boundaries and objectives of online and offline marketing and make sure you mesh them together.

Back in Stamford

So, here I am, back in Stamford, just like I was 2 years ago - jobless and just sat in my room. There are some differences, though. First of all, I have more shit in my room, there's plenty more stuff that I've accumulated over time. Secondly, I resigned from this last job of mine, a calculated decision and one that weighs very heavily on my heart, such is my affection for my previous role. And finally (because all good lists come in 3s), I have my new life/adventure to look forward to - I'll be working in Hong Kong, fulfilling an ambition to live and work over there.

It's amazing thinking about how far I've come over these past two years. I'll never forget my time at Crave, it really gave me a head start on life in online and allowed me to cut my teeth in the harsh retail world. But it's my time at Comet that has seriously sculpted me into what I am now. Under the supervision of so many good managers, colleagues and friends, I had learnt so much and developed into a strong, competent marketer that the job that I loved so dearly became a bit drab. And now, based on that experience, I've been offered the best opportunity that could have possibly come my way. I can't wait.

It's been far too long again....

Ah ha! Well, it's certainly something that I've not been paying much attention to, but I do plan on cranking up blogging activity. Why? Well, for the simple reason that I'm going to be embarking on a new adventure.

Yes, I'm going to be leaving the UK, moving to Hong Kong where I will start a new job and new life. I reckon I'll keep a diary, so I might save myself some petty cash and just write on this blog instead. I don't know yet, I might just keep everything private instead. But 1 thing is for sure, and that is that I'm dead excited and scared in equal measures. I just need a bit of courage, but once I'm out there, I'm sure I'll be just fine.

It's been a while

Well, I know it's been a while since I last posted anything on my little blog, but there has been good reason for it. I've been busy, not only with work, but with my course as well.

I recently enrolled in a course with the British College of Journalism and by the end of it, I will have a diploma in Freelance Journalism. I have so far had 1 assignment, with another one on its way sometime this weekend. I'm really enjoying it, although all I've really done is research topics to write about. I'm going to be writing up one of my follow up ideas with the next assignment, 800 words to be precise and I can't wait. I've made a start on it already, racking up about 600 words already, so I guess I'm nearly finished. Not quite sure about what I'm trying to say with it, but I am trying to make it as professional as possible. Going to have to give the tutorial a good read through before I submit it, as I'm sure it'll give me an indication of quotes and stuff like that, and maybe basic interviewing techniques.

I shall let you know how it goes.

Beef jerky addiction

Since getting back from their cruise around North America, my parents have been lavishing me with gifts. Typical tourist style clothing, an endless supply of playing cards, a wooden yoyo, a set of Russian dolls and holiday snaps and video footage make up the treats. However, the only one to really catch my attention is the beef jerky. Oh my, it's wonderful, it's tasty, it's almost wrong, but it tastes sooooo good! I've gorged myself silly on two flavours, teriyaki and smoked. I can confirm that both are exquisite and urge everyone who has never tried beef jerky to give their teeth a good work out and take the plunge.

PS3 withdrawal symptoms?

Since I completed Metal Gear 4: Guns of the Patriots, I have found myself both relieved and a little bit at a loss. Having spent a good month or so playing the game for a couple of hours every night, I’ve now come to realise just how big a part of my life the PS3 is. I now spend a lot of my time working out instead as there’s almost always nothing on TV to interest me. This isn’t all bad. In reality, it’s probably a good thing as now more parts of my body get a work out instead of just my thumbs.

It’s certainly an impressive console. For those who like to justify things before purchasing, you might want to also consider the implications on your life. Once you find a really good game to play, you may as well say goodbye to a lot of the past times you had before. Maybe I’m just an addict, but I like to throw myself into these things and fully absorb myself in the action. So, whilst I spent a large portion of my life playing Metal Gear Solid, I never thought about what I’d do after it, in this post MGS period I now find myself in. I’m thinking that I should probably invest in a new game to lose myself in, but at the same time, I can’t really afford it. Justifiers, take note – once the grip of the PS3 takes hold, you need money to feed your addiction. I’ve got a few games, but maybe it’s part of my all or nothing personality that makes playing so many a bit of a chore. I have to be really up for it, really want to play it to get me to stick the disk in and go. I know that once I start, I’ll be lost for a few hours, which is never a good thing if you want to sleep. Always try to wind down before hitting the hay.

I am, however, pleased to say that I don’t miss sitting on my beanbags (I have two for the ultimate in comfort) hammering away with my digits. Getting back into the real world has been a painless process and I’m enjoying it. I will no doubt save up a few quid to splash out on a new game sometimes soon in the future, so don’t worry too much about that. The new Tomb Raider game will be out, so I’ll be extra keen to give that a go. I’m lucky that I’m quite sensible. I’ve never really done the thing where I’ve turned down going to the pub so I can play games. Some people I know have stayed in to play online poker all night, but this could be more to do with a gambling addiction. The PS3 though, is a different animal. Getting hooked on this could be a lot worse to your health.

Having said all of that, it’s still the best ‘investment’ I’ve made in a long time. It’s an all singing and all dancing machine.