CRM - October 2007 - (Page 22)

SMB MARKETING they want to treat their customers and prospects and how they want to reach out to those individuals. Unfortunately, for every gunshy SMB unwilling to take the technological leap, there’s an overzealous one under the misapprehension that technology will automatically solve all its problems. Mini Peiris, vice president of product management at NetSuite, warns that technology can help only when a company knows what its specific pain points are. Ideally, SMBs will have prioritized and structured their businesses based on a clear vision of the bigger picture right from the start. Realistically, however, SMBs—especially those just starting up—are more focused on tactical execution and function by “plugging holes and filling gaps,” says McCabe, of AMIPartners. She suggests that companies lacking the bandwidth to see past immediate obligations should focus on the pain points and solve those with what she refers to as an “incremental but integrated approach.” When problem X arises, the most desirable option should specifically address the needs of X while also contributing to a broader solution. As a result, when problem Y arises down the road, companies can hopefully avoid the headaches of trying to integrate a disjointed system. GET IN GEAR There’s no doubt that the Internet has revolutionized the way businesses present themselves to the 21st-century customer. From building an ad campaign to managing customer contacts, almost every function needed to run a business can be facilitated online. Simple to use, cost effective, and accessible almost anywhere, the technology available to SMBs enables the best of both worlds: leveraging the resources of their community and using it to extend their reach. Because of the Internet’s convenience and the reach it provides, marketers have gradually steered away from investing “None of this is rocket science. It’s just a different way of thinking about how [SMBs] need to do business in 2007.” heavily in traditional forms of advertisement. Direct mail has become “a dying art form,” Peiris says: relatively expensive, and essentially a one-way communication. Mail also doesn’t readily lend itself to tracking either progress or success. Other physical modes of marketing include networking at trade shows, placing ads in newspapers, and generating word of mouth— but, again, these are difficult to measure and assess. That brings us to the Web.“Ten years ago it was ‘nice’ to have a Web site. Now, the Web site is the face of the company whether you’re large or small,” Swensrud says. Today’s advanced searching capabilities satiate customer demands for instant gratification. Individuals, partners, resellers, and suppliers all look to a company’s Web site for anything from contact infor22 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | OCTOBER 2007 mation to product offerings—and if they can’t find your Web site, they’re going to Google you, Swensrud says. In short, marketing in the modern world means having an online presence— even, perhaps especially, for SMBs. Technology has provided SMBs the ability to take advantage of electronic marketing, the most popular method being email marketing. “When people think email communication is easy, I immediately think they’re doing it wrong—and they’re probably doing something illegal,” says Tom De Bens, ad operations manager at Miami-based marketing specialist Media 8. Like all marketing campaigns, emails first need to be targeted, timely, and relevant; only then can SMBs employ best practices and avoid breaking spam laws and regulations. When the customer pool is unknown, there are services that provide lists with individual contact information. Lists, however, can be hit-or-miss. “It doesn’t take long for a list to go stale,” Callaghan warns, depending on the source. “I’ve seen someone buy a list of a thousand names, 10 percent of which were [already] dead.” It’s very difficult to be certain of a list’s quality; Callaghan recommends only buying lists that have been updated within the past six months and that are provided by a highly reputable vendor. And lists demand constant vigilance: After acquiring or building a customer list, companies still have to continually cleanse, manage, integrate, and update it. Emails are also required by law to include a link allowing the customers to decide if and when they want to unsubscribe. Unfortunately, most companies neglect to do this, which is a violation of spamming regulations, Callaghan says. In addition to being illegal, failure to include this feature is a missed opportunity: Including the opt-out helps companies winnow their lists to only those customers who want to hear from them. Straightforward email applications such as Microsoft Outlook are fine for individuals but when it comes to segmenting and mass mailing, companies need a tool that automates these processes. Marketing automation is a multilevel project that SMBs need to tackle if they hope to make the most of their email marketing campaigns. A solid automation solution will, among other functions, monitor customers who were sent an email, track whether the email was opened (and what links were clicked on), and track whether the email contributed to increasing revenue. This visibility lets SMBs gauge their email campaigns on an ongoing basis—the only way they’ll know how and where to improve. SMBs can also turn to pay-per-click advertisements through Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture). Marketers can select their own keywords and for a small initial investment their ad will appear based on its relevance to the user’s keyword search. “Eighty percent of my [new online] revenue comes from pay-per-click advertisewww.destinationCRM.com http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - October 2007

Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity Coupons Without the Clipping Something Special in the Air Oracle’s Name Game Market Focus: Sports & Entertainment: CRM Scores for Sports Franchises Statistically Speaking The Pulse Required Reading Are We There Yet? Help Them Help Themselves The Chain Gang Pay Day OutClick Media Gets a Second Opinion Best Kiteboarding Makes a Splash with NetSuite True-Blue Service Documentation Secret of My Success The Tipping Point Re:Tooling Pint of View

CRM - October 2007

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