You need to consider how each of the elements above affects on your business and find the right balance to maximise profits. To get this equation right you must:
An obvious but expensive way to generate exposure for your product is advertising. This could include advertising in newspapers, magazines, industry or specialist publications, online advertising, radio and television, as well as sponsorships.
When used effectively, advertising can:
- Sell to new and existing customers
- Promote new products and services
- Publicise special offers, sales and events
- Build and maintain brand awareness
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Announce price changes.
Audience and messaging
As with any marketing activity, it is essential to identify your target market in advance to maximise the results from your campaign. Draw up a profile of the different groups that could become customers as a result of the advertising program.
It is important to define your message for each audience. Work out what is the most important benefit of your product to them. What problem does your technology solve? Remember you are selling the customers on the benefits you bring, not the technological features. Expert help can be invaluable in defining your messaging.
Be aware that a one-off advertising blitz over a short timeframe is not enough to create awareness of your company and products. Normally an ongoing campaign is needed to keep your brand and products in customers' minds. While you may have peaks and troughs coinciding with product launches or other major events, advertising is a long-term strategy designed to constantly reinforce your message.
Choosing where to advertise
When deciding where to advertise, ask media outlets to send you a media kit with information on their readership, audience profile and circulation details. Cross-reference this against your target customer profile to find the best fit.
If you are trying to reach the corporate market, trade journals can build overall awareness but they may not reach your target market – CIOs, CFOs and CEOs. Unless you communicate with these 'C-level' decision-makers, you will not generate the kind of exposure your company really needs.
Mass media such as television, radio, billboards, newspapers and consumer magazines may not give you good value for money in the early stages of development. These formats are aimed at a larger, less defined audience. You may be better off trying to attract editorial coverage through public relations.
When launching a technology product, public relations (PR) should form part of your marketing campaign in many target countries. PR is designed to ensure positive editorial coverage in trade and consumer media.
Without polished PR, you run the risk of making a poor first impression on influential people in the media. These people can have a powerful impact on your business success by shaping customer perceptions about your company and product.
Badly written press releases or ill-prepared media interviews can be the kiss of death for a young hi-tech company. At best, you will simply be ignored. At worst, negative coverage may taint your company's image.
The power of PR
Public relations can be very powerful because customers view third-party news stories as more credible and less biased than advertising. Positive publicity can increase your company's mind-share and create awareness and demand for your products. And positive editorial coverage can be used in future marketing and promotional materials. The best part is that this can be achieved at a far lower cost than advertising.
In order to gain publicity, it is important to gather newsworthy information about your company. Try to generate excitement and create a buzz about your product.
You should plan a public relations campaign well in advance of your product launch. Elements may include:
- Press release: one or more interesting, professionally written press releases that pitch a good story angle to differentiate yourself.
- Press kit: a comprehensive press kit, with background on your company and products, white papers, FAQs and colour photographs (hard copy or on CD-ROM).
- Demonstration: an inspiring product demonstration presented by a knowledgeable and personable spokesperson.
- Press tour: meet the press to introduce your company and products.
You then need to assemble a well-researched targeted list of editors to contact with press releases. If you can successfully establish a dialogue with the media, you are halfway towards achieving your PR objectives. Maintain these relationships through regular – but not excessive – communication with the press whenever you have something interesting to say.
Hiring a professional PR consultant or agency is helpful. Look for someone with a particular focus on the media and analysts who shape perceptions in your target market. If your budget is limited, look for freelance PR consultants, as they tend to be more affordable than agencies. Whoever you engage, ask for references and follow up to ascertain whether past clients were satisfied with their work and results.
Promoting your business through direct mail can be an effective and affordable marketing strategy. This is especially true for high-tech companies exporting to Europe and North America, where direct marketing is an entrenched sales tool. Direct mail can help you reach selected prospects cost-effectively.
Advantages of direct marketing:
- Direct marketing can be focused. Mass media relies on a 'shotgun approach' to hit a diverse universe of potential customers. In contrast, direct marketing can be targeted at a single individual at a particular address. How effective this is depends on the quality of the list you use.
- Direct marketing sales can be predicted with accuracy. By carefully testing and tracking responses on a small scale, you can effectively predict the results of a large-scale campaign.
- Direct marketing takes your product to the customer. Direct marketing can make it easier for customers to purchase your products. For example, you can alert customers to new products or upgrades before they go on sale. You can also make buying easy with a pre-populated order form.
- Direct marketing is economical. Depending on the magnitude and complexity of a campaign, direct marketing can be a cost-effective way to reach a sizeable audience of potential customers on an individual basis.
Email is an extremely cheap way to contact customers. However, sending email en masse to cold prospects (spamming) can damage your reputation. You can build up opt-in email lists by asking visitors to your website if they would like to receive emailed updates and information. Customer newsletters, tips on product usage, information about new releases and even Christmas greetings offer opportunities for regular contact with customers.
Including a reply device will assist in promoting an immediate response and provide a clear barometer of the number of responses. This may include a voucher, a reply form pre-populated with customer information, a web link with a 'gateway' mechanism or an email receipt notification. Reply devices are the best measure of your campaign’s success and allows you to track the cost per response and eventually the number of sales.
A trade show is the ultimate marketing event. Trade shows are a global industry worth billions of dollars and drawing in millions of potential customers – and giving you the chance to examine competitors and their products.
Exhibiting at major trade shows can be costly. Booth space is a major expense, particularly when you factor in design, construction, furniture hire, transport and floor-space rental. Add the cost of your travel, accommodation, marketing materials, freight and staff time, and a trade show becomes a major undertaking that can put a large dent in the budget of most Australian hi-tech companies.
Rather than generic all-encompassing shows, there are many highly targeted trade shows for particular IT sectors. When a trade show’s audience is narrowly defined, the long-term benefits of participation can outweigh the costs.
A trade show allows communication with a targeted audience of prospective customers, all gathered in the same place and primed to buy. Many of these people will have no prior awareness of your company and products. Trade shows give you an opportunity to demonstrate your products first hand. This has greater impact than a brochure or website and is more cost-effective than an individual sales call. Trade shows also attract many journalists, allowing you to try to gain publicity for your product.
Trade shows provide introductions to prospective distributors, resellers, venture partners and investors. Moreover, exhibitors usually showcase similar products, so this gives you a chance to assess your competitors.
If the costs of exhibiting at particular trade shows are too prohibitive for your company, consider timing your next overseas visit to coincide with a local trade event. In this way, you can still analyse competitor activities and proactively approach exhibitors to assess their potential as a partner.
Industry conferences also provide the opportunity to network with a highly focussed audience in a particular niche sector. Many conferences also provide display space at reasonable costs that allow you set up a small information stand to attract delegates during the conference.
If you decide to exhibit at a trade show, you will need to plan carefully to maximise your return on investment. This means selecting events carefully, conducting market research and taking a strategic approach.
Another effective way to promote your business and products is sponsorship. This refers to sponsoring conferences, seminars, publications, local events and promotions at trade shows. The intention is always to gain greater exposure for your company and build further brand recognition among the people that count.
In an environment such as a trade show or industry conference, a number of sponsorship techniques can be used effectively. These include:
For effective sponsorships, it pays to think creatively – especially if you have a low budget. This is one form of marketing where a well-executed and novel idea can create more buzz than expensive alternatives.