Secure your job and your budget, prove your ROI
Despite the down turn in our wonderful economy, experts are predicting an increased spend online in 2009. Why? Because companies are scrutinising their budgets and where they are being spent, paying increased attention to cheaper alternatives, the internet is the most obvious option.
Carly Prowen expert in email marketing states;
‘The major advantage of online marketing besides the low investment, high return opportunities, is the measurability. Marketing budgets are being scrutinised and if you can’t prove you’re department is bringing a sizeable return on investment you’ll see your budget cut, fast!’
So why in a downturn economy is the marketing budget so often the first to go? Traditional forms of advertisements are notoriously difficult to prove an undeniable return on investment therefore short sighted budget controllers see it as a disposable cost. Right or wrong this is happening and it’s up to the marketing department to prove their worth to not only keep their budgets but to keep their jobs!
With easily implementable software you are able to track a users exact behaviour from the time they open a promotional email through to where they clicked, which link they clicked first and how long they spent on each page. This enables you to measure the level of interest and whether or not they have gone on to request contact from the company which could result in a deal. With just a few clicks you are able to quantify how effective your online marketing campaign was. Armed with both fully quantifiable and provable results and an effective ROI, the finance department will quickly see your budget as a valuable resource to bring in revenue.
A more cost effective way, particularly if you’ve already seen a cut in your budget, is to outsource aspects of your online marketing and take advantage of the expertise they have and preferably hire a company that has worked with technology companies in the past. A word of warning though, there are a plethora of companies out there claiming to be experts in the field that have little or no experience in effective results oriented online marketing. Speak with people in your industry that have used your prospective online marketing companies and discover what result they have achieved for them.
Your next point of call is to ensure the website you are driving traffic to is of high quality and effectively represents your company message. Create a user friendly site that is presented in a way that prospects will understand not what you think looks best. Again it is a good idea to outsource this kind of work but ensure you choose a company that has your overall brand image and corporate message in mind and has a full understanding of this.
Another great advantage of online marketing is how quickly you can implement a campaign and the speed at which you are able to report is almost instant. Secure your budget and discover the effectiveness of online marketing today.
