The Pontiflex Blog

CEO Update: Small Business; Smart Business

July 17, 2008 at 9:43 am Arun Krishnan Leave a comment

In a byline published earlier this week in DM News, I spoke about a topic I am passionate about: the role of marketing in growing a small business.  After all, marketing plays a crucial role in growing my own business – a small but rapidly growing business.

In a slowing economy, marketing is often the first head that is chopped off the proverbial block. Paradoxically, boosting marketing in a downturn offers a small business an excellent chance to make its presence felt in a clutter-free environment.

There are many ways of marketing to potential prospects and converting them to sales. Which brings up the question – of all the marketing options available, which one is most appropriate for a business looking to enter the online advertising marketplace?

In today’s economy even large businesses have to think like small businesses when it comes to investing their marketing dollars.  And of course, small businesses especially have to think like small businesses.

They need to focus on:

a)     Acquiring leads to grow their pipeline in the most cost-effective way

b)     Getting qualified leads to ensure that most of them convert, thus allowing for more bang for the buck

As the excellent Duct Tape Marketing Blog says, the hardest part about marketing is remembering that it is about the money.  For that reason, I find it difficult to invest in media that produce low returns on investment – be it print, cable TV or even online banners ads. Search engine marketing is like an unopened, gift wrapped box during the holidays – on some days I find a bountiful of happiness; on others it throws up a pair of yellow socks – and an expensive one at that.

There’s no single formula for a successful marketing campaign. Some of our clients use transparent CPL marketing at the front end of the campaign to get leads, and pay for leads. They then use the leads to build newsletters and community sites, and engage consumers through these venues. They find this useful for winning new business and increasing repeat business.

Marketing is no longer a one-time announcement – it is a two-way conversation, and one that is not only good for our clients, but also excellent for driving growth in our own businesses.

Zephrin Lasker, CEO and Co-founder, Pontiflex

Entry filed under: Best Practices, CEO Update, Lead Generation, Small Business. Tags: .