While the question of whether to hire an ad agency or to begin a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) marketing campaign is quite interesting, it may not even surface in the marketing meetings of many small businesses, due to their limited budgets. Instead, the question may sound more like, “Since we can’t afford to hire an ad agency, how can we most effectively run our own independent marketing?” Given this formulation, DIY marketing sounds like a second rate option.
Yet, AdAge boosts the confidence of small business owners in this recent clip:
DIY marketing has been a huge trend lately, and I think it’s because of technology,” said Ivana Taylor, president and CMO of small-business marketing consultancy Third Force. “There are things available now that allow people to do so much marketing themselves … It’s almost like you have to wonder, why would you hire an ad agency?
In fact, although the AdAge article focuses on how social media enables small businesses to succeed in Do-It-Yourself Marketing, many of the the arguments hold true for automated phone systems. With the evolution of cloud telephony over the past few years, small businesses no longer need to invest in expensive equipment in order to compete with big businesses.
Here’s 5 ways to use phones in your SMB’s DIY marketing campaign:
- Mobile marketing- the ability to reach potential and existing customers while on-the-go, in targeted locations, and on devices that they already own, is generating a big buzz surrounding the trend towards mobile marketing. Fortunately for small businesses, these marketing campaign costs are not out of the ballpark and many services don’t require any sophisticated technical knowledge. For example, check out Ez Texting’s great blog post “50 Fanatanstic Uses of SMS Text Messaging” for examples of simple mobile marketing campaigns in a variety of industries. Browse over to their Ez Guide to Mobile Marketing to learn about the first steps of a DIY mobile marketing campaign. And don’t forget to read PMI’s recent posts on mobile marketing, including: McDonald’s Interactive Billboard, Honor Earth Day with a Mobile Marketing Campaign, Draw in your Audience, Capture Your Customers, and Target Goes Mobile with Smartphone Coupons.
- Voice broadcasts – boost your CRM and increase your customer interaction by sending out voice broadcasts to your customers. These voice broadcasts could be as simple as a thank you message for a recent purchase, an in-home delivery scheduling, or a follow up call about newly available services.
- Hosted IVR – set up customer surveys without all the legwork, through a simple web interface. The new technologies of automated phone systems enable SMBs access to the marketing value of customer surveys without high costs or extensive agent phone calls.
- Click-to-call – bring your online customers to your phone system, with a click-to-call button on your website.
- Call Tracking – keep track of all of your leads from different ads so that you can intelligently plan your print, online and media advertising, all from a simple website. When launching a DIY marketing campaign, setting up the proper analytics, reports, and tracking procedures is arguably the most important step. Check out Ifbyphone’s blog post (and great video) about the importance of toll-free phone call tracking numbers.
More ideas about how SMBs can use phones in their DIY marketing? Please share your comments below.
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