Dealing With The Downturn: Three Ways To Thrive & Save in 2008

Three ways to grow and save at the same time.

June 06, 2008
Found in: Articles : News : Web Site Marketing & Strategy :

B-to-B Shift To Online In 2008

A recent survey by BtoB shows although most marketers are not revising their marketing budgets for this year, they are making a significant shift from print to online channels. The survey shows very similar numbers for companies reducing print spending (45.3%) and those increasing online spending (48.5%).
BtoB Survey Feb 2008

This move reflects the growing value of the web in marketing for cost savings, efficiency, accuracy, and measurability which are vital issues in a slowing economy.

Additionally, more companies indicated their intent to increase direct marketing (16.5%), most likely with direct mail, than those who will reduce direct spending (8.7%).

This increased use of direct mail is surprising given the emphasis on cost savings and that 29.4% of companies said they have revised their overall marketing budgets downward for this year. Many of these companies would probably put these direct mail dollars into online initiatives if they saw the numbers.

Why? Maybe an 860% Difference In Cost Per Lead

To illustrate this, a previous story from Internet Marketing site ClickZ gives us a great use case and example. In fact, with the postage and printing cost increases coupled with reduced email delivery costs, the cost differences given here have probably increased.

Imagine you wanted to reach about 90,000 of your customers and prospects to tell them about ways you can help them succeed in this marketplace. Depending on your preference, you will most likely choose one of two methods, Email or Direct Mail.

Both methods reach buyers directly and you also offer a creative and relevant offer for response. Let's say you did both and measured to see which one was more effective.

Companies often choose one or the other and pay accordingly. The results below give weight to the 48.5% of companies that chose to shift resources to online methods.

Let's look at the data with email and direct mail broken our respectively.

The first thing that needs to happen is setting up the campaign. Creating the deliverables, the message, the offer, and getting them in front of the buyer. Here you see the total cost of each campaign. Quite a difference but we haven't see the ROI yet so we'll wait on our conclusions.
Total Cost

The emails and post cards have gone out and we begin to see some responses. Here is the total response of our campaign.
Total Response

Taking the total response numbers above we can calculate a response rate we can compare.
Response Rate

Although responses are good, the ones that are qualified to buy -- leads -- are most important and this shows an 860% difference in the cost of getting a lead using direct mail vs. email.
Cost Per Lead

Although direct mail has its successes, this example shows other avenues should be explored when reaching out to prospective buyers.

Especially in a slowing economy where physical delivery costs are also on the rise.

Consider Your Online Solution

As you consider what part online communications or web marketing will play in your growth strategy in 2008, Enthusiast would love to help you make better decisions by being better informed.

Here are three things you can do to move forward with your online channel:

1. Know Where You Are
   Start with our free Search Engine Equity Score & Report to see why your web site is failing to reach web searchers.
   
2. Know Where Your Competition Is
   Compliment this with an AudienceDNA Report which reveals actual data on search behavior related to your industry, products, and services, giving you a "Top 10" keyword list to focus on for targeted visitors.
3. Know How You Will Measure Success
   Identify measurable goals for your web initiatives to stay focused on revenue generation and ROI. Share your goals with us and let us show you how you can get the return you want, faster than you thought possible.
   

We are here to help you navigate the complex world of web marketing so you can connect to your customers, prospects, and partners to grow your business in 2008.

Additionally, there may be extra incentive for you to invest in your growth as the recent "economic stimulus" legislation provided great incentive for businesses to invest in their future.

References:

BtoB Survey
ClickZ Email/Direct Mail comparison