The Costco Connection - October 2015

OCTOBER 2015 ;e Costco Connection 23

By Steven Van Yoder

AS THE DIGITAL economy becomes a fact of life, many businesses have come to rely on their website and social media efforts to drive sales. Seeking free exposure and greater access to buyers, they’ve abandoned traditional marketing in favor of blogging, email marketing, social media and other online channels as a means of generating leads and sales.

Unfortunately, online-only marketing is not delivering for many businesses. As more companies vie for attention online, reaching buyers is more challenging. According to a study by DoubleClick (a subsidiary of Google that develops and provides Internet ad services), online advertising yields only a 0.06 percent click-through rate. Another survey from small-business consultant Manta reveals that more than half of small-business owners ( 59 percent) don’t see a return on investment from their social media efforts.

These statistics show that small businesses can’t afford to invest everything in a single marketing tactic that may or may not bring results. This also explains why some companies are revisiting online-only marketing in favor of a more diverse marketing strategy that integrates traditional offline tactics, either on their own or in combination with online approaches, to more effectively reach prospects and produce better results.

A case study

Canadian-based Rip n Go ( ripngo.ca) sells waterproof, washable absorbent pads and sheets for people suffering from incontinence. When the company launched in 2013, with a limited marketing budget and no concrete marketing plan, they turned to social media and search engine advertising, hoping to reach parents, senior citizens and people with limited mobility.

After a few months, their online market-
ing was not producing results. “Online shop-
pers weren’t searching for products like ours
because they didn’t know it existed, and peo-
ple weren’t talking about incontinence on
social media because it’s taboo,” says Tarique
Khan, head of business development at Rip n
Go. “We changed course and shifted our
efforts toward partnering with nonprofits that
advocated for incontinence sufferers.”
Rip n Go forged a cross-promotional alli-
ance with the Canadian Continence
Foundation (CCF) and included the non-
profit in Rip n Go’s public relations efforts. “I
called media outlets, but instead of pitching
our products I cited statistics from the CCF
showing that 10 percent of the Canadian pop-
ulation suffered from bladder control,” says
Khan. “That got editors’ attention.”
The company’s efforts led to feature sto-
ries on the Superior Morning show on CBC
Radio in Thunder Bay, Daytime Ottawa and
The Globe and Mail, which boosted sales and
garnered inquiries from retailers about carry-
ing the company’s products, while raising
awareness of incontinence. “Our relationship
with Rip n Go has been invaluable,” says
Jacqueline Cahill, executive director of the

“
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CCF. “We’re now working together to form a hub of like-minded Canadian companies that can help us promote continence awareness.”

Different approaches

Don’t be afraid to experiment and look at different marketing approaches that might be more effective at reaching your audience. Here’s a look at a few.

Know your market. Marketing programs must be based on how targeted customers find, evaluate and ultimately purchase your products and services. Ask your existing customers, read trade publications or contact professional associations comprising your prospects. This type of basic market research, besides being easy and affordable, will tell you how you can most effectively reach your prospects and persuade them to buy from you.

Target “unexpecting” consumers. Online marketing tends to attract buyers who are already shopping. However, you can often achieve better results by marketing to potential customers who are not actively seeking your particular products and services.

“Sometimes you find what you’re looking for when you’re not looking for it, and that’s certainly true for consumers,” says Costco member Mitch Dowell, founder of Baltimore-based Brand Experiences. “Whether it’s sign-age at a bus stop or train station, or a simple postcard mailing, offline marketing can reach and convert buyers when they aren’t expecting it.”

Pick up the phone. An old-fashioned phone call can humanize your marketing while providing cost-effective opportunities to reach potential buyers (rather than waiting for buyers to contact you). In a survey by DiscoverOrg (which provides data to market-

N / S H U T TER S TO

C K Mixing up
your message
Integrating online and offline marketing
small business
By attending industry
trade shows, we’ve
moved our business
from a niche product to
one that’s experiencing
widespread adoption.
—Dan Wade
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p
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’n —Dan Wade