Limited time to
hit target ?? : Resort to Online marketing campaigns
Despite India being the land of digital start ups many of us still languish in marketing proposals and succumb to day to day targets.
By 15th of several months I have occasionally wished for (a) a client who would read my killer proposal and commit a huge investment instantly, (b) a boss who would say ‘Its Ok Pooja, next month will be stellar. I won’t ask you to justify your salary this month!’, (c) additional hands to dial phone numbers of C Category clients because panic makes me think like a scatter brain and frantically cold call, (d - my favourite) a genie who can translate my relentless efforts into revenues.
Well I did find my genie in the form Online Marketing!
During my stint with WWF– India as a Partnership Manager my team had a pressing need to raise funds enough to exceed the yearly target. Over the year we worked on India’s biggest fund-raising campaigns: Earth Hour and Save the Tiger but for a team of three it was impossible to execute another ambitious campaign that too in the last quarter. WWF India office was averse to new tools yet the tech enthusiast I decided to try digital media anyway. I explored opportunities with Ebay (a dormant stakeholder). My media planner friend informed that Volkswagen was re-branding as Think Blue (a CSR initiative) and has tied up with the Indian Cricket Team for promotion. I met the VW PR Head to see our ‘fit’.I synchronized the interests of the three parties:
- Volkswagen: An international NGO will endorse the sustainability initiative and rebranding.
- Ebay : An auction of VW car on their website for a cause will attract high net worth individuals.
- WWF: Increase in online visibility, media publicity, celebrity endorsement (cricketers), raise funds.
Prior to the launch of the Auction a buzz was created –
- Invites to participate in the online auction was sent out to HNIs (both hard copy and online invites) of WWF, Ebay and Volkwagon. Additionally to ICICI’s (a WWF partner) HNIs.
- Individuals could RSVP through ebay link.
- Synchronized reminders were sent out on emails through Google Calendars.
This tripartite partnership was a breakthrough since for the first time WWF-India used an online partner to raise funds by auctioning a car signed by Indian cricketers.
In two weeks we had 1000 respondents and raised 20 Lacs INR (for a car worth 10 Lac).
Interestingly , in the B2B sector direct email marketing and right SEO (through Ad Words) can help generate leads manifolds. At India Infrastructure ( a B2B infrastructure based publishing house where I was responsible for YearBook and Directory revenue generation) we had to increase the paid circulation of stocks of directories produced during the year. A combination of an attractive Pamphlet PDF, a sample of ‘Statistics’ provided in the publications , CXO level database and a feasible deadline was used for Direct Emailer Marketing. Well, I will not disclose the number of copies sold but I must add that the revenue generated from the sale, the queries that came in for advertisement in the publication and the space created in warehouse was worth every effort put in a period of two days.
Another example of how a big firm Evalueserve,India – Used LinkedIn for lead generation and brand building back in 2007. This financial KPO with HQ and Lead Generation team based in India wanted to target the USA market. Cold calling, sending emails and hard copy letter was difficult to track. The company decided to explore Linkedin to connect with decision makers in USA.
The Marcom team systematically posted new white papers (excerpts or links) in relevant groups or forums, InMails were sent to connections through groups or forums to reach out to the top level executives.
- Through a dedicated online initiative the Sales team gained direct access to C-Level people without having to go through numerous rounds of calls with secretaries.
- Using LinkedIn for marketing has helped improve company’s visibility and catch the attention of it’s target audience.
A recent example of how online space can single handedly catapult an initiative -
Gofundme.com - USA based individual fund raising online site raised $4,732,627 by 893 campaigns from 58,885 donors for Nepal relief efforts in a span of 10 days. Yes, the cause is sensitive and propelled many people across the world the donate but it is this online space that provided the platform for us to do our bit at the right time…
Coming back to business! Clients may be in plethoric plenty, scattered geographically, perennially busy but judiciously picked online marketing tools (most being free) can come at rescue of marketing and sales professionals to get past the monthly marathon of targets.
