I remember being the only product manager who didn't have a budget for my marketing activities. I had to be creative and my boss then gave the directive that I should do community development which meant I had to partner with trade associations and other business organizations to promote the product I was handling.
I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with the trade associations I was going to partner with so I had to do some research. I searched through Google if there were organizations that matched the market I was targeting. After identifying the organizations I then looked up the events they were doing and figured out what I could do with them.
Remember, don't be shy. It is not enough to reach out to these organizations, you have to channel your enthusiasm to them as well. Aside from that you have to determine what their needs are and what solutions you can actually provide for them. I'd say it's easier to do community development for B2B associations rather than for B2C because their needs are much easier to determine.
Anyway, one concrete and recent example I have is the Taste Asia Blogger Food Fest (done in 2 parts). My training always reverts me towards doing activities that have more impact and with the least (or no) cost. I also have to make sure that what I do multiplies its effect.
I've been blogging for a year already and I did not really expect that it would be a way for me to reach out to communities. Blogging's just a past time, something to while away my time since I don't have officemates nearby to bug (like to throw a ball with or nudge to have some coffee with during breaktime). But, it's been a big help since these are people who are knowledgeable and have the energy to teach others as well.
The Taste Asia Blogger Food Fest was an unexpected event, but brought across a message for a slew of products I'm supposed to market. It was quite easy to do since I just basically used available free tools online which made it easy for me to organize the event amidst all the other activities I'm doing. Here are some of the tools I used to organize the event:
Gmail (sign-up now!)
Blogger
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
After the event I realized I managed to talk about and use the following products as well:
Google Adwords
Google Adsense
Google Blogsearch
Youtube make your own custom channel!)
Picasa (create your albums online now)
Google Apps for Your Domain (create your own webpage free!)
Communities are important to any marketing strategy. It is also noteworthy to say that it helps in educating the market.
Happy Anniversary to An Apple a Day!
Showing posts with label marketing without a budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing without a budget. Show all posts
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Sago’t Gulaman Marketing (Marketing Without a Budget)
Tubong gulaman.
Marketing is not all about spending loads of money. I managed to grow the products I handled before and hone my marketing skills with almost no budget at all.
Let me tell you my secret.
I took the wrong course in college, so I had to learn the ropes of marketing on my own and the hard way. Six years ago I was product manager of a niche online directory for exporters. The back-end of the product is Colorado-based World Access Network of Directories, managed by PCCW for the South East Asia region and they expected the product to be promoted big time. Yeah right, as if I had the budget.
Anyway, so I had to be the most creative product manager in the group. My trade show recommendations were approved with a catch – immediate ROI. So, I carefully chose the events that I joined. That’s were defining your target market accurately comes in. Know who needs your product, this way you won’t be wasting any time barking on the wrong tree.
One of the most memorable events I joined where I spent only PhP17,000 was the Philippine Furniture Fair organized by the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines (CFIP) held at the Clark Expo Pilipino, Pampanga. I was forced to bundle in two other services with my product. So that meant having to sell at a higher price. Armed with 2 sales people, we were off to Pampanga. My collaterals then were only a couple of brochures and the tarps for the booth. Now that’s what you call being frugal.
Know how to sell your product yourself. As product manager, the best way to learn how to sell your product is to sell it yourself. I hate selling (that’s why I’m in marketing). I don’t like being rejected (ayaw mo eh di huwag!) and I don’t really have that much patience in doing follow-ups. I was off to the National Trade Fair one time and waited for my AE. I waited and waited and waited. He didn’t show up. I ended up doing the pitches myself (booth to booth) and was surprised to have 5 signed contracts in just an hour!
Value proposition and strategy. Aside from showing your client what kind of value your product has, impart to them where your product fits in their strategy. It may be branding, expansion, diversification, revenue generation or whatever. Be their partner and be open.
Teach your salespeople how to market and not to sell. You can motivate your salespeople with all the incentives you can give, but without a person-to-person relationship you won’t really get any support. The only sales experience I had during that time was from Smart (my previous job) and I can say I sucked at it. My boss was adamant that I could handle sales people and pushed hard for me to succeed. At the end of the day it will just be you and your staff who has the responsibility to make your product succeed. Work as a team.
Anyway, going back to that event I had at Clark, Pampanga, we just had 2 days to sell. We first targeted to get 7 closed accounts. So, I went around with my AEs for the first few presentations, teaching them how to pitch and then I left them to be the ‘promo girl’ at the booth. We closed a total of 27 accounts in 2 days. I was giving my boss then SMS updates and by mid-morning on the second day he was saying “I love you” already. Did we get ROI? Mega-duper kita!
Another show I did with 8 sales people was the Manila FAME International. 3 were veteran AEs and 5 were still under training. Using the same formula, I spent PhP10,000 for the booth plus an insignificant amount for food. We closed 54 accounts in 2 days.
We were so successful, me and my whole team were moved to the bigger directory :)
The secret? People skills, accurate target marketing, exact product positioning, cowboy marketing (a.k.a. huwag maarte) and being creative.
Translations:
tubong gulaman - profiting at almost no cost
ayaw mo eh di huwag – if you don’t want it, then don’t!
Mega-duper kita! – we profited!
cowboy marketing – marketing simply, without fanfare but effective
huwag maarte – be simple
Marketing is not all about spending loads of money. I managed to grow the products I handled before and hone my marketing skills with almost no budget at all.
Let me tell you my secret.
I took the wrong course in college, so I had to learn the ropes of marketing on my own and the hard way. Six years ago I was product manager of a niche online directory for exporters. The back-end of the product is Colorado-based World Access Network of Directories, managed by PCCW for the South East Asia region and they expected the product to be promoted big time. Yeah right, as if I had the budget.
Anyway, so I had to be the most creative product manager in the group. My trade show recommendations were approved with a catch – immediate ROI. So, I carefully chose the events that I joined. That’s were defining your target market accurately comes in. Know who needs your product, this way you won’t be wasting any time barking on the wrong tree.
One of the most memorable events I joined where I spent only PhP17,000 was the Philippine Furniture Fair organized by the Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines (CFIP) held at the Clark Expo Pilipino, Pampanga. I was forced to bundle in two other services with my product. So that meant having to sell at a higher price. Armed with 2 sales people, we were off to Pampanga. My collaterals then were only a couple of brochures and the tarps for the booth. Now that’s what you call being frugal.Know how to sell your product yourself. As product manager, the best way to learn how to sell your product is to sell it yourself. I hate selling (that’s why I’m in marketing). I don’t like being rejected (ayaw mo eh di huwag!) and I don’t really have that much patience in doing follow-ups. I was off to the National Trade Fair one time and waited for my AE. I waited and waited and waited. He didn’t show up. I ended up doing the pitches myself (booth to booth) and was surprised to have 5 signed contracts in just an hour!
Value proposition and strategy. Aside from showing your client what kind of value your product has, impart to them where your product fits in their strategy. It may be branding, expansion, diversification, revenue generation or whatever. Be their partner and be open.
Teach your salespeople how to market and not to sell. You can motivate your salespeople with all the incentives you can give, but without a person-to-person relationship you won’t really get any support. The only sales experience I had during that time was from Smart (my previous job) and I can say I sucked at it. My boss was adamant that I could handle sales people and pushed hard for me to succeed. At the end of the day it will just be you and your staff who has the responsibility to make your product succeed. Work as a team.
Anyway, going back to that event I had at Clark, Pampanga, we just had 2 days to sell. We first targeted to get 7 closed accounts. So, I went around with my AEs for the first few presentations, teaching them how to pitch and then I left them to be the ‘promo girl’ at the booth. We closed a total of 27 accounts in 2 days. I was giving my boss then SMS updates and by mid-morning on the second day he was saying “I love you” already. Did we get ROI? Mega-duper kita!
Another show I did with 8 sales people was the Manila FAME International. 3 were veteran AEs and 5 were still under training. Using the same formula, I spent PhP10,000 for the booth plus an insignificant amount for food. We closed 54 accounts in 2 days.We were so successful, me and my whole team were moved to the bigger directory :)
The secret? People skills, accurate target marketing, exact product positioning, cowboy marketing (a.k.a. huwag maarte) and being creative.
Translations:
tubong gulaman - profiting at almost no cost
ayaw mo eh di huwag – if you don’t want it, then don’t!
Mega-duper kita! – we profited!
cowboy marketing – marketing simply, without fanfare but effective
huwag maarte – be simple
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