Dynamic Business

If you can get people to come to your online business, you stand a fair chance of making money. But how do you market your business and attract those visitors? We look at three Australian businesses making use of marketing techniques such as microsites, online auctions and blogging, so you too can grow your business online.

Developing a basic online presence is a prerequisite for any successful business, but merely creating a vanilla site with basic company information is unlikely to make you stand out from the crowd. Making use of newer online technologies such as blogging or video is one way to differentiate yourself from competitors, but how do you make such strategies effective? Here are three companies that have successfully used unusual online strategies to maximise visibility, and profitability.

Online Auctions & Videos

Kogan Technologies sells hi-tech equipment such as LCD televisions and GPS systems exclusively via the internet. Attracting customers is a critical activity for the company, but founder Ruslan Kogan had to go through a fair amount of trial and error to evolve the best strategies. “We’re always looking at ways to improve,” Kogan says. That experimentation has paid off, with the company predicting revenue of $5 million in 2008.

The business began when Kogan, a former consultant, wanted to buy himself an LCD TV. “I saw the prices and was a bit stunned,” he says. “I was earning a bit of money but still couldn’t afford one. I had done some eBay importing and I’d made contact with a few suppliers, so when I saw the price gap I saw a definite market opportunity.” Kogan imported a container load of LCD screens and sold them all within 45 days.

One of Kogan’s most successful strategies has been to sell much of the product via online auction site eBay. “EBay’s got a lot of customers and it’s the world’s biggest marketplace. You can’t ignore it.”

Despite the relatively high value of the products, Kogan lists the items with no reserve, starting the bidding at just 99 cents. That strategy attracts more customers and represents a relatively low risk, he says. “I knew it was a product in high demand, and it was going to get the right price.”

Kogan has made use of other online marketing strategies, including setting up discussion forums and purchasing strategic online advertising. An advertisement attached to a specific product type, such as ‘19-inch LCD’, is much more likely to succeed than a generic one such as ‘LCD TV’, which will attract many competitors, he says.

Future plans also incorporate online technology. “A customer buying online loses out on a lot of the shopping experience compared with buying in a store. We’re going to be doing things like ad campaigns on YouTube and all sorts of marketing initiatives. We’re also realising that pulling people back to the site after they’ve been there once is very important.”

While marketing in this way is important, fundamentals are also vital, he says. “The online customer is a very hard person to please, a lot harder than people who shop in retail stores. Your business is constantly transparent. You’ve got to make sure that customer satisfaction is paramount. Just selling online isn’t enough of a business differentiator. You have to make sure everything is running smoothly.

“It’s all about maintaining first-class service. If your customers are happy, then the business is going to be successful.”

Creating Microsites & Communities

Health product manufacturer, Blackmores, has long had a central website with company and product information, but promoting newly launched lines required a different strategy. For the past few years much of Blackmores’ internet marketing has centred around the creation of microsites—small but highly focused sites designed to address one particular segment of the audience. To help build those sites, the company hired specialist marketing agency, Bullseye.

“Going from the web of old of being an information source, the next step is really about getting into a conversation with your customers,” Bullseye managing director, Jason Davey, says. “Our strategies revolve around advising clients about how to get into that conversation using web technologies.

“A client like Blackmores doesn’t sell directly to customers online, but does communicate a lot to customers online. Rather than just providing product information, we become a hub for communities of interest.”

One such strategy saw Blackmores build an online paintball game. “Blackmores wanted to get into conversation with young men,” Davey says, “with the long-term goal of promoting its men’s performance multivitamin. The paintball game allowed people to upload their own photos and compete with teams, ensuring multiple repeat visits to the site and what was close to a free advertising platform for the products.
“We’re involving the brand in a discussion with the audience. It’s not about the old spray and pray style advertising, it’s much more about customer engagement.”

A similar strategy saw the launch of a site, Pregnancy Companion, aimed at expectant mothers. The site includes a weekly email service that offers an update on what happens during each week of a pregnancy. While the content for the site is relatively timeless, new audiences continually emerge as former site users pass on details to other pregnant friends.

For any such strategy, promotion is critical. “It’s not a build-it-and-they-will-come mentality,” Davey explains. “There must be some form of promotion, even if it’s just including a link to your site in all your communications that go out. You must build a way of capturing customer details and have a good reason for them to give you their details. Consumers in 2008 know the value of their data. Put your customer cap on and think like a consumer. Identify who your audience is and think of what their topics of interest are.”
Innovation is also crucial. “Don’t copy what everyone else is doing,” he says. “Think of something new.”