Thursday, August 27, 2009

Save Your Company Money in Stormy Times . . . with Content!


The effects of the financial crisis and global economic downturn are already being felt in the hi-tech sector. Lack of funding, postponed IPOs and cancelled projects translate into companies re-examining their business plans, reducing headcounts and cutting operational expenses.

If your company is in this "weather the storm" mindset, marketing (and marcom in particular) is probably one of the first "casualties" as it is seen as having less immediate impact on the bottom line. Expensive advertising campaigns, tradeshows and re-branding/re-design efforts become even harder to justify in terms of ROI - and may also convey the wrong message to shareholders who expect belt-tightening measures in tough times.

The Best Things in Life Are Free

However, there is one marketing tool that is practically free – CONTENT. No need for bells or whistles – all you need is the right message and you're set to take advantage of the world's largest marketing channel – the Internet. Assuming you've already got a website, now is the time to make sure it's optimized for search engines. SEO-driven, keyword-rich content can get your site on the first page of Google results without costing you a penny. If you've got some wiggle room in terms of budget, low-cost Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns can also be very effective. With a couple of cleverly worded landing pages (again, its all about the content), you can start to engage potential customers, build trust and capture leads. The landing page should lead the visitor to take the desired next step (e.g., download trial version, register for webinar, purchase online, etc.).

Blogs are another great way to generate traffic to your site and to stir up interest in your company and/or product. Blogs are very inexpensive to set up and do not require much more than the right content in order to succeed. What is the right content you may ask? That's simple – anything that establishes your company as an authority/expert/leader in your market and relates to the needs or interests of your target audience (yes, the same ones that you want to buy your product or service).

Repurpose Your Content

Repurposing content is a very cost-effective way to reach a larger audience with your message. Some people respond better to video, while others prefer to read text. By repurposing your content in different formats and media, you stand a better chance of hitting the right buttons with your target audience. While each type of content needs to be adapted to its respective medium, the key messages should be consistent across all platforms and resonate clearly with your target market.

Here are some examples of how you can repurpose your content with minimum effort:

• Tweak website content to serve as landing pages for PPC or email campaigns
• Repurpose blog entries as ezine articles and publish in relevant directories
• Extract content from articles or whitepapers (depending on length) and record as podcast
• Record, transcribe and repurpose workshops and Powerpoint presentations into articles, white papers or e-books.
• Record PPT presentations for reuse as webcasts

So, instead of despairing over your reduced budget, treat it as an opportunity to create powerful, highly tuned content that will generate measurable results.

If you have additional ideas, suggestions, tips, etc. for doing more with less in tough economic times, please feel free to share your insights.

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