IT Consultancy target market and general marketing advice!

crumble · #1 9th February 2010, 14:14

I'm looking at starting up an IT Consultancy business, got as far as business plan, cashflow etc, and very near to the stage of incorporating a company.

In a 5-20 mile/10-30 minute radius (is this too large?) there are 1,172 businesses with between 3 and 10 employees. What is my best way of reaching them? For about £500 I can do a mailshot, to named people within the businesses. Would this be a bad use of funds? The other option is that I start on contacting businesses within, say, a 10 mile radius (there are probably about 240), and test the water?

I'm also considering whether or not I do home support as well as consultancy for businesses. My initial thoughts are that I should probably run two trading names, so as not to appear too large for home users and more importantly not to seem too 'amateur' for businesses.

telemax · #2 9th February 2010, 14:52

Hi

Get out there knocking on doors in your local Industrial estates. One of my clients is an IT consultancy. I go door knocking for them locally on a Wednesday. The results are amazing, although you have to stick at it. In the long run company's will much rather give their business to you when they know your face. Unfortunately a mailshot will just go in the bin. You will get a fair degree of rejection but you will always find company's looking for a qoute or a repair when cold calling.

Better of earmarking the £500 for nice business cards and a couple of months worth of travel expenses.

I hope this helps

Jonathan

crumble · #3 9th February 2010, 14:56

Even a letter addressed to the FD/MD would end up in the bin do you think?

XanderMarketing · #4 9th February 2010, 16:51

If you're going to do a mailshot it needs to be followed up with tele-marketing. The majority of people would not respond to it unless it had a truly unique, amazing offer.

Alternatively you could spend the money on Google AdWords (assuming you have a decent website). At least this way you are guaranteeing you will get traffic to your website from your target area. Or email marketing - a lot cheaper than direct mail and you know who's opened your email and clicked through.

Or go with what Jonathan says and 'knock on doors'!

telemax · #5 9th February 2010, 18:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by crumble

Even a letter addressed to the FD/MD would end up in the bin do you think?

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for everything. Xander marketing is also talking a lot of sense. Get your face out there, your bound to encounter someone who has an IT problem that you can fix. Once you do a good job you will retain them as a customer and they will start spreading the good word about you.

MJ Britton · #6 13th February 2010, 08:25

Try and find out a bit more about the companies to better target them. Some telemarketing could help you find out who's responsible for their IT - and whether they even have a server set up. A lot of small companies will rely on someone in house or the owner's mate will do it for them.

As companies get a bit bigger then maintaining it themselves becomes a pain. Try to find out if they have a support contract and when it's renewed. You can then focus on people nearing renewal. I work in IT marketing so know this territory well! Sorry - writing this one handed while I hold my three month old daughter!

Give me a shout if I can help further.