Help with marketing?

[Debbie Barnes]

Hi!

I work as a Sales Director for a small digital marketing software start-up, and co-own the business along with our CEO and CTO.

Up until now we have mainly worked with large retailers, but about a year ago we made the decision to build a version of our software that could be used by small businesses. Vouchers, discounts, voucher codes, etc. are one of the main ways large businesses drive sales, and we think we can help small businesses to do the same.

Currently, the software allows a small business to create a voucher like 'Get 10% off in-store'. That voucher can then be delivered across email, web, social media accounts, SMS, etc. all in one go, and the software will capture the email addresses of anyone who signs up for the voucher so that they can be marketed to again in the future. We offer a free 15-day trial to new users, and this has been a great way to get some initial users over the past twelve months and see how they use the software so that we can make improvements.

The software is still very much a work in progress but we want to ramp up our marketing efforts over the next few months to get some more users - Christmas and New Year are a really popular time for creating vouchers.

We put together some basic messaging for the website, marketing material, etc., when we built the software beta last year, but I now feel that messaging is all wrong for small business - it's convoluted and it doesn't explain the benefits of using vouchers very well.

How can we improve on this? What do you think businesses want to know about vouchers that will convince them to do a free trial?

Prepared to hear the good, bad and the ugly - it's all useful!

 

[ethical PR]

Get a marketing freelance or marketing agency which specialises in your sector/target audience to help you develop brand messaging and activity to reach your target customers. This will help support your sales and ensure your messaging and communications work for the SME market.

 

[garyk]

How can we improve on this? What do you think businesses want to know about vouchers that will convince them to do a free trial?

Business want to know they *work*, simple as. Your best bet is to find a couple of 'friendlies' you can work with and implement the offering and build a case study/testimonial around it. You can base marketing around this, company x were doing this tried vouchers and the result was y....

Has to deliver a demonstrable benefit.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Offer the software free of charge for life to carefully selected bloggers and businesses in exchange for reviews which they will place on their own sites.

Seeding word of mouth promotion is probably one of the easiest ways you'll draw attention to your product and convince people to buy it (presuming the reviews are positive, of course).

 

[fisicx]

....and we think we can help small businesses to do the same.

Great, but you need to identify the sort of businesses that can be helped. Will if for example be of much use to a plumber or a solicitor? Will a corner shop get any benefit? What about the local man and a van?

.....and this has been a great way to get some initial users over the past twelve months and see how they use the software so that we can make improvements.

Show me the results of the 12 month trial. Show me how Fred Bloggs and Son have seen a 40% increase in business since using the vouchers.

A 15 day free trial is far too short. It can take many months for a voucher campaign to take hold and gaim momentum. I doubt anyone will see any benefits in just 15 days. I'd offer 6 months as this will take people up to the new year and allow them to hone their campaign ready for Christmas.

 

[SharronMarke]

I would stress on these:
1. Vouchers can boost your sales and help new customers make a decision to buy, regardless of what sector you are in
2. Easy to generate - show steps 1, 2, 3, 1-minute how-to video might be great
3. Easy to customize and brand, multiple ready templates (most people would go for templates I think)
4. Easy to send via email and export the email addresses after that (so you may followup with email marketing, if you want)
5. Easy to print
6. Some customer testimonials (telling how much sales the business generated thanks to vouchers) in the end should finally convince the potential customer to try.
+ live chat support during the trial, in case of questions/help needed

 

[Grimsby]

Is iVoucher purely providing the mechanics of voucher marketing?

 

[ethical PR]

I have started up an online retail business and really need help with marketing. I hold a degree in business and finance but marketing is my Achilles heel. Any help or advice for a new CEO would be greatly appreciated

You need to start your own thread (rather than crashing into the middle of someone' elses )

What help and advice are you looking for ?

 

[Debbie Barnes]

Thanks guys, really great advice - particularly getting customer stories / testimonials and specific information for different verticals (restaurant, retail shop, ecommerce site, etc.)... We've discussed doing this before and never got around to doing it of course!!

@Grimsby At the moment iVoucher is mainly about the 'mechanics' of voucher marketing - we are just in the process of adding functionality that will allow SMBs to publish their vouchers to various sites.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

To sell to smaller enterprises think of their cost and price.

Example: When I first wanted to do barcodes the cheapest, clumsy software was £4000. A few years down the road none of the £4000 companies were in the market but a $50 software company was. Their turnover is many times greater than the £4000 company because there are only a very few Tescos but thousands of small businesses.