Marketing software to small business

[vaughn31]

Hi folks - this is my first post (other than my quick intro in the newbies section) but I'm trying to get some ideas on how to market my new CRM software that we built for small businesses. Some quick background: I've been consulting on SugarCRM/Salesforce products for over 10 years now (and 8 as my own company) and one thing here in Canada that we have an issue with is the cost of the products (our dollar is getting killed right now) and the fact that we simply don't have businesses as well versed in technology.

I find that I'm really successful getting people signed up with it when I meet with them face to face. So one approach I am taking is calling all of the regional Chamber of Commerces and trying to setup speaking events and contribute to their newsletters/blogs. So far so good as I already have a few that are on board.

Has anybody else tackled this kind of thing? The product itself has been designed with input from small businesses, it's just I know a lot of them might touch Facebook but don't really go out looking for these things which is why I've found MeetUp groups and networking events good so far.

Would appreciate any ideas. Cheers!

-Derek

[Fulcrum]

I can't really speak to the marketing, but I've seen a direct increase of at least 15% in costs due to the dropping dollar. As of yesterday's market close, I believe I'm paying close to a 31% exchange (I'll figure it out when a package comes in today/tomorrow).

[vaughn31]

Hi Brad,

Yeah on the consulting side of my business I'm getting more calls from the USA and we've won deals recently because of the discount. Silly as it sounds, it almost feels like if a US-based customer dealing with us in Canada can wait a week and get another 2 - 5% discount without us discounting anything. It's crazy.

[David Hunter]

Hey Derek,

Have you ever done any kind of direct mail to get leads? How about targeting new small businesses?

What's your game plan after you speak at the Chamber of Commerces? Are you going to be collecting contact info from everyone in attendance and then following up?

[vaughn31]

Hi David,

Haven't given much thought to direct mail only because I know that I throw it all out but maybe B2B could be different as I'm thinking about what I get at home. Have you seen success that way in this day and age? Up here in Canada our average small business owner is over the age of 55 so it may make sense?

As for the chamber, kind of flying by the seat of my pants right now. There were two ideas we had: if we treated it like a workshop in a way, we would almost sign them up on the spot and have everybody get a feel for the product. The other is exactly what you said, just simply calling them up afterwards.

[elsoft]

The kind of software you are dealing with, I feel Linkedin may be a better place as you will be able to present your product/service to the business owners or professionals operating at decision making level. Creating a group for your product is a good idea to begin with.

My two cents.

[vaughn31]

Great idea on a group for the product, never even thought of that. Thank you!

[Harold Mansfield]

Has anybody else tackled this kind of thing? The product itself has been designed with input from small businesses, it's just I know a lot of them might touch Facebook but don't really go out looking for these things which is why I've found MeetUp groups and networking events good so far.

Would appreciate any ideas. Cheers!

-Derek

From the experience of working on this and your experience with salesforce and sugar you probably have more insight into how to market to your target demographic than you think.

You've obviously already identified what they need, now you just need to communicate that in your marketing and choose the correct messaging strategy and platform(s).
A nice animated video explaining briefly what yours does and what it's better, on a nice website with additional information, rates, and an easy way to sign up and you can probably get some interest with a few carefully targeted ads or promoted posts on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In or whatever you decide to use.

Not sure what the cost is of your product, but face to face sales is too slow. If your product is useful outside of Canada you have to think bigger that door to door.

Just make sure that you have great support set up from the very beginning. Even an awesome product can be killed off quickly if the support for early adopters isn't up to par.

[turboguy]

We have not put all that much effort into social media. I do put some time into Facebook and it does seem to be growing for us and may turn out to be worthwhile. Twitter to me is a waste and Linkdin is something that I have not found to be all that effective. The thing that has worked best for me has been YouTube. We are dealing with equipment. The video that has been the most effective was the one that I didn't expect to be that good. I have people buy my equipment used on eBay and call me asking how to run it. I thought about doing an instructional video for those who buy one of our machines used on the subject of how to operate our machines. Well it has been up for a year or two and now has almost 24,000 views and has been responsible for a lot of sales.

My suggestion would be to do an instructional video on your CRM program. Make it look easy to use and helpful but keep any sales pitches low key. Make it seem more like you are trying to help people than that you are trying to sell something and you may find it to be your most useful sales tool.

I have about 5 videos on YouTube and between them they have about 50,000 views. It has been one of the most effective tools in my marketing.

[David Hunter]

Hi David,

Haven't given much thought to direct mail only because I know that I throw it all out but maybe B2B could be different as I'm thinking about what I get at home. Have you seen success that way in this day and age? Up here in Canada our average small business owner is over the age of 55 so it may make sense?

As for the chamber, kind of flying by the seat of my pants right now. There were two ideas we had: if we treated it like a workshop in a way, we would almost sign them up on the spot and have everybody get a feel for the product. The other is exactly what you said, just simply calling them up afterwards.

What if you got a postcard in the mail today and the headline was huge and said: "Market Your CRM Software To Small Businesses In 3 Easy Steps and Get 7 New Clients In 30 Days, Guaranteed." Would you throw it right into the trash or would you read a little further?

[vaughn31]

Hi David,

Thanks for the response. I get where you're going, and I'd probably take a quick peak at it for sure. In your experience how do you find the acquisition cost of direct mail compared to say something like adwords? I do like the idea of them being able to click on a link then being able to sign up right away.