Proven techniques that make your small business look big

Proven Techniques That Make Your Small Business Look Big

Peter ThomasPeter@averetek.com

@PeterAThomas

80% of the business is won by 20% of the companies

Every SMB faces tough challenges

• We don’t have marketing resources• We don’t think about marketing strategy• We win an unpredictable amount of business

We can use our size to our advantage, but sometimes we don’t

With discipline and persistence we will win our share of the market

• We’ll define a strategy• We’ll dedicate ourselves to executing

the strategy

The difference between us and them is not size or capitalization or available resources. The difference is execution.

The tactics we’ll be discussing will help us reach our goals

• Our web site• Blogging• Social media platforms• Co-branded marketing• Experiential marketing

Great Resource!

Our Web Presence – why does it matter?

Making a good impression

• Our web site is the bouncer at the door – it determines that we’re “real”

• Customer expectations drive content, and if they don’t see what they want they leave

• May not win us business but can definitely help us lose it

Who do we sell to?

• Our content must be positioned correctly• We must look professional• We must demonstrate expertise• We must make the site move

Measuring our Web Presence

Great Resource!

Guessing

Example: Google Analytics

Who visits us?

How do they find us?

Which Search Engines should we care about?

95% of all our search traffic

What did we just learn?• They visit on weekdays• 40% bounced and the site wasn’t what they expected

(or it didn’t appeal)• 31% of traffic came from Google• Most come from US• Now what?

– We’ll optimize for Google– We’ll read up on PageRank

Example: Doing it the right way

Our basic Google search

Why this works

“Cisco” appears 51 times

“Switches” appears 14 times

Alexa.com comparison

Great Resource!

AdWords, social media, and blogging

AdWords - Buying Friendship

Click = Click =

Great Resource!

AdWords in the Content Network

It knows I speak English!

Social Media: Not just for fun

Have (or copy) something to say• Use Blogger, it’s free!• Write a post, or re-post and

comment• Publish to our web site and

other social platforms

Great Resource!

Example: Twitter for Prospecting

Prospect

What did we just learn?

• Social Networks are free, easy to use, and very popular• Our personal social networks can market for us• Social networks provide us with non-traditional marketing

opportunities

Leveraging our Vendor Partners

Professional Communication

Experiential Marketing

Conclusion

• We raise our profile• We position ourselves as experts• We use the Internet to multiply ourselves• We work smarter, not harder

Helpful linksWeb site analytics & traffic analysis• Google Analytics• Yahoo! Web Analytics• Clicky• Reinvigorate• Alexa.com

Google AdWords• Understanding AdWords• Google AdWords

Search Engine Optimization• Understanding Google PageRank• Basic SEO tactics

Popular Social Media sites• Facebook• Twitter• LinkedIn• Digg

Blogging tools• Blogger• WordPress

Vendor Partner resources• Cisco Partner Central• Partner Marketing Central