We've covered the marketing tools of local ISPs. Now let's take a look at the tactics of the nationwide ISPs—often overlooked, they may be surprisingly affordable.

by Brock Henderson Brock Henderson & Associates [August 26, 2002]

Let's explore three marketing tools that are used by the larger corporations and are usually not used by smaller ISPs, yet may offer even better results.

Cable television is less expensive than commercial television because there simply aren't as many viewers, yet cable offers more than low cost—it has some very targeted audiences. For ISPs, it's best to advertise on a channel that deals exclusively with computers and computer issues. While not every market has such a channel, if there is one in your area then I would strongly suggest putting some advertising dollars here. Obviously the viewers of this channel have or are interested in computers, making the fit between advertiser and prospect ideal.

Other cable channels that offer a good match between you and your prospect are: the Sci-Fi channel, the fx channel, The History Channel, The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, Discovery Science, and Discovery Kids.

An advantage of cable television over radio in general is that the market area of the cable station is frequently very similar to the market area of the ISP. Thus your advertising message is going to your target population with little (if any) wasted airtime, unlike radio that can travel hundreds of miles outside your target area.

Telemarketing is viewed by many as an intrusion into the sanctity of the home, but isn't that where the prospect is? Isn't it logical to go knocking on their telephonic door if that's where they are? If the prospect has been considering DSL or some other Internet service, isn't it natural to go to them and ask them for their business? That's all telemarketing is doing—it may have a bad rap, but the reality is that telemarketing does work.

BellSouth has been using telemarketing to obtain DSL customers, and according to the sales rep who brought me into their monopolistic fold, telemarketing was working quite well. Their spiel (as I remember it—I did not take notes and certainly did not record it) was simple:

An introduction: "This is (name) with BellSouth.net …"

A qualifying question: "… do you have Internet access?" (I answered, "Yes".)

Another qualifying question: "Do you have DSL?" (I answered "No".)

One more qualifying question: "Are you familiar with the benefits of high-speed DSL access?" (My answer was "Yes".)

The pitch: "BellSouth is currently offering … (whatever their current special is) …"

The close: "Would you like to try BellSouth Fast Access DSL and see for yourself how great it is?" (Since my ISP of choice—IgLou Internet, my former employer—was having trouble getting DSL wholesale from BellSouth, I decided to switch providers and accept their offer.)

There is no reason you can't use the same technique to obtain not only DSL customers, but also wireless customers, dial-up customers, and webhosting customers. Obviously you will need to tailor the call to the type of prospect (consumer or business) and to the service being offered, but that's pretty much all there is to it. Telemarketing can be very effective when done properly—I suggest you try it.

I've discussed direct mail in two previous articles, and with the recent increases in postage as well as the anthrax scare some people decided to stay away from this form of advertising. Not AOL. They continue to pound the consumer by sending more and more of their sign-up CDs through the mail.

It's expensive to have a sign-up CD produced and then mailed to several thousand recipients on a recurring basis (such as every two or three months). It should be obvious that AOL wouldn't continue to do this unless it was generating customers, but what can you do on a much more limited budget?

First, identify your target. Select the more upscale part of town, buy a list of names for your targeted zip code areas, and then send postcards. Postcards don't have to be opened, are always read, are the least expensive to produce, and the least expensive to mail.

You should always coordinate your marketing efforts into one unified marketing attack. Cable television, telemarketing, direct mail, radio, and every other form of advertising work only so well when done independently, but combine them all and your results increase because they complement and build on each other.

Marketing isn't just one form of advertising. It is a coordinated effort of multiple elements working together to present your message to the prospect. Work them together to build not only an increase in sales, but also strong brand name recognition and a loyal following.

—End