Combating Saturation Marketing - continued

Battle plan
So how will your ISP survive this new onslaught of snail-mailed spam that will be hitting your customers' mail boxes this fall? Here are some suggestions:

Act - The best defense is always a great offense. So, don't be reactive—be proactive. You know they're coming; millions of them. Go on the offensive. I can't do your homework for you, but knowing what all of us do about the mega providers, you should be able to design a strategy and campaign that will bolster your customers' faith in your company, its services and even attract new ones.

Analyze - Scrutinize and study your competitive ability. Really analyze your services and account for what your customers really find valuable about them. You might send out a brief questionnaire and ask your customers what three things really make your services most appealing and what three things they think you could improve on. Even offer a $2 discount for the return of a survey via e-mail or fax. It will be worth it to you.

Focus - With your fresh new survey data in hand, focus on eliminating your weaknesses and then redouble your efforts in heavily promoting those things your customers cited as being your strengths. Too often, a company will spend only 20 percent of its resources on the features and/or benefits of their services that account for 80 percent of their new customers. The reasoning is that because these features and/or benefits work so well, we can focus resources on the 80 percent that don't do as well in attracting customers. In reality, it works the other way. If it does well, pump more resources (time, money, manpower) into it.

This is not to say that you shouldn't add value with add-ons or additional features. Just remember to focus your attention on what brings in new customers and helps keep the ones you already have.

Promote - Many companies, once they secure a customer, fail to maintain a real relationship with him or her. Failing to build the relationship with your customers is tossing away your most precious resource. In the same sense, failing to promote additional products and services to your current customer base is akin to wasting money. You have a captive audience. Reinforce their decision to use your services and up-sell them to bigger and better if possible.

Play rough - You may want to hold a contest and offer a $1 discount for each competing sign-up CD brought in (up to $5 it you want to limit the discount) and a $100 prize for the person who brings in the most of your competitor's sign-up CDs. Such a promotion, if done right, can make your company look invincible against all of the national players who are out to steal your customers. It also takes those CDs out of your customers' hands and into yours where you can see which of your users your competition is targeting.

More is less
These major national providers seem to be mostly relying on their cash to bolster their market share; they have yet to put their money into creating "real" competitive advantages in the marketplace. You'll find that being big really doesn't impress most people. Having the most POPs or more customers is not a real competitive advantage except for the cash it brings in.

Successful marketing doesn't require a huge budget; it does require being in tune with your customers' needs, plus some ability to design a strategy and focus in on bringing out your real competitive edge.

Are you merely a "me too" ISP? If so, MSN likely has the better deal.

—End

return to the top of the article