The 5HITS

Australia is Highly Competitive

Competitors are numerous and aggressive in just about every sector of the Australian marketplace. Mid sized organisations competing in these markets are generally resource constrained and not “big” brands. Access to market is an ongoing challenge.

Business Development

Making a sale or generating leads in many cases relies on relationships and being in the right place at the right time, i.e. being there when the need is identified by the customer.

Unfortunately in most middle market organisations, resources just don’t exist to build numerous relationships in the hope of achieving trusted advisor status and getting the call should the need arise for your product or service.

In many cases, talking to existing business relationships and identifying potential needs might result in some interesting discussion and even a proposal but may not convert, if the issue is not a burning platform so to speak.

Larger corporates employ account managers or sales people to manage relationships, a go-to person who manages the client and drives sales from that client. Most mid market organisations cannot afford account managers and have sales people who in many cases react to opportunities as they arise. Mid market companies can also not afford expensive offline marketing campaigns that have a low ROI.

The Challenge to Mid Market Business

The challenge is then: How do you get in front of potential customers who are seeking your product or service and who are ready to buy without spending a lot of money through a sales team or expensive marketing campaign.

The answer is through search engine results and search engine marketing. Search based intent is an extremely powerful phenomenon and puts you in front of potential customers who are seeking your product or service. We are not suggesting search will replace account managers and the sales force, but it has the potential to put you in front of potential clients seeking alternatives.

For example, if you are going to sell your property and search under “selling property” in Google, the top ten results include various government departments, the Real Estate Institute of Australia, a conveyancer, mortgage provider and a company which can help you sell your property with no estate agent. These three businesses have just got in front of an individual wanting to sell their property on a fairly broad search amongst other credible resources such as Government and the Real Estate Institute. What great exposure for these businesses to an individual with the intent to sell a property.

In addition, most marketing is designed to interrupt people, get them to stop what they are doing and take notice. Search is not, it provides answers to a potential need or search based intent. You are in the right place at the right time.

In addition search has the lowest cost per acquisition, lower than the Yellow pages, email, direct mail and online display advertising (Piper Jaffray).

Why Mid Market Companies can get ahead in Search Engine Marketing?

Search Engine Marketing is still young in Australia. Recent research shows only 46% or organisations have engaged in some form of online marketing (Frost & Sullivan)

Mid sized businesses are in most cases more flexible and can for a number of reasons make quicker decisions than larger corporates. Mid market companies have recognised the opportunity presented by search engine marketing and are getting involved.

These organisations can also get the jump on larger competitors for the following reasons:

• Fewer constraints on content generation and speed of content to site
• Fewer politics with respect to site ownership, management and direction
• Fewer internal policies around business case, budget allocation, steering committees and legal review
• Clear ownership, no “grey” lines between marketing, IT, e-commerce and operations.

Actions for Mid Market Business

Both PPC and SEO should be an active part of your marketing effort if not already and very clearly focused. If you have not already done so, your PPC campaigns and website should be optimised, to increase click through rates and conversions as well as visibility in the search engines.

For more information on PPC and SEO please visit www.bruceclay.com.au. Bruce Clay is a global provider of search engine marketing services with an emphasis on search engine optimisation. Services include consulting, training and toolsets.