Surprising Marketing Strategies That Really Work
My day job is owning and running Pure SEO, New Zealand’s largest and most awarded search marketing agency. It is therefore not surprising that I am obsessed with marketing strategies and measuring their results. Over the past decade, we have tried lots of different strategies, from zany radio adverts and sponsoring events, to traditional media and a published book. However, it goes without saying that not all our marketing strategies have given us great return on investment. In fact, the radio advert cost us $60k and ended up breaking even. So, let’s dive into some of the strategies we’ve employed that surprised us by their success:
1. Branded cars
We currently have 14 branded cars on the road. The cost of branding the cars is minimal (under $1k per car), however, we have had numerous enquiries and sales directly from people seeing our cars on the road. On top of that, we regularly get comments from prospective and existing clients that they have seen our cars on the road, proving their positive impact on brand awareness.
2. Office signage
When we leased our previous office in Freemans Bay, part of the decision in choosing that location was its prominent position at a major junction by Victoria Park. As part of the lease negotiation, I requested a lightbox sign at the top of the building at no additional cost. The landlord didn’t really consider what this meant for the company and readily agreed to close the deal with us.
We were at that location for over 4 years, and during that time we signed clients as a direct result of them ‘seeing our sign’ every day during their drives. And albeit it being a less tangible benefit, when we talked about our company, prospective clients often acknowledged already having been exposed to our brand through the signage.
3. Give away trade secrets
It may seem counterintuitive to give away your trade secrets. However, this is one of the best ROI marketing strategies we have adopted. We run training sessions on digital marketing for the New Zealand Marketing Association, Unitec, The University of Auckland, and other organisations. The training we run is extremely comprehensive and transparent. Additionally, in March this year, in conjunction with the publisher Penguin Random House, I released a book entitled ‘How to Get to the Top of Google Search’, a practical SEO guide that readers can use as a DIY ‘playbook’ to achieve Google rankings.
I have lost count of the deals we have signed and the contacts we have made from giving away this value. It builds trust in the brand and also shows potential customers how much work is actually involved in implementing a successful search strategy.
4. Collaboration and specialisation
I have lost count of the number of times I have been told by ‘business experts’ that Pure should branch into other areas such as website design and graphic design. However, my initial marketing strategy, which still holds true today, was to specialise and be the best in our niche. The reason this has been so successful as a marketing strategy is that, by default, we have become the industry ‘go-to’ company. We get regular referrals from website developers as well as branding and graphic design companies, and we win lots of business purely because we specialise. Being a ‘jack of all trades but master of none’ has decimated a lot of our competition.
Whilst some of these strategies, like giving away our IP, may seem counterintuitive, they have been a fundamental aspect of our growth journey and strategy.
