Avoiding Internet Marketing Mistakes
by Colin Bruce, Head of Invoice Finance
Niche Commercial, April 2004
Since the launch of Niche Commercial I have written articles concerning asset based lending and specifically invoice finance. As part of these articles the importance of the internet and new technology has always been primary. However, along with creating sizeable opportunities, the internet presents risks for those less experienced with the channel. A frequent risk is to become the unwitting victim of false online marketing opportunities. In the last six months incidences of fraudulent marketing offers have increased dramatically.
Such false marketing opportunities are often hard to spot but below are some guidelines about what to watch out for:
Search Engine Scams
It is becoming increasingly easy to build your own search engines. Freeware software is abundantly available to create your own database while many major pay-for-placement search engines such as Google offer additional marketing feeds. As a result a real search engine can be created which, with careful design, can look very professional. It is at this stage that you might receive a phone call offering the opportunity to appear at the top of the search results for search terms relevant to your product line. You may also be told quite rightly that bidders are currently paying high prices per click to appear at the top of the search engine (via the Google affiliation). You may also be told that if you pay a small sum of up to £500/year you can be permanently number one.
Of course they are quite correct. The trouble is that without anybody using it you will have paid a fixed price for exposure on a search engine which will never be used by your potential customers.
The other search engine "opportunity" which may be presented to you is the sales person asking you to search on a popular search engine for a search term relevant to your product line. Having done so you will indeed see the sales person's website in the number one slot for that term. You will then be told that for a small fee of up to £500 you can be advertised on the website. So far everything sounds great.
What you should be asking in this situation is how many people actually search for that search term. There are many resources on the internet which can help you determine search frequencies: once you have used these you may find that you have just paid to be advertised on a website appearing number one on a search engine for a search term searched for twice a month.
Directories with No Traffic
The directory scam is similar to the above. You will be asked to go to a website which may have links or supposed affiliations with brands which appear to support their integrity. This time it is a directory of sites where you can pay for top advertising areas and you may also be told that you will be guaranteed a minimum number of clicks (1,000 is a number used frequently).
This time there appears to be a guaranteed return for your marketing money. However, you will be asked for the money up front and when you attempt to retrieve your money after the media owner has failed to deliver on the guarantee you will be sent through a painful process of countless phone calls and emails ultimately resulting in you loosing your money.
The lesson: only advertise on sites that are recognised and respectable and the truth is that relatively few of these exist for commercial finance. Unless you know the directory well don't pay large fees in advance.
Bad Email Lists
Procuring an email list can be a complicated and arduous process but the rewards can be significant. One of the critical contributors to a successful email marketing campaign is an up to date and legally procured email list.
The manner in which an email list has been accumulated must always be questioned and a sanity check on that list performed. For example, email lists with "generic" addresses (e.g. "info@", "admin@", etc.) and lists with an abundance of web based account endings (e.g. "@yahoo.co.uk", "@hotmail.com", etc.) may indicate that the list has been built with automated tools built to copy addresses from the internet. If the list contains a high percentage of such addresses its validity must be questioned.
Without starting a debate on the B2B implications of the recent Data Protection Act, there are some companies soliciting email lists where the owner of the email has not given permission for the communications to be sent. This must be addressed with the seller of the list with an accompanying contract covering liabilities.
Key Questions
Key questions you should ask yourself about an online marketing opportunity:
- Have you heard of the brand before?
- Is the sales person overly pushy?
- Is the sales person offering you a guaranteed number of "clicks"?
- Does the cost of the opportunity appear well below market value?
- Is a contract offered for the work and how professional is the contract?
Xbridge has been proactive with several private and public bodies to ensure that our partners and industry peers do not become victims of this type of fraud. Several legal cases are imminent and scores of companies have been shut down.
As this channel matures and we all become more aware of what is realistic and possible, cases like the above should diminish. Meanwhile consider the above questions carefully before you write a cheque.