Seven tips to successfully offshore marketing operations

Several weeks ago, I met a senior marketing executive from one of the world's largest brands. She was discussing the possibility of offshoring their marketing operations to.

As we got into the discussion, it was clear that there were three key drivers for their decision to offshore marketing operations -

    The brand had been asked to reduce spend by at least 20 percent. To put this in context, various industry reports state that 2009 marketing budgets were, on average, cut by over 20 percent compared to pre-recessionary levels. And the number of companies that cut marketing budgets was 25 percent higher than predicted in January 2009.

         As brands go global, maintaining brand consistency across geographies is becoming a huge issue for marketers. Consistency is important not just from a customer experience standpoint but also from the perspective of marketing efficiency. If you create standardized brand "templates," the local geographies can respond faster to market/sales needs.

         The marketing function is under pressure to deliver ever ROI much faster than before. Management is asking tougher questions of its marketing teams; the focus on metrics has never been sharper.

     I realized that the company had gone after the usual cost reductions such as the elimination of travel, training, new hiring and new campaigns. However, they were looking to further reduce cost and increase efficiency. This triggered the idea of outsourcing/offshoring marketing operations.

If companies are interested in offshore their marketing operations, what can they do to ensure that their plan is well-thought out and effective? My counsel to this particular marketing executive was to keep seven mantras in mind:

    Secure a champion - Ensure that the company has an offshoring sponsor or champion who can evangelize the need for offshore delivery, address any issues that come up and resolve problems.

         Charge the CMO to drive adoption - Make sure that the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is fully supportive of the offshoring plan. The CMO's approval should be communicated to all brand managers else to combat resistance from the brand managers. One trick that I have seen work is to have the CMO ask each CEO during their monthly/quarterly/annual marketing reviews how they have leveraged the offshore unit to deliver marketing efficiencies. This will ensure that all the brand managers see offshoring as a CMO priority.

         Be clear about what can and what cannot be offshored - Draw up a list of functions that can be delivered from an offshore center. For example, offshoring event management can be costly and ineffective because it requires much client intimacy in terms of planning and last minute exigencies like booth set-up and brochure placement among others. While the designing of the booth can be offshored the logistics needs to be managed onsite. Therefore, draw up a list of what can and what cannot be offshored.

         Start with the low-hanging fruit to build credibility - The list of activities to be offshored must have the highest probability of delivering on metrics of efficiency, time and cost. To be credible, the offshore unit must first deliver low-hanging fruit, and then gradually scale up to more complex tasks. For example - start with parts of email marketing such as database creation and validation, design layout of marketing collateral, making brand-consistent PowerPoint presentations, website/portal development and maintenance, among others. Once these reach a certain level of stability, start to look at more complex aspects of marketing such as campaign design, or content creation.

         Keep all delivery options open - Offshore centers can be set up in several forms. These include a fully owned captive center, outsourcing functions to a third party service provider, or creating a hybrid model where some parts of the operations are outsourced to a third party service provider and some are retained within the captive center.

         Set up a robust governance structure - This is probably one of the most important but least understood outsourcing issues. A documented governance framework that details every process and workflow will help the delivery teams by making the task “process-oriented”. It will also put in place strong review mechanisms through steering committees to address any issues that the center or its client users may face.

        Publicize the offshore center’s successes - The company must ensure that the offshore center's successes and any client accolades received are publicized amongst top management and the wider marketing team. Perception matters.

Marketers have outsourced creative, right-brained activities as early as the seventeenth century. That was the genesis of the advertising industry. Since then, companies have evolved to a stage today when marketers outsource a majority of their functions - be it direct marketing, advertising, events, media planning, and even analytics which was hitherto closely held within the “ivory tower." Some have outsourced more than others. But today, an even broader adoption of outsourcing is underway - that of entire marketing operations. Marketers need to embrace this change and make the most of it to drive greater value for their business.

Source:http://blogs.wns.com/Resources/Blogs/BlogTopics/tabid/93/Article/99/seven-tips-to-successfully-offshore-marketing-operations.aspx

Making Your Product Descriptions Ready For Business

How far would you have to go to find a poorly written product description or unclear, confusing content? There is a good chance that some of you need to go no further than your own website.

I guarantee that if you browse ecommerce sites selling multiple products, such as beauty items and electronics, you will find example after example of poorly written, confusing, unintelligible, even laughable descriptions of products.

Have you ever been confused by poorly written descriptions or bogged down in unintelligible information? The writers of this web content did not intend to confuse you. These writers no doubt intended to convey clear, interesting information. They simply did not have the skills to do so.

Your product descriptions should be written using what we call "product description grammar".

Don't worry, this grammar will be written in everyday English. Basically, you will find this grammar to be the same you learned in school, However, there are a few things removed to give it a professional business-like tone and style.

In addition to a business-like style, product description grammar also means the language in your description is:

• Crisp
• Clear
• Concise
• Accurate
• Appropriate for the intended audience

The grammar used in the descriptions of your products is basic and should be used for all your products.

When we start writing your product descriptions, it will be in a conversational tone. It is written as if you were telling a friend about the features and benefits that your products have and why a customer might want to purchase them from you. Since you are telling someone about your business and products that means your description is written in the first person.

Since your description is in the first person, the pronouns "I" and "we" will be the subject of most of your sentences. When the description is finished the first person pronouns, articles, helping verbs and being verbs are removed. You will find that your description will have a crisp business-like tone to it, all your tenses will be correct and you will have a great, readable version of your description. You will see that writing a description using this grammar will produce content that can be read and understood without effort.

Everyone marketing online needs content and anyone can make mistakes that lead to misunderstanding. Follow the rules of product description grammar eliminates most mistakes. Your descriptions will be clearer and you will prevent misunderstandings between the seller and the buyer.

First-rate product description copywriting is one of the most overlooked, underused and cost effective weapons in your online marketing arsenal. It has the power to stop you in your tracks or contribute to success beyond your wildest dreams. Have you considered a professional team? Maybe it's about time.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Making-Your-Product-Descriptions-Ready-For-Business&id=7412049

Increase Visibility of Your Business Enlisting it in Local Search Engine

In this global market it is very tough for the local businesses to attract new customers or retain their existing customer base. Every form of media is crowded with different advertisements and your effort to get noticed via media promotion will be lost in the clutter. Moreover, the local players have limited promotional budget in comparison to national or international companies. So, what a local business man will do to promote their business?

Previously, people refer to Yellow Pages to find a local business. Such days are quickly disappearing. Now people turned to internet for every sort of information. Therefore, the best way for the local businesses is to enlist themselves in the online directories.

When people think of search engines the first three names that come to mind are Google, Yahoo and Bing. Even when the term local is attached with search engine, the thought process moves in the same direction. It is true that these big players list local businesses also. If a person tries to search a thriving local business in Google he or she will have no difficulty to see a listing for that business in this big platform. Suppose that person, without any knowledge of the businesses of the area, is looking for a local service provider in Google. He or she will have a good number of business listings which will include many national companies. The information will be of no use to that person. It will be better if there is a local search engine providing location specific results.

Businesses that are struggling to gain an edge in the local markets can optimize their presence on local search engines. It is an excellent way to attract web traffic towards your site. When the online users will discover that there is a search engine meant solely for a geo-location, they will stick to it instead of referring to Google. There are several such local search engines satisfying the requirements of the customers. My Quick Search is one of them that specifically cover the local businesses of Chhattisgarh and satisfy every need of people located in that area. 

Benefits that you can enjoy listing your company with local search engine:

Reach your Target Audience: The target audience of a local business stay in their close proximity. The businesses that depend on local clientele like restaurants, salon, plumbers, carpenters, mechanic, dentists, lawyers, make-up artists, and several others aim to approach the these target groups. The businesses usually consider different media for promoting their business. It is true that local media is an effective way to make people aware of your existence.

However, when need arises they may not remember what you have once advertised. They will then search online to satisfy their requirements. The local listing plays a significant role at that situation. 

Extensive coverage: The small and medium companies are often absent from the listing of top search engines. Even if they are present, there are high chances that they will be lost amidst the big names. Contrary to it, the local search engine carefully includes all the existing service providers of a geo-location from where the customers can pick up the business as per their requirements. Since, in a specific area there is comparatively limited number of service providers, all the companies are visible.

Cost Effectiveness: An online listing is pretty cheaper compared to other kinds of advertisements. Spending only a little amount you can increase the visibility of your brand. Another benefit of listing on the major local network you have to compete with far lesser number of businesses.

Mobile phone friendly: Whenever, there is an informational requirement a person hardly awaits search them from their computers. They instantly connect internet from their Smartphone to access the required information. When you are using a Smartphone, it is very easy to scroll through the listings. Most of the mobile phone users searching information at first refer to business listing. A local listing gives adequate information whenever and wherever they require about the businesses in the vicinity just with the touch of finger.

Therefore, claim your listing in the local search engine and let it work in favour of your business.

Source:http://blogs.siliconindia.com/myquicksearch/Business/Increase-Visibility-of-Your-Business-Enlisting-it-in-Local-Search-Engine-bid-kR9y3q2740616186.html