Increase Exposure and Market Share through Online Marketing
Strategic Marketing Project for NBRI
Description of Goals and Assignment
The National Business Research Institute (NBRI) specializes in survey research, specifically divided into two segments business customer research and employee research solely in the U.S and Canada. The NBRI survey system was built in-house using the considerable expertise and knowledge of the Doctors of Psychology on staff. The system amassed a database of normalized business questions and answers that rivals that of many of the better known survey research companies. Surveys are conducted across many industries but the major clientele are in the gaming and hospitality industry, specifically casinos and resorts.
The primary goal for NBRI is to increase market share and brand recognition through online marketing including Pay Per Click (PPC) and social media marketing. The secondary goal is to continue to amass responses to normalized questions and increase the number of industries for which these responses apply, making the database more valuable.
Research, Findings, and Recommendations
NBRI’s services have a price point starting at approximately $10,000. NBRI was ranking poorly in the organic listings of Google, Yahoo, and MSN. NBRI also had a PPC spend of $5000/week on Google and Yahoo. The company was receiving approximately 30 requests for quotes per week many from businesses that did not have the marketing resources to afford NBRI’s services. Requests of this type depleted the PPC budget before viable potential clients were able to see the ads. The closing rate hovered around 7%. Improvements were made in the following areas:
- Identification and quantification of the correct target markets – before being able to improve conversions and sales, we first needed to identify the ideal client and apply a persona(s) to that client.
- Extensive keyword research and a competitive analysis was conducted based on the identified persona. Metatags were adjusted and content was rewritten based on the keyword research.
- External content was written and distributed based on the keyword research.
- An analysis of the PPC programs in place showed that the ads were being shown at all hours and days. Web browsing data suggests that the target client was more apt to surf during business hours. PPC schedules were adjusted accordingly.
- PPC ads were reworded and adjusted to attempt to pre-qualify requests and reduce PPC costs.
- The suggestion was made to create a trimmed down version of the survey system to capture those requests that did not fall into the criteria that fit the perfect NBRI client
Personal Reflections and Contribution
Responsibilities for this project were completely mine. I conducted the keyword research and competitive analysis. I created the marketing plan and formulated the recommendations. I wrote most of the content for the website and oversaw the html design and development team. NBRI enjoys a thriving business to this day. Marketing costs are reduced.