PUBLISHED 8 AUGUST 2011 15:30
Glowing example
Business without a phone line wins award for marketing.
Text by Matthew Henry
Don’t cut staff; cut the phone line. That’s the secret to living lean during the downturn according to Australian marine products exporter and 2011 Australian Marine Industry Export (AIMEX) award winner Glowfast Marine.
It’s a company with no fixed landline phone and not a single copy of Microsoft Word on any computer. Instead, staff make and receive calls through Skype and log onto the free Google Docs website to create and share documents.
“We do everything online,” says Glowfast Marine marketing manager, Brita Fowler.
The strategy appears to be working.
Last week the company, which produces luminous sail tape for sailing yachts, was awarded the AIMEX ‘Small Exporter of the Year’ as well as receiving a highly commended for its marketing strategy.
Formed seven years ago as a startup, Glowfast Marine was forced early on to keep a tight reign on spending, like newlyweds scraping by on lentil soup.
The company has since expanded its reach globally, but the commitment to fiscal austerity remains a key pillar of company culture.
Glowfast runs its entire orders system through its website, and mixes traditional advertising with online and social media activities like Facebook and Twitter to get some free mileage for its messages online.
Brita points to a cavalcade of statistics that should motivate marine businesses to create and maintain a Facebook or Twitter page: Facebook now tops Google in the weekly web traffic charts in the USA; 50 per cent of the world’s population is under 30 years old; it took television 13 years to reach 50 million viewers but Facebook had 200 million users in under a year.
But she warns that the right marketing strategy embraces both new and traditional forms of media.
“You don’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” says Brita of the move to social media for advertising.
“The current consumer of marine goods – particularly of boats and yachts – is a more traditional person and they love to read a magazine. So it’s incredibly valuable to invest in traditional media. But new customers are increasingly online.”
Brita believes the marine industry has been slow in embracing social media but marine businesses neglect it at their peril.
“At an extremely tough time for the marine industry, and particularly in exports, people are looking to innovate. This is one of the ways they can do that. But it does take time and people need to invest in that,” she says.
And what about the naysayers who see social media as a fad?
“Social media may be something that will pass but we need to be exploiting what is here now. Be in the moment, because your company might not be here tomorrow if you don’t.”
Brita’s social media tips:
- Do it in bite size pieces, don’t start lots of pages and then neglect them
- Use it in a way that will be constructive for your business
- Remember it’s in the public domain, so what you say is out there for everyone to consume
- Use it to build community and engage with customers directly
Still need convinving? See the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng
http://www.glowfast.com/
