Citrix Online is targeting small businesses in the same way it might target consumers in its latest B2B campaign, because it deems them to be similar in terms of their decision making. The campaign is designed to promote its product GoToMeeting – software that enables meetings and presentations to take place online – and drive customers to the website and to take up the 30-day free trial.
Why offline works for small businesses
Andrew Millard, director of ecommerce for Citrix Online, says, “My take on small businesses is that they think and purchase as consumers. Many small businesses do not have the same structured purchasing processes and professionals to inform and make decisions.” Its latest campaign, launching this month, will encompass offline media with television advertising being the spearhead for the campaign.
Despite being a company which focuses heavily online, it has opted to use TV because of the crossover between consumers and small business owners and for its power to promote a product. Millard says, “TV is an established method for raising awareness. We need to drive awareness in places they [small businesses] consume media and recognise their purchase behaviour.”
The 60 second advert will run on entertainment channels including Dave, FiveUS and news channels such as Sky News. It consists of customer testimonials given against a white background with the call to action being to visit the website and register for a free trial.
The campaign will also run on radio and in national broadsheets and trade titles. It will be underpinned by SEO. Although Millard explains a combination of marketing techniques such as email will be used he says the main focus is TV, radio and print. He admits Citrix Online needs to work on its social media presence in the UK.
Lessons learned
In 2008 Citrix launched another television campaign to promote its GoToMyPC technology – software that allows users access to their PC anywhere with broadband internet connection. When asked if any changes were made to the marketing approach for its latest product, Millard says, “We learnt that customer testimonials and endorsement can say a lot about our brand.”
Its TV adverts for the GoToMeeting technology consist purely of customer testimonials. Millard comments on how positive the feedback was. “It was nice to see so many customers willing to speak so positively about our technology.”
Citrix Online is an American company and has previously run both GoTo campaigns in the US. Millard remarks on the difference in the media landscape between the US and the UK. “The UK has 300 radio stations whereas the US has 3000, therefore radio endorsement was a big part of the campaign. That was not an option in the UK.”
Lead generation
Millard explains he is able to track which channel customers came in via because they are encouraged to enter a promotional code when they sign up for their trial. The TV ads will have a different promo code than the print adverts for example. “This enables me to track lead generation pretty efficiently.”
The campaign will be ongoing but different marketing channels will be used at different times. Millard says, “We use promo codes to inform our decision making, which helps to optimise particular media.”
This technology is not the first of its kind. When asked what makes GoToMeeting better than anything its competitors – like Cisco Webex or Microsoft Live Meeting – might offer, Millard explains it has learnt from technology giant Apple. “iTunes has such a simple interface and is easy to use, it opened the door for those who were interested but not confident. We are promoting the ease of use with our technology. You can do so much with it.”
