April 4, 2011 at 10:09Methods of attracting clients for a hoster. Inside look
In our recent Khabrovsky post, we talked about a survey that we conducted among hosting companies. One of the questions concerned the sources of information from which the hosters learned about their data center. This time we decided to consider this issue from a different perspective - from the side of the hosting provider. We will tell you about the most popular methods of attracting customers and about how we present them as effective.
contextual advertising
It is actively used by many competitors on our subject. So far we are looking at this method. First of all, we focus on the promotion of data center services and for our target requests (data center, colocation, dedicated, etc.), the cost of clicks in the "direct" is very high. Given the fact that users who choose a data center with a high degree of probability will be able to view several ads at once, it is hardly worth expecting a good conversion into buyers. On the other hand, given the objectively more favorable conditions - there is an opportunity to rely on the fact that the client will choose exactly on our Data Center. Also, when calculating, it is necessary to take into account the fact that our services are characterized by client affection, since we provide the service “in the period” - paying for one month, the client will continue to work with us further.
Search engines
About experience with SEO-companies we already had a separate post . Those who are interested can familiarize themselves with the material. So far, we are considering the possibility of independent promotion. Theoretically, the budget to attract one visitor from search engines is several times cheaper than from contextual advertising. On the other hand, it is problematic to predict the real number of visitors. In addition, the cost of promotion needs to be laid and costs in the initial period, until the desired position in the top is achieved.
Friends and acquaintances
The only adequate way to use this channel is to provide quality services that will advise friends. The option is long, but very effective, and most importantly, not requiring additional costs. Nevertheless, before hosting information begins to spread over word of mouth, you need to somehow attract the initial customers, who will become sources of buzz marketing. In our case, after a year of work of the data center, many people come to us according to the recommendations of friends and acquaintances.
Cold calls
Probably one of the most unpromising options for promoting Data Center services, at least in the “frontal” version ... Getting to the Decision Maker is difficult in this situation (because the reception is not always able to transfer to the right person), and the rest can and “scared” when referring to the words “data center,” “colocation,” and “dedicated.” Customers are initially negatively tuned to this method of promoting services (especially when they are offered something “incomprehensible”), therefore, first you need to establish and establish contact with the “phoned”, and only then move on to the offer itself. But this is a separate conversation, not related to "clumsy methods."
Forums
We are haunted by an “Experiment of Russian scale”in Kommersant, therefore, it is planned to devote a separate post to various methods of working in social media. Today we will only talk about such a popular tool for attracting targeted visitors as forums. In the hosting sections of the webmaster communities, you can find hosting companies of various stripes - from large data centers to single hosting. Unfortunately, most providers perceive forums exclusively as platforms where they can spam with impunity and miss the opportunity to chat with real and potential customers, which in turn gives users the impression of “dead” sections in which there is nothing interesting.
One cannot disagree with visitors to the community. How can it be interesting to have a 20-page branch consisting entirely of reprints of company tariffs? Whenever possible, we try to look as humane as possible on the venues. We do not spread standard footcloths with stocks, but find something new, provoke users to discussion, actively enter into discussion. This tactic is paying off - customers are more willing to make contact and place orders with a living person, rather than with a virtual bore hoster. Up to half of our clients come precisely from forums and blogs ... We will consider the methods of attracting clients from social services in more detail next time.
contextual advertising
It is actively used by many competitors on our subject. So far we are looking at this method. First of all, we focus on the promotion of data center services and for our target requests (data center, colocation, dedicated, etc.), the cost of clicks in the "direct" is very high. Given the fact that users who choose a data center with a high degree of probability will be able to view several ads at once, it is hardly worth expecting a good conversion into buyers. On the other hand, given the objectively more favorable conditions - there is an opportunity to rely on the fact that the client will choose exactly on our Data Center. Also, when calculating, it is necessary to take into account the fact that our services are characterized by client affection, since we provide the service “in the period” - paying for one month, the client will continue to work with us further.
Search engines
About experience with SEO-companies we already had a separate post . Those who are interested can familiarize themselves with the material. So far, we are considering the possibility of independent promotion. Theoretically, the budget to attract one visitor from search engines is several times cheaper than from contextual advertising. On the other hand, it is problematic to predict the real number of visitors. In addition, the cost of promotion needs to be laid and costs in the initial period, until the desired position in the top is achieved.
Friends and acquaintances
The only adequate way to use this channel is to provide quality services that will advise friends. The option is long, but very effective, and most importantly, not requiring additional costs. Nevertheless, before hosting information begins to spread over word of mouth, you need to somehow attract the initial customers, who will become sources of buzz marketing. In our case, after a year of work of the data center, many people come to us according to the recommendations of friends and acquaintances.
Cold calls
Probably one of the most unpromising options for promoting Data Center services, at least in the “frontal” version ... Getting to the Decision Maker is difficult in this situation (because the reception is not always able to transfer to the right person), and the rest can and “scared” when referring to the words “data center,” “colocation,” and “dedicated.” Customers are initially negatively tuned to this method of promoting services (especially when they are offered something “incomprehensible”), therefore, first you need to establish and establish contact with the “phoned”, and only then move on to the offer itself. But this is a separate conversation, not related to "clumsy methods."
Forums
We are haunted by an “Experiment of Russian scale”in Kommersant, therefore, it is planned to devote a separate post to various methods of working in social media. Today we will only talk about such a popular tool for attracting targeted visitors as forums. In the hosting sections of the webmaster communities, you can find hosting companies of various stripes - from large data centers to single hosting. Unfortunately, most providers perceive forums exclusively as platforms where they can spam with impunity and miss the opportunity to chat with real and potential customers, which in turn gives users the impression of “dead” sections in which there is nothing interesting.
One cannot disagree with visitors to the community. How can it be interesting to have a 20-page branch consisting entirely of reprints of company tariffs? Whenever possible, we try to look as humane as possible on the venues. We do not spread standard footcloths with stocks, but find something new, provoke users to discussion, actively enter into discussion. This tactic is paying off - customers are more willing to make contact and place orders with a living person, rather than with a virtual bore hoster. Up to half of our clients come precisely from forums and blogs ... We will consider the methods of attracting clients from social services in more detail next time.