When it comes to searching on the web, Google pretty much has it all sewn up and this is not something that is going to change in the near (or probably even long) term. The other point I want you to bear in mind whilst reading this article is that there are a lot of companies out there that spend a lot of time and money ensuring they remain good pals with Google!

So how does a small company with limited resources help drive traffic to their website without committing to an expensive SEO campaign?

Now, please do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with SEO campaigns which can work very well indeed. However there is another way.

Your Client and Prospect List

We all have them, sometimes officially logged and sometimes scattered around in different places and uncoordinated. But these lists should be treated like gold dust because that is after all, what they are.

List cover many groups including:

• Clients
• Lapsed clients
• Potential clients who has asked for a price or proposal
• People who have signed up to your email campaign online
• Potential clients you have listed as good target prospects

These lists are probably the single most important asset that you have in your marketing toolkit. This is because, with the exception of the potentials you have targeted, know you and have either done business with you or have contemplated it.

Warm Contacts

Unlike Google, where you are targeting unknown contacts, your list is filled with warm contacts who know you and so by sending special offers and details of your present and new products, services you are “preaching to the converted”.

Typically e-shots to your list would:

• Be opened and read
• Sometime replied to
• Clicked through

The above basically means that your readers are engaged with what you have to say and therefore more likely to buy from you.

What You Need to Do

First things first, gather all your lists together in one place and search your sales files for all the people who have contacted you in the past year. Next, make sure everyone in your organisation knows to gather data from everyone who contacts your company and passes the data to the person in charge of the new central resource.

Next you need to decide what you are going to offer in your forthcoming campaign to the new list. My advice here is  offer the readers something of value that they will find useful. Do not sell to them. A good e-shot will:

• Offer something free or useful in the form of advice or maybe a discount or offer
• Make contacting you really easy
• Add plenty of click throughs to drive people to your website
• Be sent out on a regular basis

If you follow the above guidelines, you will start to engage your list and that will then result in improved sales. Additionally, if you do not sell in your e-shots, and they are sent out regularly this will allow you to send out the occasional selling email (but even then make sure there is an offer to make your client feel special).

Try it and see how it works for you. Campaigns can easily be set up according to your budget ranging from very simple do-it-yourself campaigns to highly complex campaigns with split segmentation and dazzling graphics.

For those that have not already started, dip your toe in the water and see how you get on.