Always be smart in marketing spending is the key to get desirable results. Keep in mind, the equation doesn't go like this: spend more = better results. In fact, it depends on how targeted your communication is and how creatively and effectively use of them.
2011 saw a large number of small businesses buckle under the pressure of the financial onslaught. In 2012, if you want to avoid the same happening to yours, clever use of marketing spend could be the answer to getting back on track.
1. The recession is a time to shout about what you do best
Companies who invest in and constantly look to improve the effectiveness of their marketing in tough times generally emerge in better health when the economy bounces back. Crucially, they keep their gains in share of the market and go on to long-term sustained growth. Actively promoting and selling your products and services using creative and highly targeted communications is a crucial long-term strategy when times are tough. You don’t necessarily need to spend more; you just need to be smarter.
2. Don’t forget the "good old" traditional marketing channels
A noticeable trend since the onset of the last recession is that many businesses have focused their marketing efforts far more, or even entirely, on digital marketing campaigns due to their cost effectiveness and the fact they can deliver highly targeted and measureable campaigns. For these reasons, it’s likely to be an increasingly popular media choice in 2012. However, businesses should also consider maximising the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns through integration with offline channels, such as advertising mail. Research conducted by the DMA has revealed that combining email and advertising mail raises campaign response rates.
Of course, where appropriate, advertising mail can be a great standalone marketing medium when it is carefully targeted to reach the right person at the right time. Critically, companies that are using sophisticated analytics to glean nuggets of insight are seeing growth in response rates while others who maintain an untargeted approach or poor messaging are seeing low response rates. According to Royal Mail’s Mail Media Centre, 17.7 million people bought something after receiving a mail order catalogue in the past 12 months and every year advertising mail generates £16bn in sales for UK businesses.
3. It’s all about the power of mobile this year
The proliferation of smart phones is certainly something that clever businesses are set to make greater use of in 2012. Having a mobile version of your website is essential in a market where 50 per cent of consumers – a figure that’s growing fast - own smart phones. Not having a mobile-compatible website will set you behind your competition. Also, consumers are becoming increasingly happy to receive SMS messages from brands they trust. SMS works best when businesses use it to interact with existing customers – building that relationship and encouraging up-sell. Apps too are rising in popularity. However, for many businesses these might not be relevant and companies need to be careful as to what they will achieve before rushing in and creating one.
4. Get creative but be pragmatic
In 2012, in order for businesses to drive sales, they need to think creatively and act pragmatically. Originality and effective targeting and has never been so important. Businesses need to determine what’s most relevant for their audience and not just invest in the simple digital options. In the majority of cases, the balanced utilisation of a number of media channels will be the most effective. For the younger generation it might be a more mobile and social-media focused campaign. For those of an older demographic it might be one that uses advertising mail and email.
5. Hard graft will pay off
This year will be a tough trading environment, but many companies will grow and gain market share at the expense of their competitors. Those that do will invest in clever marketing campaigns that make best use of the available media channels, and who invest the time and budget in understanding what works and what doesn’t.
Source: By Chris Combemale on 10th January 2012.
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Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Slovakia - Slowakije: telecommunicatie - 2012
The report shows an upward trend in mobile subscriptions, downward trend in fixed line subscriptions and strong subscription growth in Slovakia.
BMI's updated annual report on Slovakia's telecoms market extends forecasts to 2016 and includes data from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic (TÚ SR) for the first half of 2011. It also includes operational and financial data published by Slovakia's fixed-line incumbent operator Slovak Telekom (which is owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom and operates under the T-Com brand), Orange Slovakia, Telefónica O2, which rebranded as Telefónica Slovakia in May 2011, and Liberty Global-backed UPC Slovakia. We have also included our five-year mobile ARPU forecast in this update to our Slovakia telecoms market report.
Based on market data published by Slovakia's three mobile network operators, BMI calculates there were 6.285mn mobile subscribers in the country at the end of September 2011. This represented growth of 1.4% q-o-q and 4.4% y-o-y. It also brought mobile penetration rate to 115.5%, up from 110.8% a year earlier. BMI notes that growth in Slovakia's mobile market during 9M11 and for the most part of 2009 and 2010 was largely driven by third-ranked Telefónica. The operator's strategy of incentivising phone users that port their numbers to its network from rival networks is the biggest growth driver on its network. According to data released by Telefónica in November 2011, about 362,000 customers have ported their numbers to its network since the launch of mobile number portability (MNP) in 2008, of which 116,434 ported their numbers during 9M11. By contrast, only 9,548 numbers have been ported away from Telefónica's network since 2008, of which 4,786 were in the first nine months of 2011. Over the next five years, we expect operators to focus on high-value services in order to offset the effect of lower tariffs in traditional voice and SMS services. Our revised forecast envisages mobile penetration to reach 120.2% by the end of 2016, equivalent of a mobile subscriber base of about 6.6mn.
Regulatory data show fixed-line subscriptions in Slovakia have been on a downward trend since 2005. This is in line with general fixed-line market trends in the region. At the end of December 2010, there were about 982,000 fixed lines in operation. This represented a penetration rate of 18%. During the first half of 2011, fixed-line subscriptions fell by about 16,000 to reach 966,000. Although we expect this trend to continue over our forecast period because of the growing prominence of VoIP services and wireless broadband access technologies, we believe strong demand for triple-play offerings will reduce the rate of decline in the latter stages of our forecast period.
In contrast to the fixed-line segment, Slovakia's broadband market continues to record strong subscriber growth. This is mainly driven by FTTx, WiMAX and mobile broadband services. There were 1.232mn broadband connections in Slovakia at the end of December 2010, representing a penetration rate of 22.6%. We forecast a steady growth in the broadband market over the next five years through to 2016 as increasing competition in the sector results in network expansion to underserved areas and lower tariffs for end-users. We expect broadband penetration in Slovakia to reach 28.9% by 2016, equivalent of a subscriber base of 1.596mn.
Source: By Business Monitor International (BMI) on 9th January 2012.
BMI's updated annual report on Slovakia's telecoms market extends forecasts to 2016 and includes data from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic (TÚ SR) for the first half of 2011. It also includes operational and financial data published by Slovakia's fixed-line incumbent operator Slovak Telekom (which is owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom and operates under the T-Com brand), Orange Slovakia, Telefónica O2, which rebranded as Telefónica Slovakia in May 2011, and Liberty Global-backed UPC Slovakia. We have also included our five-year mobile ARPU forecast in this update to our Slovakia telecoms market report.
Based on market data published by Slovakia's three mobile network operators, BMI calculates there were 6.285mn mobile subscribers in the country at the end of September 2011. This represented growth of 1.4% q-o-q and 4.4% y-o-y. It also brought mobile penetration rate to 115.5%, up from 110.8% a year earlier. BMI notes that growth in Slovakia's mobile market during 9M11 and for the most part of 2009 and 2010 was largely driven by third-ranked Telefónica. The operator's strategy of incentivising phone users that port their numbers to its network from rival networks is the biggest growth driver on its network. According to data released by Telefónica in November 2011, about 362,000 customers have ported their numbers to its network since the launch of mobile number portability (MNP) in 2008, of which 116,434 ported their numbers during 9M11. By contrast, only 9,548 numbers have been ported away from Telefónica's network since 2008, of which 4,786 were in the first nine months of 2011. Over the next five years, we expect operators to focus on high-value services in order to offset the effect of lower tariffs in traditional voice and SMS services. Our revised forecast envisages mobile penetration to reach 120.2% by the end of 2016, equivalent of a mobile subscriber base of about 6.6mn.
Regulatory data show fixed-line subscriptions in Slovakia have been on a downward trend since 2005. This is in line with general fixed-line market trends in the region. At the end of December 2010, there were about 982,000 fixed lines in operation. This represented a penetration rate of 18%. During the first half of 2011, fixed-line subscriptions fell by about 16,000 to reach 966,000. Although we expect this trend to continue over our forecast period because of the growing prominence of VoIP services and wireless broadband access technologies, we believe strong demand for triple-play offerings will reduce the rate of decline in the latter stages of our forecast period.
In contrast to the fixed-line segment, Slovakia's broadband market continues to record strong subscriber growth. This is mainly driven by FTTx, WiMAX and mobile broadband services. There were 1.232mn broadband connections in Slovakia at the end of December 2010, representing a penetration rate of 22.6%. We forecast a steady growth in the broadband market over the next five years through to 2016 as increasing competition in the sector results in network expansion to underserved areas and lower tariffs for end-users. We expect broadband penetration in Slovakia to reach 28.9% by 2016, equivalent of a subscriber base of 1.596mn.
Source: By Business Monitor International (BMI) on 9th January 2012.
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