Hosting Companies Convert Visits to Sales

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Ever wonder how some of the world’s best marketers in one of the most competitive online marketplaces manage to get visitors to convert into buyers? Here is a recent survey of how web hosting companies are using a plethora of marketing techniques to drum up new business. Perhaps we can all learn from their expertise.

Case Study 1 - UK Hosting Promotions

The UK tends to be a fickle web hosting market, usually selecting hosting providers that are UK based. The competition for this market is fierce. Here are the tactics that a few of these firms have recently rolled out to convert visitors to buyers at a higher rate. Website hosting firm 34SP.com has recently introduced a promotional effort wrapped around their 9th Anniversary in the hosting business. The promotion is entitled ‘9 Years of Web Hosting, 9 Great Prizes’ and uses the allure of brand new electronics from major consumer brands to convert visitors. Who wouldn’t want to win an iPod nano, Beatles Rock Band, or a Canon talking printer? The message is: ”Sign up with us and you have the chance of increased value via cool electronics prizes.”

UK hosting provider, LCN.com, gave away over £100,000 ($161,000) of savings to its customers in the month of September. In a move to mark the culmination of the ”September Promotion Marathon”, LCN.com offered 20 per cent off any order until midnight (GMT) on 30 September. This is a pretty standard marketing tactic - the discount for a limited time. The company put a nice twist on the promotion by linking it to a new communications technology: Twitter. Mark Boost, LCN.com Managing Director,commented, ”Twitter has been a key element to this campaign’s success. LCN.com Twitter followers have shared these offers with their own network of friends, so each message has managed to reach a huge network of potential customers looking for the best deals on web hosting and domain names.” The message is: ”Sign up with us right away so you can get our products for a big savings. Don’t wait, or the opportunity will be gone.”

A third UK based hosting provider, VelnetWeb takes a slightly different promotional approach. This company promotes a product feature that others usually charge for, and offers it for free. The feature is unlimited bandwidth, which is offered along with the premium hosting package. This will undoubtedly attract those hosting customers who are using copious amounts of bandwidth, and would be forced to pay extra with another hosting provider. This promotion offers these ‘power users’ an attractive perk. The message is: ”Don’t pay extra just because you use tons of bandwidth, come host with us and we’ll absorb those extra charges.”

Case Study 2 - US Hosting Promotions

In the United States promotions are many and varied. Current hosting promotions run the gammit from straight discounts to additional product enhancements for more complex hosting purchases. Here are a few that are running right now. One hosting provider known for a continuous variety of discounts and promotions is GoDaddy.com. In addition to Super Bowl advertisements, the company also sends special offers and discount codes via both the United States mail service and email. A very recent email states, ”Don’t miss it! Check your home’s postal mailbox for the postcard pictured above. It contains a reminder about your expiring domain(s), plus details on how to SAVE 15% off your order of $50 or more.” The email goes on to offer, ”PLUS, purchase any new items with your renewal and get 15% OFF your order of $50 or more. Simply enter gdr949c in your cart or mention the code when you call.” The offer expires on December 15, 2009. The message is: ”Act now to get a great deal on renewing your services with us. Don’t delay or you’ll miss out.”

Navisite dedicated hosting takes a ‘select your own promo’ approach by offering several promos and allowing the buyer to choose the promotion that best suits their needs. Among the current offers running are: Free Plesk 9.0 for life, Double the RAM, Double the bandwidth, First 10 GB of backup free, Enter to win a free Blackberry. The company outlines these and several other offers on their specials page at: http://dedicatedhosting.navisite.com/dedicated/specials. According to Senior Director of Product Management with Navisite, Mr. William Toll, ”NaviSite’s solutions cater to a wide audience and as the SMB space is very broad, our online presence encourages prospects to review our managed servers and managed applications and select a promotion that applies closest to their business needs. Our specials are strategically designed to enhance our value proposition of providing a premium solution in the mass market. We believe that having this wide set of special offers encourages prospects to explore our solutions on a deeper level.” The message of the current Navisite promotion is: ”Don’t settle for just one promotion, select from several and make your own decision about which promotion best fits your needs.”

Hosting industry stalwart Hostway also has a promotion running which is a bit unique in the marketplace at this time. The promotion is entitled, ‘Web hosting with instant business broadcast’. The company touts the offering as a way to maximize sales potential. On the Hostway website the promotion is described as follows, ”With your included profile, your business will get listed in up to 20 high-traffic directories, including Google, Bing and Yahoo! Plus, you have an instant Web presence and a built-in way to start building your Web site’s search engine relevancy.” The directories listed as being included are: Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Bing, Ask.com, Local.com, Superpages.com, Yellowpages.com, Yellowbook.com, Exactseek.com, and Target.net. The promotion anticipates the need of an online business to attract visitors to their website. The message is: ”Use our hosting and we’ll help attract visitors and buyers to your website for free.” To learn more see this page on Instant Business Broadcast.

Perhaps these promotions will give you a few ideas of your own on how to convert visitors into buyers. Good luck in your online business venture, and remember to consider using promotions to increase your sales.

This content was written by Derek Vaughan exclusively for VerticalScope. Derek Vaughan is an Internet industry veteran, marketing consultant and writer.