“They know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” – Oscar Wilde
When you consider the price versus the value of your internet marketing initiatives – which is more important? The price is the most obvious thing to analyze first. Can I afford this? Does it fit into my marketing budget? How does the price of this initiative compare to my other marketing efforts?
However, over time, even more important than the price of a program – is its value. Do you have a clear understanding of the value of your internet marketing efforts? If you spend $400 on an email marketing campaign, that may seem like a lot of money if you’re only sending the message to 1,000 people. But what if that same campaign generates ten times that amount of revenue – would that be a good value? Are you measuring meaningful data to determine the value of your internet marketing programs? If not, then a “rate hike” for services can certainly be a little hard to swallow.
From both the business and the consumer perspective, rate hikes have become an inevitable part of doing business. The questions that every customer inevitably asks is “what do I get for that” and “why is the price increasing”?
Services that have incurred recent rate hikes include Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click Campaign management and Email Marketing services. Over the past five years, the fees for these services haven’t changed much, if at all. Over the past 6 months, we’ve been evaluating our costs and revenue structure to determine whether our services are priced accurately and competitively. And along the way, we’ve realized that we have some things that need to change, and it’s important that our clients understand “what they get for that.”
Our growth has been predicated on providing outstanding, personalized service, and that will certainly continue. Because our client list has grown exponentially, our costs and overhead have increased as well. In a sense, we’re faced with a dilemma: Do we keep fees the same and reduce the level of service? Or do we raise fees to cover the costs associated with highly personalized service that has brought so much success?
The answer is clear: Keep doing what has made you successful, and that which has delivered exceptional R.O.I. to the client. If it costs a bit more, but R.O.I. continues to exceed expectations, then there is value in that. Becoming the lowest cost, commodity-based service provider will not provide our clients with valuable internet marketing programs.
As you hear from our account managers and department heads about potential rate increases, keep this in mind: Blue Tent Marketing cares about the price of your internet marketing programs – but we care even more about their value.