8. The top 5 challenges SMBs face with online/digital marketing are
• Too many marketing channels to address
• Not enough time to learn it or do it well on my own
• Figuring out which vendors to trust
• Too complicated and confusing in general
• Can’t afford to hire additional staff
Reply.com Marketplace | Clicks & Leads 7/13
9. On average SMBs utilized 9.8 unique marketing channels in 2012.
“Small business owners don’t want to worry about
how their business works, they just want it to run
smoothly.”
Source: BIA Kelsey Leading in Local 2013
Thank you for your time. I really appreciate this opportunity and I’m extremely excited to be able to present this idea to you today.
A little background about me, I currently work for Barclaycard and am responsible for new product development.The small startup I was working for was bought out by the bank about 1.5 years ago.I have a background in web/software development and and really enjoy working for small companies.
I love IFTTT. I love the idea, the execution and the interface. It’s incredibly easy to use and it’s fantastic to be able to mash all these services together to do something new.That being said, I can live my life without IFTTT. If it went away tomorrow, I’d be sad, but I’d survive.There are recipes that make life a little easier or better, but it hasn’t changed my life.
So…I think IFTTT is ahead of it’s time and is positioned perfectly to capture a growing market.IFTTT just hasn’t become indispensible for me.
But what if…IFTTT was able to become indispensible for people right now.
… To solve some really important problems for people right now.To change lives To become a tool people can not live without.
Introducing IFTTT for business.
IFTTT is the perfect interface for solving the issues small businesses face.Imagine you’re a restaurant owner, your job is to ensure that you’re providing the best experiences for your customersYou don’t want to worry about learning the ins and outs of social media or digital advertisingYoudon’t want to absorb the cost of hiring a social media manager, a marketing person etc. You don’t want the hassle of setting up and managing multiple channels, with multiple logins, contracts.
And they use a lot of different marketing channels too!Small business owners just want to keep their restaurant full with happy customersThey want something that just works.Based on my experience working in an industry that services SMBs it’s become painfully evident that they are completely lost within the world of online marketing. They need a solution that links it all together and is extremely easy to understand and use. I think that interface is IFTTT.
When looking at potentially paying someone even part time verses paying a small monthly fee to automate their marketingThe value proposition for businesses is huge.
And it’is a really big market.132.7 in 2012 Growing to 150 by 2017
Same product, same idea, same structure, same revenue model. Premium accounts, pay per trigger, or tiered based on volume…Just a slight pivot of the target audience and a few new channels specifically for business.
Even so…
Let’s take a look at a couple of those that would be relevant to business owners today.Automate Social Media
Again automation at work…
Redundancy is very important to busineses
But…Imagine the possibilities with a few tweaks to current channels making them more relevant for business.
Businesses could automate recurring tasks…
They could create wildly original marketing campaigns…
Automate services to increase their customer satisfaction & engagement.
And keep tabs on how their business is performing.
I’ve compiled a collection of potential channels specifically for businesses.Smartphones paved the way for consumer apps. Mobile payments and cloud computing are doing the same thing for businesses now. IFTTT can automate the organization and communication between the coming flood of services small businesses will be tied into. IFTTT could be the lynchpin between the merchant and all of it’s services. That is some seriously powerful real estate to occupy.Shopify + EmailIf a consumer transacts at my store twice in one week send them a thank you note with 10% discount for their next purchase.Salesforce + EmailIfI add someone to my salesforce contact database send them a nice to meet you email.Google Offers + TXTText me the number of sales my Google Offers deal has sold every day at 5pm.Stripe + EmailSend a customer an apology email when a product is returned.LivingSocial + MailchimpSend my livingsocial deal to my mailchimp subscriber list when it goes live.
Lastly I’d like to present the idea of Cookbooks.Cookbooks are a collection of shared recipes.They categorize and organize individual recipes by grouping them together around a certain topic.Cookbooks are a way for businesses to automate complex processes with a click of a button.
Users can create and share cookbooks.Cookbooks can be turned on and off just like a recipeUsers could create a cookbook for business types like restaurants or to create complex marketing campaigns and multi-step automation.Cookbooks could be social with commenting & voting or could be curated top down – “10 best recipes for social media. 10 best recipes for restaurant owners, or 10 best recipes for consumer engagement, loyalty or driving new customers” Etc.Cookbooks are independent of IFTTT for business, could be implemented today and would be a fantastic tool for sorting through the 3680 pages of recipes.
So that’s IFTTT for business. No drastic changes to the platform required, fills an immediate and growing need in the market, And targets a customer base conditioned & willing to pay for premium services. I’d like to launch this for you.
Finally I want to share a custom recipe I created. “If this presentation is liked then send me an email with a job offer to work at IFTTT.”
Finally I want to share a custom recipe I created. “If this presentation is liked then send me an email with a job offer to work at IFTTT.”
