Cloud Accounting Firm Xero Moves into Online Marketing

Xero Signals Move into Online Marketing

Xero today signalled an interesting move announcing to its customers by way of regular update that it intends to launch an online marketing directory.

Aside from being a great added value service for its burgeoning customer database, this development offers a fascinating insight into the future strategic direction of the international Software as a Service (SaaS) provider.

No longer content with helping us SME’s keep our books in order, Xero has indicated it wants to help us get more customers by providing a rudimentary online directory service.

Watch this Marketing Space

This new service offering is the type of marketing tactic that you as a business owner should be paying close attention to.

From the customer’s perspective the marketing directory provides a reason to subscribe to Xero – it offers a free online platform to post our company profile. The service has a high level of credibility and, as it is not Xero’s core business, the directory service is likely to be free of the advertising menagerie that clutters many other directory sites.

From Xero’s perspective the directory is essentially an online advertisement for their brand. It provides the company with excellent SEO advantages, offers public relations benefits (in that every one of their customers displayed in the directory is tacitly endorsing Xero). In addition, it provides Xero with the opportunity to directly recruit new customers by linking through to their signup form on every page.

The real magic in this marketing strategy is the fact that it costs Xero relatively nothing to create this marketing machine!

Customers will add and maintain their own data via a Xero template, much of the data is already there so customers don’t have to expend significant energy to add to their profile. Xero uses their existing pool of developers to create the profile template – thereby extending the use of existing data to their own benefit.

Lessons we can learn from Xero as business owners

With an this remarkable example of shrewd online marketing in front of us, the question before New Zealand companies is “what resource do I already own that can be turned into a marketing tool with little resource and effort on my part?”

For more information on how you can mine your business for more marketing wealth, contact online marketing specialists Impact PR today.

Mark Devlin

Mark Devlin

Director at Impact PR
Mark Devlin is a dynamic Auckland entrepreneur who provides PR counsel for some of the world’s most recognisable brands. With more than 20 years in public relations and marketing, Mark has an impressive portfolio of clients who trust him with their brands.