Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

The definition of ‘making a big splash’ is to become suddenly very successful or very well-known.

It takes a great deal of time to establish a brand and educate a market. You want prospects to understand how unique, innovative products solve problems and deliver better value than alternatives. You need to build your brand, so that when there is a need, you come to mind. This is almost impossible to achieve overnight with one big splash.

The challenge in marketing is to balance satisfying this immediate requirement for action, with a more long-term strategy, that will ultimately achieve the goal.

The audience

The first thing to think about is the market. Who is the target audience for this product? Is it an emerging or developed market? What alternatives are available? How do you compare?

The answers to these questions will help shape the marketing plan and key messaging. In an emerging market, you will be looking for first movers, who have established a need. The message to this audience will be very targeted, focussing on solutions and highlighting USPs.

The M2M global market revenue in 2017 to date is £36bn according to Statista. Fixed IP SIM cards allow data traffic to be routed from Machine to Machine (M2M). We have seen a rise in demand for fixed IP SIMs since we launched our data SIM range back in 2016, but who is buying them and what are they using them for?

What are fixed IP SIMs?

Fixed IP SIMs, as the name suggests, are SIM cards, which come with a fixed IP address. A fixed IP address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address number assigned to a network device. Fixed IP addresses don't change.  An IP address identifies a computer or other device that is connected to the internet. The IP address is how information and data are routed to a specific computer.

Fixed IP SIMs can be used in a variety of devices that require a connection to the internet; from phones, routers and tablets to CCTV cameras and vending machines.

What packages are available?

Jola’s Fixed IP 4G data-only Vodafone SIMs are available in 2GB to 100GB monthly packages, with up to 100GB monthly bolt-ons.

How do you manage fixed IP SIMs?

Our fixed IP SIMs are managed in Mobile Manager, a platform for ordering and managing large estates of SIMs. Our white label portal can be used by both resellers and their end users. It handles SIM activations, ceases, suspensions, reports, alerts and bolt-ons.

What are the benefits of fixed IP SIMs?

When devices are fitted with a fixed IP SIM, you can access and monitor the device remotely. The IP address remains the same, which makes monitoring and managing devices quick and simple.

When setting up the marketing department at Jola, I had some decisions to make around suppliers I would use, which would help me to shape and grow the business. As a start-up company back then, I was looking for feature-rich solutions on a very competitive, pay-per-month basis, with no upfront investment. I made a list of the software and services I would need and went online to research potential suppliers.

Trusted suppliers

I started with companies that I had used in the past. Companies with robust solutions I had tried and tested with Account Managers I could pick up the phone to. I updated myself with the latest bells and whistles and checked them against current and potential future requirements.

Recommended suppliers

I then looked at recommended suppliers other trusted marketing professionals and co-workers had used in the past. I collated new information, compared pricing and had a demo of their platforms.

Market leaders

In case I was missing I trick, I looked to the market leaders for inspiration. What did they have that may work for me and how did they compare pricewise?

There are so many useful group applications on the market designed to help improve business communications. Office UC allows you to work from any location, with an internet connection, see who is available and send instant messages as well as make phone calls. It is now common place to see a team IM or WhatsApp group, used in combination with emails, phone calls and face to face meetings. They offer a wide range of benefits to business users and a few draw backs. When thinking about implementing a new app within your organisation, it is useful to consider the following:

Purpose

What are you planning to use it for? If it is not clear what the group was set up for, employees may not want to use it. Outlining the purpose of the group, and communicating the group members will help the tool to remain effective. Using a group chat to share solutions to problems and share knowledge, is an excellent way to gather data. This information could be taken and added to processes or shared with customers via an FAQ.

Rules

Define appropriate content. Employees need to know the rules to feel comfortable using a new tool, especially when senior management are included. Don’t be tempted to limit social content, as relationship building can often lead to better teamwork and sharing of information. Adding social channels to the general business communications policy, will often cover this.

What you need to know

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and true SEO is ethical, organic and takes time. SEO is a long-term strategy which can produce higher rankings and increased traffic to your website.

Search engines want to provide the best possible result to a key word search. Companies wanting to be found, need to create quality content that matches relevant search terms.

Page 1

Research indicates that 91% of searchers do not go past page 1 of the search results. Try a search containing your company name and see where you rank. If it is not on page 1, there is work to be done.

Adwords

Adwords is a viable option for being seen in Google. The problem is that Adwords can be expensive and their long-term value is questionable. As soon as you stop paying for Adwords, your result will no longer be seen.

Organic Search

In organic search, you don’t have to continually pay to be seen and once you have reached the first page of Google you can often stay there for a long period of time depending on the amount of competition.

Adoption rates of hosted telephony are increasing as SMEs look to reduce the costs and complexities of business telephony. Here are the top three reasons why you may see deals go from 90% on the forecast to 5% at the last minute.

They are still in contract

They have reviewed potential suppliers, had a demo and were pleased with the proposal, but realised that they are still in contract with their existing supplier. There were significant cancellation charges, which is why the sale was lost. This puts the existing supplier in a good position to negotiate a reduction in fees by upgrading the system themselves and takes you out of the running. When quoting a new opportunity, it is important, to check the existing supplier contract for penalties to save everyone time.

Decided to stay with the old platform

Customers are resistant to change and although the financials make sense, the team may not be completely on-board with the perceived hassle of moving phone systems. It is important at this stage to understand the resistance and where it is coming from. If it’s the Office Manager for example, sit with him/her and talk about their day to day concerns and see if you can allay fears. Demonstrate new functionality to encourage advocates rather than resistors. Ensure the new system meets all the requirements of the old system and involve the right people in the changeover process and the deal could be salvaged.

Choose your partnerships carefully

Crafting the right relationships with suppliers is very important, as it can have a significant impact on your business. Companies have been put off selling connectivity, hosted voice and mobile from bad experiences with suppliers in the past. It is important to do your research, review contract terms and contact references, to try to avoid engaging with the wrong suppliers.

Don’t try to do everything yourself

It is tempting as a business owner to do it all yourself. Negotiate the contract, participate in product and portal training, plan the marketing campaign and sell, as well as running the billing and taking all the support calls. By recruiting and training the right people, you will have more time to focus on helping the business grow. If you can outsource functions that are not core to your business then consider doing so. Some of your suppliers will offer white label installation, support and billing options you can use until it is more economical to bring it in-house. 

It’s continuous

Marketing, just like sales, is a continuous process. Whether you are a one-man band or a multi-million-pound organisation, you are always promoting your company with a view to winning new business.

Jola partners, looking for marketing support, are often thinking about a single campaign to promote a new product. Those that view marketing as part of their continuous sales strategy are often more successful. These partners update their website, add to their proposal templates and create new support documentation. Their sales teams are trained and sell new services alongside core services.

It helps to build relationships

Building relationships in marketing is just as important as in sales. Partners often approach Jola with a new database and are hoping for copy to instantly generate leads. Unless they first build the relationship, marketing is likely to have a similar hit rate as sales would cold calling. By researching the list to understand who you are talking to, what existing solutions they have, any issues and alternative solutions etc. you can tailor your messaging and improve your hit rate.

Marketing helps to build relationships by making an introduction, who you are, services you provide and how you can help to meet an existing requirement. Marketing campaigns need to grab attention, generate interest, desire and provoke an action for sales to follow up.

iPhone X

The iPhone X is coming soon with a price tag of around £999. The new model has an all-new 5.8-inch super retina screen, durable glass, wireless charging, Face ID, TrueDepth camera, A11 bionic chip and iOS 11.  It is widely anticipated and due to arrive in the UK in November.

Apple iPhone Upgrade Programme

As in the consumer world, the trend in small businesses is away from 24-month, handset and airtime contracts and towards buying your own phone and taking a monthly SIM-only deal. For users looking to trade in older iPhone models for the latest handset not wanting to spend £999 upfront, Apple has a solution.

The Apple iPhone Upgrade Programme. It’s a bit like an interest free loan for individuals. The cost of the iPhone and AppleCare Plus is spread over 24 months. At the end of the 24 months the user owns the phone. After 12 months, they have the option to upgrade so can have a new phone every year.

The latest iPhone will appeal to tech enthusiasts and switching is seamless with data stored in the cloud. Users then have a choice of SIM-only providers for their service. To provide more than one network, trusted providers turn to SIM-only wholesalers like Jola.

This is the question we get asked the most. If you have customers wanting to use 4G data to connect devices to the internet, how is the usage controlled, particularly when customers go beyond the alliance in their bundle?

You may have companies with Wi-Fi devices in taxis, buses and coaches or customers providing a Wi-Fi network in guest houses and coffee shops. Trusted partners supplying the 4G SIM cards want to know how they can manage the data and therefore the costs to combat monthly bill shock.

Jola partners use Mobile Manager. It is a complete end-to-end management portal for estates of mobile SIMs. You can activate SIMs, monitor usage, set-up alerts and add bolt-ons or bar SIMs as required to prevent bill shock in most cases. It is one portal, where SIMs from multiple networks and fixed IP SIMs can be managed directly by partners and their end users as required.