Featured Project > Centralizing Banff Voyager Inn and Banff Spruce Grove

Banff Voyager Inn and Banff Spruce Grove Inn specialize in safe, friendly, affordable accommodations for families and individual travellers alike. Each hotel has its own reception desk, however, in order to provide guests with a comprehensive product, the remaining facilities and services are shared between the two side-by-side hotels.

The hotels came to DotCom Media and Dubois Hospitality in search of a face-lift which would breathe fresh air into their online presence. Due to the unique nature of the two properties, DotCom Media came to the table with a unique web solution.

Five Tips on Spending Wisely - Your Marketing Budget and the Economy

The economic crisis we are all experiencing has given new meaning to the term, “survival of the fittest.” With businesses struggling to keep their doors open, budget lines are under strict scrutiny. Everything from office supplies to employee benefits and bonuses are being slashed in order to avoid the "big L"... (layoffs)

Where does your marketing budget fit in all this? If you’re like most, it is very close to the top of the pile.

According to research done by MarketingSherpa.com, 60% of large companies and 29% of medium-sized companies had already cut or were expected to cut their marketing budgets by end of 2008.

Most companies are finding they are stuck in a catch-22. They feel they don't have the dollars to spend on marketing; however, without marketing they can't attract the customers they need to keep their business going. The trick is to find a happy-medium between cutting and stretching the budget.

We have compiled a list of five tips that will help you extend your marketing budget and increase exposure for your business.

Spend More on Media and Less on Overhead
Look at the dollar amount for a single campaign and how those dollars are spent. Are you paying someone else to come up with your radio ad campaign or to write the copy for your newsletter? Can any of this be done in-house? Tap into your office talent WITHOUT jeopardizing the message you are wanting to send.

By having a CMS (content management system) installed on your website, enabling you to do updates in-house, you will save time (emailing back and forth with your design firm) and money in the long run. This way, updates can be weekly or even daily as needed.

Spending too much of your budget on overhead isn't going to drive revenue; however, cutting overhead out completely (and having your neighbour's 14 year old nephew design your next newspaper ad for unlimited summer pool access) isn't going to get you the results you need either.
Review Your ROI
This sounds pretty basic, yet very few businesses actually track this information. By simply asking new customers how they heard about you/your products/services/etc. or analysing your website statistics, you can see what works and what doesn’t.

Ask your web developers to install Google Analytics for you. There may be a small installation fee; however, the program is free and offers a wealth of information.

Don't be afraid to cut the fat where necessary. You may find the monthly ad you have been putting in a local newspaper or magazine for the past two years is driving less and less traffic to your business and those dollars could be better spent elsewhere.

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February In Review

For a short month, there sure seemed to be a lot of things happening.

First, we would like to quickly announce the launch of the newly designed Global West Mortgage web site. Global West came to us looking for a full-meal deal -- Branding, print, stationary and a web site. The web site includes a custom-design inline with their brand, our fully featured cms, and a secure online mortgage application form. Make sure to stop by GlobalWestMortgage.com to find out more.

Second, as you probably have already read by now, we would like to congratulate Banff Spruce Grove, and Banff Voyager Inn for their new sites. You can read more about these projects in our featured article column.

We would also like to announce a couple new partnerships that you can look forward to seeing in the near future.

We are very pleased to announce a new partnership with Sierra Landscaping. DotCom Media is working with Sierra to implement their new brand online and design and build a website experience that features the projects that Sierra is currently working on and the projects Sierra has completed in the past. Be sure to check back with us in a few months and see Sierra Landscaping's brand new website!

We are also pleased to announce a new project with Canada Safety Equipment (CSE). After thirty-five successful years in Kelowna, CSE will be laying the foundation for a full-blown e-commerce solution over the next couple months with the help of DotCom Media.

Be sure to keep your eyes on this spot, we still have some very exciting news that we are waiting to share with all of you!