Online Marketing at Big Skinny

Online Marketing at Big Skinny

Big Skinny is a wallet manufacturer specializing in ultra thin wallets made of durable material and a functional design. Historically, Big Skinny has made sales through fairs and festivals, retail stores and tradeshows, both of which allow the wallet’s design advantages to shine. By presenting the wallet to consumers, Big Skinny got to take advantage of consumers’ tendency to make on-site impulse purchases, and the personal touch also encouraged customers to share their pleasure with others. Aside from these in-person selling techniques, Big Skinny began advertising on billboards in the Boston subway, postcards at restaurants in a few major cities, and half-page print ads in various automotive magazines. But Big Skinny’s CEO, Kiril Alexandrov, believes that online marketing is the next big thing for the company. Despite the fact that he lacks a coherent plan of action, Kiril sees potential with search engine optimization, social and interactive media, sponsored searches, and online distributor agreements. Now Kiril must decide which online marketing channels, if any, will work best for Big Skinny.

Determining which keywords to use in sponsored searches or in search engine optimization can be a tedious task, but it is one that can also pay handsomely if done effectively. According to Exhibit 4, there is a great variety of keywords that can be used, and also great variation in effectiveness. However, this appears to be something that Big Skinny should continue to pursue since the total cost is relatively low and the cost per conversion ($4.46) is lower than the average cost of a wallet, indicating that if Big Skinny can get conversions they can make a profit. In addition, sponsored search is a good way to get the Big Skinny name in front of consumers as they search for wallets, since it is not likely that customers will make the impulse purchase without hearing about the