Founder of Growth Tribe Solutions, Amiruddin Ahmad believes that entrepreneurs can achieve high sales volumes if they expand their marketing strategies. In an interview with Top 10 of Malaysia, Amiruddin shares that entrepreneurs do not have to incur high advertising costs but as long as Low-Cost High-Impact marketing strategies are deployed, sales will, inevitably, follow.
With his software engineering background, Amiruddin Ahmad likes to experiment with new ideas and methods. He experimented with various marketing tools and strategies on his online business which he set up in 2011 while working full-time as the Head of Software Test Engineering for a Belfast-based company.
“I sold fat burner products, protein shakes and gym equipment online, and it became quite successful that the income earned from it actually surpassed my full-time job salary,” says Amiruddin.
“I worked for fifteen years in the telco industry specialising in software testing for mobile payments. My previous employers were Vodafone, Syniverse and Motorola from whom I learnt about effective marketing strategies.”
Amiruddin travelled a lot during those fifteen years, mainly for work, but after having spent half his time in airplanes, he quit his full-time job in 2015 to focus on his online business. His business continued to flourish and friends sought his advice on the secrets of running a successful online business, which prompted him to set up Growth Tribe Solutions.
“I experimented with different kinds of marketing methods on 500 SMEs, and had found that people tend to focus more on sales. They need to expand their marketing, only then sales will come. However, costs of advertising are high, so they rely solely on online marketing, like Facebook advertisements. But if Facebook or Instagram goes down – which happened recently – what are you going to do about your business?” explains the dynamic internet marketer.
“As a result, in 2018, I came up with Social Hack Marketing – a hybrid framework which guides people to design marketing strategies that combine online and offline marketing effectively. The framework uses Low-Cost High-Impact marketing, that is, low advertising costs but high, positive impact on sales.”
Among the many online methods to promote one’s business is to have a website or a blog, and the common method used nowadays is through social media. Businesses can drive sales online through social media, but Amiruddin encourages entrepreneurs to use offline marketing methods as well.
One of the offline marketing strategies that he has implemented was the “pink letter”. Businesses show their appreciation to customers by sending them a personalized ‘Thank You’ letter. This offline strategy is also unique as the letter is pink to attract the customer’s attention. The customer typically assumes that the pink letter is like a “pink slip” or a summon, but is an appreciation letter from the company instead!
“Online strategy especially technology helps us in many ways but a physical letter – which is offline – is one way that we can add a personal touch to customer service. And there are many more examples of offline marketing methods that businesses could use to further increase sales,” smiles the digital growth hacker.
To date, Amiruddin has helped more than 2,000 businesses with his Social Hack Marketing formula which saw significant improvements in their sales volumes. As usual, there are naysayers who assumed that his marketing strategies would not work.
“I would question them – you think it will fail, or because you tried and failed? A number of people were not convinced by the “pink letter” strategy, but when a few entrepreneurs tried and achieved success, the rest followed suit,” says Amiruddin.
The former software engineer derives satisfaction from seeing these marketing strategies translate effectively to sales and profits. Additionally, with his corporate experience, Amiruddin also introduces corporate culture to SMEs such as how to improve processes, implement standard operating procedures and to be solution-oriented.
Apart from coaching entrepreneurs, Amiruddin is also a speaker and author. His upcoming book, Social Hack Marketing, will be launched soon. But his dream is to be on the international stage someday to share the Social Hack Marketing framework as he believes that this tool can be used by anyone and anywhere in the world.
Having tested his formula on many entrepreneurs, what would be his advice to those who wish to hack growth in sales and marketing?
“Focus on marketing strategies first. Don’t get too hung up with the technicalities. Also, work on your customer relationship management. Nurture your existing customers, for that is how successful large companies retain their customers,” shares Amiruddin.
He adds, “And, have passion for your business.”
