Recently we caught up with C I Host's Director of Sales & Marketing, Tamra Freedman, to discuss the strategies and approaches that set C I Host apart in the competitive Web Hosting industry.

Q: What one word best describes the working atmosphere at C I Host?
A: One word wouldn’t do it justice, so I’ll give you two: fun and challenging.

Q: What is it about C I Host that allows you to be more innovative and out-of-the-box than your competitors when it comes to advertising and marketing?
A: We don’t put any barriers in front of our team. No idea is too crazy or over-the-top so we encourage people to think big and outrageous. Web hosting is an extremely competitive business and you have to have creative advertising and marketing to break through the clutter and make an impact on consumers. It also helps that our CEO, Christopher Faulkner, is very creative and comes up with some wacky ideas that have been highly successful for us.

Q: Given some of your recent campaigns (human billboard, frequent flyers miles, cruises) what we can expect next?
A: Coming up with new and creative campaigns can be challenging but it’s also part of the fun of this business. It’s hard to say what you’ll be seeing next from C I Host – we don’t want to give too much away – but it will be an attention grabber!

Q: How does the Technology Store play in to your overall Marketing Strategy, and will we see more stores in other cities in the future?
A: The C I Host Technology Store has been a great brand building extension of our Marketing plan. The store has taken Web hosting to people and made it something they can see and touch and understand much better. The store shows them how Web hosting can help them build a stronger business or have their voice heard on the Internet. We do hope to open more stores in our other anchor cities (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) but are still refining the operation of the Dallas location in the Galleria mall.

Q: I noticed your Web site has a European version. Are there separate marketing strategies for North America versus Europe?
A: The European market is very different from North America in how it conducts business, so we do approach European marketing from a different position. The European market is very hot right now and their consumers are very computer savvy and progressive. The small-to-medium-size business segment in Europe is growing at a rapid rate and so we try to focus on their needs and the best way to get our message to them.

Q: Outside of North America and Europe what advertising and marketing are you doing to capture other markets such as Asia and South America?
A: The Central and South American markets are growing rapidly and we have put print campaigns in place to address the growing demand in those markets. We’ve also done some e-mail advertising but we’re continuing to study the best methods of communication with these markets. Again, these countries don’t operate as we do in North America, so you can't necessarily put an American advertising campaign in these markets and expect it to succeed. We must adapt to the country’s culture and business needs.

Q: What Marketing campaign has been most successful so far, and are there plans to leverage that into future campaigns?
A: Our Human Billboard campaign, where we recruited an Illinois man to tattoo the C I Host logo on the back of his head for a 5-year period has been one of the most successful campaigns to date. We received worldwide attention for that campaign and continue to. With the heavy travel schedule the Human Billboard has, combined with the travel requirements of our contract with him, there is no better way to get our brand name out to the public and drive traffic to our Web site. We’ve seen traffic to our Web site rise significantly since the campaign launched in April and sales also have risen.

Q: What do you see as the biggest growth areas of the market?
A: Low-end dedicated server market and SMB managed servers - reboots, monitoring, backups and on-going maintenance and operation of their infrastructure. Outsourcing on the lower end spectrum is starting to pick up and churn serious revenue for us - companies with under 50 employees are starting to recognize the benefits of outsourcing.

Q: What word best describes C I Host’s marketing strategy?
A: Creative and attention-grabbing.

Q: How do press releases fit into your marketing strategy?
A: Publicity is a major part of our marketing strategy. We routinely generate press releases so we keep our consumers and the industry informed of the new services and products we are generating. Publicity is one of the best ways to get your company’s message out to the public at low to no cost.

Q: You are close to 200,000 customers according to your Web site. Are there any plans to capitalize on this milestone from a marketing perspective?
A: Huge plans..but we cannot reveal them until that momentous day comes

Q: How long have you been the head of Advertising and Marketing and what unique skills did you bring to this job?
A: I have been the head of C I Host's Marketing department for about 2 1/2 years. When I began at C I Host my skills came from the traditional college education. But it was the day-to-day, hands-on experience at C I Host that has sharpened my skill base and has been the best education. Working and learning from Christopher has added an undeniable flair to the marketing expertise I have brought to C I Host. Taking Christopher’s ideas and bringing them to life is the best part of my job. Christopher’s ideas are a bit racy, but I tweak them and we meet in the middle. I look forward to each day as I think the next marketing campaign we do might beat the last best campaign we did!

Q: What sets your marketing department apart from your competitors?
A: We’re willing to take risks and push the envelope. We have a great creative team and live by the mantra that no idea is a bad idea.

C I Host, is a Web hosting and Internet solutions provider, domain name registrar (DNR) and application service provider (ASP) serving 190,000 individual consumers and businesses in 182 countries worldwide.

C I Host creates business-class hosting solutions for the small- and medium-enterprise (SME) market, with the broadest portfolio of managed hosting and value-added services in the industry. C I Host is accredited by ICANN to register domain names.

C I Host has been consistently ranked among the Top 5 Web hosting companies out of 16,000 around the globe by c|net's Ultimate Web Host List, HostPulse, WebHostsOnline.com and HostChart.com. C I Host offers turn-key services ranging from initial domain name registration to custom dedicated servers for e-commerce on today's Web. The company offers innovative packages and services to the Internet community.

C I Host operates three diverse data centers across the United States, with its main facility and Network Operations Center in Bedford, Texas. C I Host also has offices in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago and London.

All telco-grade, tier-1 data centers are wholly-owned and operated by C I Host and consist of redundant diesel generator backups and a temperature-controlled secure environment with fully redundant UPS capability. All server hardware is fully tested and configured for optimal performance. Daily Web server backups and full fire protection guard against any data loss. To deliver speed and reliability, C I Host's servers are connected to two OC-12 fiber connections, five DS-3 and two OC-3 lines from five diverse Internet backbones for a total of more than 2,000 Megabits of available bandwidth.