A global Digital Marketing strategy is more essential than ever in today’s ultra-competitive market.
If you’re running a business, it’s crucial to judge the potential behind Digital Marketing.
Even if the term “Digital Marketing” is now being abandoned in favor of Digital Marketing, it is nevertheless the same practices.
1. Understand search engines to take better advantage of the advantages of Digital Marketing
There are finally two cases:
Your brand is established, like that of Fnac. Your customers and prospects will type the name of your brand into search engines to find you. Then they will browse your website to find the product they are looking for,
Your brand is much less well-known. In this case, Internet users will then search by typing generic words representing what they are looking for, such as “Plumber in Nantes”, or “garden hose”.
I imagine that you are more likely to find yourself in the second case: a company with a brand that is little or not well-known enough.
The terms that Internet users type into search engines are called “keywords” in Digital Marketing.
Knowing that Internet users click on the first links presented to them by search engines, your web pages must appear at the top of the ranking for the words that represent your products and services.
To win new customers, it is important to know how to play on this ranking. This technique is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO is, therefore, the set of rules to follow so that your digital presence (your website, its content, …) is well ranked in the search results pages (SERP).
It is not necessarily easy because SEO is a perpetual “game” of the policeman and the thief:
On the one hand, the “gendarmes” (Google, Bing…) want to give a fair place to everyone,
On the other hand, “thieves” (Digital Marketing experts) are always looking for new ways to apprehend the algorithms of the cops to stand out from the competition in search results.
2. Monitor your performance with reliable indicators
The analysis of your results is the second essential component of Digital Marketing.
Indeed, what’s the point of investing time and money if you can’t measure your success?
The good news is that all emailing platforms, all search engines, all social networks offer dashboards to track your performance over time.
To track your website traffic, I advise you to use Google Analytics.
But there are also tools to track :
The performance of your ads,
The opening rate of your e-mailings…
In Digital Marketing, as in all other areas, your company has its strengths and weaknesses.
It is therefore important to regularly monitor your main indicators. Define the right indicators, follow them carefully and take action to improve.
3. Continuous learning
As a small business owner, you probably wear many hats.
Often, business owners play the role of :
The management team,
From customer service,
From the marketing team,
IT staff,
And especially salespeople…
Bad news, you’re going to have to add Digital Marketing to that list. Because today, your business will have a hard time growing without it.
You have to manage your priorities. And you’re not going to be able to devote much time to it. It’s not a big deal as long as you do it regularly. It starts by reserving time slots on your calendar.
Much like search engine algorithms, other Digital Marketing practices evolve regularly as well.
Every day, there is always something new to learn, to test.
Don’t be intimidated by this ever-changing landscape. On the contrary, embrace it and consider each new evolution as a new opportunity to grow your business.
In this way, Digital Marketing will become a strategic lever for the growth of your business.
Conclusion on Digital Marketing as a lever for growth
In order to remain competitive, any company needs to be present on the Internet to reach its customers and prospects.
Indeed, with a strong presence on the web, a company can quickly develop its business.
But to do so, you must know how to effectively exploit all the levers of Digital Marketing.
Indeed, developing your presence on the Internet is not necessarily a simple exercise.
It is not enough to create a website, nor to be present on social networks.
It is necessary to establish a relevant “digital strategy” and to put the means in relation to each other.
First of all, define the different objectives to be reached such as :
Increase your customer portfolio and increase your turnover,
Develop the notoriety of your company,
Improve lead generation target recruitment
In this exercise, consider:
Your competitors and their web presence with a SWOT analysis for example,
Your ideal customers (Personas),
Your current condition…
Then apply your plan, follow your indicators and correct the shot if necessary.
