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Lukas Aumair

5 ways to more accessibility in marketing 776 537 Lukas Aumair

5 ways to more accessibility in marketing

Inclusion belongs to the biggest challenges of our society and of businesses. We present 5 concepts to increase accessibility in marketing.

Table of contents

  1. Accessibility in marketing: A challenge with many facets
  2. Greenwashing 2.0? What businesses need to consider
  3. 5 ways to more accessibility in marketing
  4. Conclusion
  5. FAQ

 

The most important in a nutshell

  • Methods to increase accessibility facilitate the interaction between businesses and people with disabilities or handicap
  • Inclusion must not be promoted under the same guise as other societal challenges (e. g. sustainability)
  • Changes in communication and advertising increase accessibility in marketing

Accessibility in marketing

 

Accessibility in marketing: A challenge with many facets

Inclusion belongs to the biggest challenges of our society. Our economy as its engine accordingly plays an important role. But many businesses fail to face challenges in accessibility. The main problem is not the comfort zone but rather the fact that accessibility requires an optimization and restructuring of existing business processes. 

In this article we will further talk about accessibility in marketing and which opportunities are given to improve communication between businesses and humans with handicaps. Limitations mostly affect human senses, especially listening and seeing. But often there are linguistic hurdles – many people have a reading and spelling disability for instance which is why they don’t understand complex content.

Some businesses already succeed in executing accessibility but there is still potential left. Digital transformation ensures a precise optimization of existing business processes but many companies fail to establish methods to increase accessibility.

 

→ Just ask yourself at this point if you have ever seen static facebook advertisements with audio display? Or how many websites do you know which provide functions to support accessibility? You will probably realize that there are no pioneers in this area. 

 

Countries like Germany even agreed to execute a law to increase accessibility. The law will be executed in 2025 and that comes with some pressure because yet, too many businesses fail to improve accessibility.

 

Greenwashing 2.0? What businesses need to consider

Accessibility in marketing should not become some kind of guise to purposely seek out advantages in competition. This development can be seen in sustainability – many businesses, even big ones like Aldi, promote their supposed sustainable products and advertise with sustainability-seals to position themselves as pioneers in this area. But often these products aren’t sustainable and those eco-seals can be attained under the easiest requirements. This is called “Greenwashing”.

Inclusion shouldn’t reach this dimension. It would be too much to ask that companies no longer see their own advantage in restructuring existing processes, but that is not the point. Furthermore, businesses shouldn’t place themselves as pioneers when they don’t meet their responsibilities fully. Who considered accessibility in marketing, but won’t execute it in other business areas, isn’t any different from companies which claim to be sustainable but still produce tons of CO2.

But back to the topic of accessibility: Don’t use inclusion as an advertising medium. Good service will pay off sooner or later because businesses which consider accessibility will have advantages over their competitors in the long term.

 

5 ways to more accessibility in marketing

To push accessibility in marketing further, innovative improvements are required in the first step. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to ensure that. Simple rethinking will help you to try out new ideas or to execute existing approaches in a way to meet requirements of accessibility.

Overview of the five ways:

  • Plugins for your website
  • Focus on new marketing methods
  • Content distribution
  • Make interaction easier
  • Creative elements

 

Plugins for your website

In times of digitization more and more businesses take advantage of a blog to expand brand awareness and to generate more website visitors. These visitors are turned into leads to interact with the business in the long term. That results in advantages regarding customer acquisition and loyalty as well as businesses selling more goods and products.

Because of the mentioned reasons, the focus is more on improving the user experience of a website. The goal is to provide better interaction possibilities for users in order to strengthen the brand image. Hereby businesses especially focus on improving the mobile version of a website.
But in the field of accessibility there is not a lot happening and there are barely websites which take on these challenges. Thereby there are many ways to integrate accessible functions on your website. WordPress users can easily expand their website with accessible functions by using plugins.

You can use the following plugins to ensure more accessibility in your marketing:

  • One Click Accessibility
  • Accessibility for WP
  • Text Zoom
  • Accessibility by UserWay
  • Screen Reader Accessibility

When implementing these plugins, make sure they are compatible with your website. Additional plugins possibly have a negative impact on PageSpeed which will also worsen the user experience on your website.

 

Focus on new marketing methods

Businesses which don’t recognize digital marketing trends will struggle a lot against their competitors in the next few years. Those who follow marketing trends will establish new ways of communication with their target group and will therefore position themselves in the field of accessible applications.

Let’s go back to mobile versions of a website once again. An optimized responsive web design belongs to search engine optimization criteria and will therefore improve your Google ranking. That’s why you will barely find a web designer who will not optimize the mobile version of your website anymore. Although the criteria of search engine optimization plays a much bigger role for businesses, it will still have a positive impact on accessibility in marketing.

-> So while you are trying to improve the position of your business by executing digital marketing methods, you will improve user experience and therefore accessibility as well. Win-win.

 

Content distribution ensures more accessibility in marketing

All forms of marketing reach different groups of persons and their preferences in processing information. For instance, blog articles are great for providing in-depth and very informational content. Podcasts on the other hand are convincing with practical examples and more flexibility.

→ Both marketing methods have one thing in common: They guarantee accessibility.

Blog articles communicate information in writing which is why they are a good alternative for people with a hearing disability which therefore don’t find any access to podcasts. But podcasts on the other hand are an auditive source of knowledge which is a great alternative for people with a reading and spelling disability.

Combine different content channels to ensure a barrier free interaction with your target audience. To be fair, a broad content distribution requires temporal as well as financial resources but a good content strategy will improve accessibility even when you only use a few different content marketing channels.

 

Creative elements

Creative elements support accessibility in marketing. Videos, for instance, work perfectly to communicate visual content and the subtitle function even ensures access for people with a hearing disability.

Emojis help to communicate messages better and give clues to the content for people with a reading disability. This approach works especially well for social media posts.

Using creative elements also means to make the right choice regarding the corporate identity. Avoid hard to read colors (e. g. yellow) and hard to read color combinations (e. g. dark gray font on black elements).

Accessibility in marketing

 

Conclusion: Focus on user experience

The trend in marketing clearly goes in the direction of user experience. Technical aspects and for search engines generated content will not lose relevance but in the foreground are human beings and their interests. Accessibility in marketing is part of user experience because businesses are responsible for reaching out to all users equally. With plugins / apps for your website, changes in design and content distribution you will reach this goal.

 

FAQ

Lastly, we will answer frequently asked questions regarding the topic.

 

What does accessibility mean?

Accessibility means that people with disabilities can easily access applications or participate in all aspects of life without difficulty or outside help.

 

Are wordpress plugins for free?

Most wordpress plugins are for free. However, many applications offer a chargeable pro version for additional functions.

10 stunning ideas for gamification in marketing + examples 779 537 Lukas Aumair

10 stunning ideas for gamification in marketing + examples

Gamification improves the interaction with your target audience and generates more leads. We present 10 stunning ideas + examples.

Table of contents

  1. Gamification in marketing: Interactive fun instead of dry content
  2. Gamification definition
  3. Playfully to more leads and new customers
  4. Overview of gamification advantages
  5. 10 gamification ideas which will leave your target audience stunned
  6. Consider this hurdle by all means
  7. How do I establish gamification methods?
  8. Gamification examples: 5 impressive marketing ideas of known companies
  9. Conclusion
  10. FAQ

 

The most important in summary

  • Gamification describes the playful interaction between users and applications
  • Software as a service ensures an easy design of playfully-interactive methods in marketing
  • Gamification does not only support lead generation but also increases quality of leads and improves communication with your target audience

 

Gamification in marketing: Interactive fun instead of dry content

Many businesses face the challenge that they can’t bind interests and customers in the long term. They either focus on the wrong marketing methods or they ignore current trends. Often, the target audience is missing incentives to interact more with companies. To face this challenge and to bind the target audience in the long term, we recommend the strengths of gamification. 

→ Playful interaction with the target audience improves communication, binds existing customers and forces lead generation.

But what are the advantages of gamification in comparison to other marketing methods? And which actions are available for businesses to execute gamification successfully? We will answer these and similar questions.

Important note: We will exclusively talk about gamification in marketing. Therefore, we will not talk about how gamification impacts, for example, human resources or health care management.

Gamification Definition

 

First, the definition: What is gamification?

Gamification describes a playful experience for users. Applications without playful elements ensure an interactive experience through integration of gaming elements. The goal is to improve the motivation of users and to win their attention.

 

 

Playfully to more leads and new customers

In general, gamification in marketing follows the goal to improve existing business processes. Which specific goals are prioritized, depends on the business and its target audience.

Gamification primarily focuses on lead management to either win more potential customers/interests or to improve the quality of existing leads. 

The classic way of lead generation often looks like that users subscribe to a newsletter and get a freebie (e. g. e-book or video) in return for giving a website their email-address.

But this process has some weaknesses. Users often only subscribe to a newsletter because they desire the freebie. It’s not a rare case that some leads leave unused email-addresses to receive no newsletter mails later. Other than that, many businesses fail to win the attention of their target audience with newsletter content in the long term. In e-commerce there at least is the opportunity to convert leads to customers through discounts but many businesses are not given this possibility.

Gamification ensures successful lead management. Through Sweepstakes or surveys your company interacts purposefully with interests or customers. The incentive exists within the playful interaction itself because it is fun and it motivates.

Example: You give away discounts to 20 persons. Through a sweepstake you determine the winner, the only condition of participation is to write a comment in the section of a social media post. That guarantees three advantages: First of all, the ways of lead generation are shorter because participation doesn’t require registration to a newsletter. Other than that, the playful component motivates your target audience to a (fun) participation. Last but not least, you potentially have more participants because social media has more users than your newsletter has subscribers.

 

Overview of the advantages of gamification

  • Playful lead generation
  • Customer loyalty
  • Image expansion of your business
  • Personalization through branding of gamification actions
  • Insights of interaction rates
  • Target group extension (gamification speaks to a younger audience)
  • Improved interaction and communication with the target audience

Gamification offers businesses the particular advantage to get further information about the wishes and desires of their target audience. The focus is not on collecting email-addresses but to improve user experience through interaction and to find out about the wishes and desires of your target group. 

The diversity of gamification ensures a holistic optimization of existing marketing processes. Set methods give exact insights in the interaction rates and this also reveals trends in terms of needs and desires, enabling you to optimize existing processes in a targeted manner.

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10 gamification ideas that will leave your target audience stunned

  • Surveys
  • Sweepstakes
  • Advent calendar
  • Rotating wheel
  • Quizzes
  • Personality tests
  • Swipe
  • Scratch cards
  • Games
  • Slot-machine

Gamification ideas

 

Surveys

Through surveys, your business wins important insights about their customers and their wishes. This gamification method works perfectly to create individual offers for customers.

Example: Through evaluation tools web designers can determine the wishes of potential clients. Interests can, for instance, leave information about which additional functions they wish and how extensive the website should be. Based on the result, the potential clients receive an offer.

Surveys not only follow the goal to create offers for potential clients but to improve business performance as well. Some businesses give away gift cards to everyone who participates in a survey through a digital signage device. The goal is to improve customer satisfaction because businesses want to know what their target group wishes.

 

Sweepstakes

Giveaways of all kinds always leave a good impression. The participation conditions are mostly quite easy to understand and should follow the goal to expand reach of your business. You can, for example, start sweepstakes over social media and set the participation condition that one needs to write a comment or share the post.

 

Advent calendar

Your own business advent calendar with individual branding awakes the inner christmas feeling (positive connection to your company!). Your target audience is even happier when they can expect exclusive discounts or helpful tips and tricks.

 

Rotating wheel

You often find this concept in apps. Through tipping on the touchscreen of a smartphone, interests move the virtual wheel to win something (e. g. a discount code). This type of playful interaction provides for variety when using apps which require you to act on or do something.

Example: Sport apps give users the possibility to create a flexible as well as individual workout plan. The rotating wheel determines the next exercise or the user creates a varied workout plan before sports.

 

Quizzes

Quizzes are the queen of gamification methods. They are fun and participants can prove their knowledge.

Idea: Create a quiz about your company or about your products/goods. That awakes the curiosity of your target group and strengthens the trust in your business.

 

Personality tests

Personality tests are very popular these days. This gamification method doesn’t work well for many businesses but the ones which take advantage of them will have an active and loyal target audience that has a great interest in personal development.

 

Swipe

A concept that many people associate with dating apps. The swipe function allows users to make decisions based on their personal preferences because a swipe either means “I like it” or “I don’t like it”. A good possibility to find out more about the preferences of your target group and to use gamification as fundament for market research.

 

Scratch cards

Less used and known but still executed successfully for some apps. Businesses often combine this concept with sweepstakes or giveaways.

 

Games

A more general term because gamification theoretically describes all games. With this point we specifically mean games which have received a digital conversion. One example: Memory.

 

Slot-machine

Nowadays you will not only find slot-machines in the casino, businesses use this concept for bonuses and discounts as well.

 

Consider this hurdle by all means

Gamification makes your business more attractive and establishes innovative ways for your marketing. But you should consider putting gamification methods in the context of your business and marketing goals. In the foreground is your marketing strategy and the determined metrics.

In the strategic process, weigh the extent to which gamification fits your objectives and whether the cost-benefit ratio is high.

Many think that gamification only works for claiming more personal data but this is not true. Gamification supports the customer loyalty through, for instance, weekly rewards or scratch card actions. Quizzes or memory work good as methods for e-learning as well.

But precisely because you have a wide range of options at your disposal, the first step requires a consideration of the marketing goals in your company.

 

How do I establish gamification methods?

To execute gamification successfully, you don’t need any basic knowledge in programming. Providers of software as a service programs facilitate the entry with gamification because such applications are based on the modular principle.

In the programming process of the FRAMR software, our team also paid attention to establishing individual design options so that our customers can easily implement their ideas and wishes. Digital signage harmoniously combines the strengths from the areas of gamification, information technology and marketing and takes into account important features to position itself strongly against competitors (e. g. user experience).

See for yourself and configure your individual customer experience with our FREE cockpit configurator. You will gain more detailed insights into the possibilities of digital signage and develop a feeling for the advantages and functions in the area of gamification.

 

Gamification examples: 5 stunning marketing ideas of known companies

Concrete examples still best illustrate the advantages of gamification. In the following, we present five companies and their measures in the field of gamification.

 

Truity

Truity is a website for advocates of personal development and behavior psychology. The website offers many different personality tests with final evaluation. Truity uses this concept to win over paying clients because the test and the results might be for free but exact evaluation of metrics is only available for those who pay a fee or start a subscription.

Website Truity

 

Audi

Audi configurators leave a strong impression on users. They convey the feeling to create something on one’s own and interests see the final result with their eyes. The free room for maneuver and exact price information also force the purchase decision.

Website Audi

 

McDonald’s

The US-American franchise giant has been known worldwide for its “McDonald’s-Monopoly” since 1987. In the past, there were various high-priced grand prizes which encouraged many guests to visit the fast food chain more often or to buy more products.
However, McDonald’s has also shown that it is better not to exploit the good nature of its target group. A few years ago, the fast-food chain made negative headlines because it came to light that it was manipulating sweepstakes.

McDonalds Website

 

Reddit

Reddit users collect so-called “karma points” through posts, replies and votes, which increases their reputation. With this system, reddit ensures that its users become more active and thus secure a stronger status within the community (need for status).

 

Duolingo

Duolingo users collect rewards and badges for completing lessons. It gives a good feeling to unlock achievements and Duolinge has recognized this advantage to motivate millions of users to learn foreign languages every day.

duolingo website

 

Conclusion

Gamification supports lead generation and customer retention. In addition, companies improve communication with their target group. Software as a service solutions do not require any programming skills which means that any company can easily create, establish and implement its desired measures. When planning your gamification actions, make sure to consider the wishes of your target group and choose measures that are in line with your objective. For example, it makes little sense for a software development company to focus on personality tests or advent calendars.

 

FAQ

Finally, we will answer some of the most asked questions about gamification.

 

Where is gamification used?

Companies use gamification mainly for marketing purposes. However, the concept of playful interaction is also suitable for staff retention, for further training and to establish new corporate processes.

 

Which industries benefit from gamification?

Gamification is a cross-industry approach. It depends less on a company’s industry than on its target group and which interaction measures bring the desired success.

 

Pictures: © Canva.com

7 advantages of business digitization [2023] 876 584 Lukas Aumair

7 advantages of business digitization [2023]

Digitalization of businesses comes with less known advantages which have a huge impact. FRAMR. presents the seven most important ones.

In this article:

  1. Digitalization: Too many businesses miss the trend
  2. Why digitization for businesses is important
  3. The advantages of business digitization
  4. Advantages for your cients
  5. This is how the implementation succeeds
  6. Are there any disadvantages and risks of business digitization?
  7. Conclusion
  8. FAQ

 

Digitalization: Too many businesses miss the trend

The digital transformation is advancing, but not all companies are successfully following suit. In a way, that’s understandable, because the switch to digital processes doesn’t happen overnight. Nonetheless, small and medium-sized companies in particular are missing out on opportunities if they sleep through current trends and fail to realign their strategies. 

Before we take a closer look at the benefits of digitization, we examine the current situation and what difficulties exist in the digital restructuring of corporate processes. Finally, we also look at possible disadvantages to give a better overall view of the topic.

First, an important message: Don’t think too complicatedly when it comes to digitization. Every company goes through the journey of expanding digital processes, be it in internal communications or in advertising. It’s not just about the big steps, whereby an analog company suddenly transforms into a tech giant. The following therefore does not resemble a manual in the direction of “How do I use less paper in the company”, but rather relates to the digitization of internal processes (e.g. marketing and recruitment).

Man using tablet

Mobility and social media are two main advantages of the digital progress | © NordWood Themes

The advantages of digitization in companies are well known to many. Thanks to technological progress, there are financial savings opportunities, companies generate more sustainably and offer their customers flexible solutions. Difficulties often arise during implementation – that’s why we have prepared the following tips to pave the way for the digitization of your company and to better prepare you for implementation measures.

 

Why digitization for businesses is important

Even though digitization is making progress in companies, the processes and competences still have room for improvement. A statistic published on February 14, 2022 shows that 35 percent of German companies consider themselves to be digitalization pioneers and, in turn, 44 percent state that they have increased their sales through digital measures.* Progress is therefore discernible, but there is still a lot of potential to be exploited. Other countries, especially the USA, are much more advanced and are already using digital technologies that are not yet used in the DACH region or are used to a lesser extent. AI products are a good example of this.

The real challenge lies in the lack of a doer mentality. Entrepreneurship already faces various hurdles (e.g., financial or bureaucratic) and processes for digitization do not improve the situation: the first step requires external consultants or the expansion of internal personnel structures. Then comes strategy development, which requires countless consultations within the team. The next step is implementation, which involves a high financial investment.
The thought of this process alone prevents many companies from taking the necessary steps and implementing digital measures.

However, this is no reason to stop or even rethink the change, because digital measures are gradually replacing analog processes. A good example of this is marketing: fewer and fewer companies are relying on print media, but instead on websites, search engine optimization and social media. Online processes are in fact easier to measure and thus enable more efficient use of available resources. However, only a few companies have the ability to implement various online marketing measures at the same time. But there are hardly any disadvantages to this, because even if a company focuses exclusively on search engine optimization, it is already reaping the benefits, even though other measures (e.g., social media) are not yet taking effect.

Therefore, our tip: Digitize your business processes step by step and don’t restructure everything overnight. This minimizes the effort and ensures a proportionate cost structure.

 

7 underestimated advantages of business digitization

Which advantages do digitized businesses have besides more flexibility, expandation of mobility and a more efficient use of resources? Many businesses ask questions like this and we anticipate it right away: Setting long term goals is the most important factor.

The advantages of digitalization in businesses are the following:

  • Digitalization encourages competition and innovative ways of competing with others
  • Better service for customers is provided
  • Obtaining new employees easier
  • Expanding communication structures
  • Creating new jobs
  • Easy measurement of processes
  • Potential of optimizing processes
  • Saving money

 

Digitalization encourages competition and innovative ways of competing with others

Growing competition requires constant rethinking of one’s own offering and customer communication. Right from the start, companies ask themselves to what extent their products or services set them apart from competitors and position them in relation to their target group. And the digital transformation offers additional opportunities to expand internal processes in order to constantly improve the offering and strengthen the company’s own brand.

Here, competition enables some opportunities; after all, competitors are also recognizing the benefits of digitization and optimizing their processes based on the adapting desires of the target group. But what initially appears to be a disadvantage actually promotes your company, because in a constantly growing market with a lot of competition, you are in a position to stay on the ball and offer something new. And because of the competition, there is no standstill, which constantly creates room for more innovation on the market.

 

Better service for customers is provided

The centralization of work processes ensures that companies can provide their customers with better service. A good example of this is the area of digital signage – thanks to the centralized, cloud-based solution approach, maintenance work is carried out holistically and not every customer is looked after individually, at least in the case of cloud hosting. This saves personnel and financial resources, and the centralized service guarantees long-term functionality. The latter also has a positive effect on customer satisfaction.

 

Obtaining new employees easier

Posting a vacancy, waiting for applications, and going through a long selection process – that’s what recruitment looked like for a long time, and it’s still common practice at many companies in 2022. In the course of digitalization, however, this changed and companies are finding it easier to obtain personnel, especially through social media channels such as LinkedIn or Xing.
Especially smaller start-ups and founding teams take advantage of this, because freelancer portals enable uncomplicated as well as flexible placement of orders without permanent personnel commitment. Due to the remote work (home office) of the freelancers, no additional office space is required and this saves costs.

Home Office Laptop Aussicht

Home Office: Remote work is one of the biggest advantages of digitalization | © Austin Poon

 

Creating new jobs

With digitization, many companies are pursuing the goal of expanding analog work steps as best they can through the use of modern technologies in order to preserve existing jobs. Since then, however, the digital transformation has also seen the emergence of many new occupational fields, especially in the areas of IT and digital marketing. Existing jobs are gaining additional relevance (e.g., web design) and more analog fields are undergoing a digital transformation (e.g., designers for print who now design digital media)

 

Easy measurement of processes

This advantage is particularly evident in digital marketing. Key figures such as reach and click-through rate can be easily accessed and provide precise insights into the success of the measures taken. Tools such as Google Analytics or the insights on social media channels such as Facebook or Instagram are particularly helpful here. But it is not only in marketing that companies benefit from better measurability, because every digital process is based on evaluable key figures.
In our blog article “What is monitoring?” we explain the advantages of process monitoring in companies and which software is available to you for this purpose.

 

Potential of optimizing processes

Every process goes through a test phase and it is initially uncertain whether something works or not. But it is precisely the measurability of digital processes that offers optimization potential, because it is immediately apparent from the figures whether an established measure promises the desired success.

Here again, digital advertising is a suitable example. Facebook ads or Google Ads not only promise a lot of reach and more leads, the evaluation of the data also provides information about which approaches or which type of ads perform best. This in turn enables efficient and targeted use of available resources, resulting in exponential growth.

Ready for take off?

Are you looking for an efficient way to improve communication in your company? Then only with the innovative digital signage software by FRAMR! Try it for FREE.

Saving money

Let’s stay with the example of digital advertising: Optimizing digital advertising, be it in terms of content or strategy, saves resources in the long run and for the future you know which advertising measures to consider and which not. This permanent optimization process provides immense financial savings over the years and also gives you the opportunity to learn more about the interests as well as needs of your target group – a win-in situation, because you save money and at the same time you target your marketing more specifically to potential customers, which increases sales in your company.

Note: Our examples mainly considered marketing, but other business areas also benefit from the advantages mentioned so far. Whether it’s human resources, logistics, marketing or production, the benefits of digitization for companies exist across divisions and industries.

 

Summary of advantages

The greatest advantage comes from the long-term optimization of internal company processes. Initially, digitization in the company requires financial investments and targeted planning, but this process is worthwhile because you gain better insights into the result structure and recognize potential that is denied you with analog methods.

 

Advantages for your clients

  • Shorter delivery times
  • Faster communication
  • Better information exchange (e.g. through a FAQ section)
  • Lower product costs
  • Targeted interaction (e.g. through gamification)
  • Improved user experience

 

This is how the implementation succeeds

The good news is that establishing digital work processes does not require any serious structural changes in the company. Instead, you analyze existing processes and define measures for digitization. We recommend selecting individual areas and developing a strategy for each subarea.
Example: As a team, you decide to optimize your company’s website for search engines and, at the same time, you commission the development of an app. Here, it is less important which step you focus on first, but rather which strategy you define for the individual steps, i.e. search engine optimization and app development.

 

FRAMR: DIVE INTO A DIGITAL AND INTUITIVE WORLD

Looking for a way to better target customers and digitize your marketing? FRAMR. products pave the way for you! Digital signage promotes communication with your customers and you respond to their needs in a targeted manner. In addition, you gain significant competitive advantages thanks to a better user experience and a lot of “wow effects”.
You are not convinced yet? Then get a detailed overview of the advantages HERE! You can also try our FREE trial version to experience FRAMR in action. Spoiler alert: You’re guaranteed to be thrilled, and for a monthly subscription cost of just €6.90!

 

Are there any disadvantages and risks of business digitization?

Digital transformation promises a wide range of benefits, but some are still skeptical. Many criticize, for example, that jobs are at risk as a result of digitization. Others, in turn, see the financial outlay as a major hurdle.

It is a misconception to claim that digitized work processes will lead to job losses, because some professions downright require retraining to learn new skills. A good example is the profession of architect – ten to 20 years ago, houses were created on paper, now they are created with digital programs. And thanks to continuing education, even architects trained in the 1990s know how to use modern software.

The objection that digitization requires high investments is also not entirely correct. It is true that in marketing, for example, many test phases are required to assess the success of an advertising measure, and content marketing in particular is known to involve a high investment of time as well as money. However, it should not go unmentioned that such investments are worthwhile in most cases and the average return on investment in content marketing is four percent*. This means that the supposed disadvantage turns into an advantage in the long term.

 

Conclusion: Advantages of business digitization outdo the disadvantages

Digital business processes will be indispensable in 2023. The advantages of digitization range from increased flexibility to expansion of competition. Many see the digital transformation as a threat to jobs, but it is precisely the basic innovative idea that will create further opportunities in the future to combine analog workforce with modern technology. Business areas such as marketing are already showing the added value that the implementation of digital strategies offers companies, not to mention the opportunities to use resources more efficiently and evaluate results more accurately.

 

FAQ

Below we will answer the most frequently asked questions about digitalization of businesses.

 

What does digitalization mean for businesses?

The goal of businesses is to create more independent as well as more flexible working processes. That results in long term cost savings, more efficient usage of resources and progress in the development of products and services.

 

Why is digitization important for businesses?

Digitalization saves money and processes become more sustainable. Other advantages are obtaining new employees, easier measurement of the usage of resources and expanding sales ways.

 

*Source: https://de.statista.com/themen/6129/digitalisierung-der-arbeit/#topicHeader__wrapper

 

Pictures: © Canva.com

7 Best Practices for B2B Lead Generation in 2023 765 536 Lukas Aumair

7 Best Practices for B2B Lead Generation in 2023

The best methods for B2B lead generation! ✔ 7 tips ✔ Start successfully in 2023

In this article

  1. What is B2B lead generation?
  2. Which channels can be used to generate leads?
  3. 7 proven methods for B2B lead generation
  4. These strategic questions need to be addressed 
  5. Don’t rely too much on freebies
  6. Make inactive leads curious again 
  7. Conclusion
  8. FAQ

 

Gone are the days of annoying cold calls, because most companies rely on strategies from inbound marketing. According to statistics, it is now even more than 90 percent. And the goal is the same for all companies, namely to generate leads. Hardly anyone talks about more sales or new customers in the first step of their marketing strategy, but leads. They are the fine line between “My target group doesn’t want to have anything to do with me” and “I’ll win over customers who will stay loyal to me for 25 years.” And for two reasons, many businesses fail to walk this fine line.

One reason is a lack of strategy. Many companies have a rough idea of their lead channels, but are unable to use them effectively due to a lack of planning. This is why approaches to convert leads into customers fail in the end.

The second reason is a lack of know-how in using available channels for lead generation. With the constant changes in content or social media marketing, some businesses find it difficult to reach their target audience. And even when they do win leads, they don’t know how to retain them.

In this article, we address both of these challenges. By doing so, you’ll set the stage for successful B2B lead generation. We concretize best practices and go into strategic aspects that promise more leads in 2023.

 

The most important facts in a nutshell

  • Leads are prospects who share their contact information with companies.
  • For lead generation, consider strategic questions about your target audience, your available budget, and long-term prospects for success.
  • Set realistic expectations for lead generation.
  • Content marketing promises the most leads in the long run.

 

What is B2B lead generation?

A lead is a qualified contact who is interested in a company’s services or products. In contrast to a customer, a lead has not made a purchase or contacted the company yet.

The lead can be in different phases. For example, they may be on the verge of making a purchase, but they may also be interacting with a business out of pure curiosity.

The term “lead” often divides opinions. Not because of the definition, but because of the meaning of a lead. Some see leads as nothing more than prospects. For others, they are a measure of success that promises a lot of sales. Experts have therefore created the terms “cold leads” and “hot leads” to qualitatively classify and distinguish between prospects.

When making this distinction, it is also important to consider how sustainable a lead is. After all, some prospects quickly become customers, but they only buy from a company once. On the other hand, some prospects remain in the lead phase for a longer period of time, but then develop into long-term customers.

So much for the definition. In the next step, we’ll go more into detail about B2B lead generation channels and methods to help your company generate more qualified prospects.

 

Which channels can be used to generate leads?

Leads can be generated anywhere your target audience is located. Your options are not only limited to digital methods, because potential customers are also waiting for you in the outdoors, for example. The following channels come into question for lead generation:

 

-> Trade shows & events: Since 2022, outdoor events are again an interesting way to generate more leads.

-> Content Marketing: The undisputed number 1 in B2B lead generation. This includes blogs, videos and podcasts.

-> Social Media: In the B2B sector, LinkedIn is proving to be a promising channel to strengthen one’s brand and generate leads.

-> SEO: Search engine optimization is only partly a part of content marketing. However, it is a separate, independent area for expanding entrepreneurial reach.

-> Newsletter sign-up forms: Discounts and exclusive offers are still helpful lures for B2B lead generation in 2023.

-> SEA: There are commercial intentions behind many Google searches. And paid ads specifically address this demand. Google Ads is therefore one of the best lead engines in digital marketing.

-> Freebies: E-books, videos and whitepapers belong to the most popular methods among free downloads.

-> Print: Print media lost relevance in the last few years, but depending on the target group, they still support lead generation.

Don’t forget to provide your target audience with a “point of contact”. Your channels should ideally lead to a website where prospects can leave their contact information or contact you directly.

 

7 proven methods for B2B lead generation

The following methods complement the channels mentioned in the last point. Every company knows the advantages of a blog or a whitepaper, but often fails to implement them correctly or to build a sustainable lead strategy. Our following tips will help you to use the available channels in a target-oriented way.

 

The seven methods at a glance:

  • Don’t just use newsletters as a decoy
  • Prioritize the user experience
  • Don’t forget the customer journey
  • Place call-to-actions in the right places
  • The strengths of versatility
  • Interact with your target group
  • The overall impression must be right

 

Don’t just use newsletters as a decoy

The paths from leads to customers are often relatively short, because many prospects make impulse purchases. Even in the B2B sector. The reason for this are discounts that companies offer in return for newsletter sign-ups. You probably know this when you visit an online store and after a few seconds the newsletter registration form with discount code appears.

This method is great for quick sales, but the goal is to build up customers in the long run. A newsletter is more than a tool to give discounts. It’s a way to build long-term loyalty with your target audience.

Let’s say you’re the owner of an online workwear store. Your newsletter marketing options are many in this area, ranging from safety tips to information about textile properties. So why would you only use your newsletter to offer a one-time discount?

Of course, you should continue to offer discounts to attract buyers. But first and foremost, a newsletter should add content value and build trust with your target audience. The newsletter is not an entertaining marketing tool, but your digital corporate magazine.

 

Prioritize the user experience

People buy where they feel comfortable. And the feel-good factor is lost if a new pop-up window opens on your website every three seconds. Long loading times on your website or too much advertising are just as annoying. But optimizing the user experience doesn’t just mean eliminating disruptive factors.

The competition is getting bigger and your target group knows that they are only a few clicks away from the products or services of your competitors. That makes it even more important to clearly communicate USPs and benefits from working with you. You can produce the best content or even be a luminary in your field – but it has no meaning for B2B lead generation if the communicative approaches are not right. Set a clear tone, communicate key messages, and make it clear what you offer.

 

The last point is particularly important. Some websites advertise with promises such as “More sales with XY” or “Increase your brand awareness with XY”. In doing so, they ignore the questions that are actually important for cooperation. Among them the following:

  • What are our focal points?
  • What additional services do we offer?
  • What do our services cost?
  • What are our references?
  • What makes us stand out from our competitors?

 

Advertise not only with objective advantages, but with personal strengths and UPSs. Exceptions are B2B services in need of explanation, where potential customers have not yet recognized their benefits. But in most cases your target group has a clear search intention and knows what objective advantages they get from your product or service.

 

Don’t forget the customer journey

Your target group has several touchpoints before taking action. Especially in B2B, impulse buys or quick contacts are rare. Rule of thumb: The more complex the product or service, the more information your target audience wants.

You can’t expect leads if your company doesn’t provide quality content. Write blog articles, publish social media posts or produce videos. Use these mediums to answer questions about your offering. Your target audience has objections and needs information before making a decision. 

Ask yourself: Would you subscribe to a newsletter or interact with a company more often in the future if it didn’t offer you value? Or if you didn’t even know what the company offers? Probably not.

 

-> Content marketing doesn’t just have the function of promoting your offer or providing information. You also build a trust base with your target group with regular postings/uploads. 

 

Often, lead generation also fails because of your content prioritization. The best example is our company, FRAMR.

Digital signage are B2B products that require explanation. Therefore, we can’t expect leads if we don’t go into more detail about the strengths of digital signage on subpages/blog articles or communicate information about application options and pricing. That’s why we created relevant content first and only then focused on guides on other topics (e.g. marketing).

 

Take-away: The more expensive and complex the product, the more touch points your target group has. A bottle of wine for 8 euro is bought because of the beautiful label. But a high-priced service is only claimed by interested parties who have insights into the work processes and in-depth product information.

 

Place call-to-actions in the right places

Successful lead generation is based on decisively motivating one’s target group. Not only through facts and information, but also through prompts. The call-to-action should not be missing from any website, newsletter or social media post description. But there are two important points to consider when it comes to the CTA.

First, the CTA must not appear anywhere in the text. Make sure to place the calls to action cleverly. This can be in the context of a challenge, for example, or after you appeal to possible “trigger points” in a blog article.

Example: You are a marketing service provider and write a blog article about seven mistakes in B2B lead generation. In this context, it is a good idea to place a CTA after the seventh mistake, worded as follows: “Mistake No. 8: You are not yet using the strengths of a professional service provider to increase your success rates”. Alternatively, you can describe a complex problem in the text and offer yourself as a helping hand.

In this context, it is also important, and this brings me to the second point, to place the CTAs strategically. Don’t just think of the CTA as a call to action to generate leads, but also consider the customer journey here. CTAs can also be references to use cases or informative articles. The request to contact or buy is the last step in the customer journey. Before that, it’s about answering questions from your target audience.

 

The strengths of versatility

The more content channels you play on, the better you communicate with your target audience. Of course, content marketing requires a lot of resources and the production effort should not be underestimated. But the investment is worth it, because the more reach your company generates, the more leads will stick. Consider all your options and think “outside the box” too. There are not only blogs, videos or podcasts, but also apps or rather “unconventional” social media platforms like Reddit.

 

Interact with your target group

Between reach building and lead generation, there is one more intermediate step which is the engagement of your target audience. Don’t just use the available marketing channels for advertising messages, but ask questions and invite interaction.

Everyone likes to be the center of attention and wants to present their opinion, accordingly people comment or at least mentally participate in your posts. Sure, the mental interaction has no effect on your KPIs, but your company will still be remembered. After all, the point is to set impulses.

Have the courage to post a clear statement on LinkedIn. Opinion leaders are not afraid to communicate something more daring. Your interaction rate will increase and more people will follow you.

B2B lead generation is not something static based solely on strategic approaches. Emotions and strong opinions also reach people. Sometimes even better than the pragmatic way.

 

The overall impression must be right

Lead generation is part of a holistic marketing strategy. Also, focus on building your brand awareness, strengthen your corporate positioning, take care of search engine optimization and also consider design elements on your website. Successful lead generation is based on a holistic approach.

 

These strategic issues need to be addressed

In addition to implementation, it’s also important to consider strategic components. And that doesn’t mean just thinking about content channels or user experience. Rather, companies need to clarify strategic questions to set the course for successful lead marketing. Among them are the following:

 

  • What budget do we have available for external service providers?
  • What measures do we take for lead generation?
  • In how much time do we want to generate how many leads?
  • How do we target the leads and convert them into customers?
  • How can we actively involve cold leads in the company’s activities again?
  • What alternative actions can we take in case our strategy does not work?
  • Is it a push or pull campaign?
  • How can we identify and implement our optimization potential for a campaign?
  • How can we automate lead generation processes?

 

To answer these questions concretely, we recommend the SMART method. It is known to most and is considered one of the best goal setting methods. The graphic below details all five steps and how to use them for your strategy.

 

Don’t rely too much on freebies

Whitepapers and e-books are definitely on-target methods for lead generation, but they don’t promise the same growth they did a few years ago. B2B audiences in particular know that freebies are just a means to an end. And not everyone wants to receive your newsletter.

Our recommendation: Don’t use freebies as a lead magnet, but use them to strengthen trust with your target group. Give away the freebie and use it for positioning rather than lead generation. Your target group appreciates it when they get something for free. And that in turn has a positive effect on your business, because those who create trust position themselves more strongly among the competition and arouse curiosity.

In this context, we would also like to talk about expectations. Freebies and other lead generation measures do not promise quick success. Even today, many entrepreneurs think that they have a good foundation for lead generation with two blog articles. Others think that a 100 euros budget for Google Ads will generate many new customers. But these ideas miss the reality. To stay competitive, companies ideally produce weekly content. And if you want to take advantage of the strengths of Google Ads, plan on at least 250 euros in costs per lead.

 

-> Expectations have a major influence on business success. Only those who set realistic standards can develop a target-oriented strategy.

 

Make inactive leads curious again

Generated leads are not the only quantitative factor, but also converting prospects to customers. Leads only have value to your business when they buy products or claim services. Accordingly, consider customer acquisition via existing leads in your strategy.

Also, focus on re-mobilizing inactive leads. Many companies don’t realize the potential of inactive prospects because they are only focused on lead generation. But optimizations in your marketing can bring back many prospects.

Sure, you can’t increase the open rates of your newsletter marketing to more than 50 percent, but that shouldn’t be your goal. Instead, it’s about improving KPIs in general and adding quality to your lead inventory.

Remember that you are in competition with many other companies and have to fight for your leads. Change the language of your newsletters, make campaigns more engaging, and encourage engagement on social media. Interactive measures like gamification also mobilize inactive leads.

 

Conclusion

In 2023, B2B lead generation continues to pose challenges for many companies. The reasons vary, but many fail mainly due to inadequate content prioritization. Answer basic questions about your offer on your website and communicate added value.

So before you optimize your current lead strategy, it’s better to ask yourself what content is still missing or what objections exist to your offer.

 

FAQ

Finally, we answer frequently asked questions on the topic.

 

What is inbound marketing?

Inbound marketing is a method of acquiring new customers. Companies provide informative content via blogs and social media to attract attention.

 

What are cold leads?

Cold leads are unqualified leads who don’t know your product or service well or have no in-depth touch points with it yet.

How to successfully expand digital competence in your company 781 537 Lukas Aumair

How to successfully expand digital competence in your company

How do businesses expand digital competence? In this article we will answer questions about digital skills and how to teach your employees properly.

In this article:

  1. Digital competence definition
  2. How important is digital competence?
  3. The 10 most important digital skills
  4. Build up digital competence: Our 5 step guide
  5. Possible hurdles and challenges
  6. Will analogue processes soon be replaced completely? 
  7. Conclusion

 

The most important in a summary

  • Digital competence has become increasingly important in the world of work.
  • Ideally, businesses aim for a step-by-step execution in which all employees are equally involved.
  • Analogue processes become less important but a complete digitization of existing structures will take time.

digital competence in companies

 

Digital competence definition

The term “digital competence” describes all required skills to use computers and other devices as well as to manage and process information through these devices. That includes the successful usage of specific applications to edit, save and publish content.

For a long time digital competence was limited to answer mails and to use office applications such as Word or Excel. But in 2023 the requirements are much higher. Cloud applications, online meetings and digital administration determine the daily life of office employees.

The expansion of digital competence requires a holistic approach which doesn’t only consider the skills of your employees but improving existing business structures too. Keyword: Digitization.

Ideally, businesses aim for the goal to encourage the knowledge of their employees as well as the renewal of existing structures. Without expanding existing structures, digital competence has no value. On the other hand employees don’t know how to use digital ways if they don’t acquire relevant know-how.

 

How important is digital competence?

More and more employees work from home and use the possibilities of digital communication on a daily basis. That is one of many reasons why the expansion of digital competence becomes more relevant. Businesses are responsible to encourage their employees to work more efficiently and to establish smooth working processes.

The right handling of digital applications has not only gained in importance in recent years. Already in a survey of 2018, 71 percent of managers said they want to open up new ways of income by using digital ways. The covid pandemic has further spurred this trend, as online retailers in particular have increased their sales.

 

→ Competence expansion goes hand in hand with the expansion of business structures. Every expansion or adjustment of processes requires adequate know-how.

 

The 10 most important digital skills

Digitization affects almost all company departments and they all require different skills. Therefore, there is no such thing as the “one” skill but rather a variety of many competences. Including the following:

Search engine optimization: Essential to improve the positioning of a website. Without SEO a website will disappear in the “google nirvana” and possible competition advantages remain unused.

Social media marketing: Platforms such as instagram, pinterest or linkedin have developed to profitable sales channels for businesses in the past years. That is even confirmed by statistics: In 2021 businesses earned more than 150 billion euros through social media.

Web hosting: That includes management of a website, blog or online shop. Web hosting is not only about uploading new content or creating new sub pages for a website, it’s also about evaluating statistics to improve performance.

Content production: Social media won’t ensure growth if businesses post low quality content. Possibilities in content marketing reach from picture design to video production.

Digital communication: The usage of applications such as zoom or google meet belongs to the basic knowledge of all employees.

Product management: Develop, manage and market digital products. Hereby many businesses focus on lead generation by offering digital products for free, so called “freebies”.

User experience: It takes 50 milliseconds until website visitors get a first impression. Many businesses ignore user experience because they primarily focus on technical requirements (e. g. SEO). However, the target group should always be the number one priority.

Cloud solutions: Using applications such as google docs makes it easy to share data and saves time as you don’t have to send mails with attachments.

Service and customer management: Data banks and customer relationship management systems simplify the management of customer data and reveal more about the wishes and desires of your target group.

Programming: The king discipline among digital skills. There are thousands of programming languages but the most known ones are PHP, java and python.

8 important digital skills

 

Build up digital competence: Our 5 step guide

To successfully promote the digital skills of your employees, you need to take measures but also consider hurdles and possible challenges. We have prepared the following guide for you so that the implementation is successful. It will help you to encourage the digital competence of your employees in just five steps.

 

Know the needs of your team and your business

The expansion of skills costs resources, especially time and money. That’s why the first step requires a plan and a goal oriented needs assessment.

Let’s come back to the ten digital skills: Almost every business takes advantage when it schools its staff in the area of digital communication or service. However, it doesn’t make sense for businesses to invest in programming knowledge. There are only a few businesses which take advantage of this kind of internal know-how.

 

The following questions will help you to purposely determine your businesses needs:

  • In which industry is our company active?
  • What goals are we pursuing?
  • What is the current level of knowledge of our employees?
  • To what extent do we benefit from the development of digital competence?
  • What knowledge and skills do we source externally?
  • What are the costs associated with expanding digital skills?
  • Are employees we train for specific areas likely to stay with the company longer?

 

Recognize the value of further education

Sure, further education is a purposeful way to expand the competence of employees. But it’s even more important to invest in the right measures. Online platforms such as Udemy can indeed provide valuable knowledge but on such websites are also course suppliers who don’t even understand their own profession properly. Hereby it’s better to consider other sources, even when they are more expensive. Get back to expert knowledge to school your employees as well as possible. Sure, that costs more at the beginning but ensures a purposeful investment in the long term.

Sure, there are also ways to get free access to know how. Platforms such as LinkedIn or YouTube provide a variety of possibilities for further education. Especially in the field of digital communication, cloud usage and user experience it’s not necessary to invest in expensive education measures to school employees properly.

 

Obtain external knowledge

In many cases it’s much cheaper and more sustainable to get back to external knowledge. One example is building and maintaining the business website or programming an app.

Businesses also have the possibility to combine internal and external knowledge. Here, the business website is again a great example: External web designers or programmers promise a purposeful investment because their expertise, including the areas of social media and SEO, requires years of project experience. In turn, employees can manage and maintain the website. But also other tasks such as entering new products in an online shop don’t require external knowledge for execution.

Through a cost-benefit analysis businesses determine the goal oriented usage of their budget and such a consideration is to be used for each investment. But as a rule of thumb we recommend the following: Big projects, for example building the business website, are better given into the hands of external experts. It requires too many resources to properly teach employees how to do it. In turn, it is cost wise more reasonable to, for example, build social media channels with an internal team.

 

Don’t get lost into details

Expert knowledge ensures advantages in competition and more growth possibilities but in many cases the basics are completely enough. Your business doesn’t need professionals who know every single detail function of Google Docs or Google Meet. Knowing the basic requirements is enough. Therefore, don’t only consider which measures are purposeful but also to which extent.

 

Consider current trends

The term “digital transformation” describes the current situation perfectly: We are in a constant transformation which doesn’t allow standstill. That also means that our level of knowledge is constantly sinking. Who would’ve thought that we would use social media channels such as TikTok only a few years ago or that the stationary trade will focus more on e-commerce. But it is exactly these unpredicted changes which bring businesses into the position to find ways to expand their employees’ knowledge. The expansion of digital knowledge is not a one time project but a long term process. Therefore, initiate steps to ensure a long term expansion of knowledge.

 

Possible hurdles and challenges

Executing a plan is not a one-way street. When expanding the digital competence of your company, some hurdles and challenges might be in your way. Including the following:

  • No unified level of knowledge
  • Personnel fluctuation
  • Growing requirements

 

No unified level of knowledge

Further education, as purposeful as it is, comes with a major weakness: The educational content is aimed at several people at once. As a result, some employees have too low or too high a level of knowledge. Beginner oriented training provides no value for advanced employees, on the other hand, programs for the advanced are no good approach to introduce newcomers to a topic.

Solution approach: Don’t only consider training programs for all employees. Instead, help your staff to find suitable mentors to expand strengths individually.

 

Personnel fluctuation

Qualified employees can choose between many employers on the market. This also increasingly reduces operational loyalty. This is a big challenge for companies as they lose internal knowledge when employees leave. As purposeful the investment in the knowledge of employees is, it might not have any long term advantages because other companies appear more attractive.

Solution approach: Don’t forget to prioritize the expansion of a positive working climate. Employees aren’t just human resources, they are human beings who belong to your business. You can’t avoid job changes completely but you can initiate measures to make your business more attractive to employees to make them stay.

 

Growing requirements

Digital progress promises solutions and makes business processes easier. However, requirements regarding operation, administration and editing grow too. That on the other hand requires higher investments in training and the expansion of competences. There is no doubt that the expansion of digital competence is worth it but you shouldn’t underestimate the volume of investment.

Solution approach: The already mentioned cost-benefit-analysis helps to determine goal oriented measures. Know your team’s level of education and focus holistic as well as individual approaches equally.

 

Will analogue processes soon be replaced completely?

Prognosis regarding the future influences of digitization suspect a successive omission of analogue applications. But this process will take time. There are still too many businesses which primarily rely on analogue processes and although many of them pursue the goal of digitization, they often don’t have a concrete plan.

The development of start-ups and new founded businesses suggests that young businesses rely on digital structures from the very beginning. Business size and smaller structures play a role here too. The digital construction of a small business is done less complicated than restructuring analogue processes of bigger businesses with more than 100 employees.

But big businesses digitize their processes successfully too. German statistics actually confirm that especially businesses with more than 250 employees use the strengths of social media. Furthermore, there are barely big businesses without their own website or a digital marketing strategy.

In some areas it is to expect that analogue processes will be replaced completely, especially in marketing. Reasons are measurability and that businesses reach out to a broader audience. But digital marketing strategies require deep knowledge in social media and SEO. Therefore, businesses are responsible to school their employees to not only expand digital structures but to ensure long term results as well.

 

Conclusion: Build on progress

Digitization is advancing and so is the expansion of internal competencies. New trends, especially in marketing, put companies under pressure to pull. Digital change may progress faster than the level of knowledge in the company is growing.

It is necessary to weigh up which trends and competencies offer added value. In addition, it is purposeful to build on existing strengths in order to ensure specialist knowledge. As already mentioned, it therefore makes little sense to get lost unnecessarily in details. On the other hand, it has disadvantages in competition if companies do not offer further training in certain areas.

What is corporate communication? Definition, goals & examples 781 537 Lukas Aumair

What is corporate communication? Definition, goals & examples

What is corporate communication and what measures companies need to take? Everything about definition and goals + examples.

In this article:

  1. Corporate communication definition
  2. Which goals need to be achieved?
  3. Business communication as a part of corporate behavior
  4. Corporate communication examples
  5. Rules of business communication
  6. Business communication checklist
  7. Consider and overcome linguistic hurdles
  8. Corporate social responsibility: An important message for businesses
  9. Our final advice
  10. Conclusion
  11. FAQ

 

The most important in a nutshell

  • Corporate communication considers both, internal and external communication
  • A goal oriented corporate communication improves working climate and the interaction between staff
  • Good communication structures will have a positive impact on your business image and promises competition advantages

 

Corporate communication as a key element to a working business

Efficiency and sales will always be a company’s number one priority. There is nothing wrong with that because only economically strong businesses will survive on a highly competitive market. But it’s about under which circumstances this goal will be achieved. In the past decades most businesses have recognized that employee satisfaction does not only depend on salary but rather on other factors. One of them is corporate communication.

Corporate communication in business

In this article we will talk about corporate communication and how businesses can use it to their advantage. Moreover we will dive deeper into the importance of individual approaches and social responsibility.

 

Corporate communication definition

The term corporate communication sums up all measures to improve the communication within a company. This concerns not only the communication between a company and its staff (internal) but also the interaction between a business and customers, partners or suppliers (external).

 

Which goals need to be achieved?

Corporate communication follows the goal to create consistent dialogue structures between a company and its stakeholders. But there are other reasons which speak in favor of improving communication structures of a business.

A good corporate communication improves working climate and strengthens the trust between a business and its staff. That in turn has a positive effect on productivity. Encouraging the internal dialogue also comes with the advantage that there will be less conflicts and that businesses can react better to the wishes of their staff. That results in a healthy business culture with open dialogue structures and strengthened trust between employer and employee.

In external business communication it’s primarily about such factors which will make a business stand out against its competitors. We are talking about corporate identity. Many don’t associate corporate identity with open dialogues or information exchange but rather with nice looking logos and convincing messages. That is a way to communicate too – corporate communication doesn’t necessarily mean to seek out dialogues because visual elements and messages will also improve business communication.

Therefore, the goal is not only to communicate transparently and openly but also to use the advantages of visual elements.

 

At its core, corporate communication pursues the following goals:

  • Improving corporate identity
  • More transparency for employees
  • Ensuring employee satisfaction
  • Establish a good working climate
  • Reaching business goals
  • Secure competitive advantages
  • Improving business culture as a whole
  • Expanding customer loyalty and customer acquisition as well as improving customer experience
  • Strengthen the business image
  • Cultivating business relationships

 

Business communication as a part of corporate behavior

Corporate behavior is a part of corporate identity and describes the behavior of a business towards its stakeholders. The focus of corporate behavior is on the achievement of goals and whether companies act in the way they communicate to the outside world.

Corporate behavior is seen as a separate area of corporate identity but it also has an impact on reaching goals and therefore on a business’ behavior as well.

One example: Through good communication structures businesses will increase productivity of their employees because open dialogues and information exchange build trust as well as satisfaction. This will ensure reaching goals in the long term.

In general, communication always has a positive impact on corporate business. Possible disadvantages only occur when an information flood limits scope of action and paves the way to micromanagement.

corporate business identity

 

Corporate communication examples

To develop your sense for practical application of corporate communication, we will take a closer look at some examples. Hereby it’s especially important to differentiate between internal and external business communication.

Corporate communication examples internal:

  • Employee interviews
  • Feedback talks
  • Regular trainings to promote knowledge
  • Transparency in information exchange (e. g. through digital signage)
  • Communicating wishes through open dialogues
  • Defining goals clearly and communicating reached goals openly (e. g. through monitoring)

Communication is key. So approach your employees openly and ask for their feedback. Monthly employee interviews help to recognize wishes and to expose possible conflicts. Corporate communication also means to create a good working climate by avoiding conflicts within your team.

Every business ideally seeks out dialogues with its employees to respond specifically to wishes and needs. It’s harder to execute this approach for information exchange regarding events or internal changes. A centralized and automated communication structure will help you hereby. Information terminals for example provide a centralized approach to inform employees about news with little effort. Monthly employee meetings will improve and automate corporate communication as well.

At an external level you need to differentiate between marketing and PR. Companies can increase their positive image through newspaper articles and press releases. Marketing methods on the other hand will help to strengthen the corporate identity and to force customer acquisition.

 

Corporate communication examples external: 

  • Press releases
  • Social media channels
  • Digital advertising
  • Interviews
  • Use cases for more transparency
  • Sponsoring
  • Posters and flyers
  • Content marketing
  • Reports for business partners and stockholders
  • TV spots

Don’t underestimate the effect of sponsoring and press releases. These supposedly old-fashioned PR methods have a strong impact on a business’ image. While they don’t build brand awareness as specifically as maintaining social media channels for example, they do position your company more strongly, especially on a regional level.

 

Rules of business communication

Many businesses primarily focus on external communication because they will win new customers and business partners with it. The key factors for more sales.
But without satisfied and educated employees, productivity will decrease and your company will have disadvantages in competition. Therefore, you should improve corporate communication as a whole. To improve internal communication structures, you can establish rules which equally apply to all employees. Obligatory rules will ensure a better together within the team and help to reach goals.

With the following rules of business communication, you will improve existing structures:

  • Openly talk about conflicts
  • Informing employees about changes
  • Monthly employee meetings (to talk about collective challenges)
  • Obligatory trainings for all business departments
  • Showing appreciation towards your employees

There are two things to consider when executing these rules. On the one hand you should make sure that these rules will become part of the business values. Every team member needs to know about these rules and recognize that they follow a purpose. On the other hand you shouldn’t ignore financial and timely aspects. You better ensure to have enough resources to establish regular employee meetings or employee interviews.

 

Business communication checklist

  • Involve all employees into the process
  • Talk about the current situation and challenges with your team
  • Define clear goals and which tasks need to be done
  • Consider budget and human resources
  • Establish fix days and times for employee interviews, trainings and feedback talks
  • Approach the worries of your employees and convince them with good arguments
  • Consider your customers and your business partners
  • Determine channels to communicate business internal messages
  • Don’t give empty promises but rather set realistic measures
  • Talk regularly about the approached measures and if all employees are okay with it
  • Repeat all the steps and optimize them where it’s necessary

 

Consider and overcome linguistic hurdles

Corporate communication is aimed at different groups of persons but exactly this aspect is often ignored by many businesses.
Law changes in data security need to be communicated differently to human resource employees than to a data protection officer. It’s also pointless to use information terminals as the only source of communication when many employees work at home or in the field service.

Linguistic barriers hinder goal oriented approaches. Ask yourself the following questions to eliminate possible hurdles in internal corporate communication:

  • Do all employees have access to information?
  • Are there linguistic barriers because of different nationalities?
  • Do we use too much professional language?
  • Is our communication directed towards the perspective of our employees?
  • Do we grow faster than we can improve our communication structures?

In external communication it’s especially important to consider the principles of marketing. A basic differentiation between B2B and B2C clients is a good start but a deeper selection will help more in the long term.

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Are you looking for an efficient way to improve communication in your company? Then only with the innovative digital signage software by FRAMR! Try it for FREE.

Corporate social responsibility: An important message for businesses

In 2023, external communication means more than just good PR and marketing. Businesses show more social responsibility, be it through better compliance, approaches to expand environmentally friendly working processes or more accessibility.

There are laws as a guideline to execute these measures. But there are other objective measures which support the execution too. One of them ist the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

In the core, CSR describes the voluntary contribution of a business to a sustainable development of the economy. This includes climate protection, measures against corruption or an ethical justifiable business culture. Some guidelines of specific countries (e. g. Germany) force bigger businesses to create reports about their CSR approaches but for other companies the contribution is voluntary.

CSR sends an important message to businesses: Social consciousness and responsibility become more relevant. When thinking of corporate communication, don’t only consider promising messages or convincing marketing but social aspects as well.

 

Our final advice

Take care of executing corporate communication in a holistic approach. Many businesses strongly focus on external communication because marketing promises more sales and a stronger public image. Thereby employee satisfaction and internal conflict mastering have a massive impact on the success of a business as well.

Before you execute measures for a better corporate communication, deal with the question if your team equally builds structures for both internal and external communication to approach a holistic process- and structure optimization. In order to promote corporate communication, your company should also push the development of digital competence in order to create more efficient structures and also keep communication channels shorter.

 

Conclusion: The human being is in the foreground

Businesses face the challenge that a standardized approach through corporate communication is barely possible. Because of the already mentioned linguistic hurdles, businesses can only partly automize their communication processes.

Therefore, it’s better for businesses to follow the goal to establish automated processes which consider individual customer wishes or desires of employees. It’s also important to overcome linguistic hurdles.

 

FAQ

Finally, we will answer commonly asked questions about corporate communication.

 

What is the difference between corporate communication and marketing communication?

Marketing communication concerns commercialization of a product or a service. Corporate communication on the other hand also considers the appearance of a brand and the image of a business.

 

Why is corporate communication important?

Corporate communication does not only focus on the advantages of a product or a service but will ensure the communication of the business image. At an internal level, businesses ensure higher employee satisfaction and increased productivity.

Chatbots: Virtual salesman or just a better FAQ section? 994 537 Lukas Aumair

Chatbots: Virtual salesman or just a better FAQ section?

Many companies are banking on the strengths of chatbots, but how useful are they in 2023?

In this article:

  1. What is a chatbot?
  2. The B2B sector is not interested into chatbots
  3. Chatbots solve three big problems of businesses
  4. More than 85 percent of users report about good experiences
  5. What are the challenges of using chatbots?
  6. This is how you successfully use artificial intelligence for your business
  7. Conclusion: Are chatbots THE communication tool of the future?

 

The most important information in a nutshell:

  • Chatbots help automize business processes and also use them for lead generation (for example)
  • According to surveys, the use of AI on websites has a positive impact on the user experience
  • Care must be taken to use chatbots in a GDPR-compliant manner

 

Customer service, good communication and user experience – these three aspects are some of the most important competitive factors. In 2022 the main focus isn’t necessarily on the most unique product or the best priced services (although this is important!), what matters is the “How” not the “What”. 

Consumers and B2B clients know that they have a wide choice on the market and they can request an offer with just a few clicks. This is why businesses regularly look for ways to build a communication channel early and to stand out against their competitors. One strategy is particularly popular in the B2C sector: The use of chatbots.

This communication tool has existed since the end of the 1960s, but in its full functional version most businesses have first started to use the chatbot in the past ten years. Reasons for that are the automation of communication processes and the fast execution of customer inquiries.

But are chatbots useful in the first place? And how can businesses take advantage of artificial intelligence? What are possible challenges?
In the following we will take a closer look at these questions and which role chatbots will play in the future of B2B businesses. So much in advance: Chatbots solve three of the biggest challenges of businesses.

Common uses of AI

First, the definition: What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is a text based dialogue system which uses artificial intelligence to communicate in natural language. Users, for example website visitors, can ask questions and the chatbot answers in either text or audio format.
The application areas are diverse. Chatbots can answer questions about products but can also generate leads and communicate with potential applicants. Also for the industries there are no limitations – both the financial sector and personnel service providers as well as software businesses equally take advantage of the possibilities of artificial intelligence.

The emphasis here is deliberately on “artificial intelligence” because there are rule based chatbots with predefined commands as well. Such dialogue systems are based on the classic FAQ format because users can choose a question and the chatbot then displays the predefined answer. Through the use of artificial intelligence the chatbot works independently and is even able to have complex dialogues with users.

 

The B2B sector is not interested into chatbots

A study shows that only 58 % of B2B businesses used chatbots in 2021*. Considering the current development of digital communication, this number might come as a surprise but it does not come from nowhere. Most B2B businesses reach out to their audience and acquire them by phone or by using facebook ads. For this approach the term “Outbound marketing” was invented.

The opposite is inbound marketing, so that interested parties reach out to a business, for example by searching for a specific blog article topic or by subscribing to social media channels. Because of google ads and SEO this became a strongly relevant approach which is supported by chatbots because of their interaction with customers. An example for what the process could look like: Interested parties search for a service and on the website they are provided with help by the chatbot which answers relevant questions regarding advantages and features / characteristics. Afterwards, the chatbot offers an appointment and the potential client then is given the opportunity to leave contact details.

Here it becomes clear that AI is perfect for lead generation and to support marketing strategies.

 

→ But why do only a few B2B businesses use chatbots then?

 

In outbound marketing, the use of chatbots is quite limited. For example, it is possible that businesses win attention for their services by using facebook ads and the chatbot helps to communicate with website visitors which got in touch with the business through these ads. However, the strategy of companies often provides for clarifying important questions directly via the advertisement, so that interested parties get in touch with a Call-To-Action and therefore without even visiting the website.

Marketing via chatbots is also difficult for complex and high-priced services. These require targeted marketing, in which individual questions must be answered and decision-makers must also be convinced on a personal level. This is hardly possible with a chatbot because the AI recognizes customer needs only to a certain extent and therefore can’t respond to individual wishes.

Article → What are use cases? Definition and examples

 

It would be wrong to claim that chatbots are not worth it in the B2B sector. The communicative support of chatbots delps decisively with marketing of products and services because the AI answers about 80 percent of all standard questions regarding usage and features. Lastly, many products or services aren’t only bought or claimed because of their characteristics but also because of good communication which is often a decisive factor for potential customers to start a cooperation.

On top of that, businesses save valuable resources by using chatbots which can be used otherwise – through automated communication, the focus of internal strengths remains on core competencies. Furthermore the functions of AI ensure versatile communication with answering individual questions and therefore, chatbots are much more than a FAQ section which only answers standard questions.

Advantages of chatbots

Since the beginning of our online presence, we at FRAMR. have integrated a chatbot on the website and use it to maintain communication with interested parties. Questions about our offer are answered easily and, above all, individually. Although the software and the functions of digital signage require explanation, we have no problems with communicating via a chatbot. In our case, the concept has even proven itself as a “virtual salesperson” and provided decisive advice to new customers. 

Especially interesting is the combination of digital signage and chatbot for the retail sector. As a virtual assistant, the AI helps with requests on information terminals and navigates customers independently. Thanks to digital signage, customers are provided with a centralized navigation point and the chatbot automizes the support completely. This interaction will digitize customer service as far as possible in the future and businesses will be able to save a lot of costs.

 

Chatbots solve three big problems of businesses

Let’s face it: everyone has heard about the benefits of chatbots. Answering questions, communicating with users in an automated way and freeing up company time are just three of many benefits of the AI. But one issue is rarely addressed:

 

→ What business challenges do chatbots solve? 

 

The change in entrepreneurship comes with many challenges and what didn’t matter only a few years ago, belongs to the basic pillars in competition now. Three of these challenges are accessibility, automated lead generation and cost savings in customer communication through digital applications.

Due to the given possibilities of a chatbot, the individual communication with customers is easier and even complex matters can be clarified. When chatbots got available for websites, applications primarily had the use to answer predefined questions. That might have been a user friendly approach in comparison to a FAQ section but companies weren’t really relieved. But that has changed and in 2023 chatbots ensure an uncomplicated dialogue with (potential) customers through which the personnel expenses are reduced and costs are saved.

In addition, the dialogue with website visitors allows them to query personal data to directly reach out to (potential) customers. If an interested party, for instance, wants to know more about the services of a business, the chatbot can offer an individual calculation in the dialogue. The potential client then provides his e-mail-address or telephone number and companies can create an offer.

Chatbot communication

But it’s not always just the resources that count – especially in online marketing, it plays a decisive role in how intuitive and user-friendly the handling of an application is. Accessibility is therefore focused by many businesses. In addition, barrier-free functions have become a SEO criteria and will also improve the findability of websites.

Using chatbots to support people with disabilities deviates from the classic concept of a dialogue system and provides assistance. Such functions can, for example, expand the size of letters on a website, fade out content on terminals (to reduce distractions), read out loud texts or display graphics more viewable.

 

More than 85 percent of users report about good experiences

Not only do chatbots provide businesses with advantages and chances, they also improve user experience. Statistics / surveys determined the following results:

  • About 30 percent of users are interested into AI based applications
  • One third of all users prefer communication with a chatbot
  • 64 percent of website visitors specify that they like the idea of a 24 hours customer service
  • More than 50 percent of surveyed said that chatbots positively influenced the experience with a business

Source: https://www.smallbizgenius.net/

Due to the growing possibilities with artificial intelligence, it is to expect that user experience will improve further. Customers expect higher and higher standards and everyone wants durable as well as user-friendly support – chatbots meet these requirements. Companies, even in the B2B sector, should keep these statistics in mind because they show the potential of automated communication.

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What are the challenges of using chatbots?

The usage of chatbots comes with many advantages but also challenges. One of them is the aspect of data security. In general, chatbots don’t violate the GDPR but there are important requirements to fulfill to ensure the protection of personal data. Don’t forget: The GDPR compliant use of chatbots is not only in the interest of business security, but also influences the trust relationship with your website visitors and (potential) customers.

Another challenge concerns communication. Chatbots can only recognize human emotions in dialogue to a limited extent and even individual exchanges cannot be compared to personal interaction because the chatbot largely responds with automated messages. While AI enables communication beyond standard questions, it cannot replace one-on-one exchanges. It would be too much to expect the same interaction possibilities from a chatbot as from a human but customers do want eye-to-eye-support. No emotions and limited dialog options make communication more difficult and this can lead to misunderstandings.

However, progress is being made in this area and chatbots can at least partially recognize emotions. A google engineer recently announced that one of the company’s AI systems is sentient and interacts on a human level.

 

 

This is how you successfully use AI for your business

Setting goals is the number one priority. Every business benefits from communication through a chatbot in some way, even when it can only answer standard questions. Ideally, a chatbot is involved in a marketing strategy to generate leads to collect personal data for reaching out to potential customers. Provide interested parties with the opportunity to ask for an individual offer or to send them a free calculation. This causes users to submit their phone number or mail address so that you can contact them afterwards.

Chatbots also come with some disadvantages you should consider. Some users see chatbots as rather critical because they might recognize an approach of businesses to save money and to prevent the individual, personal contact.
Besides that, chatbots don’t work for all kinds of products or services. For instance, luxury goods or high-priced products are difficult to market through AI because the target audience expects individual support to answer specific questions.

Lastly, using chatbots shouldn’t become such a complicated thing. Using AI has equally advantages for all kinds of businesses but not a huge impact on marketing strategies or KPIs. This is why we give you the following advice: Just try it! There is nothing you can do wrong with chatbots and you provide your target audience with an efficient way of communication.

 

Conclusion: Are chatbots THE communication tool of the future?

Chatbots ensure many advantages for businesses, especially in customer service. Software developers recognize this potential which is why the functions of chatbots are regularly expanded and improved. The individual dialogue allows a targeted communication which goes beyond the supporting functions of a FAQ section. Chatbots will not be able to replace human-to-human-interaction in foreseeable time but the progress is noticeable and businesses steadily automate their communication processes.

Especially interesting is the progress in accessibility. Here it becomes clear that chatbots can do more than just answering messages, they are also an interactive system to provide supportive functions.

To answer the first question of this article: Yes, chatbots are useful. They will probably never be a key factor for a purposeful marketing strategy but will definitely support it and facilitate customer communication. One forecast refers to the fact that the cost savings of companies using chatbots will amount to 2.5 billion euros by 2023. In addition, a marketing report by “Drift” found in a study that chatbots are the fastest growing medium for brand communication.

Usage of chatbots

This growth clarifies which role chatbots will play in the future and especially that companies see a lot of potential in automated communication processes. Another mentionable aspect is the cost-benefit-ratio. Chatbots ensure, as already mentioned, cost savings and many advantages, however the costs are only about 150 up to 1.000 euros per year! On top of that, integration and hosting barely takes time.

 

Sources:

*https://outgrow.co/blog/vital-chatbot-statistics

https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/chatbot-statistics/#gref

https://shanebarker.com/blog/challenges-and-benefits-of-ai-chatbots/#

25+ Top Chatbot Statistics For 2023: Usage, Demographics, Trends

Digital advertising: Better than offline marketing? 962 641 Lukas Aumair

Digital advertising: Better than offline marketing?

The influence of digital advertising can be seen in the success of many companies. But are digital measures better than classic marketing?

In this article: 

  1. Digital advertising: Better than offline marketing?
  2. Adaptability is required
  3. What is digital advertisement?
  4. What does digital media offer that TV advertising does not?
  5. What are the costs of digital advertising?
  6. Offline marketing vs. online marketing: Which one is better?
  7. Conclusion
  8. FAQ

 

Digital advertising: Better than offline marketing?

Businesses prove themselves against competitors with good marketing. Because of the rising competition, it is required to re-think strategies and be innovative. But even more important is advertising to reach the right target group. In the past years, the direction has changed and social media as well as facebook advertising have started a new age of marketing. But are these methods better than the classic ones?

Digital advertising

Digital advertising: More than Social Media | © Adem AY

 

Digital advertising: Adaptability is required

A company’s success is defined not only by a brilliant idea or marketing strategy, but also by its ability to adapt to current trends. Until around 2010, digital marketing was still in its infancy and only a few companies even had their own website or email inbox. But in recent years, it has become very clear how businesses of all sizes benefit from digital marketing. It has never been so easy to achieve national or even international recognition and to address one’s target group in a targeted manner.

How dangerous it is to oversleep such trends is demonstrated by the company “Quelle”. The company from the Bavarian town of Fürth successfully held its own on the market for more than 80 years, but the situation changed – the company continued to rely on the tried-and-tested Quelle catalog and disregarded digital trends. The insolvency application followed in 2009. Admittedly, an insolvency application is not due to a single misstep, but oversleeping current marketing trends played a serious role in this case.

This example shows the serious consequences that affect even established companies if they fail to adapt to change. The transition from classic marketing methods to digital advertising is not complete – on the contrary – new trends regularly emerge and this allows more creative scope, but this also increases the pressure in the competitive battle.
The change is having an effect, and this becomes clear when looking at the strategies of companies of all sizes. Terms such as “social media” or “content” did not attract any attention ten years ago, but in 2022 they are an integral part of every marketing portfolio.

 

What is digital advertisement?

Marketing and advertising – many use these terms as synonyms but they have different meanings. Marketing is a holistic, strategic process which doesn’t only focus the aspects of advertising but also involves administrative and personnel decisions. Advertising on the other hand is how businesses communicate their marketing strategies to their potential customers. Classic marketing methods are TV advertising, flyers and banners. Digital marketing re-defines the process of communication and focuses on social media as well as social advertising.

Examples for digital advertising:

The influence of digital advertising is growing and plays a decisive role in the marketing of a company’s own offering. This also expands the opportunities to try out creative approaches (e.g. gamification). A few years ago, few people would have thought of presenting their advertising via a screen rather than a billboard. But it was precisely these changes that redirected the course of success for many companies.

 

What does digital media offer that TV advertising does not?

More and more businesses use the possibilities given by the age of digitalization. People of all ages use social media as well as they use google search to find inspiration. Digital displays prove themselves because they appear more high-grade than classic banners and the possibilities regarding designs are much bigger. There are many more reasons because besides reaching the right target group and the process of design, businesses find more other advantages.

The advantages of digital advertising are the following: 

  • Higher adaptability
  • Mobile availability
  • Efficiency in terms of costs
  • More discreet

Both companies and their target group benefit from these advantages – this interaction makes digital advertising an useful option as a whole because businesses work more efficiently and they reach new customers at the same time.

 

Higher adaptability

Growing competition is causing companies from all industries to think in several directions. Not only does a company’s own offering and its relevance for potential new customers play an important role, it must also constantly keep an eye on the competition. Competitive analyses were already part of a company’s tasks before the digital transformation, but in the course of digitization, this subarea is weighted more heavily than ever before. New trends are regularly established and there are changes in marketing, which means that companies that do not take these trends into account will be at a competitive disadvantage.

The short-lived needs of the target group also require a flexible rendition of advertising in order to appeal to precisely these needs and target people. Classic advertising methods such as flyers or banners reach their limits here. The design and printing process takes more time than content creation for digital advertising, and adaptation options are few and far between. Every time a trend changes, new flyers or posters are required and the entire process behind them takes a lot of time.

Taking digital billboards as an example, it shows how uncomplicated modern ways of advertising are: Throughout the day it is possible to display ads for target group A and in the evening businesses can reach target group B. The content of digital signage is adaptive and unbound – even service providers take advantage of that because they are given the possibility to display the latest information on a specific topic.

 

Mobile availability

Having access to content everytime and everywhere – the flexibility of tablets and smartphones has a positive impact on businesses’ reach. Banners almost exclusively reach people from one region and flyers barely make it outside the neighbors post box. Things work differently with digital advertising: The target group searches for something on google and then goes to facebook – thanks to social ads a company from Vienna reaches customers from Munich.

Webinar

 

Efficiency in terms of costs

The purchase of a mobile display might appear expensive and social ads can also cost businesses a lot of money. But the adaptability creates space for test phases. Especially social ads provide advantages because the measurability of results gives a better insight and therefore creates potential for improvement.

 

More discreet

Digital advertising primarily reaches people who have a potential interest in services or products. Google ads are only visible for people who searched for something specific and digital ads aren’t intrusive either. However, it’s a different story with a flier in the post box and advertising breaks on TV are also annoying (because they interrupt the most exciting scenes of a movie).

Communication: Thanks to digital marketing it is uncomplicated and businesses reach more potential customers | © Headway

 

What are the costs of digital advertising?

Companies better calculate more generously at the beginning, because the first step requires some test phases that cost money accordingly. However, it must be weighed up which goals a company sets. If the focus is on lead generation, more budget is required than if brand awareness is to be expanded.

The cost aspect must always be considered on a case-by-case basis. The more extensive the strategy and the advertising measures that go with it, the more expensive it is to implement. Much more important than the costs, however, is the efficient use of the available budget. In the long term, the measurability of digital marketing measures allows for good potential savings and better targeting of advertising to the target group.

Not every form of digital advertising grants good measurability, however, but the potential for savings can be seen in other ways. Let’s take the digital billboard as an example: it’s hard to track how many people buy a product in a clothing store through advertising displays, but parallel processes for evaluating the target group enable more effective reproduction of content. If analyses show that mainly younger people visit a shopping center in the afternoon at 3 p.m. and middle-aged people tend to visit in the evening from 7 p.m. onwards, the flexibility in content playback allows the content to be aligned with the target group accordingly.

 

Offline marketing vs. online marketing: Which one is better?

It’s wrong to say that all classic marketing methods are bad because they are the fundamental approach to digital marketing and many businesses use flyers as well as banners successfully. In comparison, digital marketing only provides advantages.

That mainly shows in the possibilities to adapt, mobile availability, measurability of results and efficiency. The investment in classic marketing is a risk because businesses can’t determine concrete numbers. Sure, not every method provides good measurability but a holistic digital marketing strategy does.

However, there are also two disadvantages in offline marketing. On the one hand it’s complicated to start the right way. Those who have never occupied themselves with digital marketing 101 might need a consultant or many hours of research to find the best strategies for their own business. Another disadvantage are the high expectations – especially small businesses expect too many new customers once they created their own website or started with social media. The rising competition makes that a tough challenge because the good places in google and social media channels are limited.

However, search engines and social media aren’t the only ways to use digital marketing. In the end, a good strategy combines the strengths of many different areas. In case a company has always been successful with events it of course can still be part of a holistic strategy.

 

Conclusion: A lasting trend that requires innovation

The comfort zone is a dangerous place especially in marketing. If there is one disadvantage in digital marketing it’s to ignore current trends. However, a turnaround is not accomplished from one day to the next and businesses have time to adapt.

Digital advertising is superior to offline marketing, no matter if we talk about flexibility, costs or mobility. The only disadvantage is the amount of given possibilities and that companies choose the wrong ones. However, the ones who are prepared will not fail.

Article → Cloud based solutions B2B: Digital signage and more

 

FAQ

Following we will answer the most frequently asked questions about digital advertising.

 

How much does digital advertising cost?

It depends on how much money you spend and what you want to achieve. You can start with just a few euros but if you want a positive return on investment you will have to invest a few thousand euros each month to succeed.

 

Which of the following is an example of digital advertising?

Digital advertising includes all media which can be used to market products or services, so facebook ads, google ads, social media, newsletter marketing, content or videos.

 

Pictures: © Canva.com

Pizzetti Take Away 150 150 Lukas Aumair

Pizzetti Take Away

At the Pizzetti takeaway franchise, frameless Panasonic TH-55VF2H displays spotlight tempting Italian treats to busy walk-in customers. Managing content through two FRAMR.Player PROs, each with two outputs, allows separate content on each screen in the highest quality – across all of the company’s locations.

Digital signage in Le Jardin restaurant 1024 682 Lukas Aumair

Digital signage in Le Jardin restaurant

A unique dining club in the middle of Linz: Le Jardin. During the week, a fine-dining restaurant and bar, followed by a metamorphosis into a club on the weekends. Enjoyment & relaxation in the middle of Linz in an idyllic garden located in the inner courtyard. The restaurant places great emphasis on regional products of the highest quality, both for the lunch menu and for à la carte dishes in the evening. Because regionality counts in every respect, local products from the company Megatechnik were used for the display advertisements.

To promote Le Jardin’s unique symbiosis of restaurant, bar & club, a FRAMR. Player PRO was installed, which feeds an LED wall with different contents. During the day with excerpts from the menu and advertising subjects for dishes and daily gastro promotions, in the evening party visuals provide the musical and visual background. Parallel to the closing time of the staff, the time-controlled player also switches off in order to transmit pleasure and joy again punctually the next morning.

Article → Digital Signage Software: The future of communication?