Web marketing, what is it?

In the 2.0 era, web marketing is on everyone’s lips. According to some enthusiastic business leaders, this approach would be the future of any structure wishing to develop. But, what is web marketing in concrete terms and can it really keep its promises? This is what we are going to know through these few lines.

Web marketing in brief

Web marketing, also called digital marketing or marketing 2.0, consists of taking advantage of the internet to promote your business and increase your sales in one way or another. This necessarily involves the creation of a website, the production of varied content and the optimization of the customer journey. The objective is above all to create interactions in order to develop your business.

A marketing science with its own codes

Web marketing is a world apart from traditional marketing. The means implemented are different and the strategies commonly adopted also stand out. In order to promote your showcase site, for example, it will be a question of setting up a newsletter and adding share buttons. All this aims to promote interactions with Internet users to identify qualified prospects and convert them into motivated customers.

A strategy that goes far beyond conversion

Contrary to popular belief, the sole objective of digital marketing is not to stimulate conversions. In order to establish its presence in a given sector, a company present on the Web has every interest in retaining its customers. This approach consists of converting prospects into real ambassadors.

With this in mind, many solutions are available to organizations. While some do everything they can to build a strong identity, others rely on advertising and do not hesitate to hire the services of influencers. Indeed, there are no ready-made recipes for leaving a strong impression on your audience.

Still, the main difficulty lies in how to sustainably convince Internet users. To do this, in the majority of cases we will rely on a content strategy intended to demonstrate to prospects our expertise in a specific sector.

Content: at the heart of web marketing

Whatever anyone says, content is at the heart of digital marketing. We will ultimately use it, whatever the objective of the brand, whether it is to improve its image, to sell a particular product or to promote an event. However, the term “content” is not limited to texts published on a web page. It can also be infographics, videos or even “Memes” intended to generate buzz.

The transition to web 2.0 has offered endless possibilities to advertisers. Today there are a thousand ways to communicate and make an impression. By leaving a strong impression on an audience, companies save themselves from costly acquisition operations. Indeed, consumers will naturally turn to them. This prevents these structures from continually covering advertising.

This approach has a name: “inbound marketing” and is so successful that for some entrepreneurs, web marketing comes down to an inbound strategy. Certainly, the latter uses many digital marketing techniques. However, other 2.0 communication actions, to name only SEM campaigns or affiliation, can improve its effectiveness. In any case, one thing is certain: content is KING!

The 3 parts of web marketing

Whatever the strategy chosen to promote a business on the web, there are 3 aspects:

• Actions taken to attract qualified prospects;
• The strategy recommended to facilitate conversion;
• The solution chosen for loyalty.

Regarding the first part, you will first have to try to know your targets. Gathering information on their browsing habits, their interests and their expectations in relation to the products offered will be essential. To generate traffic, the brand must address subjects that really interest the public or adopt a tone that appeals to its audience. It is also a question of continually analyzing statistics and sometimes using AB testing to identify flaws in your strategy. The bounce rate will usually be the first indicator. If it is too high, certain points deserve to be reviewed to prevent Internet users from “fleeing” the brand. Technical details will also come into play, such as the positioning of the site on search engines.

Concerning the second part, the conversion rate mainly depends on the targeting carried out upstream. Have you managed to communicate to socio-professional groups or businesses likely to purchase your products? This is the question that absolutely must be answered. By relying on visit statistics, we will gradually be able to make the campaign profitable. However, we will also note the central place occupied by the customer journey. Each prospect must navigate the site smoothly and then make a purchase. This can be done using pop-ups or click to action buttons. Advertisers must therefore consider this aspect to optimize the conversion rate. This point will sometimes force them to request a UX designer to improve the ergonomics of the site.

When it comes to building loyalty, the days when companies resorted to aggressive communication are over. Building customer loyalty does not mean flooding them with promotional offers. Above all, it is about perpetuating the contact established through messages filled with humor. At a time when social networks are shaping our culture, Memes and other unusual publications are very popular. These are also loyalty levers to be exploited in the same way as the newsletter. In all cases, companies have every interest in using a moderator to improve their reputation on the web. This stakeholder will ensure that the company builds lasting relationships with its customers on the web.

Is it necessary to hire the services of a web marketer?

Web marketing is a very broad discipline that continues to evolve. To be sure to stay one step ahead, companies have every interest in hiring a professional. Indeed, the job of web marketer cannot be improvised. The person concerned must have real knowledge in the field of digital marketing and master the tools commonly used to carry out a 2.0 communication campaign. His expertise will also make it possible to implement a coherent strategy that will meet the demands of the organization requesting his services.

When we talk about web marketing, certain terms will come up often. Terms that we invite you to discover so that you know exactly what we are talking about:

• SEM or Search Engine Marketing: Search Engine Marketing refers to the techniques implemented with the aim of granting a certain advantage to any establishment on search engines. To date, 9 out of 10 visitors access a page after having previously launched a search. Stimulating organic traffic will therefore be a major challenge for any structure wishing to establish its digital presence. SMM mainly includes SEO and SEA.
• SEO or Search Engine Optimization: SEO will often be presented as the basis of any web marketing strategy. The actions undertaken as part of an SEO campaign aim to improve the visibility of a site to increase traffic. By applying best practices, the platform will rise to the first position on the results page for targeted queries. Enough to attract qualified prospects in a natural way.
• SEA or Search Engine Advertising: SEA often supports SEO. Although good positioning on the SERPs significantly improves the conversion rate, getting to and, above all, staying in first place in Google is no easy feat. An SEA campaign will allow advertising banners to be placed on search results to compensate for a lack of visibility on the list of natural results.
• SMM or Social Media Marketing: as you might expect, this time it will be a question of relying on social networks to develop your customer portfolio. As with SEM, we will distinguish two components: SMO (Social Media Optimization) intended to improve SEO and SMA (Social Media Advertising) which will be based on advertising agencies such as Facebook Ads.
• Affiliation: affiliation consists of establishing partnerships with various web players to improve the visibility of its offers. Whether by registering on a cashback site or by listing its offers on an online comparator, the brand will be able to reach more consumers. The objective here is clear: increase the points of contact with prospects.