For this it is important that you carry out an honest and rigorous analysis, looking for strengths and weaknesses, as well as threats and opportunities.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

First of all, it is necessary that you know exactly what we mean by strengths and weaknesses in eCommerce. And these terms are closely related to the SWOT Study and at the same time, they give you a global vision of the situation of your online business. In fact, the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a business (whether online or physical) can help you improve those aspects in which you “sin” and enhance those that distinguish you from your competition.

Therefore, knowing each of them will help you determine the different aspects of your eCommerce, as explained in the eCommerce News article.

We can define strengths as those capabilities that a person has, or a business, that make it stand out. In other words, they represent a positive differentiation from other people or businesses. In this case, we could say that they are the positive, identifying, and differential features of a business.

For example, imagine you have an online toy store. And it occurs to you to put a section in which an image is presented and they can add the toys they want. In addition, you offer the possibility of using 3D so that that room is shown in the house and interacts with the toys. That is a strength of your business because you are generating something that no one has, and therefore it is an important feature to highlight in a marketing strategy.

Let’s talk about the weaknesses. Unlike the previous ones, weaknesses are those characteristics that prevent or hinder the proper development of your business strategy. In other words, we are talking about those factors that are going to harm you and that you need to take into account to improve your eCommerce.

To give you an example, with the same toy store, a weakness would be your seniority. Sure, there are many competitors who have been in the sector for longer, and that means they have loyal customers or a more or less fixed customer base. On the other hand, not you. Therefore, we are talking about a weakness, something that you must improve and at the same time disadvantages that you have compared to your competition.

SWOT study: why it is so important

Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an eCommerce involves carrying out an internal analysis of your business. In other words, it would be to prepare a first part of the SWOT analysis. But what is SWOT analysis?

The acronym SWOT refers to Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths, and Opportunities. It is an analysis that is carried out based on internal aspects (Weaknesses and Strengths) and external (Opportunities and Threats).

This document is very important to be able to analyze what is the current situation of your eCommerce and thus be able to make appropriate and consistent decisions with your business. What does it have to do with online marketing strategy? A lot of.

Specifically, in an online marketing strategy, it is not only necessary to know those factors that make you stand out from the competitors, but you must also know them. That is why discovering the good and the bad of your business is so important because this way you can promote a strategy based on its strength while working to turn those weaknesses into strengths (or, at least, to make them disappear and not be a negative aspect for your eCommerce).

How to carry out a SWOT study in an online marketing strategy

Now that you know how important it is to know the Strengths and Weaknesses, as well as the Threats and Opportunities, the next question you can ask yourself is regarding doing it. That is, how do you do a SWOT analysis in an online marketing strategy for eCommerce?

The SWOT analysis is almost always represented in a 2 × 2 matrix, or in a 2.2 table, in such a way that the internal and external analysis are grouped, and the four concepts are related in such a way that the matrix would be So:

Weaknesses – Threats

Strengths – Opportunities

In this way, the first column would correspond to the internal analysis, while the second would encompass aspects of an external analysis.

And how is it done? Following these steps:

We talk about those factors that can be both strengths and weaknesses.  For instance:

• Your brand.
• Production costs.
• Human capital.
• Customer relations.
• Networking.
• Social media.
• Skills and knowledge.

You should make a comprehensive list of everything related internally. Then, you have to separate it into two sections, the strengths, and the weaknesses. How to distinguish them? In the strengths, you must put those factors that generate an advantage over your competitors.

For example better-known brands, better networking, more attractive products, better prices …

On the other hand, you would have weaknesses. These are those that will make you less competitive, such as lack of experience, internal problems, old facilities, not having a position in eCommerce, not having social networks …

As with internal factors, it is also necessary to do with external factors but always based on the fact that the competition is online since we are talking about eCommerce.

In this case, factors such as suppliers, distributors, economic factors, changes in customer behavior, older competitors… can determine your opportunities and threats.

Develop your online marketing strategy enhancing the advantages of your eCommerce

Now that you know all the factors that can influence the progress of your eCommerce, it is time to develop an online marketing strategy that focuses on benefiting from your Strengths and Opportunities, at the same time that you turn Weaknesses into something good, and curb them. Threats

For example, imagine that weakness is not having social networks. An online marketing strategy would be to create these networks and give them a brand “personality”, that is, give them life and maintain contact with users who may be interested in your product or business.

Next, and in a practical way, you will be able to know what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an eCommerce business. Thus, you will be able to see the result that you could obtain from a SWOT analysis.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of your eCommerce business?

When it comes to an online marketing strategy, it is a good idea to conduct market research on your current customers. This will help you build a more honest view of your reputation as a company in the market.

Strengths

• Some examples of strengths may include
• Personal and flexible customer service
• Multiple special features or benefits that your products offer
• Have advanced or specialized knowledge

Weaknesses

• Regarding the weaknesses
• Not having the necessary financial resources
• Lack of a good reputation in the market
• Have inefficient accounting systems

Online Marketing Strategy: What About Opportunities and Threats?

In this online marketing strategy for eCommerce businesses, it is also important to include both opportunities and threats. In this sense we have:

Opportunities

• Increase the demand of a certain market segment
• Use the Internet to reach new markets
• The use of technologies that improve the quality of products

Threats

• The emergence of new competitors
• Better, more attractive, or sophisticated, even cheaper versions of the product on offer
• New laws that increase expenses
• A slowdown in the economy that reduces global demand

In any case, once you have completed this analysis, you can measure the potential effects of each element to shape your online marketing strategy. Considering all these aspects, it is more likely to create an online marketing strategy in line with current requirements and with greater chances of success.

Also Read: Digital Marketing – Understanding Technology In Current Marketing

The post Strengths And Weaknesses In An Online Marketing Strategy appeared first on TechReviewsCorner.

The technological gap is in many cases evident among managers sufficiently competent in their professional fields. Not surprisingly, managers qualified as talented in the new digital marketing are extraordinarily appreciated by the companies they hire. It is a process of reinforcing digitization that not only will not go backward but will also increase its complexity.

The new managers, who have to be trained in the digitization of companies, have to attend to the application of new technologies and implement renewed forms of communication in a process that is much broader and that affects other areas of the operation of corporations, such as logistics or human resource management.

Information on the options available to carry out advertising actions and online campaigns is not lacking. They are leftover. There is a notable saturation of advice in the form of miracle recipes, arguments from gurus, and not a few courses, conferences, talks, or promotion of entrepreneurship that promise and that highlight the importance of social networks, of personalized communications through blogs, or the role of audiovisual models and formats.

Managers with a little introduction to digital marketing, with a little perspective and less advice on business digitization,  have to make strategic decisions for their companies about online advertising without truly understanding how the associated technology works and what the implications are. Quite a technological challenge.

The normal thing is that when in doubt, they look at what the neighbor does. But, as in offline marketing, in conventional advertising, what can work for one company, even for the competition, does not have to work for another. Even for the same business purposes.

The showiest and spectacular digital marketing actions can, at the moment of truth, be of little use, offer low economic returns, expenses, and even a final image in the view of all that lasts, that does not conform to how you want it to. the values ​​of the company are perceived. Something that can even damage the reputation of a company. So what should managers with no digital marketing experience look for? What strategies work?

We go in parts and answer these two questions, in the idea that they can serve as support to change the perspective on the value and scope of digital marketing within the management of a company.

What should managers look for in the new digital marketing and what works?

Digital communication with customers is bi-directional.

Brands have to establish communication channels with their current users and work to promote identities and values ​​to generate attraction.

Everything to create a community around the brand that works as a two-way communication link. A clear example of this new perspective on the brand-client relationship is the work of community managers who create a brand voice with authority in social networks, an authority that is always willing to join the interaction by establishing dialogue bridges.

Prosumers and smart consumers.

The importance of the Internet in deciding on products and services can be seen in the role of new types of consumers. The prosumer generates and consumes content and is a good ally to spread the information that brands want to advertise.

Smart Consumers buy only after evaluating the opinions of others about what they want to acquire or after analyzing each of the features and options of what they are studying buying. For brands, knowing what they think, how they decide what to buy, and when to buy these new consumers is vital.

Generate relevance

The globalized and hyper-communicated audience is generating a negative effect that is very harmful to the commercial aspirations of companies that want to digitize their communication. This effect is called attention deficit.

Something that translates into the western world that 80% of advertising communications do not generate any notoriety for the brands that produce them. To generate relevance, a basic strategy in the new marketing book is to add value to the content, relevance at what levels, and not to promote brand messages.

Understand the customer

At the point where you know what the customer needs, digital marketing must go one step further and understand what makes the user behave as they do. And understanding habits has to translate into offering you what you want when you want it. Brands should listen to what their potential customers are saying and do everything they can to bring positive communications to them.

Big data

Big Data is the great promise of online marketing, which offers to ensure accurate knowledge of what interests companies about what happens on the Internet. It is about putting mathematical algorithms to work that select relevant information about clients, competitors, or business opportunities with which to support the same advertising campaigns.

Real-time actions

The new digital marketing provides fast, direct interactions and feedback with the public in real-time that has an inestimable value to improve the reach of the campaigns but that, at the same time, supposes a great responsibility precisely with that connected user who observes and judges all brand interactions. 

Personalized marketing

After establishing communication bridges to speak in the language of the users, surround yourself with them, and understand their habits, everything is given. Online advertising must be personalized or, in any case, it is potentially or highly customizable.

If you want to fulfill your objectives so as to offer users collaborations and help that they perceive as a value associated with the brand that makes a difference with respect to others and that in some way privileges them, the creation of content adapted for specific audiences represents one of the objectives inherent to the new actions of current marketing.

Communication channels

Tablets and mobile devices such as smartphones are the references of the new digital communication on which online advertising campaigns have to rely. These are terminals highly valued by users, in which vital data of citizens are contained and which behave like databases that are accessible with a few actions. Building customer loyalty with mobile applications, with useful apps that help improve interaction and direct communication with users, is also vital for brands.

E-commerce

Online stores are no longer a complement for physical sales of companies to become a communication vector for brands with a lot of added value. More and more it begins to become strange that a brand does not have applications for online sales. Something that also begins to be perceived as inappropriate because it is old and not very useful. Online stores have become a formula for popularizing products and services.

Well-targeted SEO

The vast majority of users who operate as smart consumers use search engines like Google to locate what they want. Appearing as the main result or first response to these information and content searches is one of the basic goals of the actions that SEO strategies seek. Search Engine Optimization, search engine optimization.

The main idea is to appear as an answer in keywords that match the user’s search and that is related to what the companies offer. SEO is one of the cheapest digital marketing actions in relation to the benefits it generates in favor of the online visibility of brands, products, services, and corporate identities.

The development of digital marketing continues unstoppable and the option to adapt to its new interaction formulas is more than essential. Experts in this field speak of many changes, such as the transfer of renewed forms of digital collaboration between companies that fight for the same commercial niches, in what would represent a surprising change in the way of doing business.

Online marketing is a new frontier that executives of companies who are not digital natives have to bet on conquering. Obsessions and negativities do not fit in terms of the digital policies of companies. On the other side of the border, and with knowledge and control of the factors that count, there are business premises.

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If you have doubts between online and offline marketing or think that traditional marketing has died because of digital development, it is not like that. You should analyze your business to assess what may be interesting without discriminating any marketing action

What is offline marketing?

Offline or direct marketing is communication actions that are developed through traditional channels: radio, television, press, events, mailings,…

What is online marketing?

On the contrary, online or digital marketing is all the advertising strategies and actions that are carried out on the internet channels and media.

Differences between online and offline marketing

If you look at digital marketing, its great advantage is the advertising cost that has no comparison with traditional marketing. On the other hand, the ability to measure anything is spectacular, in addition to facilitating two-way communication.

With respect to traditional marketing, it will be a great ally to improve our brand image, having the possibility of developing more popular actions and therefore more crowded

Offline marketing actions

You have many options depending on your goal, leaning on your creativity. Let’s see the most common

Press, radio, and television

If you are an entrepreneur or have an SME and your budget is not excessive, you can count on guides, newspapers, and local radio stations to make yourself known in your area of ​​action. On the other hand, if the investment is not a problem, you could reach an entire country

Commercial activities

In this case, you can boost your business through your sales team with cold door visits. Putting a face on your business will always be a plus to convey confidence.

If your product or service is very popular, it will be a good choice because you will be able to reach many potential customers in a short time. Choose a commercial or industrial area, depending on your activity, and try to collect personal or business data to maintain contact.

Fairs and Events

By organizing events, you will have the possibility of increasing the branding of your project in order to promote your services or products.

If you don’t have a budget, you can prepare small events such as networking talks and it will always be positive to be seen as an assistant to meet people and exchange cards.

Mailing

It consists of sending commercial information through ordinary mail but the cost is usually not economical for the preparation of the shipment and its biggest problem is the filters that may exist so that your flyer reaches its objective.

Promotion at the point of sale and Street Marketing

If you organize promotions in stores or shopping centers, your potential client will have the possibility to test your product or have the option of making demonstrations to communicate its benefits.

Telemarketing

The phone capture customer could compare with online marketing because it is economical, direct, and measurable. The success of the campaign will depend on the database related to our target audience, using a good telemarketing script to be effective.

Online marketing actions

You must create a website or online store to have an online presence, in addition to having profiles on social networks. The options are endless, we value the most popular

SEO positioning

The SEO will help you move up in the ranking of Google without paying. It is a constant work that can take longer if your niche has a lot of competition but it is worth it to achieve visibility among your target audience.

SEM positioning

The objective is the same as SEO positioning but paying Google. In many cases, the investment is very expensive but in some sectors it is affordable, so it is a good formula to attract new clients through internet ad campaigns.

Social media and ad campaigns

They will allow you to improve your brand image, being an excellent communication channel for your business. If you want to increase sales, you can have ad campaigns on social networks

Email marketing

The objective is the same as in mailing campaigns in traditional marketing but through email. It is great to retain customers through newsletters informing your subscribers of offers and news

Amazon

If you sell products, you will have the possibility to sell them on their platform to everyone. Add them in different languages, optimize your product sheets for SEO positioning, take care of your reputation and you will achieve relevance on the platform little by little.

Conclusions

First of all, you must take care of your brand image to look at your competition feeling competitive. If you do not master your service, your products have a high price or perhaps the customer service is not adequate, it would be more successful to improve these deficiencies for later, launching yourself to organize your marketing strategy.

Digital marketing is excellent but you must analyze what can be more effective in your business without neglecting the traditional one.

Finally, if you do not have an online store, generally who will close your sales will be your sales team, so you should never neglect the offline marketing of your project.

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