HOW TO GROW THROUGH OPTIMISING AND EXPANDING YOUR DIGITAL PRESENCE

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

A DIGITAL GUIDE TO

3

IN THIS EBOOK

CONTENTS

IN THIS EBOOK

04MAKING YOUR

MARKETING MIX

08SCALING YOUR BUSINESS FOR

GROWTH

06THE BUYER'S

JOURNEY

10ANALYSING YOUR PERFORMANCE –

BUYER’S JOURNEY

13ANALYSING YOUR

BUSINESS – CHANNEL LEVEL

09ANALYSING YOUR PERFORMANCE –

SUMMARY

19RETAIL AND

DIGITAL TRENDS

14IMPROVING

YOUR INTERNAL PROCESSES

16OPTIMISING YOUR

CHANNELS

22IDENTIFYING

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH

20LATEST DIGITAL

INNOVATIONS

23DON'T FORGET

ABOUT OFFLINE

54 5

MAKING

YOUR MARKETING MIX

The Salmat Marketing Report 2018 revealed that digital accounts for 41% of marketers’ budgets in 2018. However, the same report found that there is a disconnect between the channels that marketers favour and those that the consumer uses to make purchasing decisions*.

The danger for marketers is that they make an assumption about which digital channels to prioritise. Marketers need to make sure they are getting the most from both their existing channels and identifying where the opportunities are to use new channels to grow their business.

When conducting this business analysis, marketers must consider the changing way in which consumers purchase. CEB, a subsidiary of Gartner, revealed in their Challenger Report that customers have completed 57% of the purchase decision before they even contact a supplier.

Unsurprising when considering 70% of Australians named internet search as the media most useful in the year to September 2017, according to Roy Morgan. In second position were catalogues (56%) and all other websites (45%). Googling has become a reflex for anyone looking to make a new purchase.

In order to grow your business, you need to understand how customers interact along the buyer’s journey through your digital channels. Brands need to be involved at all stages of the buyer’s journey, from the initial awareness phase, through to advocacy.

This eBook will cover how you can assess how mature your business is at using digital, how to get more from your existing systems and identify new channels to test and explore. Readers will leave armed with the tools to use digital channels comprehensively and expertly to grow their business.

*SOURCE: Salmat Marketing Report 2018

TOP CHANNELS MARKETERS HAVE USED IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS

50% BRAND WEBSITE

46% EMAIL MARKETING

30% NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING 34% IN-STORE BROCHURES/ LEAFLETS/CATALOGUES/

MAGAZINES

35% ONLINE ADVERTISING

29% EVENT/TRADE SHOWS 33% LETTERBOX/ONLINE CATALOGUES (33% EACH)

47% SOCIAL MEDIA

72% RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FAMILY/FRIENDS

38% TV ADVERTISING

35% BRAND WEBSITE

48% SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS

TOP CHANNELS CONSUMERS USE TO INFORM THEIR PURCHASE DECISIONS

The term digital encompasses a wide range of different channels. Today, nearly all businesses have at least one in their marketing mix.

SOURCE: Salmat Marketing Report 2018

76

From first hearing about your brand, product or service through to purchase, and beyond, your digital channels should serve each stage of the buyer’s journey.

THE

BUYER'S JOURNEY

AWARENESS

Reaching an audience to make them aware of your brand/product/service.

Helping your customer reach a decision about purchasing your product/service.

CONSIDERATION

PURCHASE

How smooth was the purchase process for the client?

Keeping the conversation going with clients post purchase.

RETENTION

ADVOCACY

Creating a brand advocate through customer experience.

We will explore how to evaluate your business’s use of digital channels along the buyer’s journey and uncover opportunities to do things differently.

EMAIL

REACH CONVERT SERVE

ADVOCACYAWARENESS

LETTERBOX PROMOTION

LASOO DIGITAL CATALOGUE

SEARCH

NEWSLETTER/ LASOO

PAID SOCIAL

BLOGGER OUTREACH

SEARCH

FAQ Knowledge base

USER EXPERIENCE WEB ANALYTICS

EMAIL

Community forumUSER EXPERIENCE

WEB ANALYTICS

WEB SITE PERFORMANCE

TESTING

Store

LETTERBOX EMAIL

Direct email

REVIEWERS / LASOO

SOCIAL ADS

SEO/LOCAL SEO PAID SEARCH

PROGRAMMATIC BUYING

Word of mouth

LETTERBOX

Out of Home

PR

ECOMMERCE USER EXPERIENCE

USER EXPERIENCE WEBSITE PERFORMANCE & TESTING WEB ANALYTICSLASOO

DIGITAL CATALOGUE

Radio/TV Print/Cinema

BLOGGER OUTREACH

CONSIDERATION PURCHASE RETENTION

998

01Before exploring how to fill the gaps with new channels (to ensure all stages of the buyer’s journey are being addressed), it is worth undertaking a review of your existing channels. Doing so will arm you with the information to make a considered decision about your next steps.

We have identified four stages of business growth to help guide you through the process. Following these stages will not only help you understand how your existing digital channels are working, but will give you the tools to assess where the opportunities are to optimise and introduce new channels.

1 ANALYSING YOUR BUSINESS

Which digital channels are you currently using and how are they performing for you? Are you reaching your customers across the whole of the buyer’s journey? Are all stakeholders happy with the channels?

2 IMPROVING YOUR INTERNAL PROCESSES

Are you fully utilising your systems? Are your existing systems effective? Could they be improved and if so, how? What is it that is preventing you from getting the best from that channel? Are you lacking systems, people, or skills?

3 OPTIMISING YOUR CHANNELS

Are you following the latest best practice for the channels you are currently using? Are you across the latest innovations in that space? Could you adopt any of these to optimise your campaigns?

4 IDENTIFYING GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

Which channels do you not currently use? Which new digital channels could benefit your business? How could you introduce these new channels to complement your existing marketing mix?

SCALING

YOUR BUSINESS FOR GROWTH

Analysis of your business should ideally be carried out on a quarterly basis. The process, after all, allows you to understand how your channels are performing and to ensure that they are aligned to your wider business goals.

The process can be broken down into two phases. Firstly, are your channels aligned to your customer’s buyer’s journey?

Mapping your customer’s buyer’s journey can be an arduous task, but one that pays dividends in the long term. It allows you to identify which channels have the most influence over conversion.

All parties must be clear on what a “conversion” is for the business and should be set up as goals within your analytics platform to ensure you are tracking the performance of your channels against clear KPIs.

“Attribution modelling is a great way to see how multiple channels contribute to conversion and where to focus budget based on performance,” according to Salmat Head of Digital & Performance Marketing, Karen Lewis.

“Bear in mind some channels will contribute to attribution, but may not be responsible for conversions. Once the business understands the contribution of channels to conversion, rather than just operating on last click ROI, they can make much better informed decisions on budget and performance.”

Secondly, it is important to understand how your specific channels are performing. This review should not be an individual task. Be sure to involve other departments to make sure that everyone who relies on that channel is getting the optimum outcome. For instance, HR and Marketing may rely on the same email marketing system. Are both parties happy with the system? Are there any needs that are not being met?

ANALYSING YOUR PERFORMANCE – SUMMARY

Growing your business is a process of reflection. There may be channels that you have been successfully using for years just as there could be channels that you have never used.

SECTION 01

The four stages of business growth are:

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To help give you perspective on the performance of each of your digital channels it is worth first assessing the maturity of your channel use along the buyer’s journey. Doing so will give you an understanding of whether you are meeting the needs of your customers at each stage.

1. AWARENESSWhether you are introducing a new product, launching a business or expanding a category, awareness is important when positioning a brand. Consider which of the following your business does on a regular basis:

■    Multi-channel/integrated campaigns

■    Always-on campaigns

■    Attributed campaigns

■    Optimised based on analytics

■     Defined audience

■    Targeted campaigns

■    Defined targets/KPIs

3. PURCHASEYour customer has purchased your product or service, so it is all about providing memorable customer service. What can you do at this stage to make the sale as smooth as possible and for your customers to even share their experience with others?

■    Website performance tracked and KPI-ed (web analytics)

■    User journey defined (and sticking points identified)

■     Path to purchase for customer is simple and efficient (fewer clicks)

■     Consistent A/B testing strategy

2. CONSIDERATIONOnce people are aware of your product or service, the next step is the consideration stage. The goal is to move people from awareness to consideration of the product or service in question. Campaigns become more targeted at this level:

■     Clearly defined audience (based on data)

■    Targeted multi-channel campaigns

■    Clearly defined offer (specific to target audience)

■    Campaign attribution and benchmarking

■    Multivariate testing

5. ADVOCACYThis stage can often be overlooked, but it is imperative to ensure customers become brand advocates. The focus is on customer experience post-sale. How can you continue to engage your customers and make any customer interactions as smooth as possible?

■    Do you have a reviews function on your website?

■    Do you utilise your user reviews in marketing?

■    Have you tried and tested your complaints process?

■    Can customers easily interact with your brand post-sale?

4. RETENTION Make sure your customer doesn’t experience buyer’s remorse. At this stage, consider what can your business do to ensure the customer is happy with their purchase and the buying experience.

■    Integrated website with database (which gives you the ability to segment customers)

■    Retargeting campaigns (based on past engagements with brand)

■    Email campaigns targeted (personalised)

■    Messaging consistent across channels/campaigns

■    Reward/incentivise customers/prospects to come back sooner

ANALYSING YOUR PERFORMANCE – BUYER’S JOURNEY

BUYER’S JOURNEY BEST PRACTICEConsider how your business tracks against each of the five stages of the buyer’s journey listed below:

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SECTION 01

13

There are a number of pain points that prevent businesses from getting the most from their digital channels. It may be that you are working with a legacy system that does not meet the needs of your business as it currently stands. Alternatively, you may not have the technical resources available to get the most from your platforms and campaigns.

Consider the following questions when analysing the performance of your specific digital channels:

■    What are the key goals for your channel and what are you trying to achieve?

■    Have you considered the personas you are targeting and what their needs are?

■    What platform are you using and are you happy with it?

■    What back-end systems does your business currently use and are you happy with their performance? (EG, CRM, ERP, POS etc.)

■    What are the strengths and weaknesses of your current channels (eCommerce, Email, Search, Digital Catalogue)?

■    What are your short-term to long-term business goals and are you able to meet these challenges with your existing channels? (Why? Why not?)

Once you have an understanding of which parts of the buyer’s journey your business is serving (and those that need attention), turn your focus to analysing the performance of your individual channels.

ANALYSING YOUR BUSINESS – CHANNEL LEVEL

■    Look to the competition, what are they doing that you aren’t? (omni-channel, click and collect, same-day shipping, personalised experience, slick UX etc.)

■    How long before you are left behind your competition in terms of software, tactics and campaigns?

■    Do you have in-house technical teams to help action IT requests?

■    Is your team properly trained to work on the systems they use or could they be more efficient in their use of the platforms?

■    Have you clearly articulated what success looks like? And are you achieving success with these channels?

■    Consider ROI from a total cost of ownership perspective (time required, investment over 12 months minimum and then potential upside). For example, if a build is estimated at five months and $100K, how much increase in conversion rate, average order value and volume of traffic is required to pay for that build?

Before jumping to conclusions that certain channels are not working, look to ensure you have a solid understanding of all contributors to the conversion path. Solid tracking and visibility in analytics is essential to understanding the full picture of how digital channels are performing.

1514 15

02IMPROVING

YOUR INTERNAL PROCESSES

It can be tempting when talking about an underperforming digital channel to blame the platform. For example, if you are not achieving results with your email campaign, moving to a new email system could be alluring.

However, the full cost and implications of doing so are rarely thought through. If your business is not skilled and staffed to deal with a new system, it will be an uphill battle to get the returns required.

Ask yourself, are you able to work efficiently? How much time are you wasting now and how much time could you save by improving your internal processes or moving to a new system?

Once you have identified any underperforming digital channels, it is worth reviewing your internal processes. Sometimes small changes to the set up of a campaign could have a huge impact on the performance of that channel.

We have identified three main areas that you should consider when analysing your internal processes. These are:

1 SYSTEMDoes the system you are using meet your business needs? Are all the

stakeholders happy with it? A platform should not only meet your business needs now, but should allow your business to grow. Does your platform have the capabilities you might require in the mid and long term?

2 SKILLSStaff’s capabilities should be considered, especially when

investing in new systems. For instance, can content on your eCommerce platform be managed by the existing team or will an external coder need to be involved? There is a risk when only a few people in your business are skilled to use a platform. Do you need to train more people?

3 PEOPLEPeople power is required behind all campaigns. Do you have enough

people dedicated to a system? It may be necessary to hire new people to build campaigns, or there is also the option to outsource control to a specialist third party. Have you considered all options?

SECTION 02

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SECTION 03

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So what does success look like? Here are some examples of retailers that have used digital channels to successfully grow their business.

CASE STUDY

ENERGY COMPANY EXPANDS INTO NEW MARKETS Integrated SEO/SEM campaign to protect market share in a competitive space.

Since the recent deregulation of electricity services, an energy company has faced increased pressure from new entrants into the market and was keen to protect their market share in their state whilst launching their services in other states. Their challenge was that they were not known outside their own state, and each state offers different services with very different pricing.

Salmat’s Digital & Performance team worked with the client to restructure the account and move the client to a state-based strategy to help improve brand awareness.

The team managed to do this while retaining the company’s market-leading position in its home state, and significantly increasing volumes of new acquisitions within four other states.

Search has since become the best performing marketing channel for the energy company.

CASE STUDY

RETAILER GROWS REACH WITH DIGITAL CATALOGUE

Digital catalogue opens up a world of insights.

Home storage and organisation specialist Howards Storage fully capitalised on the launch of its digital catalogue. Making the digital version available on Salmat‘s digital catalogue shopping portal, Lasoo, not only places the retailer’s catalogue in front of committed deal shoppers, but the insights gleaned from how shoppers interact with the catalogue have been put to numerous uses by the retailer.

Previously the retailer had to rely on assumptions about how its customers were reading its catalogues. Today, the design of the printed version is informed by the way in which shoppers interact with the digital version. This includes cover design, offers, placing, to name just a few.

In addition, the retailer uses the insights to inform how their bricks-and-mortar stores merchandise their stores. The marketing team shares weekly updates on the best performing items in the catalogue so stores can be well stocked and prepared for keen interest in those products come the weekend.

The digital catalogue gives us intelligence that

is real and actionable,” says Howards Storage World Marketing Communications Manager Cathy Player.

OPTIMISING

YOUR CHANNELS

SECTION

18

SECTION 03

19

56% SAVE MONEY

30% EASIER

SHOPPING

27% BETTER

SELECTION

23% FASTER

SHOPPING

22%BETTER

INFORMATION

CASE STUDY

GROWING INTO A NEW ECOMMERCE PLATFORM Boosting online engagement through a new system platform.

Retail Apparel Group (RAG) was ahead of the game in Australia when it first invested in a proprietary eCommerce platform back in 2009. However, over time, the platform’s limitations prevented it from executing its ambitious omnichannel strategy.

The company turned to Netstarter (a Salmat company) to build a future-proofed eCommerce platform on Magento 2 that would not only create an exceptional user experience, and optimise mobile conversions, but boost engagement through an immersive experience that makes shopping effortless.

Netstarter undertook a comprehensive overhaul of the site’s UX and the introduction of extensive new functionality to improve both the browsing and shopping experience. Key new features include the intelligent search feature that indexes products, categories, FAQ questions, content and stores, as well as the robust promotion rule engine (which replicates in-store offers) and a click-and-collect feature.

The process resulted in a 30% increase in site-wide conversion rate across all devices, 99% uplift in page views and 82% increase in average session duration. The site is attracting more traffic, with organic traffic increasing by 336% and paid traffic by 84%. Bounce rates have reduced by 27% and there are fewer cart abandonments.

With their great experience in fashion

and omnichannel retail, Netstarter proved to be a true partner to us. Their expertise allowed us to take advantage of Magento functionality and turn around the project in a very quick time frame,” says RAG Head of Digital Technology & Innovation, Peter Ratcliffe.

THE TOP FIVE REASONS FOR BUYING ONLINE WERE:

So, regardless of whether you have bricks-and-mortar stores or not, it is imperative to have a digital presence. However, it is a competitive space and brands must keep abreast of the latest digital trends to secure their digital presence and authority.

THE TOP FIVE WAYS OF USING A SMARTPHONE WHEN SHOPPING:

The way in which people shop is constantly changing. While there is clearly still a place for bricks-and-mortar stores, consumers are increasingly using digital channels to inform their purchasing decisions and/or purchasing online.

GFK (Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung) explored digital shopping habits in their report Digital Shopping Behaviour across Channels, Devices and Touchpoints (March 2017).

Smartphones in particular have had a significant impact on the way in which we shop. The GFK report also revealed the top five ways of using a smartphone when shopping. [See graph on the right.]

20% COMPARE PRICES

20% GATHER INFORMATION about the product/service

16% LOCATE A STORE

15% CHECK AVAILABILITY in store

15% CHECK REVIEWS of the product/service

RETAIL AND DIGITAL TRENDS

2120 21

LATEST DIGITAL INNOVATIONS

1 SYSTEMSSalmat’s Netstarter team builds all its eCommerce websites on Magento. The

software platform has recently introduced localised inventory as a standard feature, which means retailers can have multiple inventory lines per SKU. This function gives retailers greater visibility of stock levels across different locations. Historically, this capability would have to be custom built for a client.

Page Builder is a new feature that is touted as coming soon to Magento. Previously brands had to rely on WordPress and blog plugins to create deep, dynamic content for their eCommerce websites. With Page Builder, they will be able to merge content-rich pages with eCommerce functionality on the same page – with the added benefit of being indexed correctly in search engines.

Recently Salmat’s Digital & Performance Marketing team integrated voice search optimisation with SEO and SEM strategy for an Australian automotive brand to enhance customer experience and to ensure the brand was more accessible through multiple channels. The strategy for this was to ensure the brand was available to the customer as number one choice, any time, anywhere and on any device. The results so far have proven promising and further optimisation is already in the works.

Salmat itself is also currently developing a voice app for its digital catalogue shopping portal, Lasoo. Users will be able to use the app to search for deals, create shopping lists and get suggestions on the best deals based on their search. A strong emphasis has been placed on using natural language and developing a personality for the app to make it as accessible for users as possible.

3 DATAMachine learning and augmented reality are both buzzwords that

have been spouted for the past few years.

2 SEARCHProgressive Web Apps is another function coming next year from Magento. Unlike the

quick-loading AMP pages which have a set template of content to follow, PWA will render a complete website quickly without sacrificing any of the functionality or limiting content.

“Google is strongly backing this [PWA],” says Netstarter eCommerce Consultant, Sam Elliott. “If they are backing it then they are going to index it.”

However, PWA is not currently compatible with Page Builder meaning retailers will have to decide whether they prioritise content-rich pages over fast-loading

transactional pages. Is it “better to be fast or better to focus on content and brand?” muses Elliott.

Voice search is another feature that digital marketers should be following closely, according to Salmat Head of Digital & Performance Marketing, Karen Lewis.

“The customer now has more power and results are served to them at a time that is perceived as proactive

and relevant,” she says.

“The fight to be heard in the voice space for brands will only intensify as usually only one result is served rather than a selection via a SERP.”

While he struggles to see significant adoption of AR amongst fashion customers, given the continued desiree to touch, feel and try on clothes, Elliott believes it could be better suited to other verticals such as furniture. This would mean a customer could see how a couch looks in their home before buying.

In regards to machine learning, Elliott points to the trend towards gathering data to paint a more personalised picture of the customer. “We are trying to move away from categorising customers into groups, but thinking about individual customers and replicating a sales experience that’s unique for that customer,” he says.

Lewis agrees: “Personalisation is also a hot topic with this now being the expectation of many consumers for brands to ‘know them’ well enough to make sure they are only served information or products that are truly relevant to their stage in their customer journey or their preferences.”

In line with the personalisation trend, Salmat has recently added loyalty card functionality to its Lasoo app (the digital catalogue shopping portal app).

While shoppers benefit from linking their loyalty card to their account, retailers on Lasoo gain deeper understanding of how users are interacting on the channel.

The team at Salmat is focused on keeping across the latest digital innovations to help clients navigate the constantly changing landscape. Read on to hear our experts discuss the latest themes across the digital space that you need to know about today.

0405SECTION 05SECTION 04

22 23

IDENTIFYING

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH DON’T FORGET

ABOUT OFFLINE

Mapping your customer journey will be integral to indentifying opportunities to try new channels.

Doing the pre-work upfront will really help you understand your customer, their behaviour and intent when purchasing.

“Digital marketing is massive and it’s getting bigger all the time,” says Karen Lewis. “If you try to understand the entirety of the journey for that customer, it opens up all these channels that you might not be thinking of.”

Lewis advises walking a mile in in your customer’s shoes. “Digital as a whole is just another channel so the thing that you are delivering is a marketing strategy.”

Consider where you will get the biggest bang for your buck. If you had $50k to invest in your business, for instance, where would you invest it? This will help you prioritise where to focus your efforts. Be clear about what you want to achieve when testing the channel and set yourself clear KPIs to benchmark the performance of that channel.

If your business is looking to build a new website for example, consider using an MVP (minimum viable product) approach.

By this, we mean understanding the core functionality you need to build and what would be a ‘nice to have’ that can wait. Or a functionality that the business may not be set up operationally to capitalise on yet that shouldn’t delay a build, but should be considered as a phase two inclusion?

Similarly consider, who in your team this will affect and get them involved in the original briefing of platforms and grade their requirements on a scale of necessity.

While digital channels make up a large component of many marketers’ marketing mix, it is important not to forget physical channels such as Letterbox Marketing. It would benefit any business to undertake the same process of review and analysis for any offline channels.

Once you understand your full customer buyer’s journey, you will have all the tools required to meet the needs of your customer every step of the way.

Physical and digital channels do not operate in isolation. Today, the most successful campaigns take a multi-channel approach. Therefore, it is important to fully understand how they perform, influence and complement each other. Digital as a whole is just another

channel so the thing that you are delivering is a marketing strategy.”

CONCLUSIONBe open to different processes and channels. You may already have the toolkit in place, but a few tweaks here and there could maximise your returns. Either way, regularly undertaking a review of your channels and performance will arm you with tools to continue to grow your business.

Find us on: Level 2, 116 Miller Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060

1300 725 628www.salmat.com.au 11

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Salmat is a leading Australian marketing services provider. We help clients connect with their customers, week-in, week-out. Salmat‘s unique combination of targeted letterbox and online marketing channels enables clients to Reach, Convert and Serve their customers. We also provide a wide range of back office solutions, through our Philippines-based Managed Services business. Founded in 1979, Salmat has evolved from a small letterbox distribution business to an ASX-listed company. With a talented team across three countries we work with some of Australia’s most recognised and trusted brands. Reach: We offer the broadest reach media (online & offline), with the ability to target individuals and up to 17 million people. Convert: We deliver conversion across multiple channels, creating more opportunities for our clients’ customers to buy. Serve: We make every one of our clients’ interactions count online and offline. To discuss marketing solutions Salmat can offer, please contact us.

ABOUT SALMAT