Digital communication strategy and teleworking: the challenges for SMEs to reinvent themselves

 

The global Covid-19 epidemic has profoundly changed the way companies operate. As a result of containment measures, teleworking has become a necessity in many sectors to maintain business activity while curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

 

SMEs must accelerate their digital transformation to adapt to these new working methods and ensure their sustainability in this context of health and economic crisis. This digital transition is based on two main axes: the implementation of an efficient digital communication strategy and the use ofcollaborative tools to facilitate remote work.

 

Implementing an effective digital communication strategy

 

Visibility on the Internet, an imperative in the digital age

Following the digital revolution at the end of the last century, new technologies have radically transformed our daily lives and the way we work. Addicted to our smartphones, tablets and computers, we now live in a hyper-connected world. The current pandemic has amplified this phenomenon with the drastic restriction of travel and physical contact.

Less expensive than traditional media such as television or the written press, the Internet is today an essential communication and development tool for all companies. According to a study by the McKinsey & Company consulting firm, French SMEs that invest heavily in the web are growing twice as fast and doubling their export volumes.

Faced with the major health crisis we are going through, digital marketing is more than ever indispensable to improve your online visibility in order toacquire, convert and retain your prospects.

 

Digital communication media for SMEs

 

An optimized website

 

Are you part of this majority of VSEs and SMEs that do not yet have a website? Accessible at all times and from any device, a website is nevertheless an essential virtual showcase to make you known. Opt for a clear, structured, visually pleasing interface with optimal ergonomics to enhance theuser experience.

 

The application of SEO or Search Engine Optimization techniques improves the natural referencing of your site. The objective is to position yourself in the first results of Google on keywords related to your activity in order to obtain a better visibility on the web and thus a maximum of visits. Because it is important to know that more than 90% of Internet users stop at the first page of results, and a third of them click on the first link displayed!

In addition to fixed pages, the integration of a blog is a powerful lever for acquiring organic traffic. Indeed, the regular publication of fresh content promotes indexing and appeals to search engine ranking algorithms. In addition, sharing quality articles brings value to your readers and strengthens your brand image.

 

An active presence on social networks

 

An essential component ofinbound marketing, SMO or Social Media Optimization is nowadays an integral part of companies' digital strategy. Social media allow you to communicate with your customers, acquire new prospects and generate traffic to your website.

 

Choose the most relevant networks according to the profile of your target and the type of publication:

  • Facebook remains essential in B2B as well as in B2C because of its very broad scope;
  • Twitter is effective for service and customer care because of its instantaneous side;
  • Instagram captures the attention of users with its visual content;
  • LinkedIn is suitable for B2B products and services.

Community management consists in developing and animating your communities in order to reinforce your notoriety on social networks. This includes powerful publications and interaction with your subscribers to establish a close relationship and generate commitment.

 

Efficient emailing campaigns

 

Email marketing is a privileged means of communication with your commercial contacts. Indeed, emailing is a powerful lead generation tool that keeps your prospects informed and promotes loyalty and conversion. Inexpensive and automatable, emailing also offers an excellent return on investment.

The sharing of qualitative content through a newsletter is part of a lead nurturing approach that supports the Internet user in his purchasing decision. You can insert links to the latest articles in your blog in order to create traffic to your website. In a second step, thecommercial offer will encourage the qualified lead to enter the sales tunnel.

The analysis of opening statistics and lead scoring allows you to evaluate the performance of your email marketing campaigns. You will thus be able to optimize your emailing strategy and focus on the most relevant targets.

 

Facilitating teleworking through collaborative tools

 

A revolution in working methods and managerial practices

 

Since the Covid-19 epidemic has reached stage 3, it is imperative that teleworking be implemented if the workstation allows it. During the 55 days of confinement, 5 million French people teleworked, i.e. about a quarter of employees. Although we have entered a phase of progressive deconfinement, telework should continue massively at least until the summer according to the Ministry of Labour. Moreover, 62% of home office employees want to continue working at home even after the epidemic (Deskeo survey, April 2020).

Teleworking is a new experience for many companies. Indeed, this way of working has until now remained rather marginal in France, contrary to other European countries. Among the obstacles to its implementation are certain technical or organisational constraints as well as the difficulty of maintaining the link with employees.

The widespread use of telework implies changing management methods to encourage autonomy and mutual trust. Well managed, this new way of working can bring more flexibility and better productivity to employees. There are many tools to work in collaborative mode and federate your teams despite physical distance.

 

Digital tools to promote work in the home office

Communicating with your business partners

 

To keep in touch with your employees and customers, you can exchange via instant messaging and schedule telephone or videoconference meetings. Several softwares and applications are at your disposal:

  • Zoom: a real reference on the market, this videoconferencing platform allows you to organize online meetings and webinars. Its main advantage is to be able to gather a large number of participants in a single virtual room (up to 100 for the free version). Screen sharing features are also available to promote interactive exchanges.
  • Slack: this instant messaging application popular with web-based businesses makes teamwork easier. You can exchange information with your colleagues on public or private channels, but also organize audio or video meetings.
  • Microsoft Teams, the corporate social network in the Office 365 suite, and Skype, an application for messaging and audio/video calls, are the two tools offered by Microsoft.
  • Messenger, WhatsApp and Google Meet allow you to create newsgroups and exchange in writing or video.

Don't forget to reserve some relaxing moments around a virtual coffee break to strengthen the bonds within your teams!

Manage your employees remotely

To plan your daily tasks and manage your teams from your living room or kitchen, you can use the following collaborative tools:

  • Asana: developed by one of the co-founders of Facebook, this project and task management software facilitates teamwork through many features. Available on PC and mobile, it allows you to create a workspace per project, add tasks and assign them to your collaborators. Thanks to real-time synchronized calendars, you can set deadlines and monitor the progress of your projects.
  • Trello: very popular, this task scheduling tool stands out for its very visual work interface and ease of use. Your projects are organized in tables, divided into columns, and tasks are materialized by drag-and-drop maps.
  • TickTick: this productivity and task management application allows you to create project lists. You can assign tasks to your team members, define priority levels and reminders.

Share and store large documents

In order to limit the weight of the emails, most email companies limit the size of attachments to 20 or 25 MB. To send larger files, you must use remote storage servers:

  • WeTransfer allows the sending of documents, images or videos up to 2 GB for the free version;
  • Dropbox allows you to store and share files in the ;
  • Microsoft OneDrive is a secure storage space integrated with Windows 10 ;
  • Google offers an ecosystem of digital tools to create, edit and share documents with your team: Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides.

At Autour de l'Image, we know and master these collaborative tools perfectly. Working in home office and project mode is part of our web agency's DNA. We are at your side to elaborate the digital communication strategy of your SME and help you reach your objectives even in these times of crisis. So " stay at home " and contact us, we take care of everything!

 

About the author

Philippe Rigault

Philippe Rigault is the founding President of the agency Autour de l'Image. He assists clients in the development and animation of their communication strategy, combining advice, creativity, mentoring and common sense. Autour de l'Image is a global communication agency that simplifies the life of entrepreneurs. It brings together all the communication and marketing skills needed to develop sales and brand awareness.

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