The essence of marketing in IT
– what works?

The IT industry is one of the fastest growing market segments. At the end of 2021, the number of IT specialists working in Poland amounted to almost 586,000, i.e. 32,000 more than in the previous year. more than last year. New employees are constantly being recruited to the sector, and new companies are constantly emerging on the market, offering more and more innovative solutions that meet the needs of customers. Enterprises have to face high competition, which makes it difficult for them to achieve their business goals and be successful. Marketing is the solution! What should IT marketing look like?

Every company that wants to develop on the market is well aware of the powerful role of marketing. Advertising expenditures are increasing every year. According to the report "The Decade of CMO", spending on promotion may increase even 10 times over the next 10 years. Appropriate marketing activities shape the brand's image, strengthen its position on the market, facilitate the acquisition of new, prospective customers and improve the shopping experience of customers. It is an effective way to build a strong, distinctive brand that has good relations with its recipients, and thanks to this it is successful on the market and generates attractive profits. Effective management of IT services marketing makes it easier to gain a competitive advantage, which translates into long-term benefits.

Marketing in the IT industry - what to base it on?

In the technology industry, there is no shortage of innovative, innovative and original solutions, the effective sale of which can be a real challenge. Marketing tech companies can seem as complicated as the services they offer. However, with a good strategy, anything is possible!

Creating and implementing a well-thought-out strategy is the key to great success on the market. A decent action plan is a kind of map on the demanding and complicated IT market. It indicates the next steps and provides the best solutions, and thus facilitates reaching potential customers and building a competitive advantage in the industry.

The first stage of creating an effective strategy is a comprehensive audit. Its purpose is to assess the current situation of the company (including its strengths and weaknesses) and to identify potential opportunities that may support promotional activities, as well as threats that may hinder them. The audit should cover competing companies - look at their activities, identify strengths, weaknesses and sources of advantage.

Defining and comprehensive analysis of the target group is of key importance in creating a marketing strategy for IT. It is particularly important to determine whether the services provided are addressed to individual clients or to companies. B2C and B2B marketing activities differ significantly from each other - they focus on different aspects. In the analysis of the target group, the so-called customer shopping experience. Customer Experience is the sum of all emotions and impressions that the recipient has when contacting the company in all possible contact channels and points of contact. Understanding how customers perceive and interpret the actions taken by the company, as well as building the so-called persona is the basis for effective promotional activities.

The strategy should have a specific, measurable and achievable goal. The goal may be to encourage web users to a specific conversion, which will translate into an improvement in the company's sales results. A well-constructed goal facilitates the preparation of an advertising plan and improves its implementation.

Last but not least is the budget. A detailed financial analysis will allow you to assess what activities we can afford as part of the campaign.

The information that we will be able to obtain will enable us to prepare the right strategy. They will indicate which tools to use, how to communicate with the environment and which aspects should be emphasized in your advertising messages. It is worth remembering to build a strategy in the IT industry taking into account the USP (unique selling proposition), i.e. a unique selling proposition. This is something that will distinguish the company in the market. It will make customers interested in its offer, willingly use its services and recommend them to others.

Digital marketing – an important element of an IT marketing strategy

According to Digital 2021: Global Overview Report, the number of Internet users is increasing year by year. From January 2020 to January 2021, approximately 316 million people joined the network. The number of social media users is also growing (approx. 490 million in a similar period). The Internet is therefore a great tool to advertise your services. Online promotion has great potential today. More and more companies are aware of this, focusing on effective IT marketing. Advertising activities based on digital formats are a great way to reach new audiences, gain customer loyalty, increase brand awareness in the market and strengthen its position against the competition. To the biggest pluses internet marketing we will include:

• diversity - advertisers can choose from many tools, maximally adjusting their activities to the target group, company profile and goals they want to achieve,
• measurability - the effectiveness of all actions taken and the customer's shopping experience can be easily checked and, if necessary, the strategy can be improved or changed,
• targeting – advertising on the Internet can be targeted to selected groups of recipients,
• easy customer service – thanks to the availability of various communication channels,
• the ability to achieve goals with a relatively low budget - running an effective online campaign does not involve high costs.

Website - a key element of IT marketing

A website can be a great promotional tool. Thanks to it, you can not only create and strengthen the brand image. The website allows you to reach potential customers, acquire valuable leads, sell products or services and educate. The key is to prepare an attractive website that will stand out from the competition.

The website must be consistent with the company's vision and visual identity. It should appear on it:

• logo,
• tagline, i.e. the company's slogan, which will inform users on which page it is located, what the company does and what it can expect.

The style and colors of the site must be consistent with the style of other advertising media. The brand language is also important, i.e. how the company addresses its customers. The language shows the level of the company, affects its image and strengthens relations with current and potential customers.

When designing a website, it is worth considering the user experience (UX). Elements such as information architecture (its structure, organization on the website, ease of finding specific data), the visual aspect (graphics, typography) and usability (content consistency, convenient navigation) are of particular importance. Page speed is also important. Site speed has a huge impact on user shopping experience and customer retention. If your website loads too slowly, your conversion rate will drop, which will negatively affect the effectiveness of all your advertising efforts.

Companies from the IT sector, as part of marketing activities, should pay particular attention to the functionality of their websites. Many entities in this industry deal with creating websites for your own customers. The company's website is therefore a kind of showcase of the services of specific IT departments. The better it is, the greater the chance of attracting new consumers and gaining customer loyalty. The attractiveness and intuitiveness of the website has the greatest impact on the opinions and shopping experience of the recipients.

When talking about a website, one cannot fail to mention SEO. The promotion of IT services would not be possible without proper SEO. Potential customers search for services by entering specific key phrases into the search engine. If the company makes sure that its content corresponds to these phrases, it increases its chances that recipients will visit its website and use its services. What activities support SEO? In addition to proper optimization of the site in terms of keyword content, page speed is of great importance. The loading speed is one of the ranking factors of Google, i.e. the most popular search engine on the Polish market.

Content marketing and social media – how do they shape the shopping experience?

Appropriate, carefully prepared content is a powerful tool in advertising activities. The publication and promotion of valuable content for the target group is the key to achieving the set business goals and multifaceted development in the IT industry.

Content marketing can be done in many ways. Running a company blog is very popular and very effective. A blog is a tool supporting the creation of a positive image of the company. By publishing valuable entries, we can present ourselves as an expert in the industry, help clients with problematic issues or encourage them to use our services. Interestingly, the blog supports website positioning. Entries must comply with SEO guidelines and webwriting rules. The content should contain multimedia with optimal resolution, i.e. one that will not adversely affect the page speed.

The aforementioned study shows that the content of an educational nature is the most interesting for Internet users. Sharing knowledge is one of the best ways to build a strong position in the IT sector. Webinars, trainings, e-books, IT projects, instructional videos, guides, etc. will be perfect. Educational entries should be published on the company blog. E-books or access to training can be sold in an online store connected to the website.

Another tool designed for technology companies is the newsletter. Thanks to it, you can maintain constant contact with recipients and encourage them to use the services again. This is a great way to build customer loyalty.

Social media play an important role in IT marketing. Social media are helpful in creating the image, maintaining positive ties with recipients, building customer loyalty and acquiring business customers. In order for the social media activity to bring the expected results, the company should:

• publish regularly – regularity is important,
• not be afraid to go beyond the usual patterns - creativity strengthens a positive image,
• publish inspiring content that recipients will be happy to share - memes, interesting infographics, educational entries, vlogs, blogs, podcasts, contests,
• be authentic - honesty is a pillar in building the loyalty of individual and business customers.

What else works in IT marketing?

In the field of IT marketing, PPC campaigns, such as Google Ads or LinkedIn Ads, are perfect. Paid ads are great support for product marketing strategy IT. Individual clients can be offered the preparation of an attractive website or assistance in IT projects. Business clients, on the other hand - server administration services, IT services outsourcing or implementation of new technologies. Interesting ads reinforce the positive shopping experience of customers.

Traditional forms of advertising cannot be forgotten. Billboards, leaflets or TV spots can greatly support activities on the Internet. It is also a good idea to participate in industry events, such as fairs, conferences or open days. Participation in such events is a great way to strengthen brand recognition, attract new individual customers and expand the network of business contacts.

Advertising activities in IT projects should support business development - increase profits and build a strong brand with a stable position on the market. Effective IT marketing requires experience, knowledge, creativity and access to innovative tools. For the best results, it is worth creating a dedicated marketing department or using professional marketing services. Help in the field of IT marketing is invaluable - not only at the beginning of running a business, but also at any other time. Contact us and find out what we can do for you!