The latest report from Hootsuite and We Are Digital states that today more than 4 billion people are connected to the Internet. We quickly understand why companies are relying more and more on digital marketing to increase their notoriety on the web and expand their customer base…
This “digital” form of marketing has actually been very successful in recent years. Its paradigms and tools are constantly evolving, revealing various trends. Trends that sometimes vary according to different corners of the world.
In addition, experts distinguish two schools, very different: the French-speaking approach and the Anglo-Saxon approach. The specifics of these two methods of conceptualizing digital marketing will be the subject of this article. But first, it is pertinent to define digital marketing briefly.
What is digital or “digital” marketing?
Simply put, digital marketing refers to all those marketing techniques that are done on the web.
As part of a digital marketing strategy, a company uses various web tools to expand its audience base. In particular all digital devices are:
- Social Networks ;
- websites;
- blog;
- E-mail;
- search engine;
- video, etc.
Digital marketing has become imperative for companies looking for competition in a very short span of time. This importance is due to two major issues:
- Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing often rediscovers itself and establishes a two-way communication between the organization and its customers;
- Consumers are spending more and more time in front of their computer, smartphone or tablet screens.
All this has favored the emergence of an extremely large number of so-called “digital” businesses, most of which are carried out in a digital or communications agency.
In addition, to meet the increasingly perceptible need for digital executives, many high schools are now dedicating training programs to digital marketing. The latter is regarded as an economic lever in its own right.
Features of the French-speaking model
Between 2019 and 2020, French companies spent $6.22 billion on their digital ads, including $1.5 billion through social networks, according to the 2021 edition of the Digital Report by Hootsuite and We Are Social. This shows a growth of 3.1% in one year.
These figures prove the extent to which digitization is becoming a major concern for economic agents in France. He certainly has his own perception about digital marketing. An assumption that can be analyzed through the following data:
- As part of a digital marketing strategy, professionals devote only 10% of their efforts to data analysis;
- 73% of professionals assess their results in the context of digital marketing without consulting other partners;
- For French-speaking digital professionals, improving a company’s performance contributes to 27% of its business growth;
- The actions taken to rectify the wrong decisions or actions taken by the company are the focus of 37% of the efforts of digital professionals.
Features of the Anglo-Saxon model
In digital marketing, Anglo-Saxons spend very little time analyzing a project. For them, a company must act first, then take corrective action when the first results come. Here are the figures to prove it:
- Anglo-Saxon digital professionals outsource the analysis phase of a project;
- They dedicate only 7% of their digital marketing efforts to actions aimed at making the wrong actions or wrong decisions;
- 60% of digital marketing actions of Anglo-Saxon professionals are aimed at solving problems that appeared long after the project was started;
- 58% of the business acquired is dedicated to enhancing the performance and visibility of the company.
Digital Marketing: How are Francophone and Anglo-Saxon Models Different?
The figures above are revealing. They show that digital marketing in France is a business of separate actions and individual initiatives. Some companies bring together the efforts of several professionals in a team effort for their digital marketing strategy. Each profile works on its own level to accomplish the tasks on it, without worrying about what is happening to other employees involved in similar digital projects.
It also happens that in some cases, professionals completely aloof from the steps taken by their colleagues. This discovery has led e-commerce company directors to rely less and less on the French-speaking model.
The Anglo-Saxon model is just the opposite! In England, as in North America, there is an emphasis on collaborative actions and collective initiatives. For example, 62% of American digital professionals are driven by the business achieved, compared to only 26% among their colleagues in France. The British, for their part, are interested in profits up to 58%.
From there, we conclude that the Anglo-Saxon approach to digital marketing is more guided by concrete actions and the results they generate. On the French-speaking side, we like to focus more on analysis and theory. Furthermore, this is why Anglo-Saxons often outsource the analysis of their data. For this they use the services of data analysts.
France: Is migration to the Anglo-Saxon model possible?
You should know that e-commerce in France achieved a turnover of 100 billion euros in 2020 according to a survey by Favad. So, although the French-speaking approach to digital marketing still has some drawbacks, it is yielding satisfactory results.
Nevertheless, it is quite possible that digital professionals in France are inspired by some of the points that make up the success of their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. For example, they may allocate less time for design phases to focus more on concrete tasks. The data that will result from these actions can be used to implement necessary corrective actions.