18th November 2015 - Luciano Giol

Doing Business Globally

What many Italian firms haven’t learned yet about marketing

Living in Shanghai for almost 8 years now and working with a global professional network have given me a clear overview of who is making the most out of the new economy and who is falling behind or still adhering to the old rules.

As far as the Italian context is concerned, I have realized that one of the reasons why most companies are not expanding outside the national borders is because they haven’t learned a basic lesson yet: marketing.

Some Italian entrepreneurs at small or family-run companies still identify marketing with paper brochures.

Some others have taken a step forward, which means they have disregarded paper brochures by now and are focused on the internet, in particular on their company website. Unfortunately the majority think that “most of the work is done” and stop trying at this point. However, their marketing tool is just a sort of “brochureware” website: static, uncompelling and passive, which is definitely out-of-date. Many entrepreneurs, mostly the ones running businesses in the technical or heavy industries, are of the opinion that marketing aimed at growing visibility is a useless and even distasteful practice, unworthy of investment.

I am not at all of this opinion, and this blog is the living proof. Everyone in business should take advantage of marketing and stay tuned to the latest developments.

I would like to share with you, Italian entrepreneurs and professionals, some ideas for an up-to-date inbound marketing strategy:

Convert your company website from a megaphone – a one-to-many broadcast tool – to a hub: a collaborative, living, breathing place for your prospective and current customers, where they can connect and create a network;

Don’t focus on your site, but off your site, where useful discussions on your product, industry or competitors are taking place. If you actively contribute, this will drive people to your site.

Reshape your site and make it a living and compelling thing that users visit regularly by producing quality content.

Distribute your site’s content to social media networks, like LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. This will give you the chance to attract a wider and more engaged audience.

If you have any comments, input or observations, feel free to share them here. I’d be happy to know your thoughts.

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