Most Luxembourg companies need to take advantage of trading internationally to reach a larger customer base. Luxembourg exports over 60% of its production and more than 50% to neighbouring countries. It is therefore no surprise that Luxembourg ranks up with the best in terms of trade openness securing #1 place for the most open economy in the world in 2020 by the World Bank ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Enterprise European Network (EEN) set up by the European commission comprises 600 organisations in 60 countries offering help to SMEs wishing to develop internationally, particularly through contact with potential future partners.
The international affairs division of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce actively supports Luxembourg companies during their entry or expansion into foreign markets. This includes tailor-made guidance to target new markets, leveraging available market intelligence and networking opportunities. Also organising a series of missions and trade fairs to help companies meet new business partners.
Selling internationally does not need to be complicated. Download the Chamber’s practical guide covering the important things you need to be aware of such as:
- Developing a strategy for internationalisation
- Available tools
- Opportunities and challenges
- Export regulations
- Financing channels
- International support network
You can download the guide in English or French
Naturally using online channels to sell internationally will inevitably be part of your strategy so don’t miss our comprehensive guide to launching an e-commerce business in Luxembourg.
The importance of a Digital Marketing StrategyMarketing budgets
Pressure on marketing budgets in 2022 following the pandemic has persuaded many companies to move more activities in-house.
Keeping up with the latest digital developments (tools and trends) and combining these with a clear and measureable marketing strategy is more important than ever.
Using a data-driven and customer centric approach, you should ideally take the following into account when reviewing and building your strategy.
Focus on the familiar but experiment too
One best practice is to focus 70 – 80% of you time and resources on the familiar, tried and tested and 20 – 30% on experimenting with new stuff, to potentially set yourself ahead of the competition.
Machine learning and conversion modelling
Take a look at machine learning and conversion modelling, increasingly important to track the customer journey as use of cookies is diminishing and data collection is becoming increasingly regulated.
Look at SEO and personalisation
Evaluate how effectively you are appearing in organic search (SEO). Check out recent best practices from Google about optimising title links. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/appearance/title-link
Review how you are performing with social and email marketing (level of personalisation) and possible new web design and content marketing techniques to engage and convert your audiences. If you do not already use marketing automation, perhaps is now the time to closer look at the many advantages and performant software packages for businesses of all sizes and how these can be integrated with your own CRM.
https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/definition/marketing-automation
Check out sponsored ads and harness new social media channels
Will you extend reach and find new leads using sponsored ads? Two thirds of digital ad spend is now being made on Facebook and Google. Check out how to optimise your results using the different types of Facebook ads.
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/how-5-brands-balanced-campaign-relevance-and-reach
Don’t overlook the other younger but increasingly popular channels such as TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest and see if they could be useful for advertising your business.
Take a look at refreshing your corporate design
When were your visuals and corporate design last updated? Take a look at some web graphic design trends expected to continue throughout 2022 and beyond.
https://venngage.com/blog/graphic-design-trends/
Check out the high level components of a digital marketing plan
Last but not least, watch this webinar from the Digital Marketing Institute featuring a high-level walk through of the components making up a digital marketing plan and outline for a launch campaign.
Develop your digital marketing strategy keeping in mind key axis such as raising awareness, engaging your community and converting into qualified leads and ultimately closed business.
Launch e-commerce in LuxembourgThe latest DESI Index (Digital Economy and Society Index ) published by the European Commission in 2021 found that companies in Luxembourg are lagging behind the EU when it comes to e-commerce, with only 9% of SME’s selling online compared to 17% across the member countries.
On the other hand The Grand Duchy is fourth in the EU as regards connectivity, with the country almost fully covered by fast fixed broadband networks and broad availability of very high-capacity networks so the supporting infrastructure is in place.
This said, Luxembourg occupies 4th place for countries buying most online behind UK, Denmark and Germany. Therefore successfully selling online at home and driving cross border sales can provide a definite boost to the sales of Luxembourg companies, 75% of which have their own website.
The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce has put together a comprehensive guide entitled ‘Launching an e-commerce business in Luxembourg’ with detailed information and steps to follow to launch an e-commerce website and featuring testimonials of Luxembourg companies successfully selling online today.
The Chamber of Commerce can also help Luxembourg companies with their procedures: the House of Entrepreneurship and the House of Training offer support and training in e-commerce. Letzshop also supports retailers with an online presence thanks to its fast growing marketplace.
You can download the free guide here.
Google Analytics 4, the next generation
Google Analytics, Google’s popular website traffic analytics tool ran into EU data privacy issues in 2020.
Under the EU’s GDPR directive, Google Analytics cookies need end-user consent to be activated on a website and a description of all personal data processing needs to be included in the website’s privacy policy.
As a result and to remain compliant, many companies in Europe switched to other analytics solutions or needed to include a data compliance add-on if they continued to use Google to measure website activity and engagement.
Google Analytics 4 is the next-generation measurement solution, and will replace Universal Analytics in July 2023. Operating across platforms and not relying exclusively on cookies, it is designed to take into account international privacy considerations and will, for example, no longer store IP addresses.
While the jury is still out if Google Analytics 4 will be fully GDPR compliant in 2023 (Privacy Shield framework invalidation), Google has published an update on its blog entitled ‘Prepare for the future with Google Analytics 4’ outlining some of the key benefits to be gained from using its latest analytics tool.
https://blog.google/products/marketingplatform/analytics/prepare-for-future-with-google-analytics-4/