Our clients are mainly from the Azores. We have some clients on the mainland and in other locations, but they are very specific. They are mainly small and medium-sized companies from all sectors. Obviously, we have had a lot of work in the tourism sector: car rental, tourist tours, maritime tourism, local accommodation, hotels and restaurants. We also have a lot of work in the service sector, from companies to companies. I can't say that the majority of them are in the tourism sector, as we have a very diverse client portfolio.
Mainly for website building?
50% of the work we do is websites. But we also have a large part of our work here, which is not so public, which involves developing custom platforms, that is, information systems tailored to our clients. Imagine a program that runs on the Internet and where, for example, delivery dates, budgets, company goals, staff holiday management, absences, invoicing, etc. are hosted. Each of these platforms is tailored and specifically for each client. This is something that is increasingly in demand. We are able to interconnect everything within the company.
It is a way to streamline the management of companies.
Exactly. This represents about 20 to 25% of the business.
And what else do you do?
We do graphic design, logos, and create chinese america data advertising campaigns, photographs, and videos . We try to be the leading company in digital marketing.
Social media is essential these days.
It is a huge driver of website traffic. It is essential for websites and for creating company awareness, increasing company reputation, getting closer to customers and receiving customer feedback. Social media is a very important marketing tool and needs to be used well. Many companies think that all they need is a Facebook page and posting a promotion or two, but that is not all. Customers don't want just that either. You need to post things that are interesting and important to the customer. One thing that is often lacking in our market and on social media is the fact that people do not invest in ads or paid advertising. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people are reaching posts on social media pages. That is Facebook's strategy, that is exactly how it is. Those who have the most reach are those who pay for their ads to reach more people.
Have you noticed an increase in demand for digital marketing recently?
Yes. Our clients are investing more in this area, we have noticed that. Before, clients would only do one service or another, but now we can see that clients are more prepared to invest in these areas. Because they really see the return and can measure things. That is the big difference. Offline is also important, but online, you can manage and measure.
Do you also work offline?
Of course. We create what we call a communications plan in which we look at the company and see what the marketing objectives are and where the client wants to go, and we define what makes sense for the client. Then we define the type of newspaper, radio station, content, etc. Each point has to be studied and well defined from the outset for things to work.
Do they basically act as image managers for a company?
Yes, we can be the image managers for a company.
Most of your clients are SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises). Has there been more demand with the pandemic and the support provided to these companies?
At the beginning, in March and April, we had 2 or 3 months when clients suspended some work. We had to suspend our activity a little and we had some people laid off because we didn't know what was going to happen. At that time, I tried to turn things around and strengthened our advertising department. We invested more and hired two more people in the sales and marketing department. We went against the tide a little. Things will go down, but we will make a greater effort to get back on track. But the truth is that we had a lot of clients who wanted to create online stores, integrations of these online stores with invoicing programs. There was a real increase.