In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation has emerged as a more critical strategic goal for procurement executives than ever.
Now, resilience, agility, and visibility have become vital qualities of the modern procurement function alongside the drive to lower costs and increase speed. Integrating a digital-first approach into more stages of the procurement process can, according to a Gartner study, lead to a 20% increase in revenue and a 50% reduction in process costs.
However, digital transformation needs to be considered and intentional—haphazardly adopting new tools and processes for the sake of something new and shiny will cost more than it saves, and cause more problems than are solved.
One highly effective form of digital transformation that’s often applied outside of the procurement process is search engine optimisation (SEO). Applied to the procurement function of a business, SEO techniques can help buyers reach either a wider pool of suppliers, or a more specific set of suppliers more tailored to their needs—or both, as necessity dictates.
SEO has a lot of potential to help automate routine procurement operations, allowing for procurement staff to focus on more strategic objectives and partner relationship management. Supplier discovery, as well as other elements of sourcing, can be automated with an SEO integration, and the correctly optimised online presence can be used to attract suppliers.
Four steps to SEO optimisation in procurement
- Know your terms. By identifying the key phrases and terms associated with your business and objectives, you can start to define an SEO strategy.
- Embed your terms. Take your chosen SEO terms and ensure they are a part of your brand identity across existing websites, social platforms, etc.
- Create content. White papers, blog posts, and media placements all increase your visibility and presence within the procurement sector.
- Assess, Adjust, Optimise. Constantly measure your engagement, work to understand your suppliers and partners, and iterate improvements of your strategy in response to results and the changing context of the marketplace.
By implementing an SEO strategy, procurement teams move beyond the confines of their immediate ecosystem, casting a wider net that can lead to increased competition between suppliers, lower costs, and access to new goods or resources that may have significant knock-on benefits for the business at large.
By Harry Menear
