Small businesses face increasing competition from larger players with established digital and online presence. For any business to succeed in today’s business environment, it needs to recognize that customers are looking online first more often than not. This digital-first world can be overwhelming for any business, but small business owners face additional challenges that large companies do not have to address.
Being able to recognize how your small business can take advantage of an effective digital presence is key to growing your business. Whether you are looking to retain existing customers, reach new potential customers, or grow your business in overall size and what it has to offer, developing and maintaining your online and digital presence is a challenge worth addressing. Some of the necessary changes may be things you have already started or thought about making, while others may be things you have never considered. Wherever you find your small business along the path to a digital-first operation, completing the process will help you reach and retain the customers that will help your small business compete in today’s business world.
Transitioning to a digital-first business model
Many small businesses began with a physical presence of some sort, providing physical products or services from a store or office. Even if this is the case for your business, you likely have already developed some form of online presence. But if you have not made the shift to a completely digital-first business model, you may find you are missing out on potential business. Maintaining a physical presence may seem like something that cannot be done with a focus on digital, but customers expect to be able to interact digitally, even if they are in a brick-and-mortar store or office.
Transitioning your traditional business model to a digital model is a big step that many small business owners are not willing to take. The changes you need to make in this pursuit may seem daunting, but after you have made the changes, you will find that your business operates more smoothly and more efficiently. These changes may be small or large, easily accomplished in a short period, or take a significant time commitment. Regardless of the scope of transitioning your small business to a digital-first business model, it will allow you to provide services and interaction with your customers that will ensure consistent business growth.
Establishing and maintaining digital interaction with your customers
In today’s fast-paced world, for your business to succeed, an online digital presence is essential. Whether your business is completely online or you have a brick-and-mortar or physical office, how your customers interact with your business via digital means is important to acquiring and retaining customers. Your business’s digital experience platform may be as simple as a website or as complex as a complete e-commerce shopping portal. Ensuring that your customers are presented with a consistent and dynamic digital experience will allow your business to market itself to the fullest extent. Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into these experiences — such as AI-powered chatbots, personalized recommendations, or automated follow-ups — can make your digital interactions faster, smarter, and more relevant to each customer. Taking the opportunity to explore digital options for your small business is a straightforward task with potentially significant positive repercussions for your business operations.
As a small business, reaching more customers can be difficult. When searching online for service providers, many potential customers will choose to go with bigger companies. But with a digital presence that stands out from the crowd, your small business can reach potential customers, drawing them to your website or online platform. Ensuring that your existing and future customers can interact with your business through an online or digital method will not only enable your business to reach more people but can be the difference between a passing glance at a website and securing a customer for life.
Update or upgrade your digital marketing
From social media, social media management, to cookie-based focused advertising, the most effective way to reach potential customers and keep existing customers using your products and services is digital marketing.
In the digital-first world in which today’s businesses must operate, an effective digital marketing strategy will give your small business an edge over your direct competitors and may even help you reach those customers of bigger companies looking for a change. Taking the time to evaluate your business’s digital marketing can help you identify what is working and what needs to be changed. In most cases, you will find that simply updating how you use your marketing dollars will be enough to breathe fresh life into how you are viewed online. However, if you find that your business is lagging in its online interaction with customers, it may be time for a complete overhaul and upgrade of your digital marketing strategy.
Keeping on top of the dynamic digital marketplace in which your small business operates can help you react to and make the most of the changes that your customers, existing and potential, expect from a company. Doing this will allow you to stretch your marketing budget to reach more people using social media or targeted advertising across the internet. Reaching more people looking for the type of products and services your small business offers will ensure you are not spending money on advertising to individuals who have no interest.
Closing the deal faster with digital signatures
Customers are always looking for ways to get things done faster. From two-day shipping to instant rewards, the most successful businesses are those that can deliver what their customers want as quickly as possible. For any small business, providing customers with solutions in a timeframe that competes with bigger companies is essential in today’s digital-first business environment. Your business may provide physical products that need to be shipped or services that you need to secure through contracts with your clients. Completing these and other tasks as quickly as possible can mean the difference between business success and stagnation.
One area in which your small business can use digital options to help speed the process for customers is the use of electronic signatures. Being able to receive a contract or sales agreement in their email, review it online, and sign digitally not only makes things easier for your customers but is more secure and much faster than mailing traditional paper documents for review, signature, and return. Using digital signatures will allow you to close deals with your customers faster, keeping your small business moving forward and helping you provide customers with a viable alternative to those larger operations.
Megan Isola
Megan Isola holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and a minor in Business Marketing from Cal State University Chico. She enjoys going to concerts, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with friends.