Based on a 2021 survey result, there are about 4.66 billion active internet users in the world. This figure is 59.5% of the worldwide population. With more than half of the global population being regular internet users, transforming your business into a digitized version of it seems like a good idea.
Whatever your startup business is — whether it’s a new product like an eco-friendly footwear brand or a service like die cutter maintenance — you can be sure that going digital is one of the best decisions you can make to make it more successful.
Digitizing Your Business 101
So, now that you’re exploring this option to digitize your business, it would help you know the steps you need to take to ensure you can be successful in this venture. It’s not an easy process, so planning would help you minimize any wrong turns. Here are some things you need to consider when going digital:
1. Be goal-oriented.
It would benefit you before digitizing your business if you first have objectives and a list of goals you want to accomplish when your business goes online. Of course, you would want to widen your reach and engage more people to interact with your business, increasing your website’s traffic. But those are only your primary objectives. You would want something more than that.
2. Build a digital marketing strategy with the right people.
After setting your goals, the next thing you need to do is plan how you can go about achieving them. Building a digital marketing strategy is essential for getting your business going in your desired direction. It can help you reach potential customers, increase your business’ awareness and sales.
You should include a website, email marketing, and social media engagement in your strategy, as these are some of the most effective platforms. Another way for you to increase the traffic of your business is through search engine optimization or SEO. These would allow your website to show up on top of search engines like Google by keyword optimization and backlinking.
Then, you would need to hire people to build a solid and experienced team. Of course, you can’t do everything on your own, and some people have better experience in digitizing a business that could support your goals and bring your strategies into momentum. You would need to filter your applicants and look for tech-savvy, knowledgeable, and innovative employees.
3. Incorporate e-commerce and mobile payment in your business.
Since a considerable portion of the global population is actively online, chances are online shopping isn’t new to them. For both you and your consumers, incorporating e-commerce has many benefits. It can make the transaction faster and reduce costs. The advertising and marketing are also going to be more affordable.
To secure transactions faster, give your customers an option to make mobile payments. This option can help you boost your sales as lesser people have physical cash, and most of their money is in their banks, PayPal, and Payoneer accounts.
4. Design an app and social media for your business.
As mentioned above, social media engagement is vital in reaching new potential customers that could boost traffic and sales of your business. It’s no secret that most people have social media account like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. When you create accounts on each platform, you can increase the chances of your business reaching these social media users and interacting with your advertisements and products.
On the other hand, creating an app isn’t as easy as signing up for social media. But the advantages of having one will set you apart from similar businesses. Developing an app could allow easier transactions.
Additionally, apps installed on customers’ mobile phones will be like free marketing as they will constantly see your app’s logo, which increases brand awareness.
5. Use customer relationship management software.
Having the software called Customer Relationship Management or CRM makes going digital easier for you. CRM is a digital tool that you can use to store data like your customer’s contact details. You can use CRM to track customer interaction and manage their information and accounts. It could help your business build a better relationship with your customers by giving them a better experience. It can also improve Customer Lifetime Value or CLV.
See You in the Digital World
Once you’ve started the journey in going digital, you’ll find that there are more opportunities for you, your business, and your customers. Whether you have a brick-and-mortar or a purely online business, digitizing it is one of the best decisions you can make.