Why dig­i­tal­iza­tion is so important for local busi­ness­es

Dig­i­tal­iza­tion has had a profound effect on the com­mer­cial landscape of the USA. While online retailers were initially dismissed as a niche option for computer nerds, e-commerce sales continue to rise dra­mat­i­cal­ly. In the fashion (clothing and shoes), elec­tron­ics and telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions in­dus­tries, this growth is even higher.

As a local retailer, however, you should not bury your head in the sand and worry that you can’t keep up. Instead, you should see digital change as an op­por­tu­ni­ty to grow your own business. Below are the five biggest benefits your local business will gain from a solid web presence, and how you can best put this strength to use.

The coro­n­avirus pandemic has made shopping local even more com­pli­cat­ed. In principle, day-to-day shopping is allowed in many sectors even when virus cases are surging – but the reg­u­la­tions ensure that the traffic is kept to a minimum. Fur­ther­more, in­di­vid­ual sectors such as the restau­rant industry are par­tic­u­lar­ly affected by having to close com­plete­ly. Other than the re­stric­tions, people are less willing to go to crowded areas and therefore more likely to shop online.

A digital presence in the form of online ad­ver­tis­ing or social media ac­tiv­i­ties or your own website is therefore more important than ever before. So that you don’t lose your customer base during these chal­leng­ing times, being digital is essential. It is not a matter of replacing your physical business with an online store or to go from being a restau­rant to a delivery service – it’s about making use of various marketing channels to inform your customers about the current business situation and to pass on the following in­for­ma­tion, for example:

• Current situation in terms of on-site visiting
• Changing opening hours
• Services in times of corona (e.g. a delivery service or click-and-collect, which is becoming ever more popular)
• Other ways to support your local business, i.e. through vouchers

To kickstart the dig­i­tal­iza­tion of your local business, you can start with the full range of social media channels, search engine ad­ver­tis­ing, and your own website or online store. Al­ter­na­tive­ly, you can focus on one or more specific marketing options. In either case, entering the digital world will help you to direct more attention towards your business. Below, we’ve have sum­ma­rized five ad­van­tages of active marketing on the web for you.

One of the most important goals of dig­i­tal­iza­tion is to create con­ve­nient struc­tures to collect and share data and in­for­ma­tion. This is not only about elec­tron­i­cal­ly storing customer data and handling com­mu­ni­ca­tion with customers as ef­fi­cient­ly as possible, but also about op­ti­miz­ing internal com­mu­ni­ca­tion processes. How can a local company dig­i­tal­ize ef­fec­tive­ly?

Customer data ac­qui­si­tion and customer man­age­ment

When it comes to gaining and storing customer data, as well as managing customer relations, there is probably a consensus among en­tre­pre­neurs that digital is the way to go. CRM Tools have es­tab­lished them­selves as suitable software in large cor­po­ra­tions, but also for SMEs. Whether support for newslet­ters, social media, or websites, these tools provide the perfect basis for col­lect­ing customer data securely and digitally. At the same time, CRM systems provide the right platform for de­vel­op­ing cross-company strate­gies for com­mu­ni­cat­ing with customers.

Own website and social media channels

When it comes to dig­i­tal­iza­tion, local companies au­to­mat­i­cal­ly come up against the question of whether it makes sense and is necessary to have their own website. The simple answer is: ab­solute­ly! In modern business life, there is hardly a more practical solution for pre­sent­ing your products or services, getting in touch with customers, and sharing news. Your website does not nec­es­sar­i­ly have to cost an arm and a leg, as our article on how much does a website cost? will show you. Even cheaper, but just as promising, are customer contact op­por­tu­ni­ties and company marketing on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

Project man­age­ment and com­mu­ni­ca­tion tools

White­boards and flipcharts may still be useful in modern business – but they are not the only ones that can help. Tools for managing projects, tasks, and ap­point­ments simplify the or­ga­ni­za­tion and com­mu­ni­ca­tion within your business con­sid­er­ably. Other programs that help in a similar way are tools for managing your digital com­mu­ni­ca­tion via email (es­pe­cial­ly with customers), as well as com­mu­ni­ca­tion tools like Microsoft Teams or Skype for Business (internal exchange), and finally cloud storage like Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive.

Special offers and pro­mo­tions have always been among the most important marketing tools. The past few years have shown that they can be seam­less­ly in­te­grat­ed into everyday digital business life. To get started, ask yourself two questions: Which pro­mo­tions or special offers suit your company? And to what extent should these pro­mo­tion­al ac­tiv­i­ties be in­te­grat­ed into your business’ ac­tiv­i­ties?

However, it’s not possible to give a one-size-fits-all answer to either question, as it is necessary to find a company-specific approach. For example, if you run your own online store and sell your products online, you have to approach special offers in a com­plete­ly different way to a local store, as you can make price ad­just­ments online at any time of day.

When it comes to promo campaigns, cre­ativ­i­ty is in vogue. In­for­ma­tive content such as tutorials, blogs, etc. as well as “join-in” campaigns in social networks (e.g. sharing a success story or a personal picture with the product) show that a lot is possible here.

The dig­i­tal­iza­tion of your local business and es­pe­cial­ly the step into the world wide web presents an ad­di­tion­al op­por­tu­ni­ty to get publicity for your local physical store. Ad­ver­tis­ing your location(s) via social media, as a Google company profile (our article on local SEO tips goes into more detail here), or on your own homepage will all help you get attention in your community. By using a mix of platforms, you’ll have the best chances of success. It is important that you answer all important questions of your potential customers:

• What are the different local locations?
• What is the address?
• What are the opening hours?
• At which locations can click-and-collect orders be picked up?

Achieving greater reach and boosting business – these are the ultimate goals that summarize the tips mentioned above. On the web in par­tic­u­lar, you can also use tools that specif­i­cal­ly motivate in­ter­est­ed users to buy.

• Chatbots: Chatbots are already used in a lot of sales contexts. As the first point of contact for customers, the practical bots answer many important questions to help reassure customers before they commit to buy.
• VR planner: Virtual tours, fitting rooms, or interior design planners can also – at least for the time being – replace on-site visits and encourage people to engage with your services.
• Social media: Social networks have an enormous appeal. By engaging well-known in­flu­encers as ad­ver­tis­ing partners you can present your products or services in an ex­tra­or­di­nary way and expand your customer base.