Over the years, small and medium-scale enterprises have contributed to the economic growth of many countries by exposing them to both local and international opportunities. For a small business to grow, it needs to remain competitive in the market. This means that they have to leverage every tool within their reach to ensure that they stay ahead of their competitors.
In the modern era, the Internet has become a powerful tool for small businesses and its importance can never be overemphasised. We have seen success stories on numerous business blogs where SMEs were able to scale their operations with the power of the Internet. So, the big question is, “how can businesses who have been left behind take advantage of this tool?” Continue reading to find out.
Table of Contents
Brand Establishment and Personalisation
During the pre-internet era, businesses had to use expensive means such as print media, radio and television adverts, and old mailing systems to build brand awareness. As such, personalisation was even more difficult because they had limited data and couldn’t precisely target their specific audience.
However, the existence of the Internet has eliminated this challenge as SMEs can tap into less expensive and more effective tools to grow their brands. Also, data has become easily accessible in today’s world; therefore, they can target their specific audience and personalise their brand message.
Company websites, blogs and social media pages are effective means by which businesses can humanise their brands and they were non-existent in the pre-internet era. Since personalisation plays a key role in helping a brand’s message to resonate with its audience, businesses that incorporate this tool in their marketing stand a better chance of connecting deeply with an audience and increasing revenue.
Automation
Automation is a key aspect of many successful businesses. The truth is, hiring humans to do everything in a company is not only time consuming, but costly as well. Compare hiring an attendant to input the data of every customer that makes an online purchase to integrating a customer relationship management tool into your business. The difference is clear.
By adopting automation, business owners can concentrate on the important aspects of their company while the tools handle monotonous and boring tasks. Over time, SMEs have leveraged automation tools to build a connection with their audience and serve them better and this wouldn’t have been possible in the absence of the Internet.
Trust Building
Businesses that run on the Internet are available 24/7/365 and this helps to build trust with the audience because they have a better chance of communicating with a brand when the need arises. Apart from the uninterrupted presence, SMEs can build trust by publishing helpful and relevant content, thereby establishing themselves as industry leaders.
Consumers will most likely seek solutions from a brand that has established itself as an authority in a particular industry and this can help boost sales and revenue over time.
The internet has brought about numerous breakthroughs in many areas of the business world, including customer reach, marketing, brand building, automation and so forth. Businesses that wish to remain relevant in decades to come need to adopt and leverage these tools to stay afloat.
Bio
Roselin is a writer and editor for Fxtrending, an informative finance and business blog. She is passionate about understanding world economics and businesses around the globe. She enjoys travel adventures and reading literary mastrpeices
