Business today is so much different than before. Everyone must adapt to it and try to make a digital transformation of their already existing businesses.
In a blog post earlier, we said that there are around two million businesses that still have no website. During the Covid-19 crisis, most of them were doomed to terminate their work. Without people on the streets, and without them being present online, they couldn’t work.
This is one of the reasons why the Federation of Small Businesses predicted that this year around 250,000 companies are going to close. Without customers, no one can survive for long.
Achieving digital transformation is a sure solution to the problem
Understandably, some business owners are not aware of the possibilities that the internet offers them. Not everyone can be an internet and computer geek. Some took their lives to different paths, and they are highly skilled and professional in other fields.
Times like these mean that people need all the help they can get. They might not be aware of the possibilities, but they are endless once the business goes under a deep digital transformation. They might not just see their company survive but rise from the ashes and become super powerful.
What does digital transformation mean?
A digital transformation is a process in which the company will become present and successful on the internet. Those who usually operate through physical interaction with their clients will now be able to do it online.
But what it really means?
It means that the business will get its own branded website to represent the work. If the company deals with selling products, the customers will be able to buy them directly through their smartphones, desktop computers, laptops, or tablets.
If the company works as a B2B solution provider, then the website will be there to explain what and how the company works. Who’s doing the work, how much they charge and explain more thoroughly about the services they provide.
Without a website today, your business does not exist. With the lockdown in the UK, dozens of millions of people stayed home and had no chance to see your work. Their only chance to stumble upon you was through the internet.
The internet is huge
The fact that the internet is huge is good and bad both at the same time. If you provide services that don’t require physical presence, then your potential customer base is around 4.66 billion people.
If you’re working locally, you probably rely on people coming around the shop or the office. Making the digital transformation will put you up and available to everyone in the city. If you can deliver your product around the UK, then that’s around 47 million people.
The fact that everyone online makes businesses fight for the market eagerly. All of them have their websites, but they also have email marketing campaigns, thorough SEO long-term strategies, deep social media coverage, expert graphic designer, and top-notch web and app developers. They invest in PPC, and SEM, they have world class content writers and state of the art software for providing the best video ads in the world.
Preiously ads on the TV or the streets’ billboards would suggest to consumers what to buy, but the choice is on the consumer exclusively. Now, with tons of information bombarding them daily, the marketing agencies are those doing the filtration.
How? By using technology.
Did you know that during this decade and even more in the next one, technology will entirely rule the marketing business? It’s going to be even harder to pick the right product as a consumer. For SMEs, it’s going to be a lot harder to get through the fog that big players create and reach to consumers.
Therefore, creating a digital transformation now is the right time. If you don’t do it now, it will be a lot harder in the future.
What does technology do now, and what will it do in the future
Right now, artificial intelligence software controls many of the marketing processes. For example, around 1.4 billion people use chatbots now, and by the year 2030, predictions say that around 70% of all customer service will be handled by artificially intelligent robots.
That means, when you talk to a customer service agent, chances are great this person will not exist in reality but will be helpful in a matter of a second. At MDE, we use real human assistance for our customers.
One way artificial intelligence and technology is used for marketing today is by generating information about consumers.
Around 53 million British use at least one social media platform. When they log on, everything that they see and interact with is recorded by bots. These little software bots are collecting information about you. Based on your interaction, you will get this or that ad on your home feed.
How else do you think Facebook only shows cat harness ads? It’s because you own a cat and you’re interested in cat products. The platform knows what your interests are. Whenever a cat accessories company creates a marketing ad campaign on it, the system pushes you into the funnel of potential buyers.
This is going to become even more expressed in the future as more platforms, and more apps are going to be used. Right now, the average person has around 40 apps installed on their smartphone. Most of them use some version of AI. In the future, it’s almost certain that all of them will be AI-backed.
What does this mean for business owners?
The big players already use this technology to the maximum. That doesn’t mean the market is exclusive to them. Everyone can have a piece of the action if they know what to do.
As an SME, you can hire a digital marketing agency and ask them to make a total digital transformation of your business. Choose My Digital Ego, for example. We use special software that makes the most of social networks. We can target our posts and your ads to reach most of the consumers, which may be interested in your products.
Let’s say that you’re a pastry shop and you have some amazing products, but during the lockdown, business is not going as usual. Until now, you didn’t need any digital transformation, but you feel that now is the time to do it.
Yes, Dunkin Donuts might be dominating your area, but do they have your family-run business? Do they have your special one-of-a-kind products? Will they have a delivery boy with a smile on their face? That’s your USP, and that’s what a digital transformation is. It turns your physical business into an online business, which is accumulating customers through the internet as through a funnel.
Wrapping up
No action means risking losing everything you might have been working on. It’s a tough time to run a business, that’s for sure. Refusing to make a digital transformation will leave you on the margins. Sooner or later, you’ll either convert or abandon your business. Don’t let it be the latter one.
You and your business are not alone in this. My Digital Ego makes your brand digitally discoverable. Give us a call. Set up a Zoom appointment and learn more about what we can do for you.
