5 ways to make digital technology grow your small business

Be available online for your customers: This is where your most questions about your products may come from. People are fast paced these days and want quick responses about stuff without having to physically go to shops or company offices. Make sure that you set a tone for your business online and offline as well, how you relate to consumers offline is show you should relate to them online. Be courteous, or customers will spread the word online of how poor their experience was with you, and they may all dump you.

Sell through your website: This reduces the need for you to rent space. Many small business owners sell from home but have an online marketplace place through which they conduct their business. A growing example of this is Facebook pages that people are creating to sell products/services and offer delivery for the goods to the buyer’s residence/workplace. That could work too!

Own a website! These days there are many free website hosts (e.g Weebly) that allow you to create your own site online, growing your brand, without having to invest money in a web developer or graphic designer. You can sign up and choose your themes and start posting your products information or about the company’s story. This makes it so easy to find you online if someone searches for you. It also adds credibility to your company being considered ‘genuine’. Get as many positive reviews as you can to consolidate your position as a potential market leader.

Invest in e-newsletters: These can be sent out every week to prospective clients to tell them about what you offer, or existing clients about what’s new. It’s less costly than calling them, but do call once in a while to check up on them and make sure they are still amazed by how great your product is. Don’t forget about them after the first buy. It seems social media may be taking the cake for being the most preferred source of news for many consumers, and in 2016 this is expected to show.

Be current and consistent: With whatever content you put out. Is your business offering a solution to a problem that was just raised 2 minutes ago? Post about it. Offer your product ASAP! Don’t forget to always be available for feedback or questions from the public through whatever digital channels you chose, be it social media, cellphone or social messengers.

Lastly, you’re a small business and probably won’t be able to afford high-end technology to smoothen company operations so just get what you can and make the best use of it. All a business really needs to do in this digital age is be ‘always on’. If you decide that you want to maintain a mobile phone number as the highest level of digital capacity your business can afford, never leave a text unanswered, or  missed call unreturned.

What small technology do you use as a small business that really works for you? Let us know in the comments.