{"id":60126,"date":"2023-05-11T10:45:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T00:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=60126"},"modified":"2024-02-26T11:39:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T00:39:02","slug":"digital-first-small-medium-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/au\/blog\/digital-first-small-medium-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Digital Solutions to Drive Small Business Success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Salesforce research<\/a> shows that digital-first small businesses have the advantage over their less tech-savvy counterparts when it comes to being strongly positioned to succeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By embracing digital solutions, businesses can meet the rising customer demand for digital interactions, leverage data for customer insights, and benefit from automation-powered<\/a> enhancements that drive productivity and efficiency. Customers also expect great digital experiences; our research found<\/a> that more than half of consumers prefer to purchase online than in-store and 57% prefer to engage via digital channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What being digital-first really means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So what makes a truly digital-first small business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. It\u2019s not just about the technology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For starters, being digital-first is an actionable mindset as much as a shift to a specific app or technology. Digital-first businesses are always looking for opportunities to replace traditional methods with digital solutions that will make them faster, more accurate and more cost-effective. Think of it as a strategic outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. It means using digital solutions to prioritise the customer experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about being able to offer a digital experience to your customers so they can engage and purchase across a range of platforms and channels \u2014 a website is just the beginning. Digital-first businesses also leverage the power of email marketing<\/a> and social media, and they might even offer self-service portals or chatbots for FAQs and simple requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. It means applying digital solutions across all business operations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Being digital-first means operating your business with digital solutions wherever possible across marketing, sales and service. It\u2019s also about digitising the internal processes of business operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CRM is usually the framework for a digital-first business. In fact, our research has found that 67% of growing SMBs<\/a> have harnessed CRM. By contrast, only 48% of stagnant or declining SMBs use it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look at why SMBs go digital, and some actionable ways your business can leverage new business technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Insights from more than 2,500 small and medium business leaders<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Find out how small and medium businesses are responding to the digital imperative.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\tGet the report<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
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Why businesses choose to be digital-first<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Small Medium Business Trends report<\/a> found three key motivators driving growing SMBs to accelerate their technology investments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n