There’s no time like the present

A quarter of SMEs say a lack of basic digital awareness and skills holds them back according to a recent report by Go ON UK.

98% of UK small firms use the internet for business purposes but many aren't capitalising on the opportunities open to them – only 64% have a website which is astonishing in today’s digital era. Given how accessible (and most importantly free) many marketing tools are for small businesses, investing a small window of time each week can lead to a whole new world of opportunity.

Digital is often regarded as a separate entity in a marketing strategy – something you know you should be focusing on but not really seeing or understanding its true value. If you’re an SME, digital communications can benefit you in a number of ways – saving costs, reaching a targeted audience and gaining a valuable insight into your customers. It comes down to having trust and confidence in digital technology which is where some feel a lack of knowledge is holding them back.

A good example is Kodak, who were once ranked as the 4th most valuable consumer brand in the world, who decided not to focus on digital and were soon overtaken by their competitors such as Sony who were investing in new technologies and embracing the opportunities digital had to offer them. But what can we learn from the mistakes of brands such as Kodak who have shied away from digital? Kelly Allison, MD of KVA Digital says companies should always be watching for the ‘next big thing’. What was tragic about Kodak’s story is that they had already invented the digital camera back in 1975 but decision makers had decided not to pursue the digital alternative to film as it would take internal resource away from the main moneymaker. While it’s essential to protect the current revenue streams of today, you should never neglect what could possibly happen in several years time.

Critical to the success of a company is knowing who you are and what makes you unique. We always find it exciting to sit down with clients at the beginning of a digital strategy and start to dig a bit deeper into their vision for where the brand is going. There’s almost always unexplored messages that come to light which actually form the bare bones of a campaign strategy and ensures messaging is targeted, digestible and effective. Working with an external agency is great for messaging workshops as it allows a fresh approach to delve deeper and uncover hidden communication gems. Even though technology may change along the way, the value of your brand shouldn’t. Seek to understand exactly what value customers get from your service/product and stay focused on that.

We’re firm believers that everyone has the power to embrace digital and to understand its power to communicate with your audience and most importantly, track progress and measure ROI. The key is to utilise any information you have which allows you an insight into your target audience – what do they want to see, what will resonate with them and what will they feel compelled to share. The power of sharing whether it be recommendation by word of mouth or online via social platforms will be crucial in growing your reach without paid advertising and allowing your brand to gain visibility to an audience only previously accessible via paid media.

As human beings, we are naturally afraid of change. Use the analogy of walking down Marketing road and coming across a tall brick wall for example. By scanning the area around it, we should be able to find a detour and follow it to get where we want to go. This situation shouldn’t cause us any stress but our brains offer a number of things that cause us to see things differently. Because we’ve always taken the same Marketing road before, we worry that the new Digital road won’t take us where we want to go. When we encounter the brick wall roadblock, suddenly information we trusted has broken down. Where does the new Digital road lead? How long will it take? Is it challenging? What we don’t know tends to scare us and as a result, we tend to try to prevent change at all costs.

But change is good and there’s no time like the present.