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Although many businesses shy away from investing in new technology due to the costs, the fact of the matter is that the ROI of new technology is incredibly high. In fact, research shows that small businesses that invest in and make use of new technology experience higher job and revenue growth than those that don’t.
But just what kind of technology should you be looking at? What should you be investing in to grow your business? We took a look at some of the essential tools, platforms and software that you can consider when growing your business. These are technological platforms that are not only budget conscious but will suit a small business’s unique needs. What are other companies doing and what will work for you?
Focus on Safety and Protection
The first thing that you will want to invest in is the security of everything online for your business. Cybercrime is at an all-time high and is simply growing and evolving as time goes on. One of the most important and crucial components of the business that requires investment is cybersecurity. Cybercriminals are highly sophisticated and continuously evolving. So, you need to make sure that you are also keeping up with them.
Not only is it worth investing in malware, anti-phishing, and key software to block your systems against attacks but it is also worth looking into sophisticated backup solutions. By investing in a backup online storage solution, you’ll know that all of your data and information are secure and protected.
Remember, you are faced with internal as well as external risks, so having your data and information backed up is one of the most effective ways of ensuring business continuity and recovery should something happen. Keep in mind too, internal company training is essential. A large percentage of attacks take place due to staff and human error.
Create Communities Around Your Brand
How can you use technology to build up your businesses? Well, social media platforms are certainly one of the most effective ways of extending your reach, increasing your conversions, and building sales. The next thing that you will need to pay attention to is the fact that you will need to create a loyal community around your brand.
A few years ago, metrics such as followers and likes were the most important metrics to focus on. However, since then, there has been more emphasis on actual people. People who engage, and participate. People who are more likely to actually buy from you. There is a lot of focus on building up a customer base that is highly targeted and mapped out to actually be actively buying customers.
There are some great platforms on the market to help you with this. If you are focusing your efforts on TikTok, for example, growth services, such as High Social, can help you attract real and organic TikTok followers who are interested in your brand. In addition, this social media agency offers free tools (such as TikTok hashtag generator) to help you make the most of the platform.
Make Use of Marketing Tools
Digital marketing is becoming a highly sophisticated and elegant process. From social media to content marketing, SEO, paid ads, and everything in between, it is highly worthwhile to spend some money on these platforms.
You will need email platforms, social media channels, a blog, paid ads, and SEO services just to start off with. You will also need to have a relevant marketing budget to actually leverage these and utilize them effectively. For example, boost your social posts across your platforms. Features like Facebook and Instagram boosts will push your content out to more than just your direct audience. You will be face-to-face with highly targeted audiences who will be more likely to convert. Keep in mind that there are many different types of SEO. For example, if you are a tour operator, then you should consider tour operator SEO for your business.
Next, look at paid ads. Again, having a bit more of a budget will push your reach out and you will pop up directly in the search results of your audience. The ROI on having a budget for social spend is incredibly high and you will start seeing more traffic and higher conversion rates.
Test, Measure, and Monitor Everything
Now that you are investing so much, you will want to know what results you are getting. For example, that budget that you are spending on your marketing, are you really generating the traffic that you want? Is the email platform really reaching your audience and generating the opens and click-throughs that you are wanting?
Each platform has its own metrics that you can monitor. Email platforms show you the opens, social channels indicate views, click-throughs, and conversions and you are able to use Google Analytics to monitor the traffic on your site from all of your efforts.
With all of this data, you can experiment and try out different campaigns and marketing efforts and then decide on what works and what doesn’t. You are able to duplicate effective marketing campaigns if they work, understand your audiences, and streamline the whole process based on the facts and credible information from your platforms.
The Bottom Line
Don’t be afraid to experiment and test everything. Play around with different strategies and solutions. In many cases, they will give you a trial period which you will be able to use. Test it out and see which makes the most sense for your business.
