Technology advances every day. If you are not developing your business in a way that aligns with the digital world, you will soon fall behind. Today, the Deer Park Chamber of Commerce highlights a few ways that you can make digital improvements that will benefit you online and in the real world.

Workflow Efficiency

Your business operates on a workflow, even if it’s not a standard operating procedure. Unfortunately, there are many things that can derail your efficiency efforts, including working in cliques, poor reporting practices, and using outdated tools, such as old computers. Spend some time evaluating your company’s physical and digital processes, and then look for ways to boost your overall efficiency. One way to do this is by process mining, which is essentially the task of collecting data that you can use to make better decisions. Process mining can help you uncover unnecessary, repetitive, or redundant tasks. By eliminating these, you free your employees up to do things that raise your bottom line and eliminate risks. 

Digital Marketing

If you’re not currently advertising online (through email or social media), now’s the time to start. Your digital marketing endeavors begin with a custom logo that appeals to your customers and also showcases you at your very best. You can even use an online logo maker to get an idea of what you want. Then, you can use your logo across your social media for brand consistency. You can put your brand online, on letterhead, and even on custom clothing and gifts.

Cyber Security

When increasing your business’s digital footprint, be careful not to leave gaps in your cyber security that let people access information they shouldn’t see. It’s best to start by training your employees how to spot suspicious emails and phishing scams that can invite cyber predators into your company. Then, set up dual factor authentication for added security. 

It’s also best to password protect any PDFs you send through email or other digital sharing platforms. Start by merging all of the PDFs you want packaged together. There are many free PDF merger tools out there that allow you to drag and drop the files you want to merge, reorganize them, and simply select “Merge” to complete the process. Once everything is combined, go to “Tools” and choose “Protect.” There, you can “Encrypt with Password” to create a safe, secure digital package that is ready to send. 

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is useful in businesses in many different ways. The top two that come to mind are personalization and customer service, both of which are explained in greater detail by CompTIA. There are also potentially hundreds to thousands of different companies you can choose for your artificial intelligence (and other technology). Choosing the right provider is a challenge, but one quick tip that can help: call customer support before you buy. While this might seem like an outdated way to verify information, it’s quick, efficient, and shows you that a live human is there to offer assistance if you need it.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is how you make your website more visible to the search engines than the competition. It is a highly technical process that involves everything from posting great content to having a fast load time. ArticleXL has lots of blogs devoted to the topic and even offers suggestions on how to improve your own SEO if you handle your digital marketing by yourself.

Social Listening

Another important digital innovation that was not available to our parents and grandparents: social listening. Social listening involves finding out what’s being said about you on social media and then doing something about it. For example, using your Facebook profile’s analytic tools, you can see who’s mentioned you across all public Facebook pages. By looking through how people are talking, you may be able to spot trends, such as people complaining about irregular customer service hours or praising a certain product or service. This empowers you to make changes to better suit your customers.

Although you may pride yourself on offering excellent brick-and-mortar customer service, you can’t count out the value of the digital world. Don’t be afraid of technology, but do let things like artificial intelligence, social listening, and process mining put you in line for the success you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Even small changes to your operations that improve your online presence and technical tools can have a huge and positive effect on your business’s bottom line, your customers, and your employees.

Connect with other local businesses and learn what’s working for them by joining your local Chamber of Commerce!