New technology continues to offer digital improvements for businesses. A recent survey of business executives showed that 97% believed a company can not compete in today's marketplace without a digital transformation. Small and mid-sized companies are better situated to adopt innovations to help them better serve their customers and employees. Here are four ways your business can benefit and grow from digital technology, presented by the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce.

1. Streamline Operations with Cloud Computing

Imagine having your business operations accessible outside of the office? How about being able to pull up an important document on your laptop while visiting a client? All of this is possible when you move your operations to the cloud. For example, transition your accounting to cut down the time spent on bookkeeping, taxes, and payroll, especially when you outsource the job to digital accounting experts. Workflow management software in the cloud helps you organize and manage tasks for your employees and keeps projects on target. Storing files digitally eliminates office filing cabinets and gives access to documents from any location.

2. Take Advantage of Digital Marketing

If your company doesn't have a presence on social media, it's time to get one. You can use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to build relationships with your customers and digitally market your products, services, and brand. There is no cost to set up company pages on these sites and start posting.

Creating a standout and memorable brand logo for your company is essential for your digital marketing campaign. You can make a custom logo yourself that is creative and appealing by using an online logo maker. Select an icon and style you like and fill in the needed text to view various logo choices. You can then adjust the colors and fonts until you have a design you love.

3. Improve the Customer Experience

The more information you know about your customers, the better you can offer them products and services they need or will enjoy. Through the use of customer relationship management software, you can collect data from your current and prospective clients that help you build a better relationship with them. Your marketing team can see what campaigns had the best results. Sales can identify what products and services were purchased by the customer so they know what to offer the client in the future. Customer service benefits by keeping a record of client interactions. No matter the size of your company, you can find a CRM tool to streamline your customer relations with personalized offers.

4. Boost Employee Engagement

How does employee engagement benefit your company? First, it creates a satisfied and productive workforce who have the tools to do their job efficiently. Secondly, satisfied employees result in happy customers too. Start by enabling wireless technology in your company to allow your crew to work remotely. Conferencing and messaging apps let your workforce communicate together from any location. 

Collaborative software enables all your employees to work together on a project or presentation from their remote offices. Your information technology teams are more productive when employees can contact them for support through multiple digital channels, such as email, chat, phone, or a self-service portal. You can even use a simple online editing tool to allow your team to work together to revise a document. You can learn how to edit PDFs in just a few minutes. After dropping in your file, your team can add notes, highlight areas, or even add virtual sticky notes to indicate areas for revision. You can even password protect files in a few steps to add additional security to the process.

Go Digital for Growth

Going digital in these four areas can help you streamline processes, market your company, and build loyal relationships with employees and customers. In addition, they set your company up for growth. Take advantage of free and inexpensive tools as you transition your business from paper to digital. You may see the benefits sooner than you expect!

Membership in the Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce offers invaluable benefits to entrepreneurs in our community. Join us today!