The digitization of SMEs would increase GDP by 7%

9 out of 10 companies in Spain are SMEs and 94% of them are micro-SMEs. On the occasion of Internet Day on May 17, it is worth remembering that the digitization of SMEs could lead to an increase in GDP in Spain of up to 7%.

To help these companies in their digitization, acens wanted to analyze how a company can grow and what technologies it needs to do so.

“Strengthening their presence on the internet, saving time by digitizing processes, improving productivity thanks to technology or better managing their relationship with their customers, are some of the improvements that SMEs could benefit from if they know how to take advantage of the opportunity that technology offers”, says Mayte López (Product Manager of Online Stores at acens).

Digitization of SMEs

This is how an SME can grow and what technologies it needs to do so:

• e-Market model: Almost 30% of consumers say they shop online once a week. The eMarket for SMEs is a growth opportunity that you can take advantage of thanks to the current context of accessible aids and technologies. For an SME without an internet presence, taking your business to the online world is easy thanks to the variety of solutions offered by the market. “The key is to choose an easy digital solution that does not require technical knowledge, that keeps the web always accessible from any device and in different languages, with domain management and hosting, that promotes the business in the main search engines, directories, maps or social networks, and that at the same time includes a basic Online Store to make the leap to e-commerce”, says Mayte. For SMEs that already have a website, it is time to move forward by incorporating an Online Store, improving its features with advanced payment and shipping methods, with Online Marketing features and integration with Google Shopping to increase traffic and improve sales. In addition, with Tu Marketing Local any SME can be registered in the main directories, so that they have more visibility and improve their online reputation, and they also have the option of putting the management of their SEM campaigns in Google Ads in the hands of experts with Your Managed Advertising.

7 out of 10 SMEs have a website and activity on social networks, but only 2 out of 10 have a digitization plan

• Collaborative model: An SME can grow by increasing its production and for this it is necessary to increase productivity. Google Workspace Business and Teams Essential (Microsoft Office) are two collaborative tools that facilitate remote working in an agile and simple way in the cloud: email, sharing and editing documents, video calls, storage and security controls. Also for the case of data loss, there are information recovery solutions such as Cloud Backup.
• “Care customer service” model: An SME can also grow by improving delivery times and customer management. Having a CRM (platform to efficiently manage the entire life cycle) is a very useful business solution. Spreadsheets that store all the information related to customers can be replaced by very easy-to-use CRM solutions, with functions suitable for users of small structures. According to S4G Consulting, making good use of CRM can help companies increase their leads by up to 30%. Uploading this CRM to the cloud is also very simple, since there are compatible solutions on the market such as Managed Cloud, which make it easy to have a high-performance platform in a few hours.
• External growth model: When an SME grows due to its merger or the acquisition of another company, one of the challenges it faces is the lack of communication between systems and the difficulty in accessing information. Migrating your infrastructure to the Cloud can be a solution to facilitate the technological integration of companies.