It’s been a few months since the pandemic shook the world. Hundreds of businesses have closed down due to COVID 19, and you’re probably worried about yours, too. The pandemic has increased the need for digitization and technology. People are turning to online selling and other online services to keep their businesses alive during these times. You should, too! Here are a couple of technologies that can help businesses function in the middle of a pandemic:
Electronic Payments
Although WHO has clarified that they “did not say cash was transmitting coronavirus,” cash, unlike cards, is passed from person to person, which makes it less hygienic. Cards are personal and are only kept by the owner. The same goes for other modes of electronic payments or e-payments, making transactions less risky for both the buyer and seller.
Going completely cashless seems impossible even in the future, but right now it is one of your best options. You can go cashless with the help of merchant services. They’re in charge of providing businesses the capability to accept payments via credit/debit cards and other forms of e-payments.
E-payments allow for smoother, faster, and safer transactions. With e-payments or credit/debit cards, all you have to do is to tap a couple of buttons to secure a transaction. Every single transaction is recorded immediately and automatically as well, so you don’t have to count every single dollar you earn. This allows you to compute while making fewer mistakes and saving you tons of time.
Social Media
As of February 2019, 90% of U.S. citizens ages 18 to 29 use social media. Imagine how many more people are using social media this year, now that they’re forced to go online if they can’t go outside. That’s only citizens from ages 18 to 29. Seventy-two percent of all U.S. adults are on social media as well.
Social media is one of the easiest and most cost-efficient ways to market your business. There are so many social media platforms you could use to promote your business. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter are all free to use. Both Facebook and Instagram have their ow marketplaces, where you can sell your products and services. You can even target certain audiences by using their built-in advertising tools.
Social media can also be used as a means of communication and a way to get feedback from your customers. You can also observe your competitors and analyze customer preferences through social media and use it to your advantage. It’s the best way to know about trends and get ahead of everyone else.
However, social media marketing isn’t only about posting content every single day. You have to ensure that your content is engaging to the customers. Content that isn’t engaging will get scrolled past quickly. To make engaging content, you have to be creative and visual. People are more drawn to ads that aren’t text-heavy and those that use a lot of images. Creating short video clips or GIFs is also intriguing.
If you don’t know how to do social media marketing, hire someone who does. Not only will you help your own business, but you will be giving other people work to do as well. Work that doesn’t require them to leave their houses and be exposed to the virus too.
Software
There is software for almost anything. In business, you could find word processing software, accounting software, billing software, payroll software, database software, asset management software, desktop publishing software, etc. Everything you need to run a business can be done by installing the right kind of software.
Some of the most common software in businesses includes Wix, Trello, Slack, and G Suite. Wix is one of the easiest ways for you to build your website. You don’t need any programming or coding experience for this one. Trello is a project management software that helps you and your team manage projects, tasks, and workflows. Slack is used for communication. But unlike Messenger, it allows you to divide conversations and have them all in one area without them getting lost under other chat rooms. G Suite or Google Suite is a collection of online office tools. It’s basically like Microsoft Suite, except that you can have multiple people working on a single document at the same time.
With everything going on in the world today, especially the pandemic, businesses have little to no choice but to lean toward technology, digitization, and e-commerce. Not only will it reduce the risk of contracting the virus, but you can also see how digitization is becoming more of a necessity in the long run.
