Despite the Covid-19 pandemic now receding from the news agenda, the impact of the pandemic on working practices remains. The pandemic inspired lock-downs have sped up the trend toward digitalisation across all industries.
According to a recent survey by McKinsey, company executives have accelerated the digitalisation of their internal operations as well as customer and supply chain interactions by three to four years. These changes have been necessary for businesses to stay competitive in this new economic environment.
These changes are also expected to be long term, and now, more and more businesses are making strides to take their business online. For example, 83% of B2B companies will be increasing their budget for investments into digital business strategies to meet customers’ expectations and tap into new revenue streams.
For businesses offering digital services then, this accelerating trend toward digitisation offers numerous opportunities. So, what kind of services can entrepreneurs looking to capitalise on this trend provide?
Web design
To transition from offline to online, B2B companies need websites. For website designers and developers then, now is an excellent opportunity to gain new clients and grow your business. Those looking to set themselves apart from the competition should conduct research now on the B2B industry and the particular sectors they would like to target to understand what these companies need to gain a competitive edge.
Digital marketing
Marketing is an indispensable tool for in the B2B arsenal. Companies across all industries need to understand their audiences and design strategies to reach those audiences in a way that is going to encourage engagement and sales.
As more companies embrace online to a greater extent therefore, digital marketing and advertising spend is expected to increase. In fact digital B2B advertising spend is expected to surpass 14.5 billion dollars by the end of 2023. Capturing even a small percentage of this sum is the basis for a successful business.
Business that are likely to see growth in coming years then could be those offering digital marketing services such as content creation, copywriting, social media management, SEO and email marketing. Content marketing, in particular, will be very profitable moving forward with 46% of B2B companies planning on increasing their content marketing spend within the next twelve months.
Cybersecurity
While digitalisation offers numerous benefits to B2B companies, it also exposes them to cyber threats and attacks from malicious tech users. As companies switch to digital platforms and conduct business remotely, they will need cybersecurity solutions to protect them from data breaches. Tools and solutions like multi-factor authentication, password strength standards, and employee training will be necessary to help them mitigate the threat of cyber-attacks.
Cloud storage solutions
Throughout the process of digitalisation, companies will need to figure out a way to store and access their data securely. One way they can do this is by using cloud storage solutions.
Cloud storage allows companies to store data and applications on remote and secure servers for better information management and rapid scalability. If you are knowledgeable in cloud storage solutions such as Google Drive, DropBox, and OneDrive, there’s a ready market waiting to be exploited.
The process of digitalisation has been ongoing for years now, and the changes we see happening now are most likely to stick in the long term. Ecommerce is the future of business, so there’s no going back. Entrepreneurs should embrace this change now and build the business that will shape our digital future.
