The Right Choice: 7 Reasons to Apply for SME Digitalisation Grant
Is your business well-equipped for the digital marketplace? Does your brand have a strong online presence? If the answer is no, then you’re missing out on a BIG opportunity to grow your business. 💡
Looking beyond COVID-19, the global economy is undergoing digital transformations as traditional commerce in many countries are disrupted and consumers today need to engage with companies online.
If you’re a SME owner thinking of new ways to rebuild your business, we’re glad you’re here.
Digitalisation promises higher revenue, enhanced customer experience, and a whole new level of productivity like you’ve never seen before. 💥
With the shift of consumer behaviour in mind, look at how these companies are killing it in their digital transformation.
MYDIN launched Mydin Express, an all-in-one shopping service platform (drive-through, self pick-up, delivery) that allows customers to shop conveniently in times of uncertainties.
Sephora, also recognised the importance of a digital makeover for its brand and customers can now try on beauty products via Sephora Virtual Artist features on the app before purchasing online.
But while many know they need to adopt digital tools to recover and grow, Malaysia’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are struggling with this digital shift, with only one in three businesses achieving digital adoption.
Well, did you know that SMEs entrepreneurs just like you can now apply for a SME Digitalisation Grant worth up to RM5,000? Yes, it’s true. 👍
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about SME Digitalisation Grant.
What is SME Digitalisation Grant?
In an effort to encourage SMEs to move rapidly and effectively into the digital sphere, the SME Digitalisation Grant has been introduced by the government alongside Malaysia Digital Economic Corporation (MDEC), Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) and SME bank.
SME Digitalisation Grant is a Budget 2021 initiative to assist Malaysian SMEs to digitalise their business for daily operations. Under this grant, the government will provide you with 50% funding support of up to RM5,000 for the subscription of approved digital solutions.
The grant focuses on the following 7 key digitalisation areas for SMEs:
- Digital Marketing / Sales
- Electronic Point of Sale System
- Human Resource Payroll System / Customer Relationship Management
- Procurement
- E-commerce
- Remote Working
- Enterprise Resource Planning / Accounting and Taxation
For most SMEs, one of the biggest challenges is the first step to digital transition. OECD stated the entry point starts with digitalising marketing functions to drive brand awareness and generate leads.
If you are looking to embark on the journey of digital marketing or kickstart your first digital marketing campaign, this is the perfect opportunity! 😍
As a certified and approved MDEC Technology Solutions Provider (TSP), we are equipped with the right tools, resources, and solutions to help your business go further, and go digital.
This grant is only limited to the first 100,000 SMEs, so hurry up!
Who is Eligible for the SME Digitalisation Grant?
SMEs must fulfill the following requirements:
- At least 60% Malaysian-owned
- Registered under relevant laws of Malaysia and classified as SME
- Minimum business operations of at least six (6) months
- Minimum RM50,000 average annual sales turnover
If your company meets all the criterias mentioned above, you can now look for a trusted digital marketing agency and find the ideal digital marketing service package that suits your business needs.
What are the Required Documents?
- Application Form
Completed SME Grant Application Form
- ID Form
A copy of the identification card or passport of all relevant individuals, such as the director(s)/ partner(s)/owner(s) of the company
- Company Registration Form
A copy of the SME’s business registration licenses in full set
- Financial Statements
Latest audited financial statements, or latest financial management account statement, or your company’s bank statement for the last two (2) months
- Invoice
Invoice or billing agreement for the selected digital marketing services from the approved list of TSP under MDEC
- Others
Additional documents as and when required by the bank (if any)
How to Apply for the SME Digitalisation Grant?
Not sure where to begin? You may follow the step-by-step process below to successfully apply for the grant. 👇
Why You Should Apply for the SME Digitalisation Grant?
Digitalisation is critical for businesses’ success and survival. According to Twilio, 95% of the global organisations plan to keep investing in digital customer engagement even after the pandemic ends.
Today’s tech-savvy consumers have more choices than ever before. To stand out, your brand must be able to achieve brand awareness and connect with your customers in a meaningful way.
Let’s look at how SME Digitalisation Grant can bring you a step closer to realise the full potential of digital marketing opportunities. 🚀
- Cost-effective
- Flexibility
- Available Expertise & Resources
- Tailored Solutions for Brand Development
- Who are your ideal customers?
- Where are they located?
- What is their purchase behaviour?
- What is the most effective channel to communicate with them?
- What solutions do you offer for your customers’ problems?
- And more!
- Increased Team Productivity
- Track & Monitor Your Progress
- Achieve the Right Results
When you actually compare traditional marketing to digital marketing, one thing becomes clear: digital marketing creates as much impact yet costing way less.👍
While big companies have the budget to allocate for TV ads, billboards, newspaper, radio spots and more, it’s difficult for SMEs to compete with them due to limited budget and resources.
Digital marketing, however, puts businesses of all sizes on the same playing field by allowing SMEs to reach a wider customer base and remain competitive online, globally.
Working with a digital marketing agency will further reduce unnecessary expenses which you can reinvest into scaling up your marketing efforts. 💪
You’ll be surprised to learn that hiring an agency is considerably cheaper than sustaining your in-house marketing team. Continue reading to find out!
Any marketing efforts you’ve implemented should never go to waste.🙅♀️
Let’s face it, the downside of traditional marketing is the fact that you can’t make changes once your campaign goes live.
Imagine having the wrong discount percentage on your print ads, how can you fix that when they’re already out?
With digital marketing, you have the power to instantly update your content whenever necessary to help drive better results.📈
Do things like SEO, click-through rate or lead conversion rate make sense to you? Have you ever tried to develop a website? What about social media marketing and email marketing? Do you know which online strategy is right for your business? 🤔
If the answer is no, then your business would benefit from hiring a digital marketing agency.
It’s because: your business gets access to an extensive range of services that could’ve been outside the scope of your organization. 🔍
Whether it’s digital advertising, content marketing, social media marketing or web development, every marketing service requires different expertise and tools to achieve the best results.
Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t run a marketing campaign on your own, but the cumulative cost of different marketing specialists and online tools can be quite high for SMEs. It may also take longer to achieve the desired results.
A leading agency will help you regain your creative spark, by building off your existing marketing efforts and deliver incredible success for your marketing budget. ✔️
Developing a personalised marketing plan includes taking into account your business’ overall aspects, which covers:
Lots of research needs to be done!⌛ Perhaps there are new business partnerships, or maybe a new target market you can aim for to navigate today’s marketplace.
Proven skills from digital experts might be exactly what you need for your business to finally take the next step.
Regardless of what products or services your business offers, you’re probably wearing multiple hats.
Having a well-defined digital marketing strategy is crucial for ranking higher in search results, driving customers to your website, converting web traffic into sales and more.
A digital marketing agency brings in an all-star team to manage all your online marketing needs with the goal of achieving the same objectives which tie directly back to sales and revenue. 💲
Instead of thinking about social media content ideas or website updates, your in-house marketing team can work on the next big thing – improving business structure, operational efficiencies, or even opening more stores!
All you have to do is set the budget and expectations, the agency will manage the rest so you can focus on what you do best. 🙂
Are you tired of feeling lost whether your traditional marketing campaigns are working? 😫
Digital marketing analytics remove the guesswork in determining if your online activities are driving results that contribute to your business growth.
From social media to SEO, you can gain accurate insights from various metrics of each campaign such as impressions and reach, engagement, conversions, and more.
Let’s say, customers are not responding well to your new product launch campaign.
With detailed reports from a professional agency, you’ll be informed with all the insightful information to improve your gameplan! 🧠
You’ve definitely experienced a limit in profitability and business growth with traditional ‘spray-and-pray’ marketing methods, where brand messages are fired blindly to the largest audience possible in hopes of hitting the target. 🎯
To build an effective integrated marketing strategy, you must reach out to the right people.
Marketing over digital platforms offers sophisticated targeting options based on your customers’ demographics, online behaviour, purchase history, repeat purchases and loyalty.
With this grant, it will propel your company to new heights with more sales from new customers! 😍
What’s the next step? Consider these 7 factors when you’re looking for the perfect brand agency.
What does Brand360 do Differently?
We believe creating a brand is the most influential part of any business.
Every client comes to us with different expectations, in-house skill sets, and resources. We serve as the forefront of your marketing team to understand your needs and develop customised brand solutions that fit.
The digital solutions offered by Brand360 focuses on strategy, design and marketing:
We started our agency with the core purpose of helping local SMEs like yours to grow their business, so that Malaysian brands can proudly share their brand story with the world.🇲🇾🌏
And since then, we’ve served over 160 happy clients with 90% excellence rating. ⭐
In Conclusion
As you can tell, firms that implement digital transformation strategies have greater resiliency in the face of adversity.
In fact, today’s marketplace revolves around providing customers with useful, interesting, timely, and relevant information.
Digitally enhancing your online presence will certainly build multi-dimensional growth for your business. 📈
Do you have an interesting story to convey but no one knows about your brand identity?
Now is the best opportunity for you to convert your story into sales through strategic brand development!
If you want to learn more about SME Grant or our services, contact us here. 🙂
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