The latest UK Business Digital Index has polled that 23% of small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) lack basic digital skills.
Digital Trends
The Index tracks and measures levels of digital ability amongst SMEs and charities. It suggests that there is a trend towards SMEs embracing digital skills. However there are still a million SMEs that don’t have basic digital skills.
In the charity sector, 58% of charities don’t have digital skills.
Digital skills
Digital skills can include having a website and updating it regularly with blogs, having social media presence such as Twitter and Facebook and using e-commerce.
Challenges and perceived benefits for small businesses
There are challenges around the benefits many SME perceive from embracing digital skills. 25% of SMEs see this as irrelevant and 27% believe they have embraced as much digital skills as they possibly could.
The report found that firms which embrace digital skills are twice as more likely to increase turnover.
Comments from Lloyds
Miguel-Ángel Rodríguez-Sola,the group director for digital at Lloyds Banking Group stated:
“In just one year it is pleasing to see that over 100,000 more small businesses in the UK now have basic digital skills.”
“But what is also clear is that real challenges remain – over a million small businesses and charities still lack basic digital skills and the perceived benefits of being digital remain. For example 25 per cent of all organisations surveyed believe digital is ‘irrelevant’ to them. We cannot emphasis enough the benefits that digital adoption can offer – such as saving time, increasing revenue or funding or reaching wider audiences. Digital is the key to unlock these benefits.”
To find out how Avery Clifton can assist small businesses with their digital marketing please contact us on 0118 907 9224.