By optimizing digital marketing, MSMEs can have greater access to markets.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Communication and Informatics Ministry has outlined five tips for micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) players looking to ensure the continuity of their businesses.

"The first tip for MSMEs is to ensure that they can maintain optimal quality of products and services. For products and services, never once attempt to compromise on quality," Director of Information and Communication on Economic and Maritime Affairs at the ministry Septriana Tangkary said here on Tuesday.

If MSMEs offer good quality products and services, they will become more reputable, and they will have greater market access, she explained.

MSME products and services must consistently be improved through innovations and developments that involve consumers, she said.

"Do not ever feel as if a product, which is already good, needs no more improvement. It would eventually cost us some customers because it has not been improved," Tangkary cautioned.

The second tip is for MSMEs to manage their finances well and tap into the potential of digitalization.

Financial management includes improving capability in terms of financial literacy and digital literacy, she said. By honing their skills in those two aspects, MSMEs can improve the performance of their businesses through digitalization.

The third tip is for MSMEs to use all digital marketing platforms to extend their market reach.

"By optimizing digital marketing, MSMEs can have greater access to markets. (If access) through WhatsApp groups is already fast as it is, (then imagine) if all social medias and marketplaces are used; of course, the marketing will be more effective," she highlighted.

The fourth tip is for them to consistently undertake networking and establish new connections as that could help open up greater access to market and capital as well as improve the supply chain for the distribution of their products, Tangkary said.

Lastly, MSMEs must consider the environmental aspects and adapt to them, she advised.

"For example, when we sell coffee, we prefer paper-based packaging compared to plastics. So on top of giving good and appealing packaging, we also give positive impact for the environment," she said.

According to the ASEAN Investment Report, as of September 2022, Indonesia has 65.46 million MSMEs, with their contribution to the national gross domestic product reaching 60.3 percent.

Despite this, only 30 percent of MSMEs joined the digital ecosystem in 2022, according to the Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry.

It is expected that national MSMEs will develop and maintain the sustainability of their businesses in 2024, and more than 30 million MSMEs will tap into digitization.

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Translator: Livia K, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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