"It is not an easy thing for MSMEs to build their brand. Many MSMEs do not have a brand, they just sell," BRIN's main researcher, Wati Hermawati, said at a webinar on "Digitalization: Development, Policies, and its Implementation in the Business Sector" here on Thursday.
She underlined that strong marketing and branding are needed by MSME players to make their businesses sustainable. Lack of branding will make it difficult for MSMEs to survive in the long term.
"Product marketing, indeed, must be built," she stressed.
Hermawati further said that 51.2 percent of MSME players said that they faced difficulty accessing capital, 46.3 percent had difficulty meeting their raw material needs, and 30 percent had difficulty adopting digital technology.
"In every MSME that we have visited or observed, there is always a shortage of skilled workers in the field of IT (information technology)," she added.
Moreover, she continued, in micro-scale businesses, the owners often double up as marketing staff, production staff, and IT staff.
The researcher then outlined several steps that can be implemented by MSME players to face marketing challenges.
The first step is investing in human resources who are skilled in IT as well as its supporting tools and infrastructure. The second step is carrying out market and competitor research.
"Determine the business model that will be implemented, whether you want to change the entire sales model or just the internal work system; that is what must be decided," she expounded.
Furthermore, business actors must also determine what platforms they will use and learn search engine optimization (SEO) to maximize digital marketing.
"Then, utilize all supporting software, such as mobile banking to check (bank account) balances online," she added.
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Translator: Putu Indah, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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