Similar to the nation at large, Massachusetts SMBs leaned more heavily on digital tools during COVID–19 than they had previously (74% vs. 72% avg.) and generally found digital tools more helpful during COVID–19 (57% vs. 53%) than they had previously.
Looking to the future, most (54%) intend to make heavier use of digital tools in the future. Reflecting their focus on retaining (44%) and growing (42%) their customer base, these SMBs are especially interested in adopting digital advertising (14% vs. 9%) and customer insights tools (12% vs. 11%).
1) Business websites (73% vs. 69%)
2) Social media/video platforms (64% vs. 69%)
3) Digital payments (64% vs. 67%)
How will I...
Optimize my business operations? (36% vs. 39%)
Retain my customer base? (44% vs. 42%)
Grow my customer base? (42% vs. 40%)
Recover from the damages done by COVID-19? (36% vs. 44%)
1) Local listings (9% vs. 9%)
2) Digital ads (14% vs. 9%)
3) Customer insights tools (12% vs. 11%)
1) Webinars or livestreams (45% vs. 47%)
2) Step-by-step video tutorials (54% vs. 56%)
3) Step-by-step written guides (47% vs. 42%)
Boston, Massachusetts
With an already quasi-remote workforce, this company leaned even more heavily into remote connectivity tools to coordinate scheduling, create new business offerings and offer crisis information.
