You’ll need to learn your digital ABCs if you want to succeed in the modern business world.

When you stock your shop with tools and equipment, I’ll bet you choose the very best, up-to-date models. But are you doing the same for your digital shop?

Let me explain. Your shop needs digital tools and equipment to keep a robust online presence. Nowadays, everything starts online. If you don’t have at least the basic tools and understanding to run your digital storefront, then it’s going to impact your physical store. You don’t have to be an expert, but you need to understand what’s going on with your digital marketing. I’ve found that LinkedIn learning courses are amazing. They’re not expensive, and they can help educate you about the online world.

Step-by-step

Sometimes I’ll ask shop owners about SEO or SEM, and they don’t know what I’m talking about. Yet, they’re hiring people to do this work for them, or even trying to do it themselves. LinkedIn makes it extremely easy—they break it up into different courses, and you can pick what you want to learn. It only costs about $35 a month, and it’s in layman’s terms, step-by-step.

For example, you can learn about Facebook advertising. Facebook makes changes constantly. They’re rolling out a new change at the end of this year where users can delete their information. This is going to make a big impact on the industry, especially to anyone who’s used to having a long list of user interactions. This fall, they’re going to see a significant dip as Facebook users take advantage of deleting their history. If you know the change is coming, you’ll want to know how to pivot and plan for it.

You can learn how to market on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, during a session that will last maybe half an hour to an hour. You’ll be walked through everything, and be able to understand what your consultant is saying to you. It creates transparency, because you know what they’re talking about and can hold them accountable.

Competitive edge

This knowledge will give you a competitive edge, especially since major tire brands are doing their part to stay on top of what’s current. You can partner with these brands more effectively, by educating yourself and understanding what they’re doing.

This is all part of adapting to the continuous changes in our environment. Tires are changing, the buying cycle is changing, and customers are changing. The younger generation needs to be enticed, and that starts online.

We live in a time where people want things right away, in the palm of their hands, and they don’t want to be confused. A little education will help you deliver that level of service to your customers before they walk through your door. Chances are, even if they’ve been with you forever, they’re going to be online and looking at your digital storefront before they even call or come in. So make sure you’re ready for them.