Google reaches out

m&k: Patrick Warnking, is Google discovering Swiss SMEs or are SMEs finally recognizing the opportunities Google offers them in terms of digitization?

Patrick Warnking: Digitization has been going on for years among SMEs, but it has definitely received a massive boost now. We have seen a massive increase in demand, especially for training on digital topics, digital know-how, marketing know-how, and digital tools. We have been offering training on digital topics for eight years now. But last summer we held a Summer Academy for the first time, and in times of the pandemic we received a massive influx.

So the Corona pandemic was a long overdue wake-up call?

Yes, it has become even more obvious that the two channels online and offline are very closely intertwined and interact. I think for most products and services now it's not just about either-or, but combining them in a meaningful way. This became significantly more relevant for SMEs during the lockdown, where visiting stores in person was not possible. This has been seen locally and regionally, in retail, but also in tourism. This dovetailing of on- and offline is becoming the new normal. We have also published figures with the initiative that show that the search for answers in certain areas has increased massively.

Where do you think SMEs have the most catching up to do in terms of digitization?

It starts with the digital business card, the website. It is crucial that this loads quickly. First, the benchmark here is three to four seconds loading time; second, the website must be optimized for the smartphone. Over 50 percent of access to the Internet now takes place via smartphones, and a website has to be built differently for a smartphone than for a desktop. And the third is the issue of working with video. Many people want to learn about products and services with a video, and still very few SMEs have videos in their offering to better explain their products and services.

It can be observed that stationary retail in the city centers in particular has come under quite a bit of pressure, with the increased demand for e-commerce. More and more specialty stores are having to close. To what extent do you see this partner initiative as a countermovement here? Do you want to consciously push the connection between online and offline according to the motto "best of both worlds"?

Definitely. We believe that both will remain important in the future, the digital as well as the stationary. With the initiative, we want to provide tools so that companies can also strengthen their stationary retail. Concrete examples are, for one, the entries in Google My Business. It is important that customers can see what the opening hours of stationary retail are. We see that this accounts for a large proportion of search queries. Maybe customers don't know by heart whether the hardware store is now open until 6, 7 or 8 p.m. on Saturday evening and want to quickly look that up. That's very easy with Google My Business and it's free.

The second point is that we have now advertised, also as part of the initiative, a new form of advertising, specifically for services, so-called "ads for local services". There, customers can arrange times to get advice on the spot. The third thing is that they have the ability to use Google Shopping ads to ultimately show what products are in stock at the store. So, there's a technical interface to the stock software from a brick-and-mortar retailer and they can see what product is available at what price at what location. The retailer only has to pay if someone actually clicks on it; the display is free. These are all measures and digital tools that help strengthen brick-and-mortar retail and also help people continue to go to stores.

For SMEs, the keyword "free of charge" might be interesting, although the question arises here: At what point does it cost something after all?

We have always been very interested in ensuring that Google's advertising customers can see exactly what advertising with Google costs and what advertising with Google brings in. In Google Search, we charge according to clicks. This means that only when a prospective customer clicks on a link and in this case comes to the merchant, only then does this click have to be paid for and the merchant can immediately calculate what a click costs me and what a click brings me. No merchant has to make a commitment about an investment; so there is no commitment or minimum investment. They can handle it quite flexibly with daily budgets or monthly budgets, so they're sure they're never paying and investing more than they actually want to. Google has grown over the years by being the most transparent marketing channel. And what plays a big role here in the initiative is that we work with partners who very closely represent the interests of their SMEs and are very careful to ensure that the things we offer with them are really in the interests and for the benefit of the SMEs.

The initiative seems to be focused primarily on B2C. What does the partner initiative offer for the B2B sector?

On the one hand, there are Google tools there, such as "Google Meet" video conferencing, that you can use. In the B2B segment, it's important to be able to have a video conference. There are the G Suite collaboration tools, Google Suite for SMBs and G Suite for startups. These are Internet-based tools that make it easy to communicate with business partners over the Internet. And then there are additional tools and tools from us in cloud, in artificial intelligence or machine learning. There are tools in the area of cybersecurity. The last point I would emphasize is that digital channels play a role for exports, especially in B2B.

Of course, Switzerland Global Enterprise is also on board against this background, isn't it?

Absolutely, yes. Of course, this is an opportunity for B2B SMEs that operate internationally, that now in the crisis, when a lot of things are shifting to digital, there are simply new opportunities to use digital channels to find new customers abroad as well and to communicate more closely with existing customers.

Let's talk about the volumes of data that Google generates and also uses accordingly. Many SMEs shy away from this. What are your strategies for reassuring SMEs about this?

We try to lower the barriers to entry in all areas and work with partners precisely because they are very close to the SMEs. Localsearch has a large sales team that is regionally on site at the SME and also offers personal talks. This means that we offer, among other things, Localsearch training, which can then tailor individual solutions for SMEs and also advise these SMEs locally. We believe that we are the most transparent marketing channel and perhaps also the most democratic, because actually everyone can have access and acquire the knowledge very easily. We provide the courses for this free of charge.

Google's analysis of people's movement profiles has caused a media stir in recent months. How can SMEs use this for their own benefit?

To evaluate marketing activities as an SME, I would like to point out Google Trends. There, companies can look up how aggregated, anonymized search queries behave regionally or locally free of charge, without logging in. So they can analyze exactly which topics, even which brands, were searched for how much in which time period. We democratize the search queries there and make them completely transparent, so that every retailer and every customer can benefit from them.

Many say that Corona means a digitalization push. But if you look closely, you often notice: analog processes are improvised with digital tools. What needs to happen in Switzerland for true digitization to be established?

I think an important point to accelerate is so-called lifelong learning. That's where we made a very strong commitment last year and launched the "LifeLongLearning" initiative with Digital Switzerland and other associations. I believe this is particularly important for SMEs because, in case of doubt, SMEs cannot afford to hire additional digital experts, as large companies might be able to do; instead, SMEs are dependent on providing existing employees with further training in digital topics, and to do this, there must be a willingness on the part of management to make additional time available to people for this purpose, because this cannot simply be done on top for everyone. I don't think you can expect people who already work a lot to spend evenings or weekends on intensive training. Instead, I think it's up to the management to create free space where this training can take place, so that know-how can be built up within the company and, as you say, digital processes can be accelerated further.

A digitally agile generation is growing up - they come with already highly developed digital expertise. How can digital natives be better integrated into existing SME structures? Can Google play a supporting role here?

I believe that you should do two things as an SME management. One is to consider how to further develop the corporate culture so that it is also interesting for digital natives; this includes offering flexible working hours and locations, but also taking up topics such as diversity and inclusion, as well as the topic of empowerment. This includes involving employees in decisions and giving them insight into business development. This also makes an SME even more interesting for the younger generation.

And the second tip?

Continuing education. For example, working with video. If I was the CEO of an SME, I would start a small video competition and say - you make two-person teams and your task is to create a 60-second video about products or services from our SME - and then you have an aperitif - and all the two-person teams present their videos. This gives a good dynamic between the young digital natives and the employees who have been in the profession for a long time.

How do you teach your children to handle data?

We have five children between the ages of 11 and 19. You have to educate yourself as an adult and familiarize yourself with the technical options you have. My wife and I regularly sit down with the kids and discuss their digital consumption, both the quantity and which channels they are on. You can't delegate that to the school; parents have to get involved.