SEATTLE, WA and ANTWERP, BELGIUM / ACCESSWIRE / January 17, 2022 / FCR Media, a digital marketing company facilitating commerce for small businesses, has announced the launch of a new app, Sitee, which aims to empower small businesses in Belgium with a range of digital tools. The new app was built in partnership with vcita, the Seattle-based small business management platform.
Designed as a self-service option to augment FCR Media's managed service business, Sitee is a total business management solution, delivering the tools and features that self-employed entrepreneurs and small teams need to undergo digital transformation so they can thrive amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation.
The app includes online appointment scheduling, automated invoicing, digital payment capabilities, a customer communications portal and full CRM, and digital marketing software to power customized email newsletters and text messaging.
FCR Media and vcita already enjoy a strong partnership, having shared a platform at the Siinda Live conference in Berlin in October for a panel discussion entitled "Digital Solutions for SMBs," where they shared how FCR Media is repositioning vcita's technology as the main offering for FCR Media's SME users in order to realign FCR Media's small business support system for the needs of the business ecosystem in 2022.
The new app represents an exciting opportunity for two small business-oriented tech companies to work together to strengthen the local Belgian SME ecosystem, add value to their users, and ramp up support for local businesses.
With the addition of Sitee, FCR Media is now able to offer a complete suite of small business management tools that allow SME owners to manage their business digitally, scale up their company, and meet customer expectations for friction-free, digital experiences.
"We're excited to be able to offer Sitee to our self-employed and SME clients," said Bart van der Heijden, Director of Strategy and Innovation at FCR. "Sitee is an easy to use small business management platform that enables small business owners to pivot online, complete their online offering, and manage everything remotely, in a single location, removing any confusion or chaos."
FCR Media is also integrated with Yext, a platform that helps local small businesses with SEO and reputation management, so that small business owners can control online reviews and manage their presence on social media channels, all from a single location.
"We're delighted to join with FCR Media to apply our combined strengths to supporting SME owners in Belgium who are eager to seize new opportunities to bounce back and grow their businesses," said Rinat Bogin, vcita's VP of Partner Development. "We see exciting potential for a new wave of small business growth and development, and we're committed to opening up access to the digital tools they need to bring that potential to life."
Belgium has indeed seen accelerated digital transformation among its small business community. Belgium's SMEs recognize that today's customers expect self-service information portals, online purchasing, hassle-free appointment scheduling, digital payments and receipts, and instant communication through chat and text.
"Sitee is actually a combination of all of our services that we already offer as our agency's managed services," said van der Heijden. "We want small business owners to reach more customers, save time on doing business, get paid faster, and manage their reputation. What we tried to do with Sitee is to group all of that into one self-service platform to cater to all these different customer journeys."
Van der Heijden added that the new app goes beyond simple lead generation to actively help grow Belgian small businesses. "What we believe is very important is that instead of just delivering leads into the website or doing campaigns, we are part of daily business. We are there to help grow the business with payments, with campaigns to the websites, and help meaningfully manage business growth," he said.
In 2021, FCR Media took second place in the Digimedia Top 100, a ranking of the 100 top digital agencies in Belgium, largely thanks to its increased commitment to helping businesses. Its partnership with vcita to launch Sitee is one more way that FCR Media is continuing the same mission.
The FCR Media partnership represents the next step in an extremely active year for vcita in Europe. Earlier this year, vcita launched Prestato, a collaboration with a startup of the same name designed to serve SMEs in the Netherlands. In addition, vcita partnered with Mastercard and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry to launch Levelup21, an interactive educational challenge for French SMEs undergoing digital transformation.
About vcita
vcita helps small business owners and entrepreneurs build and manage a business they're proud of. Our dedicated business management platform and education hub address all day-to-day needs of SMEs, allowing them to remain competitive in an ever-changing digital-first economy. vcita's easy-to-use app helps solopreneurs and small teams manage their entire business online, turning time-consuming tasks like scheduling, payment collection, and marketing into simple, one-click operations. We build strategic partnerships with global enterprises to create long-lasting customer engagement and new SME growth opportunities. For more information, visit www.vcita.com/partners or follow us on LinkedIn.
About FCR
FCR Media is a digital marketing agency employing 250 people to serve Belgium's small business ecosystem. It has partnerships with Microsoft and Wix, is a premier partner with Google, the country's only Bing ads partner, and runs goldenpages.be, the largest business directory in Belgium, as well as DexVille, an advertising agency for larger SMEs.
Contact:
Dan Edelstein
[email protected]
SOURCE: vcita