As technology advances and becomes the core of numerous fields, more and more small businesses are now depending on it in to manage expenses, enhance efficiency, improve performance and grow profitability. According to 2015’s SMB Routes to Market Study by SMB Group, 29% of all small businesses view tech as helping them to enhance results substantially.
However, keeping up with the rapid pace of technological advancements can be a burden for most business owners, who are already tasked with numerous things in order to keep their companies afloat.
That said, we have created a list of technology categories that business ought to incorporate as principle applications in this day and age.
Exponential Growth Makes Mobile an Essential Technology
It’s safe to say that no other technology has gained such a huge adoption or grown faster than mobile. In 2016 alone, more than 6 billion individuals globally used at least one mobile gadget, a number that’s expected to reach the borders of 7 billion by 2020.
This makes mobile a ‘must have’ technology in this day and age and both budding and existing companies need to incorporate its use in four ways:
- Web Design
- Use of all-in-one devices
- Apps
- Payment
Mobile Friendly Sites
With more and more individuals using smartphones and tablets to access the internet, small companies can no longer afford to overlook creating mobile-friendly versions of their sites. This is important for two reasons:
1. Search engines tend to reward mobile-friendly sires with an increase in ranking at the results pages.
2. Firms that don’t have a mobile version of their site are likely to lose business as consumers opt for those that do.
Payment Methods
Mobile payments utilization has been on the rise in the past decade. As such, it makes complete sense for businesses to incorporate their use as an option.
Mobile Applications
In the Small Business Trends article by Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurial studies, he states that ” in a world that’s turning mobile, having a well-created and tested mobile app can be a very effective marketing strategy that provides excellent results.”
Business are Adopting Cloud Technology
The utilization of on-premise hardware and software is heading the way of albatross with the availability of reliable and secure cloud-based solutions like Microsoft Office 365, and that’s a for a good reason. Cloud technology now offers greater security, efficiency, scalability and more flexibility compared to their on-premise counterparts. For extra security, Ego Secure Encryption provides a fast cloud/network encryption.
Automation in Marketing Enhances Efficiency
The release of software that automates marketing has made it much easier for small and budding companies to handle marketing activities with greater efficiency, thus removing the need to use dedicated marketing specialists.
Some of the other benefits that this automation provides are the ability to segment messages, score leads and even create processes that trigger certain responses based on the actions taken by the visitors.
Ideally, automation software is renowned for linking seamlessly with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, thus bringing sales and marketing together and providing a 360-degree view of the clients and prospects.
CRM platforms like the Microsoft Dynamics 365 do the hard work, most of which would have had to be done manually before this technology.
Email Is Still the Best Form of Marketing
Email is without a doubt a tried, tested and true form of internet marketing that has been utilized since the late 90’s. Despite predictions of its extinction is this modern world full of new technology and new marketing methods, it still ranks at the top in terms of cost-effective marketing means for small companies. As a matter of fact, email marketing was ranked as the best channel with regards to ROI in 2016 and still is up to today.
However, what is expected to change is the approach. Business owners need to get rid of ‘batch blasts’ and focus on more targeted marketing that takes into account the individual needs of every customer.
‘Mobile First’ will ideally be the mantra when it comes to creating email campaigns. With more and more individuals using smartphones, marketers need to consider the limitations presented by the small screens of mobile devices.
