The digital age is upon us, and it’s changing the way business is conducted. It all started in the 1950s when analogue and mechanical technology began the transition to digital. In 1965, American businessman Gordon Moore began to study this trend and developed an observation around it called ‘Moore’s law’.
In layman’s terms, Moore’s law shows that the computing capability of technological devices doubles every two years. This has huge implications for businesses worldwide, so embracing the digital age can mean the difference between your business sinking or swimming. Here’s how the tech revolution is changing business irreversibly as we speak…
Social media
This is perhaps the most effective tool in reaching consumers today. Reviews can be harmful if you don’t provide good service or products, but they can also help you pinpoint the weaknesses in your business and weed them out. Even politicians have realized this, and most of this year’s presidential campaign has been driven by online rhetoric.
Apps
These go hand in hand with social media, are just as important. The mobile consumer base has the ability to use their applications from anywhere that has cell service or a wireless connection. As of 2015, 68 percent of adults in the United States own a smartphone. Building a presence through an app brings accessibility to the customer, which is key in building loyalty.
Cloud computing
This technology allows businesses to store their information remotely in servers or data centers. They require minimal management, they reduce infrastructure costs, and keep systems errors and crashes to a bare minimum.
While these services can be attained through third parties, there are companies that can provide a custom built comm room, which caters to your exact computational needs. They allow for direct access, control, and upkeep at all times, and are becoming the practical choice for the modern virtual businessperson.
Data collection
Before you retain your customers, you have to find them, which is where data collection comes in. Data collection is the method of obtaining and measuring particular variables to assist in pinpointing online audiences. This saves businesses of all sizes time and money by allowing them to market to a niche group, which will increase productivity and cut labor costs dramatically.
Artificial intelligence
To further that method, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly turning into a lucrative sales tool. The algorithms of AI programs can be designed to analyze enormous amounts of data. Then it computes outcomes based on that information in a matter of minutes, whereas it would have taken a human doing the same research years, perhaps even
decades. While it is still in the baby stage, AI can already be seen working in everything from self-driving cars to quantum computing. It won’t be long before it is key in all types of business operations.
The beauty of the tech revolution is that it offers so many sales-improving avenues to businesses large and small. Where most of the above platforms used to be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, the digital age is providing new scaffolding for the marketing culture. The consumer to seller relationship is becoming radically different. So study up and invest your time wisely; doing so will no doubt deliver positive gains in the years to come.