We live in a time when even the smallest of companies can leverage new technologies to grow their business. If you have not quite embraced the tech tools that are yours for the taking, or of the first things you need to do, embrace the fact that technology and marketing are key to making any business succeed. Here are some essential pointers for maximizing and leveraging technology to market your business.
Partner with experts
If you’re not as well-versed in marketing and everything it entails, consider consulting with experts who do. If your customers don’t know your business exists or if they can’t find you, they won’t be able to buy from you. Marketing experts and partners can help you with the ins and outs of traditional and digital marketing, including web development, content marketing, SEO, pay per click, programmatic, SEO, and other services such as generating leads. Experts can help provide you with a marketing strategy that maximizes and leverages technology to help you reach your goals.
Explore artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to invade every corner of society, including the sales and marketing space. This need not be a terrifying concept because even setting up a virtual assistant on your website or app can go a long way in helping your customers. Technologies or platforms similar to Alexa and Siri can help consumers navigate their way through your products and services and immediately help turn a visitor from a passive consumer to an interactive one.
Learn the basics of analytics and data
Understanding your consumers and visitors, gaining insight into their browsing behavior and purchasing priorities will provide you with an edge over your competitors. This information is key to providing you with more leads, which can then turn into customers.
Thankfully, there are countless tools and platforms in the market that can provide you with valuable data about leads, customers, and visitors. You and your team can then utilize them to pivot your content creation, sales process, customer satisfaction, and more. Be quick about it, though, because Google recently announced that they are banning third-party cookies, which will set a limit on the information you can gain from customers without their permission.
Invest in customer support
Another way to boost your sales through the help of technology is by investing in customer support. Giving your consumers a smooth and seamless experience with your business will increase the chances of retaining them. It might also make them want to share that good experience with their family, friends, and even acquaintances. And in a time when social media can make or break your business’s reputation, you cannot afford to ignore good customer satisfaction and support.
Start by using your social media platforms. Train team members to become community managers who can answer questions, gather feedback, or address issues that are communicated through comments and private messages. There are plenty of social media management platforms that you can explore to streamline and monitor all of your social media accounts at once.
Hootsuite, for example, gathers all of your accounts on one dashboard so that you don’t have to jump from one app to another. Another tech tool you can leverage for customer support is AI or a virtual assistant that can instantly assist your customer when a community manager is unavailable.
Maximize cloud technology
Investing in the right cloud technology can help enhance your team’s productivity, save you some money, and ease up your operations. Instead of settling for your company’s older hardware, you can invest in cloud-based services for various tasks like official emails, calendars, video conferencing, document storage, and other day-to-day operations. Cloud technology can also provide increased mobility and flexibility for you and your team since everything can be accessed online, eliminating the need to be in the office constantly.
Maintain or upgrade your hardware
Speaking of hardware, it’s also time to make some upgrades if you are still using outdated technology for your business. A survey found that more than 90 percent of customers would not engage with a business if they find that it uses outdated technology. At the same time, older hardware has the potential to negatively impact your team’s productivity and level of motivation.
If you want your business to succeed, technology and marketing must work in conjunction to help you achieve your goals. Partner with experts, do your homework, and exhaust every tool at your disposal—and you will certainly pave a path for your business to grow the way you want it to.
