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George mathew
George mathew

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4 ways technology is changing online businesses

Technology has completely revolutionized the way companies are doing business. It has streamlined processes, directed brands to do better, improved brand awareness, reach and potential.
Without technology beside them, the brands of today could never have tasted the success they did.

Communicate with team members instantly
Interacting with customers used to be challenging. Earlier the only way for customers to reach you was through letters or a telephone call. Both took time and didn’t always result in the customer able to present his problem clearly.
It was a bit of a hit and miss. Then came massive social media companies like Instagram and Facebook. They turned around the landscape allowing companies and customers to interact with each other near instantaneously. Your presentation is going to make a big difference.
Social media is also a place to promote products. Downloaded apps tend to get abandoned. But, that’s not the case with instant messaging apps that have only grown in use.
Messaging apps are on fire. Facebook Messenger has more than 900 million users and instant messaging as an application has surpassed social networking. Chat apps are extremely popular. And companies are using messenger ads, using messenger chatbots and delivering coupons and credits via the messenger. It sports a near 100% open rate.

Too much content
Social networking channels sport infinite scroll and with good reason. The content seems never-ending because that’s the true amount of content being uploaded.
Every minute almost 3.3 million users on Facebook create a new post and by that time 29 million messages are exchanged on Whatsapp. To get your messaging in front of your target customer is no mean feat

The answer that stops people right on their tracks when browsing through endless content is high-quality product images. Style and minimalism are the name of the game and that applies to everything from photos to videos to blog posts. To make people pay attention, the content you produce should be of high quality. That’s the reason there’s so much hubbub around product-led content and for good measure. If you want to stand out, you need to produce product relevant content. This boosts your lead generation efforts as well.

Big data
With technology, you stand to gain a lot of information about customers. In short, this data is clubbed under big data.

This doesn’t mean it's always easy. Primarily, you need to know how to use all the data around customers.

Knowing which metrics matter most can make the difference between success and failure for your eCommerce or online business.

Ultimately, with big data, you get an idea regarding which customer channels are going to make the biggest impact on your business. By focusing on that you can build meaningful relationships between the brand and the customer.

What matters most is the relationship you’re able to forge with the customer. Also, data should also lead the way to provide insights to customer behavior and understanding customer pain points.

This should help you create personalized and customer-focused content.

Transparency
Customers today want to be updated regarding how you’re using their data.

To build loyalty with customers you need to be transparent. And that goes beyond explaining how you use their data. Companies need to let their personality shine through and through. This is relevant to most b2c products. Say you’re a clothing manufacturer. You need to show supply chain transparency to customers to show them how and where you buy things.

A study by Label Insight showed that just 12% of customers trust brands when it comes to packaging and research more on the packaging. This is also relevant for b2b companies like ones that offer SEO services.
Honest and transparent companies make it a point to communicate openly with customers. And those who nail that are rewarded with lasting loyalty. Customers are also willing to spend more and refer their friends as well.
With technology showcasing supply chain elements is easy as pie. Add videos and photographs on your site to showcase how your supply chain is transparent.

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