In an ever-competitive workplace, small businesses must fight to gain visibility with their customers. As the market faces unparalleled growth of social media and mobile markets, challenges arise to interact with customers appropriately across channels.
Below are a few key considerations to help your business remain relevant and competitive in a changing, tech-savvy global marketplace.
Technology Is Your Friend
While you shouldn’t jump on every new technological trend, it would be a huge mistake to ignore all of them. Strategically testing marketing in different strategies, platforms and products could yield big results, especially if your target demographic is responsive to your tests. For example, mobile marketing and social media are definitely worth the time investment.
Mobile Marketing is On the Rise
Mobile marketing is no longer considered a trend, but rather an evolution. The percentage of mobile users that use internet-friendly smartphones is quickly increasing and there is no reason to think the trend will reverse anytime soon.
This presents an entirely new arena in which your company can reach potential customers. Immediate mobile marketing challenges include tailoring messages to a smaller touch-screen without sacrificing usability, as well as leveraging how mobile users search for products and services on their phones.
However, if your company appropriately addresses these challenges, including redesigning your company website to be more mobile friendly (responsive) alongside testing mobile ads, you can potentially increase your reach with on-the-go consumers.
Social Media is Here to Stay
Social media is a great platform to reach consumers. If you manage your social media efforts in-house (in lieu of hiring a social media agency) the cost could be minimal with tremendous reach potential.
For instance, social media channels are exploding in reach (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.). Therefore if your company is not visible in key social media platforms you are missing out on valuable conversations and revenue.
Not only can you gain brand visibility and build relationships with customers, you can also convert likes, tweets, shares and pins into sales.
Productivity Software’s Competitive Edge
There is a great deal of productivity tools and software that can give your small business a competitive edge. Invest in software that helps your company measure and leverage internal customer data, forecasting revenue opportunities, and increase departmental efficiency.
Various cloud-based software options can allow your company to better serve customers in less time. Exploring these types of software options can truly bring your business into the forefront of technological advances.
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Jean Zhang writes on behalf of Aspect Software. Aspect provides next-generation call center technology, enterprise workforce optimization, and Microsoft solutions for contact centers that help build and sustain customer relationships. To explore Aspect’s efficiency software, resources for workforce optimization, and other services, please visit the company website.
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