There are certain technological necessities that your business will require to interact and engage in the information and data age. One of the sectors most often miscommunicated and misunderstood is the tech you need for marketing and public relations. It’s no longer just about the message, but as always, how you get the message out there, how your customers interact and engage with the message, and the action the message elicits. This article will outline the technology and technological understanding that is required for a modern-day marketing campaign and to build your company brand on the innerweb.

Cloud computing is an essential element

There is no way you can run a cogent marketing campaign, let alone a business without connection and access to cloud computing. Whether it is for storage of big data or accessing the software to manipulate and analyze this data, the only way your business will be able to do this is in the cloud. Being able to use sector-specific or marketing software to analyze and report on any campaigns and determine whether there has been a return on investment will only be possible in the cloud. This can only be done with good clean data and lots of it. Your business needs to have access to professional software that can be used to both clean and analyze the data that you managed to collect using the tech at your disposal.

Infrastructure/hardware and software as a service

Being able to use the capabilities offered by the cloud will require hardware and software services, as well as the maintenance thereof. The easiest way to do this is to look into having these services outsourced as a whole, allowing your business to focus on the core elements of the business. There may also be a further requirement for mobile tech to keep in touch with clients and access to international telemarketing if you intend to go offshore. 

The best advice in the current climate and based on the speed at which tech is in constant change is to have a professional company or individual manage your entire IT infrastructure.

Integrated business technology and systems

The marketing department may need this technology to reach customers, but there is also an internal need for integration throughout the business. From supply chain and logistics to sales, they all need to be using the self-same technology so that a holistic marketing campaign is achievable.

There needs to be a clear understanding of the various means of reaching customers and clients using the big data that is now available and useable through cloud computing and access to the appropriate software. SMS and telemarketing have seen a resurgence based on personalized marketing, and none of this can be executed cogently unless the business has the right tech and the ability to use it. This article has provided a few clear tips as to what you need to know and what you can do to ensure that your marketing keeps pace with your competitors and you are able to effectively build your brand.

Mastering the use of specific software is a great way to get more control over your skills and make your company more effective overall. Fortunately, there are plenty of types of software that are relevant to any number of businesses, so if you are looking for a crash course in useful software, this article is for you.

Strengthening Your Marketing Efforts

Marketing is one of the most effective things you can do to improve your company in direct terms, which is why it is so important that you take steps to engage with it properly. However, if you are struggling with your marketing plan, look at https://monday.com/templates/template/85832/marketing-plan, then you might want to invest your efforts into mastering marketing software.

Marketing Software. There are several kinds of marketing software available for any business to use. These can help to ensure that your business thrives and isn’t brought down by a lack of resources.

Boosting Customer Relations

Your customer base is one of the most important resources available to you as a business and it is incredibly important that you maintain a positive relationship with your customers. However, that can be a little difficult when the number of customers you get continues to grow, which is why you might want to use some software to help you.

Customer Relationship Management Software. CRM, or customer relationship management, is a vital portion of maintaining your relationship with your customers. However, because of the impracticality in keeping track of that many customers, it would be more beneficial to invest in some CRM tools, such as software that helps you to track your customers.

Live-Message Customer Service Software. Similarly, if you are looking to ensure that the experience your customers are provided with remains at a high level, then you should invest in a live-messaging customer service so that they can communicate directly with you. This would help to improve the experience of your customers, even when they are unhappy with something, meaning they are far more likely to spread positive word-of-mouth regarding your business.

Increasing Productivity

Finally, if you’re looking to boost the productivity of your company then you should start with getting the productivity of your employees up. There are several kinds of software that could likely help your employees to perform more effectively, depending on how you wanted to go about the process.

Deadline and Time Management Software. One of the most difficult issues that employees face in terms of staying productive comes from managing their time effectively, which is why the plethora of available time management software can be so beneficial to the effectiveness of your business. After all, when your workers become more efficient, everything move more smoothly.

Collaboration and Communication Software. Another point of issue for the effectiveness of your business would be found in the ability of workers to communicate and collaborate. A huge amount of time is lost in business to poor communication and communication errors, which is why collaboration software is so beneficial to the operation of your company, allowing your workers to work in unison.

It’s hard to imagine running any type of business today without the use of at least some technologies. No matter if you’re an IT company or a bakery, you need all kinds of software and hardware to survive the competitive climate.

It’s not just about utilizing various programs to help your organization grow either. Businesses are getting fully digitized in the race to improve their productivity, profit, and competitive edge. As many as 70% of organizations have or are planning to build a digital transformation strategy. Unfortunately, digital transformation efforts also have over a 70% failure rate.

As you can see, technologies can hinder as much as they can help your business processes. Here’s how to use them wisely.

Think About the Gaps You Need to Fill

As a business owner, you may feel like you’re stuck in the mud while everyone else is already on Mars technology-wise. Your competition might be using different kinds of sophisticated software, while you’re sticking to the good old-fashion processes.

This comparison can create pressure to take your business to the next level of digital transformation, even if you’re satisfied with your work as-is. Consequently, you may succumb to buying too many different kinds of software, implementing them left and right, and wreaking havoc on your processes.

For example, you may decide to start using project management software for fairly simple procedures. This can lead to employee frustration as they’ll have to go through extra bureaucratic steps to complete a straightforward task.

A great way not to fall into this trap is to take a closer look at what aspects of your business need improving and focus on them. In other words — don’t try to fix something that’s not broken.

For instance, if your accounting is overly messy and difficult to maintain a firm grip on, you can invest in a solid piece of accounting software. Use the technology that can truly help you grow.

Does It Help the Customer Journey?

As a business, your number one priority is building and maintaining great customer relationships. That’s why exceptional customer service is a must. In fact, 86% of customers are willing to pay more money for a great customer experience.

Many businesses choose to adopt technologies that can help the customer experience, but they can also end up hurting them. Before you implement a customer-facing piece of tech, you need to ask one crucial question — does this technology simplify or complicate the customer journey?

If a customer needs to create an account, download a third-party app, do a survey, and generally take a number of steps before they can reach you or buy your product, that will hurt your business.

Another mistake businesses make with technology is relying too much on it in building customer relations. Self-service is great and many customers love it, but you also need to provide the option of live representatives and human assistance. This is especially true if your target demographic are older generations who prefer human interaction.

Implementing Technologies Without a Plan

So you’ve researched the market, read through reviews, and bought a state-of-the-art piece of software everyone seems to praise. Now, all you need to do is install it and watch your business flourish, right? Wrong!

Implementing a new piece of tech can affect your processes deeply, with either great or terrible consequences for your business. That’s why you need to make thorough preparations and plan the implementation process to a tee.

Technologies, no matter how advanced, are only a tool, and they’re no good if you don’t know how to use them properly. Before you decide to implement them, you should think about what exactly you want to achieve with them. It’s a great idea to take a look at how other organizations are using them and see why they’re successful.

Think about how you will measure the effectiveness of your new tech and whether it’s achieving the desired effect. How will you prepare for the change and make it smooth instead of jumping into it abruptly? These are just some questions to help you prepare.

Providing Employee Training

You can get the best, most highly praised, and most incredible piece of tech, but if your staff doesn’t know how to use it, it will only cause problems. You can’t just announce that, from next week on, they’ll be using a new platform and let them figure it out.

As we’ve said above, having an implementation plan is essential, and that plan needs to include proper employee training. Depending on the complexity and scope of your digital transformation plan, they may need months to get comfortable with using the new tech.

Here, you can utilize AI technology to your advantage and have an employee chatbot for assistance. This AI bot can provide IT help and guidance to your workforce in using new software. This tool is also great for initiating new hires and helping them get a grip on the company’s arsenal of digital tools.

Without proper training, new technologies can bring more harm than good, as employees struggle and fail to incorporate them into their daily tasks.

Quantifying Employee Productivity and Satisfaction

With great technology come great data and analytics powers. Thanks to various analytics tools, you can crunch numbers like never before and measure every aspect affecting your business down to minutiae.

What’s the percentage of employee productivity compared to the previous month? How many customers have clicked that feature on the website? Can you get more out of this tool, according to statistical estimates?

Analytics is one of the biggest superpowers of modern tech, which helps businesses troubleshoot their problems and solve them in a heartbeat. However, you can still take them too far.

Your employees are not machines; there’s no simple way to measure their happiness, potential, effort, etc. Numbers and data can help you manage your team to an extent, but you still need to factor in the fact that they are complex human beings.

For example, just because an employee has had periods of higher productivity doesn’t mean they can perform at that level at all times — if you push them, their mental and physical well-being might take a hit.

Technologies can be both a blessing and a curse depending on how you use them, so use them wisely.

By Leslie Gilmour

Leslie Gilmour works with companies, individuals, and teams to help with SEO strategy, processes, and implementation of a digital marketing plan.