6 Ways Your Business Can Become More Efficient By Utilizing Technology
Business and technology are inexorably linked. Business owners and strategists have long been receptive to technological breakthroughs when working out how to make an organization more efficient and profitable. Here are some ways in which you can harness technology to streamline and catalyze your organization.
Use Cloud Computing To Make Storage Expansion Quicker, Cheaper, And More Secure
A great deal of discourse has recently focused on cloud storage, a rather abstracted term used in the description of any service that used remote, internet-accessible servers to replace or augment traditional on-site storage. Running a successful business, you may well be aware of the amount of cost and effort that goes into purchasing, maintaining, and installing on-site storage. Servers are very expensive. When you run out of space, they need to be replaced or upgraded by experts. Cloud storage is a little different. Because storage servers are remote, you can buy extra space at the click of a button.
Equally useful is the way in which remotely stored information is accessed. Depending on your security preferences, cloud-stored data can be accessed by authorized personnel from anywhere in the world. This makes your data useful to employees in the era of remote working.
Centralize Your Digital Asset Management
Even if you don’t use the term ‘digital asset’, you will likely be very aware of what such assets mean to your business. Anything from video footage to graphic design mood boards is a digital asset. Actually, keeping track of where all of your assets are and ensuring that they are accessible and auditable by the people that work with you can be a tricky and time-consuming thing when multiple data ‘silos’ are created by different departments.
Digital asset management services provide you with help managing your files. They organize all of your assets into one portal so that you can efficiently coordinate your campaigns.
Forecast Trends Using Big Data Analytics
The rise of a highly networked society has meant that more data is being produced now than at any previous time in history. The sheer quantity of data being produced has led to a crisis of accumulation, with information accumulating in servers all around the globe like plastic bottles in a landfill site. Whilst this may pose some interesting problems, it also creates some massive opportunities for businesses.
Big data analytics is a term used to describe many different methods of interpreting huge, diverse sets of data created by individuals or institutions. Business strategy has always relied upon the half science-half art of making accurate market and audience predictions. The analysis of vast data sets using specially created software means that businesses can make more accurate predictions than ever before. This allows businesses to be more efficient by minimizing risk and incorporating knowledge about what the future might hold into their strategic planning.
Play The SEO Game For More Inbound Traffic
Search engines are some of the most popular and influential websites in existence. Not long after the launch of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, companies like Google were founded in order to help people find what they wanted on the ever-expanding internet. Instead of a directory, Google uses an algorithm to search for matches to a user inquiry. These matches are then ranked by relevance. Search Engine Optimization is the practice of making your business’ online presence easier to find by cementing it as being as relevant as possible to any likely inquiries made by potential customers. It is a manipulation of technology that is actually encouraged by massive companies like Google.
Optimizing your business’ online presence makes it far more cost-effective to make sales and connections. The easier it is for potential customers and collaborators to find you, the more likely it is that they will listen to what you have to say and understand the worth of what you are offering. Simple Search Engine Optimization is possible to do in-house. Keyword usage in copy, for instance, is not hard to incorporate into your web design. More complex processes like link building to influence search engine algorithms are best performed by an experienced SEO agency.
Standardize Video Conferencing For Seamless Telecommuting
During this past year, it won’t have escaped your attention that there has been a bit more remote working taking place. That there was a pretty wild understatement. Remote working has reached new levels of participation during the COVID-19 pandemic for rather obvious reasons. Not only has remote working become completely normalized during the pandemic: the shift towards working from home is likely to continue long after the virus has been controlled. According to a recent article by Ashira Prossack on Forbes.com, 74 percent of professionals think that remote working will become the new employment standard.
With this in mind, every business needs to plan for the effective use of technology in a remote working environment. Video conferencing is one of the stand-out services used by businesses to facilitate effective telecommuting. Luckily, there are plenty of service providers on the market – each providing a unique set of features. Zoom has become the runaway leader of the pack over the last year, but some businesses will prefer to use the more work-oriented Google Teams or a bespoke video conferencing system prepared with the needs of the business online. Whatever solution you choose, you need to standardize it. Make sure that all of your colleagues and collaborators are using the same system and are familiar with company protocols on video conferencing.
Generate Helpful Online Networks Using Social Media
It is now far easier than ever before for a business leader to seek collaborative relationships with experts outside of their company. The nurturing of online networks can be extremely helpful when trying to identify trends, collaborate on innovative new ideas and understand target audiences.
Social media platforms are perfect places to make connections. Some, like LinkedIn , are tailored specifically towards the nurturing of professional relationships. That doesn’t mean that it is the only useful social media platform for businesses, however. Any platform where your business has a presence is a great place to grow your network.