Any time a new form of technology hits the market, savvy entrepreneurs and corporate interests are in a heated race to be the first to leverage these technological advancements to obtain some type of market edge over their competitors. These business owners and industry leaders know that this is what it takes to be a fittest in the modern, capitalistic tech-wars that drive the business landscape forward. Often it is not enough to simply identify the new tech-based utilities that will become key battlegrounds in a given industry. It is also important for companies to spend considerable time applying new and innovative approaches to using such tech-based utilities to wage a successful campaign in their industry in order to pull out ahead of the pack. Here are four new age utilities that are becoming key battlegrounds in the advancement of modern business interests.
The Internet
Although the Internet has been around for a while, businesses—large and small—are always on the lookout for the best way to leverage the Internet to grab more customers to their brand. When the Internet was in its infancy, the simple introduction of a website was all it took to reach a broader segment of the consumer base. Today, with virtually an endless sea of company websites fighting for what little traffic they can compel to their sites, the nature of how companies compete on the Internet has changed. From fierce methods of search engine optimization to aggressive email marketing tactics, the Internet has become a domain of advertising that favors innovative companies with innovative marketing ideas. Additionally, the fight for supremacy in the high-speed internet providing market is proving ever tougher. Large companies like Comcast and Verizon are slowly being challenged by younger local companies.
Mobile App Development
Since an increasing number of consumers are digital natives, mobile app development has become a new utility by which companies are reaching out to more customers. While developing apps is a highly competitive field and keeping customers engaged is a full-time endeavor, it is no doubt why most companies are seeking to produce an app that will keep the digital natives glued into their products and services over the long-term. Often this is best achieved by an app that is both business oriented and quite entertaining at the same time, and this can be a highly cost-effective way to reach customers to which more traditional methods of marketing will not typically provide access.
IOT Devices
With the emergence of the Internet of things (IOT), countless devices are being introduced into the marketplace that provides a wide variety of access to consumers through their online use of these devices. Perhaps a cheaper alternative to a high-end mobile app, an Internet-ready device can provide a company with loads of consumer feedback. Many companies are already scrambling to take advantage of this insider’s view of how their consumer base lives and functions throughout their daily routine. Armed with this information, companies are using this utility to redirect their marketing efforts to fit the trends realized from the focused consumer data gathered through IOT-device use.
The Big Data Revolution
Because knowing is half the battle, modern companies are in a race to leverage a new utility driving market decisions called Big Data. Big Data consists of massive repositories of gathered consumer information and feedback on a variety of levels and from numerous divergent sources. With the use of extremely fast computer systems and data analysis tools, businesses are sifting through Big Data in search of the next market trend that will produce high-profit yields. The reason Big Data is such a hotbed of corporate competition is because it is believed by many that technology has finally reached a point where sophisticated predictive algorithms on Big Data sets are not only exposing where the market is heading; but, it has been shown that companies can achieve nearly real-time access to trend analysis and execute their marketing efforts in order to take full advantage of these emerging trends.
Technology has often been the source of many market-based forms of competition and change. Those companies that learn how to best leverage tech-based utilities will undoubtedly gain an edge over other competitors in their industry. With this in mind, the battle is set in array on virtually every technological front imaginable. With each new tech-based utility being opened to businesses, a new phase of market competition emerges to make the market an even greater place of dynamic change and innovation.
