New trends in technology across the globe are taking over this year and causing firms to change how they work. Here are four key trends that will continue to make an impact in 2013:
#1: Big data
Big data is a complex set of information that is far too large to be handled on the likes of a standard database. It is being used in a variety of industries to target customers better, deal with the likes of risk management and making complicated predictions surrounding big business decisions.
This is particularly useful in financial services, where big data has become very prevalent. By making use of the insights and predictions that the data can throw up, employees of firms can make decisions that are based on risks, such as whether or not someone is credit worthy, and if a decision is likely to have a negative impact on the company.
For this reason, it can make processes more efficient, and can lead to less risky decisions being taken, thus helping to improve profitability of the company as a whole.
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Big Data took the world by storm this year
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#2: Cloud Computing
Work from anywhere, whenever
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Cloud computing has been perhaps one of the biggest technological advances in recent years. The notion that companies can store large amounts of data without having to purchase and store hard drives which eat into budgets and space has opened up an array of new avenues and opportunities.
Perhaps the most important development to come from this advancement has been the notion that staff are always connected. With the growth of smartphones and tablets alongside the crowd, people need no longer be in the office to complete tasks, and can even do so from the train or bus on their daily commute.
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This not only improves efficiency, but also helps with flexible working, both of which can help cut costs for firms in the long run, and allows for better customer satisfaction when staff always have access to information they require.
Mobile access means engaging with on the go customers
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#3: Mobile
The rise of the smartphone and the tablet computer have served to make the average customer far more mobile, as they can access companies' websites and apps wherever they happen to be. This has changed the way, drastically, in which companies interact with those they are doing business with.
It was recently reported by M&C Saatchi that during this summer’s Olypmic Games in London, firms were increasing their mobile marketing campaigns by 150 percent to make sure that they were interacting with their customers at periods of high activity when they were browsing for results more often.
Yankee Group also predicted recently that firms looking to interact more with their clients are going to be spending three times as much on their mobile strategies by 2016.
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Email interaction is another key area where firms need to tighten up. In the past, while it may have been possible to take a while to reply, the fact a customer is always connected pushes the importance of a timely response to keep them happy.
#4: Social media
Perhaps the biggest phenomenon to have come yet out of the internet age, social media has played a disruptive and inspiring role at the same time in companies across the globe.
As well as being the outlet for probably the vast majority of time wasted in the workplace, social media is vitally important for companies to adopt, especially those with a customer-facing side.
Engagement with customers is vital, and making sure that they feel like the relationship means something to the company is an important part of customer retention these days. Customers believe, according to trends, that social media is a key way for them to contact brands with enquiries and complaints, and replying can be hugely beneficial.
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Is social media the biggest thing to come out of the internet?
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Given that Facebook this year allowed companies to privately contact individual users, harnessing social media for the benefit of a firm has never been easier, nor more necessary.
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