Small Businesses Should Explore These 3 IT Trends This Year

Technology has been a critical element to building a business since, well, there’s been business…and 2023 won’t be any different. With operational problems urging businesses to seek out the technology to resolve them, continued adoption of technology is imminent. Let’s consider three ways that technology should be used in the coming months.

Software as a Service (SaaS) Will Continue Gaining Popularity

For years, businesses have had the opportunity to adopt additional software to their IT through the means of the cloud—with a provider hosting it separately—with the alternative being to purchase the software and host it independently. Nowadays, the vast majority of software is available through a SaaS platform. While this approach does mean there is some sacrifice of control over one’s management of the software, the added flexibility it gives you to manage your team’s accounts makes it a convenient and scalable option that can be budgeted as an operational expense, rather than a one-off purchase.

And, if this inherent scalability and cost savings aren’t enough, SaaS also provides businesses with access to toolkits that would otherwise be out of their reach. From email, to collaboration and communication, to complete productivity suites, businesses are turning to the cloud for more and more.

Focusing on Personalization

When you consider how frequently purchasing decisions are made online, it only makes sense that you should create the ideal, immersive experience for your customers. This can be greatly accomplished through personalization. Various tools and strategies exist today that make it far easier to create a more customized-feeling service, which will help to motivate your customers to continue working with your business.

A good way to do this is to segment your leads and customers into groups, based on profiles you have developed. These segments can be based on a variety of variables as well—demographics, geography, purchasing behavior and interaction, or assorted other metrics—and will allow you to better target your correspondence with your audience. As a result, improved engagement helps lead to improved sales and revenue.

Enhanced Transparency

In addition to making your services more personalized, being more open and building trust amongst your clients and prospects will help to increase your business. Operating transparently by sharing processes and even current goings-on with your audience (within reason, of course) will help you to build this trust more effectively and expeditiously.

Part of this will involve many businesses readjusting their company values, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic forced many to make changes or close down. Rallying behind established company values and being open about the value that your offering provides to your clients will only be increasingly important as time passes.

We want to do everything we can to make 2023 as successful for your business as possible. Please don’t hesitate to call us at 251-662-9770 for assistance with any of this.