How Can IoT Improve My Brand?

15 Nov How Can IoT Improve My Brand?

The Internet of Things (IoT) expands every year and seems to take over more of our world. Twenty years ago, if someone had told you a speaker would answer your questions, order a pizza or play your favorite music, you would have thought they were insane. Yet, with today’s smart speakers, all of this is a possibility. There is no doubt that technology changes rapidly and makes our lives both better and worse. When it comes to business, though, IoT may have the biggest impact of all. 

According to Statista, there will be 75.44 billion IoT devices by 2025. You can choose to ignore the advances in IoT, but your business will likely fall behind your competitors. A better tactic is to look at the various ways IoT might improve your brand and reach among consumers. Here are eight key ways the Internet of Things might change your business for the better. 

1. Enhance Brand Awareness

Tapping into the IoT can help increase awareness of your brand. For example, if you have an app, people who search for that type of app in the store may stumble across your brand name and decide to give it a try. You can also use that same app to push notifications to customers. Our team of highly skilled developers can help you create a highly personalized series of pushes, such as when the person nears your store or pushes based on past purchase behavior. 

2. Increase Scalability

Smaller businesses may struggle with logistics or keeping up with inventory as they grow. Growth can cause cash flow issues — one of the top reasons businesses go under. What if a computer could figure some of these things out for you, including just the right amount of inventory to keep on hand and the fastest way to ship an item to the customer? You could serve more customers faster and more efficiently. 

3. Remain Current

Each year, the IoT industry grows as people realize how various devices fit into their everyday lives. Tapping into the vast array of choices allows you to show you are a cutting edge company. One example is the simple addition of voice search to your website. Adding one element allows people with smart speakers to now browse your website easily. It positions you as a current, modern company. 

4. Keep Customers

In a recent survey of consumers, 77% said they wouldn’t care if most brands disappear. This is bad news if you’re trying to build your business based on brand recognition. It means people might like you right now, but they aren’t all that loyal. One thing the IoT does is keep your buyers engaged in the process. Enhancing the shopping experience creates a positive relationship. They are more likely to care about you if they feel you care about them. 

5. Gain Insight

The IoT allows you to gain insight into your customers’ buying habits and needs. Whenever a consumer taps into the system via an app or you store data on them in the cloud, you’re tapping into the technology. You can then use software to pull out key details, which will allow you to better serve their needs with future offers, contact them when they are ready to re-order a product and even offer automated subscriptions when their product is getting low or needs replacing.

Even though we aren’t quite there yet, the future might include sensors placed in everything imaginable for order automation. So, if you sell lotion, a sensor would indicate when the person was down to their last week or so of use and remind them to order or order.

6. Tap Into Social Media

As the IoT expands, adding even more sensors to products such as wine or food is a real possibility. Imagine that one of your favorite customers purchases your new wine and opens the bottle for a quiet evening at home. Because they’ve given you permission, the act of opening the bottle sets off a small sensor that then posts automatically to their Facebook page and lets people know they’re enjoying a glass. This increases your brand recognition via word of mouth almost immediately. The opportunities for leveraging IoT with a robust social media campaign are endless. 

7. Cross-Collaborate With Each Other

The IoT allows employees to cross-collaborate on several projects. Because they can tap into a vast database within your company, they can easily see what others have already worked on, ideas the team tried that didn’t work and a thousand other small details. 

Communication will improve, which helps everyone become more productive and creates better outcomes. The days of wasting time walking to John Smith’s desk to find out if he is done with that illustration you need are over. You can simply tap into a database where John has uploaded a copy of the image via his smartphone. You can then approve it or request suggestions via your device. 

8. Get Campaign Alerts

Marketing costs time and effort and is difficult to track. However, you can set up alerts to get delivered directly to your phone or desktop that allow you to track how well a promotion is doing. For example, you can set notification parameters to highlight when a post goes viral, is shared or someone comments. This allows you to see which efforts are successful and which ones you shouldn’t try again. 

Where the IoT Will Take Us

The Internet of Things started with a vending machine back in the 1980s. Students would trek across campus only to find the machine empty, so they tapped into the Internet and could see if the machine was stocked or not. Back then, no one could have predicted the dozens of devices we now interact with that tap into the Web. 

Where the IoT will take the world in the next 10 years or so is hard to predict. The number of devices is certainly growing. If you want your company to be at the forefront of the change and benefit from new possibilities, now is the time to use the software and devices at your disposal.