3 Top Tech Trends Small Businesses are Jumping On

Continuously dominated by news of trendy startups and big enterprises, today’s small businesses are silently jumping in from mom and pops that we once knew. They are now embracing technology and expanding their reach.

Technology acts as an equalizer that puts SMBs on equal footing with the bigger players in the market. No matter how small your business is, it is vital for the owners to stay informed of technology advancements since it impacts consumer behavior. Here are key technology trends that small businesses have been taking advantages of that made the difference.

The convergence of cloud and mobile has redefined small business

Cloud has already brought incredible innovation to SMBs. Indeed, 92% of SMBs are using at least one cloud solution, according to SMB Group research. Cloud computing lets them compete technologically with their enterprise competitors.

Rapid growth of Smartphones and their popularity over the past couple of years is truly breathtaking. IDC’s forecast for sales of Smartphone in 2010 underestimated the actual growth by half.

But what is more important is the collision of these trends – mobile cloud – allowing the growth of centrally coordinated applications. Cloud fits well with mobile since it allows you to access and sync data from anywhere. This is all about, instant and real-time services. Mobile cloud solutions are helping SMBs affordably and easily access their key applications while on the go.

Big Data goes “as-a-service” – No time to lose

Small businesses are no longer intimidated by big data. They have started thinking bigger about their data – and it’s about time. SMBs have realized that they can use big data at their disposal to take intelligent decisions for business. After all, most small businesses don’t want to stay small.

According to IBM Business Tech Trends Study, 60% of small business plan to increase investment in big data and analytics in next 2 years.

Big data can help small businesses to take proactive approach to manage their business. For example, a small rental company can use database software to analyze trends in bookings and spot months when demand was dropping and allow homeowners to tweak prices for those particular months accordingly, resulting in increased bookings.

In many ways, big data is most suited to SMBs in ways that was for large businesses – even most potent data and insights are valueless if the business is not agile enough to act in a timely manner.

Social Media – A Hotbed for Small Businesses

Social media is more than just networks. If you are running a small company and want to propel it to popularity, it’s essential to pay attention to this platform.

Social media marketing for small businesses has continued to trend upward. In a survey by Constant Contact, SMBs continued to rate the three social media channels as the most effective for their business – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Remember when there were no ads on Facebook and businesses could rest assured that their followers and fans would see each post created by them. Thing now have changed drastically and social media will continue pushing enterprises into paid advertising model.

The infographic titled – Businesses on Social Media, by Go-Gulf presents stats and trends that demonstrate how businesses use social media to drive business growth.

Social media provides an opportunity for small businesses to advertise at lower cost. If your product deserves to be known, as social media gets hold of it, it would likely go viral. This word of mouth marketing has created motivation for businesses to create amazing products.

Wrapping it up

Eventually, what matter the most is “What makes sense for your company?” Consider your scope and figure out your requirements. Then implement these trends that align with those requirements. Rinse and repeat because the trend of innovation will continue – meaning great things are in store for small businesses.