5 Ways Global Businesses Should Use Technology to Grow

One of the greatest assets to any global business venture is technology. As you seek to grow and improve your company’s reach, understanding how to use it strategically to your advantage can be the difference between success and failure.

Nothing helps a global business thrive like having the right technology in place. It not only enhances the speed and efficacy of your work, but streamlines production processes and your overall cost of operations. Transformative breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, data analysis, and software engineering are helping businesses all over the world discover and implement new pathways to success. Here are just a few innovations in technology driving business growth into the future.

Developing Data

As quickly as users input data, software programs analyze it and learn more than ever before about human behavior and emerging trends. Increasingly sophisticated data analysis tools help offer all kinds of important fact-based insights and uncover new trends that will help your business grow into new markets.  

“Big” data sets are not only helpful for determining customer satisfaction, analyzing feedback and providing the best possible experience for new customers. The data you collect can also be used to optimize Google search results for international markets, thereby promoting worldwide exposure and increasing the visibility of your business. Access to greater data is even helpful in the attempt to detect fraud and illegal activity.

Driving Forward with Digital Marketing

The ubiquitous presence of Wifi connections and smartphone technology in recent years has made it easier than ever for businesses to reach all corners of the world with their marketing strategies. Sharing your company’s mission to customers on the other side of the world via digital advertising has become as easy as sharing information with someone in the next town.

Image | tongcom photographer / Shutterstock.com

Digital marketing software programs can make it simple to track sales and search trends as they occur in real time. Ths allows marketers to be almost clairvoyant in their ability to both anticipate and shape emerging consumer desires. Individuals from all different backgrounds can met “where they are”, as this technology has gotten smarter to the point of predicting the best time to engage different buyers at different times, identifying smaller and smaller segments of a market population. Doing much of the heavy lifting for marketing teams, it allows for a more automatic as well as more deeply personalized approach to outreach.

Scaling Up Efficiency and Production

Now more than ever, businesses are turning to the cloud to increase productivity. Project management is being reinvented by countless businesses that are using cloud storage solutions. Project managers are able to access cloud-based software anywhere in the world, saving time and money.

If your business requires logistic management and support, technology fuels growth here as well. For example, “smart” sensors can be used to identify damaged shipments and defective products before the shipment is unpacked by a human worker. The faulty product can be returned for a refund, saving time and money and allowing employees to focus their efforts elsewhere. The best part is, every time an AI tool detects a defective shipment, they log the issue in the cloud and will be able to identify it forever.

Managing Security Concerns

As businesses become immersed in global markets, security is integral. All successful businesses should prioritize protecting the privacy of their clients and employees, and the right tech tools can help you find and patch security issues before they manifest as something truly dangerous. They can learn to quickly identify data breaches and prevent malicious attacks on company software, keeping data out of the hands of criminals.

These tools are also useful for ensuring a business complies with regulatory requirements, and making sure to stay on the right side of the law.

AI for Everyday

Automated artificial intelligence systems are an incredibly useful tool for businesses in the modern world, and provide indispensable support to companies large and small on a daily basis. They’re quickly becoming an integral part of business operations, and as time goes on they will only become more and more capable of helping the global market grow.

Image | Héctor García

Most businesses find that voice-controlled virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri are only making things easier. In the midst of a busy day, it’s easy for humans to forget to call a client back or revise a report. But with the help of a virtual assistant, employees can receive reminders throughout the day for even the smallest tasks. A manager can have Siri remind them of a call or meeting that they didn’t want to bother their human assistant with, freeing both employees up to work on more pressing tasks.

As you work to bring your business to markets overseas, now is the time to consider ways to cultivate and foster a meaningful partnership with technology. Help your team work more intelligently and efficiently using all the resources at your disposal, and you’ll find it easier than before to meet your goals for new growth.

Beth Kotz – Guest Contributor Beth Kotz is a freelance business writer and contributor for numerous home, technology, and personal finance blogs. She graduated with BA in Communications and Media from DePaul University in Chicago, IL, where she continues to live and work.