A Look at the Positive Impact of Technology on Business

Major Changes to Business Operations After the Digital Revolution

Since the start of the Digital Revolution in the 1980s, technology has been effectively changing businesses. It’s impacted everything from communication all the way to the infrastructure. In the past 40 years, technology, and those in the IT industry, have become an invaluable resource for progress and development. There’s no doubt that technology has changed business. In this article, we look at the positive impact technology has had on business. 

It’s hard to imagine a time when technology wasn’t woven into almost every part of our day, but it doesn’t stop with personal use. Technology is just as common-place, and maybe even more so, at work. 

Just think, 5-10 years ago social media was struggling to create a consumer use. Cell-phones were used simply for communication. The App Generation was just beginning. Look at where we are today! It’s hard to think about all the ways that we will progress in the coming future, but as technology continually innovates, we can be sure that this will happen. Technology will continue to shape business.   

Let’s look at the top five ways that technology has changed business. We’ll share our thoughts on why we think these elements of technology will continue to have a positive impact on business in years to come.  

Mobile-First Generation.

According to 2020 Pew Research, Millennials have now surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living population of adults. The largest demographic of consumers is now a younger, more tech-savvy crowd. Businesses have had to change strategies and become more innovative in the way they reach this customer. For one, Millennials are mobile. They’re on the move, and they’re on their mobile devices. Cell phone and tablet use has risen in conjunction with the growth of this demographic. Their mobile device has almost become an extension of their body. (Not really, but it’s estimated that an average Millennial user will spend 52 days a year looking at their phone).

Consumers are using their phones to shop, find local businesses, read and write reviews on products, and interact with their friends and family. So much so, that Google adjusted their algorithm to ensure that mobile-friendly websites are the forefront of search results!  

Mobile devices have come a long way in the past five years. Smartphones and tablets give users all the abilities they have on their home computer, regardless of location. Businesses can use mobile devices for content creation and marketing as well as back-end procedures like invoicing and shipping with the ease of clicking a button through the addition of Apps. Furthermore, mobile devices have become a huge source of profit, generating $92.2 billion of revenue each year. 

A more connected business world

Did you know that the number of active mobile devices has now surpassed the number of humans on the planet? Yep, there were almost 15 billion operating mobile devices in 2021. Today’s population is about 8 billion. While the number of gadgets is more than the population (and growing) we’ll be transparent that not everyone owns a device. Realistically, there are about 5.6 billion unique mobile phone users in the world today. That’s about three devices per person.  

But what does this mean for our world? Well, for one, we are more connected than ever!

Think about it. If you send someone an email and don’t hear back, you can call them on your phone. Still no answer? Shoot them a text message. Haven’t heard back? Log onto Facebook and send them a message. Even if you aren’t “friends” with someone, it’s incredibly (and frighteningly) easy to find the person that you’re looking for on social media with a few searches and very little information. For businesses, this means you not only have ways to instantly speak to your audience, but you also have a vast variety of mediums to choose where you want to interact with your customer.

Knowing your customer better

Analytics services offer businesses the ability to segment customers and prospects into detailed groups based on their demographics. This ability allows businesses to get more from their marketing dollars because they can target specifically towards certain segments based on their demographics, habits, or preferences. This is much more effective than blanket marketing to all customers in the same way. Personalized marketing strategies with real-time feedback allow for businesses to create more conversions. 

Our owner, Brian Staver, shares his own thoughts on how technology has affected his business strategy: “The use of technology greatly reduces the guesswork in making decisions.”  

It’s true. Information gathered through analytics also gives businesses insight into the customer’s journey with their product or service. Instead of assuming how consumers arrive and interact with the site, analytics shows the real story. Analytics, from services like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, now track how a consumer found the site, how long they were on the site, what they do on the site, and ultimately where they leave the site. Analyzing these details gives insight into possible friction points that customers are running into, causing them to leave. These details can also shine light on hot spots on your site that are large traffic drivers.

Increasing expectation for social networks

As the population becomes connected via social networks, businesses follow suit. It’s almost unheard of for a business not to have an online presence using either a website, or at the very least a Facebook profile for their business.  

Millennials are known to check out business’ credibility online and compare to surrounding businesses before making their purchase. We also know that Millennials are very much influenced by what their “personal network” recommends. It’s no longer acceptable for businesses to have lackluster customer service, misleading information from their site to their actual product, or not deliver on time without running the risk of scathing online reviews.

Being proactive on social networks by keeping profiles up-to-date, interacting with customers on a personal basis, and posting relevant information for their customers are all crucial in establishing your online credibility. There’s plenty of benefit from taking these actions. In fact, 90% of marketers say that using social media has improved their business exposure.  

Today we have a buyer-centric economy. We are all facing consumers that are making informed buying decisions. Doesn’t it make sense to ensure you have information available online to them in an easy-to-reach space, like social media?

Increase in efficiency

Finally, and most importantly, we believe, the influx of technology has allowed businesses to become extremely efficient. How efficient, you may ask? Thanks to technology, between 1950 and 2018, labor productivity increased 299%! 

Processes that were mundane and repetitive can now be automated through software applications. Plus, software is now accessible to small businesses at a manageable cost which can level the playing field between small businesses and larger corporations.  

Business owners can free up some of their time by utilizing accounting, marketing, and communication programs, along with others, to streamline their processes. Here’s some of our favorite affordable software solutions for businesses these days:

• Payment gateways to provide online shopping  
• Accounting software to help ease the bookkeeping process  
• Antivirus software to protect your company and computer devices  
• Technology for programmers  

Technologies like these allow businesses to focus more on progression and to look at their entire business to find areas for improvement or opportunities for growth. It’s no secret that technology has had a positive impact on business.   

“Technology assists in finding and creating efficiencies that increase profit,” Staver explains.

Closing thoughts on how technology changed business

Whether you are an established business owner or an entrepreneur that is just beginning, the integration of technology into your business processes has very positive effects on the success of your business. Not only is technology changing the ways of business, but it’s evolving all the time and happening fast. To stay relevant, business owners must adapt their businesses to these technological changes.