6 important small business trends for 2017

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( 6 Important Small Business Trends for 2017 )
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6 Important Small Business Trends for 2017

With the arrival of some new technologies, the year 2016 had been a
promising one for small business owners and entrepreneurs. As a small
business owner you should have the knack to leverage the latest
technologies and trends to grow your business and stay relevant.
Keeping yourself updated about the latest technological trends is just a start
and this article might get you started to think about it. Here are some of the
latest trends which are ruling the roost in 2017 and we expect the trend to
continue in 2018 as well.
6 Important Small Business Trends for 2017

1. Advancement in Mobile Marketing

The latest figure from comScore Mobile Metrix shows that the total browsing
time is much higher on smart phones in US & UK.
In a mobile world, building your business’ presence on mobile web has
become more important than ever before. Having a strong search visibility in
mobile search results (of search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing etc) should
obviously be a core component of your mobile marketing strategy.
Having a mobile-friendly website is no more an option, further the mobile-
first approach has been fueled by Google’s mobile friendly update
(Mobilegeddon) and its upcoming separate mobile index. (Read why
Responsive Web Design is the best solution to tackle the possible effects of
Google’s upcoming mobile index )
1. Advancement in Mobile Marketing
continued….

If your website is not mobile-friendly and lacks mobile search presence, it’s
high time you accelerated to catch up with your competitors who might be
way ahead by now.
Getting a mobile app built will also be a great addition to your mobile
marketing strategy for sure – but make this move only based on clearly
defined objectives and after taking your overall business scenario into
account.
This year the focus will be on speed and efficiency to provide a hassle free &
integrated mobile experience.
Takeaway: Mobile marketing, if planned and executed well, can really help
you to sustain and scale up your business. Mobile marketing, apart from the
traditional promotional methods, also offers a range of mobile-focused
promotional options that enable precise targeting including push
notifications, app marketing, targeted mobile network ads, SMS and
social/messaging apps marketing and more.

2. EMV / Card Readers

“Europay, MasterCard & Visa” are now global standard for credit card and
debit card payments. The migration to EMV payment standards is virtually
guaranteed to safeguard small businesses and their customers against
fraud over the coming years.
Mobile payment services, including Apple Pay, Samsung pay & Android
Pay, are becoming more common & widely understood by both consumers
& small businesses that take in-store payments.
continued….
EMV / Card Readers

According to the statistics, there is a gradual increase in mobile payments
from 2015 to 2019.
Also EMV supports numerous mobile transaction types & can operate in
offline mode, making it ideal for transactions in businesses in a variety of
different environment & circumstances.
Takeaway: If your business still accepts face-to-face transactions without
EMV, you are facing some serious financial risk and also the risk of losing
the credibility of your customers. Switching to EVM payments will eliminate
present card fraud caused by lost, stolen and counterfeit card.

3. Chatbots

Chatbots
Artificial intelligence has been changing the business/commerce
landscape and small businesses ought to be prepared to leverage the
opportunities and face the challenges thrown by AI in the coming years.
The implications of Artificial Intelligence are intense and it will surely
help small businesses to evolve and gain a competitive edge and stay
relevant to its customers as brand engagement will be re-imagined in
coming years. One of the latest examples of Artificial Intelligence’s
growing role in Business world is Chatbots.
continued….

Chatbot is a computer program designed to stimulate conversation with
human users over the internet. These bots enhance customer experience by
being available at all times. Some of its highlighted plus points:
It offers conversational commerce (a term coined by Chris Messina) that is
purchasing an item within the context of a conversation with chatbots.
Implementing custom AI chatbots to interact with customers, answer
queries and process payments.
Takeaway: AI chatbots is just a beginning but it’s already impacting the way
small businesses interact with their customers. Small businesses owners
have the opportunity to take advantage of large data sets and build
predictive models by using their existing data. This can help in determining
the best way to grow their business and adjust accordingly. Read our article
‘A Comprehensive Guide to Conversational Interface’ to know more

4. Visual Content Marketing

For small business owners it is not possible to spend a lot of money on
advertising. So what should they do to make their business noticeable by
their potential customers? - Content Marketing (CM)
Nowadays a number of small businesses are writing content that people
want to see and read, thereby embracing content marketing to increase
their exposure online. Content Marketing majorly focuses on
communicating with the customer & distributing information with a
motive of engaging and reaching out to a target audience in order to
attain brand awareness. The number of small business owners adopting
and leveraging content marketing for business growth has increased
rapidly in the recent times.
Visual Content Marketing
continued….

According to Xerox and KissMetrics, articles that contain visual content
are 80% likelier to be read and adding relevant images to content can
increase views by as much as 94%.
Takeaway: With so many emerging business trends, CM with visual
content is the one that will stay there in the long run because nothing can
beat a great content. Use CM along with SEO tactics to attract more
visitors to your site.

5. Social Selling (SS)

Social Selling is relatively a new concept in the field of digital marketing.
Social Selling is the act of salespeople using social media to interact
directly with prospects and provide value to them. When it comes to social
selling, media networks play a key role in interacting with potential buyers
to build revenue driving relationships.
Social Selling (SS)
continued….

Some of the interesting benefits of social selling:
• Reduces the sales cycle: One can shorten the entire sales cycle and
achieve more success.
• Generates new Revenue opportunity: Helps businesses meet & exceed
revenue and sales goals.
• Helps maintain online reputation: one of the greatest advantages Social
selling provides is the management one’s business image & credibility
online.
• Better customer relationship: SS helps you in creating better customer
relationship.
• Keeps your customer coming back for more.
Takeaway: Social selling is still a new concept in the business world which
is under utilized by most of the B2B companies today. Give your business
an unfair advantage against your competitors by capitalizing on Social
selling & explore the benefits and success it can bring to your business.

6. Video

According to Cisco, by 2017 video will account for 80% of all consumer
internet traffic.
In recent years content marketing has become mostly visual & interactive –
lately video has become most favorite form of content consumed by
online users, this trend is likely to stay here . Creating videos nowadays
does not involve any out of budget scenario rather they can be created on
smart phones and tablets.
Small businesses use videos to quickly communicate relevant information
to their customers and it also helps to boost user engagement. Platforms
like Periscope, Snapchat, Facebook Live etc have opened up new
opportunities for small business owners to promote their businesses
through videos.
Video
continued….

Takeaway: Video marketing has become less expensive than ever before
and great videos product great results.

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6 important small business trends for 2017

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6 important small business trends for 2017