The expansion of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in all areas and levels of our society has been, for several decades, at great speed and it is an unstoppable process as new technological elements and applications that motivate to the users, to the companies and institutions to use them, discarding the previous ones (although they coexist for some time), either because of their obsolescence, or because of the lack of features that make them unsuitable to satisfy the highest current requirements.

While most users accept these new developments as something beneficial and useful to facilitate their daily work, leisure and communication, there are others who are reluctant to adopt them, due to ignorance or lack of attractive commercial offer, because it confronts them as something new and unknown, or they are asked to acquire new and, sometimes, expensive equipment, something they are not always willing to address. In these cases, there is what we can call “the digital divide”, which marks a differentiation between users.

Facilitate access to information

Once this brief introduction is made, we can say what the emerging technologies really bring to society is to facilitate access to information, in an effective and immediate way, through the use of the infrastructures that telecommunications operators have developed and implemented. , through advanced devices with powerful hardware and software and friendly interfaces, which allow access to many applications and content developed by themselves or by third parties.

So, we all currently use broadband networks, both fixed and mobile, that allow us to access the Internet, or use the 3rd or 4th mobile network (5th soon) Generation, to communicate, see multimedia content, play online or send messages, using smartphones, tablets, audiovisual devices, or any other means. Also, it is already a reality, but in the future, it will be enhanced much more, the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), which facilitates that millions of autonomous devices, with no human intervention, can exchange information between them. According to the consultancy Gartner, it is estimated that in 2020 there will be around 20,400 million connected devices worldwide.

Many are the technological concepts that are marking the digital consolidation, but if there is one that affects all of them and whose application will mark the future, as appreciated by all the current news, it is the power of the data (defined as the gold of the 21st century) and its management, which is known as “Big Data”, together with a whole new regulation: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2), whose application, when it comes into force soon, will increase security levels and improve risk management, to improve competition, innovation and consumer protection.

The proliferation of social networks

A phenomenon that has led to the introduction of emerging technologies is the proliferation of social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. that along with messaging applications such as WhatsApp and other similar, among all segments of the population, which have hundreds of millions of users around the world. These applications generate a lot of traffic, since the consumption of multimedia content ( thanks to broadband infrastructures and the supply of so-called flat rates) is increasing, so both external and internal networks in buildings must be prepared to support it, something possible to recent technical advances and the adoption of common standards that allow compatibility and interoperability between diverse devices,

Another impact that new technologies are causing is the paradigm shift in traditional commerce, which leads to electronic commerce (e-commerce and mobile marketing), with Amazon as the undisputed leader, and also in banking (e-banking), which has as a result has lead to the closing of numerous physical offices and the attention to clients and the carrying out of operations through the Internet, without forgetting the Public Administration, which facilitates the completion of numerous procedures for citizens, which saves a lot of time and money.

All these advances generate a great impact on society, because of its consequences, whether economic, political, social and cultural, without forgetting the possible replacement of many jobs by the arrival of robots and artificial intelligence, which is something we have to start worrying about. It is possible to ensure that ICT facilitate connectivity, allow us to develop our knowledge, perform procedures and exchange information with other people or machines, regardless of distance, through the tools and applications (the famous apps) available on the Internet or in other networks, and smart devices.

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This same concept which proved useful in the tech and manufacturing industry has been adopted by other markets and the outcome is the same; design thinking drives innovation. You might be wondering, “what is this strategy?”, “can I apply it to my business?”. Your questions are addressed below.

What is Design Thinking?

Before now, designers tackled projects by focusing on the problem at hand, seeking to solve the challenge by concentrating on the problem. However, design thinking adopts a solution-based style which begins with the end-user in mind. Logic, intuition, analysis, and imagination are tools which are heavily relied upon in creating the desired outcome.

How to Embrace Design Thinking

Even though it is not a silver bullet to all your organization’s problem, design thinking offers an opportunity to collectively create a framework for pursuing innovation. Ditching the conventional linear approach to problem-solving is difficult, however, it is a worthwhile venture. You can start with these three steps.

Empathy

For a human-centered design process to be successful, it is important that the business managers empathize with the customers who utilize these products. This skill becomes particularly useful when the business is on the verge of expanding into new spheres.

Without empathy, gleaning information on the challenges encountered is impossible. Design thinking basically entails asking the right question, meeting the right demographics, in essence, putting yourself in your customer’s shoes.

This strategy might appear plain and ineffective, however, research has revealed that a 50% increase in income has been recorded by companies which adopted this strategy. In another study carried out, lack of empathy was identified as one of the reasons customers patronize other businesses.

Iterative Problem-Solving

The global market is rapidly evolving and it becomes difficult to keep up with the pace if you still spend the bulk of your time on futile ventures. Constantly changing the scope of a problem engenders better results every time. Often, businesses stick with strategies which have shown minimal potential to succeed.

Harvard Business Review carried out a survey and it was seen that about 9 in 10 companies struggled with finding an accurate diagnosis of their problem. Design thinking encourages you to diversify, adopt an iterative approach, and re-diagnose the problem.

Stakeholder Mapping

As a business seeking to innovate, you should form the habit of visualizing the effect and outcome of certain actions and decisions. Ideally, you need to consider different factors such as time constraints, geopolitical factors, religious beliefs, etc.

You should have an exhaustive outline of global stakeholders, their allies and foes, addressing the issues pertinent to them.

Design thinking in its simplest form is a way of solving a problem. Many an organization, straitjacketed by their process-oriented methodology would rather live with a problem than apply an out of the box approach like Design Thinking. Many others treat it as a last throw of the dice, when all else fails. The truly smart ones believe that this is the approach which is the real complement to innovation.

At Biztruss, we recognize the need to apply the right brain in equal measure to address challenges. Whether it is in scoping out a development challenge or in drawing out a Customer Journey Map, a user centric approach sets the tone for designing appropriate solutions for every problem. While the design thinking may not or even should not always have quantified success metrics in keeping with the spirit of its being, it definitely does succeed in opening up minds and avenues, in turn helping unearth new ways of solving problems.

In case you haven’t tried it out yet, there’s always a way you can make a start, just by altering your thought process, just that little bit. That’s what Design Thinking is all about, and that’s what it asks of you.
Till we roll out another blog from our thought factory, continue to think with design. And tell us all about your success stories doing it.

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Putting it in very simple and clear terms, the path to finding the magical moment in business stems from discovering your core product value. Let’s go deeper.

What is Your Core Product Value?

This is the essence of your service or product. Without the core product value, it is impossible to convert guests to customers. Identifying your product value is what can help you gain 500 million users in record time. In fact, it has been observed that a company that has discovered it core product value will outperform others in fund-raising ventures.
In summary, the core product value is much more than the practical value in that it satisfies the 6 inherent needs of the customers. These needs are;

1. Certainty
2. Surprise/spontaneity
3. Premium feel
4. A sense of community
5. Growth
6. Impactful contribution

These definitions might suffice for some while others might want practical examples. We got you covered. Below, we discuss the path some of the successful companies took to discover their core product value and how they got to their “A-HA moment”.

Facebook and Its Core Product Value

As Mark said in his speech to the Harvard graduating class of 2017, Facebook’s aim is to connect the world. And they didn’t need to start on a grand level. In fact, the a-ha moment for them was being able to get a user to connect with 7 friends within 10 days.

This was a perfect merger of product and growth in that they were building their core value while getting the largest target audience to experience it.

Twitter and Its A-ha Moment

Hear what Josh Elman, an employee at Twitter had to say on the company’s core product value.

“At Twitter, we found that if you visited Twitter at least 7 times in a month, then it was likely you were going to be visiting Twitter in the next month, and the next month, and the next month. And we decided this was enough initially to be “really using it”.

There you have it, the aim was to get the user to experience their awesome service at least 7 times, and then, boom!

Uber and Its A-ha Moment

Uber has a slogan; “my own private driver” and they have succeeded in selling this story to people all over the world. Imagine you just finished a business meeting, you pull out your phone, push a button, and within minutes, your ride shows up. Did you just say A-ha?!

It’s not just the big fish that deserve their A-ha moments. In a highly democratized digital ecosystem that rewards the individual merit of startups, every single entity has a shot at their big moment. It may be just a dawn of realization or a sudden call to action, it’s a turning point for every single startup worth their salt. And that is precisely why we at Biztruss don’t just talk the Digital 360 but Walk it. We’ll let the mystery persist for a bit more if you haven’t had the opportunity yet to check it on our website, but we’ll do the right thing let you on the 3 tips that counts for everything in building your core product value.

1. Prioritize building the core product value.
2. Ensure that the users experience the core product value as soon as possible.
3. Make sure the largest percentage of your target market get to experience the core product value in good time.

Like to talk a little more on this and unveil the mystery? We’d love to help you discover you’re A-ha moment.

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With this in mind, the concept might come off as having innumerable layers of complexity. However, the schematics of the IoT boils down to just 4 main components. Let’s see what they are.

The 4 Main Components of the IoT

Sensors

Sensors are pieces of technology that extract data of varying complexities, including humidity, sound waves and video feed, from the immediate environment. These sensors can be assembled together inside a device such as a smartphone, a piece of machinery, a vehicle, walls of a building, etc, in order to gather multifaceted data. After gathering data, sensors transmit the collected data through their connectivity apparatuses to cloud infrastructures.

Connectivity

The sensors transmit the gathered data to a cloud infrastructure and receive feedback through certain connectivity mediums, including cellular networks, Wi-Fi, Wide-Area Networks (WAN), etc, each with its own set of advantages and drawbacks. The connectivity of the sensors is also imbued with what is called gateways.

The gateways can serve as data filters that minimize the size of data transmitted to the cloud infrastructure, and also as receptors which receive the command sent from the cloud to the actuators of the devices (components that trigger a class of action in the devices) that host the sensors. In their original form, the gathered data exists in an analog form. They’re then aggregated and digitized by the gateway to compress their sizes and optimize them for further processing.

Data Processing

The next thing that happens after data is acquired and transmitted to cloud infrastructure is the processing of the data to determine the changes happening in the sensor’s environment, such as changes in temperature, the changes in the presence of certain entities such as an entry of an intruder in a home, etc.

In order for this to happen, the transmitted data is sent to a streaming data processor that facilitates the transmission of the acquired data to a data lake as well as control applications. The processed data is stored in the data lake, from where they can be extracted to a big data warehouse when they’re needed for insightful analyses to predict trends. The big data warehouse contains only well-structured, streamlined contextual data, whereas the data lake collects all types of data transmitted to the cloud infrastructure.

User Interface and Control Applications

This is where the human touch enters into the IoT system. The processed information is made available to end-users so they can act on the data. This can happen through notification emails and push messages. But in some IoT systems, the human decision maker is substituted for control applications which take action on the processed data automatically.

For instance, automated factory lines can receive instructions to shut down certain compartments when the preconditioned control applications of the IoT system detect through the processed data a potential fault that can cause widespread damage. These applications can function based on both the rules set by the IT operatives or machine-learning modules which are regulated by the historical data saved in the big house warehouse.

Other Important Components of the IoT

Device management

The process of authenticating the source and of the data as well as the configuration of the sensor device, and the maintenance and update of the sensor to ensure the sensors perform optimally.

User Management

This determines the users that have access to the IoT system.

Conclusion

A bona fide IoT system comprises a network of sensors and actuators, network connectivity, user interface and/or command applications, regardless of the sphere of activity which it is created for.

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What is Data-Driven Content Marketing?

This is simply the utilization of statistics, public data, and information gleaned from assiduous market research & survey to engender effective content creation strategy. With a plethora of data sources available, content marketers are sure of getting insights into current trends and market opportunities.

This knowledge, if properly exploited, can prove very useful in understanding the consumption habits, preference, and expectations of the readers. Considering the benefits of this process, it is important to develop an effective strategy to this end. A data-driven, content marketing strategy which cuts across board.

How to Develop an Effective Data-Driven Content Strategy

Get Familiar with Data

One of the most versatile tools for collecting and analyzing data is Google Analytics. This should be your best friend from now on. You should assess prior content on your website and monitor how well they have done. In order to have a clearer view, you might consider sending out surveys to your subscriber, trying to see how they relate to your content.

What else can you do with data? A lot! There’s competitor analysis to carry out. You can browse through other websites which offer the same service, identify their pattern of reaching out, and see the types of content they put out. You also require tools which can help you execute detailed keyword research. Both short-tail and long-tail keywords are equally accessible using certain tools (Google Keyword Planner, Moz, SEMrush, etc.)

Create a Concrete Framework for Your Content Strategy

After gathering the required data needed, the next step is to map out a content plan which evinces your brand’s vision and targets the intended audience. A content calendar is an effective tool for achieving this; you can plan weekly or monthly schedules, including themes or topics which are pertinent to the discussion.

This will provide you with a solid foundation which you can fall back on for subsequent distribution. More so, the organization it offers will help you stay focused. Apart from the content creation process, it is also important to put up a plan to amplify the audience. Social media campaigns, promotions, etc. are important in really achieving this data-driven lifestyle.

Identify Effective Content Formats and Adhere to It

There are various formats peculiar to different forms of media. According to research and previous study, which format have you found effective? Did infographics prove more engaging? Is a white paper actually being read? You should critically consider all these before coming up with the format to employ, and when you do? Stick to it.

Content Distribution and Amplification

There’s no use going through this stress if you do not plan to expand your coast. The critical consideration, however, is not just where your content is being promoted, the time of promotion is equally crucial.

Here’s a free tip, Facebook posts perform 39% better in the morning than in the evening. Now, you can work your way around this information using sophisticated tools like Hootsuite, SproutSocial, and yes, Google Analytics.

Analyze Progress, Execute Tests

Don’t be discouraged when your hard work seems not to pay off, in fact, be glad. Now you know the content strategy which will fail to make an impact and you can move on to try other ideas. Evaluation is, perhaps, the most important aspect of this data-driven approach to content strategy. You can set reasonable targets and track your progress when you consistently evaluate your strategy.

We at Biztruss never fail to emphasize or even overemphasized, as that as content marketers, you need to transcend creativity and head out to the realm of data. The market is awash with potential which is waiting to be tapped, a myriad of audience, waiting for the appropriate content, and metrics eager to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.

So suffice to say, don’t stay content with your content. Invest in a strategy and that could really be the prime mover for your lead generation efforts.

That’s about it for now. Our supercharged blog machine doesn’t take a break, so sure enough we’ll be rolling out another soon. Till then, let your content speak for you!

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