It’s either the leader swims or drowns in the tech ocean. Just this week we saw Samsung introduce its latest offering of the Galaxy Note 8 phone. The Note 8 is Samsung’s first smartphone to come with a dual camera lens, the kind of technology employed in the iPhone 7.
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It’s also rumoured that its competitor, Apple, will bring an iPhone 8 in weeks. According to the Telegraph, it has been said that the iPhone 8 will “include wireless charging, facial recognition, an edge-to-edge display and — for the first time — no home button”.
On the other hand, two giants, Google and Wal-mark will soon join hands to sell goods on line as was announced on Wednesday. This marriage is meant to challenge Amazon; who is a great threat to brick and mortar retailers. According to CNBC News online, “Wal-Mart shoppers will soon be able to link their Wal-Mart accounts to Google Express and order items through Google’s voice-enabled technology. In its partnership with Google, Wal-Mart will boast the largest number of items offered by a retailer through the Express platform”
In a Liquid Telecom report called African Internet of Things (IoT) 2017, “An IoT ecosystem is rapidly appearing across Africa. In East Africa, an emerging developer community is taking a stronger interest in IoT, while IoT is making advancements in South Africa where there are already maturing machine-to-machine (M2M) services. According to global market intelligence firm IDC, the IoT market opportunity in Africa is poised to grow by 17% from $837,9 million in 2016 to $1,8 billion by 2020. This presents opportunity across a range of verticals”.
This sends signals to the industry as the future unfolds before our eyes. Every company should embrace the need for digital transformation if they are to be effective in this era of mobile technology. As a build up to last week’s article on social media customer service, the leader has to stay ahead of the crop.
Be felt in the cloud space
About 15 years back it is when I had my first yahoo.com email address. Then, I was not even able to send an email. Let alone type. That was just two years before Facebook started in February of 2004. To most people, including to the writer these new discoveries were said to be the devil’s tools, but today, communication seems to be incomplete without these technologies.
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The Internet is a tool you can use to reach audiences that you might not have a chance to meet in your life time. Become a trusted source of valuable information online. So the leader has to publish consistently and post what is in line with their brand.
Technology is developing at break-neck speed. It is no secret that internet presence or awareness plays a pivotal role as most of our middle-aged and young consumers spend most of their times online. By the year 2013, there were over 5 billion mobile phone users and 1,1 billion used smart phones. This is proof that more and more people are joining the internet trend.
Even though some people might not be having access to the internet, the future is replete with signs of definite technology change. These days, consumers look forward to connecting directly with the managers or CEOs. As a result creating positive internet presence is crucial and the basic step is to have a website and develop it. Let the search engine know that you exist
Google is the current leading search engines. To put this to test do a Google search for your name and see what appears. When people are searching, as a website owner you would like people to find you at the top of the list of all search results. To make yourself come at the top of the list you have to do Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This improves the visibility of your brand or website and drives the customer to your website.
Let your brand be visible
As people are on your website, at first glance they should be able to tell the line of the product that you are offering or the kind of a leader that you are. As a corporate speaker myself, I have since discovered that when companies are searching for your credibility, they merely Google search you. I was surprised the other day when I was doing an interview with a television station to find out that the lady had my biography that she got online. Increase your online brand visibility. In this era you should ask yourself as a leader: What brand am I representing online? This aligns your brand to a specific market. This should be constant across all online means of endeavours.
Join the blog-mania
This is ideal for individuals. Why? It’s free and easy to use. In a sense, this is a “free website”, but with some limitations. Some examples of blogs include WordPress, Blogspot and Weebly. Your blog can be integrated with all your social networks. Thereby increasing traffic either way.
Get in the social media space
Social media presence has unprecedented results. As you understand your niche market, the more you know the right people to target. Link your social media to your website. Social media helps with product marketing, product visibility, and consumer loyalty. Read last week’s article. Also, by being on social platforms you increase your search engine visibility.
Vlogging is cool
People love visuals. They love to see things in pictures. With internet tools, people can now have a visual feel of what you offer. It could be a service or product. You can post branded videos and images through platforms such as YouTube and most social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Again, you can upload your videos for free. It’s estimated that people watch over 4 billion of YouTube videos every day and of the total, 68% share those on their social platforms.
Make a subscriber list
Have customers subscribe to your website. This makes you have a mailing list. Send them emails on a regular basis. Include the web link to your site and have a button to make them connect to your social sites. This is great marketing, especially for new products.
Stand on the shoulders of giants
Advertise on websites that are top ranked. This comes with a cost, but it’s very effective. Advertise on top-ranked websites. Newspaper websites have an active audience that you can reach within minutes.
Use the power of direct marketing
Having discussed the power of the internet it might seem as through traditional direct marketing has become useless. Engage one-on-one with people in your field and potential customers. Increase your networks. This is an old tool which has not lost its strength. Go out of your way, invest in meeting people and meet them in person.
Parting Point: Don’t wait for change to change you. Like a flower or garden, your brand needs to be constantly cultivated, watered and pruned to keep it growing and glowing. If you leave your brand to chance, it will fade and fall away as competitors are fighting hard to have greater visibility. Be a brand to reckon with.
Jonah Nyoni is an author, success coach and certified leadership/business trainer. He is the author of Inspiration for Success and Success Within Reach. Contact details: Tel: 0772 581 918. Email: [email protected]. Twitter@jonahnyoni.
