The Internet-of-Things (IoT) continues its expansion across the economy, reshaping whole industries. Current trends are expected to continue, and some new trends will emerge. The IoT is likely to enter the healthcare industry and continue to expand in the remote work sphere. More IoT applications are expected to provide benefits through higher productivity and efficiency. This article considers the top 10 trends in IoT technology and its impact on the world.

More active penetration of IoT into the retail sector

E-commerce has been growing immensely, winning its market share in the retail industry. Due to globalization and technological developments, the retail industry has shifted dramatically from brick-and-mortar supermarkets and malls to online shopping or e-commerce. In the coming years, we are likely to see even more innovation in the sector sparked by the development of the IoT. Amazon is about to offer a model of fully integrated supermarkets. Automation of the spread of the IoT is expected to continue and even accelerate in the upcoming years.

More growth in remote working driven by the IoT

One key trend related to technology is the rise of remote working. An increasing number of companies shifted to remote work. However, productivity suffered due to the shift to remote working, and communication issues resurfaced. This is where the IoT comes in. Many companies already apply the technology, and the trend is not limited to tech companies. The IoT allows businesses to increase efficiency and productivity through more cooperation and better operations control because of increased automation.

The IoT and healthcare sector

Another trend associated with the IoT is its increasing influence on the healthcare sector. Last year the technological revolution expanded in the industry due to new and unprecedented challenges in the healthcare system. This is represented by increased automation in the sector. Next year we will likely see the continuation of the IoT spread into medicine. This may include more automated medical devices and innovative data management. Therefore, investment in the IoT in health care will likely substantially increase in the years ahead.

The rise of “smart building” technology in the construction industry

The construction industry is also likely to be affected by the IoT. In addition to 3D models, the IoT is expected to transform industrial operations and change safety standards. Next year we are more likely to see a shift in the industry toward more worker health and safety. The IoT is expected to help construction companies create a more protected environment without hurting financial results. New technologies will comply with strict work safety standards and will be cost-efficient at the same time.

IoT and the Smart City

The concept of “smart city” is getting more popular today. More and more cities have embarked on this idea and invested heavily in smart city projects. The concept is closely related to the IoT, which can be used to monitor traffic or public transport effectively. In addition, the IoT can handle sustainability, which is also part of the Smart City. The IoT can monitor and run electricity in homes to improve efficiency and accelerate the use of smart homes. Furthermore, the concept is in its early years of development. Even more progress will likely occur as more digital solutions will appear further to improve the IoT and the Smart City concept.

Edge computing and the IoT

Edge computing is another trend likely to happen in the coming years. The edge is also associated with the IoT and big data, specifically. The IoT will help accelerate the development of edge computing and its use in data management and cloud space. Edge computing will enable electronic devices to gather and analyze the data they possess instead of exchanging with clouds, thereby improving speed and reducing costs. The IoT is an integral part of the trend in edge computing.

IoT and the big data

Another trend to see is the rise of big data driven by innovations and the growing applicability of the IoT. The influence of the data has already increased massively over the last decade. This trend will likely continue and intensify in the coming years. In this case, the IoT is the engine of the data revolution that drives growth and expansion by powering new devices and facilitating big data gathering and data management.

More expansion across industries

The IoT emerged from smart homes and smartwatches, but its applicability is not limited to only electronic futures from the electronics industry. The IoT is likely to expand in other industries and bring more innovations. Furthermore, the macroeconomic instability in the aftermath of the pandemic and increased pressure on healthcare will bring more innovation to the industry. The same is true for other industries, as more competition will ignite the spread of the IoT across the economy.

The exponential expansion of “smart homes” that is driven by IoT

Millions of smart home devices are already, and this trend is expected to continue. The IoT is almost everywhere in the space. Whether it is Alexa, Nest, or any other device used in the smart home, it is driven by the IoT. Next year will probably bring even more speed and innovation to the sector.

The IoT and digitalization

The IoT is closely related to digitalization. Over the last decade, the digital economy has flourished spectacularly. This trend is expected to continue in the future. The IoT is almost a perfect solution for building digital twins. The trend for more digitalization will likely continue in engineering, construction, and architecture.

Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Pexels; Thank you!

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The Internet of Things (IoT) has been the talk of the town lately; however, as is the case with many innovations, no one is quite sure what IoT is precise. IoT is the expansion of the Internet from PCs, smartphones, and similar devices to home appliances and other inventions. Most have previously not been connected to the Web. The implications of IoT for search engine optimization (SEO) are huge, with the addition of new ways to access the Internet. These changes promise to radicalize how people typically search for information. Here are 10 radical ways IoT will revamp your SEO strategy in 2020.

Revamp SEO strategy for 2020.

Check out the following 10 radical ways IoT will revamp your SEO strategy in 2020. Prepare for the inevitable technology revolution.

1. A Shift from Keyword-Driven Searches

For years, SEO has been heavily oriented toward keyword searches, with marketers having to structure entire websites or landing pages to reflect specific pieces of content. SEO has mostly been about keyword optimization for the better part of the last decade. While Google has introduced new software to address this issue (such as AI-based search engine rankings), SEO has somewhat stagnated in 2019.

However, IoT promises to change this by shifting the search medium to gadgets or appliances that typically have fewer input options than a PC or a smartphone. You can’t precisely type a detailed keyword search from your fridge. Because of this, it is expected that searches in the IoT era will be voice-driven with users providing whole sentences or questions to the Internet-connected devices.

Internet-connected devices mean that content optimization could lose its relevance; its replacement would arguably be content management. In other words, the function of your webpages will become that much more important than form. And how is IoT and search going to affect job market search?

2. Using Voice Commands for SEO

Building on this, it could be that voice search would completely replace conventional methods of input by 2025. After all, voice searches currently account for as many as 30% of all search queries in the UK. SEO content in 2020 would mean having a simple structure of questions and answers, all of which could realistically be pronounced verbally by your target audience. The pronunciation is a considerable break from the current paradigm of content management in SEO.

The preferred SEO website structure would change from small landing pages to concise bursts of content accounting for the differences in lexicon and grammar. Yes, this does mean that writing good website content would probably become much more difficult.

However, you’ll also get more explicit analytics when analyzing the performance of your SEO pages. For example, the questions that are typically asked by your clients may be indicative of their psychographic preferences.

3. Shifting Away from SERP Formatting

For years, the search engine result page (SERP) has been the king of SEO. If your website looked good on SERP, you’d get a stable stream of visitors who could be converted into loyal customers. Loyal customers are all about to change. With fridges, vacuum cleaners, and water heaters being connected to the Internet, the term SERP completely loses its meaning.

Users will not actually use web browsers or specific search engines to look for information. Instead, the majority will rely on the apps pre-installed onto their appliances. Pre-installed means that no one will actually see how your website looks on the results page. Re-focusing your efforts from SERP optimization to finding new ways to write SEO content would probably become one of the key strategic trends for SEO in 2020.

4. Moving Toward Greater Personalization

Personalization has been one of the most significant buzzwords for marketers throughout the last decade. The shift toward greater personalization marked the beginning of the end of mass marketing. SEO was not exempt from this, with keywords strongly reflecting the demographic and lifestyle characteristics of the target audiences.

If you were running a business selling designer kids’ toys, your preferred keywords would likely reflect the concerns of an average parent. Nonetheless, IoT promises to completely revolutionize the degree to which you will be able to personalize your SEO-driven marketing. You will be able to receive the usage statistics of the household devices directly from the users without having to conduct extensive market research or hire intermediaries to do it for you.

For instance, if you’re a provider of services for the maintenance of washing machines, you’ll have instant access to data on usage and possible reasons for malfunctions. While it’s difficult to know how exactly this is going to affect the exact practices of SEO, it’s likely that nearly all SEO conventions would go out the window. Instead of grouping keywords, new SEO would focus on individual customers or at least segments with similar habits.

5. Experiencing a Significant Expansion of Marketing Channels

It could be argued that traditional SEO and online marketing (such as email promotions or big data analytics) have stagnated a bit in terms of possible market growth. While more and more people are connected to the Internet every day, the methods of reaching them were limited. For example, paid advertisements were a core feature of Google but did not necessarily boost engagement numbers.

This created a considerable gap between your marketing analytics and your actual marketing performance. You could invest heavily in SEO for months or even years and still fail to see any meaningful results. Analytics, however, have predicted that at least 50 billion devices will be integrated into IoT by 2022. The integration represents an enormous leap forward in the availability of your target markets.

While PCs and smartphones have similar functions, each household appliance is different and offers healthy options for marketing personalization. For example, adverts for ready-to-cook meals could become popular when displayed by smart fridges. While the size of the markets itself is unlikely to change significantly, IoT presents a significant opportunity to increase your engagement statistics through SEO.

6. A Stronger Emphasis on Cyber-Security

With an increase in the number of hacker attacks, cyber-security has been on the minds of private and public organizations alike. With many devices exposed to the Internet, the risks of identity theft or downloading malicious software is that much greater. Cyber-security has been a component of SEO in the past with the Google ranking algorithm, taking the perceived security of websites into consideration.

However, IoT means that having mediocre cyber-security would significantly decrease the reach of your SEO efforts. If your website has loopholes or is vulnerable to third parties, it will no longer receive priority ranking for searches made by using IoT software. Investing in improving the security of your landing pages might seem like a hit to your finances, but in a couple of years’ time, it will be worth it.

7. Google Is No Longer a Priority

To say that Google has dominated the SEO industry over the last decade would be an understatement. Google optimization has been synonymous with SEO optimization for quite a bit of time; nonetheless, it’s all about to change. While Google has been rapidly expanding to the OS sector and the gadget market, its presence in the home appliance setting has so far been limited.

With Bosch and other industry giants soon entering the IoT era, Google alone will not be able to provide for a 50 billion-unit industry. It’s much more likely that instead of a single search engine, each device will be outfitted with a series of search apps, each of which will be limited to a specific service.

For SEO marketing, this means that it will no longer be possible to focus on a single search algorithm. Instead, if you want to increase your SEO performance, you’ll need to have at least superficial knowledge of all significant algorithms on the market. Sure, the system will become more complex, but more algorithms also mean more ways to reach your consumers without any intermediate organizations.

8. Facing New Challenges in Website Creation

SEO is not only about keywords but also about how your website looks and how it functions. Slower or clunkier sites attract fewer visitors, which, in turn, could severely affect Google rankings. What’s changed by IoT is the sheer scope of the efforts required for website optimization.

Before IoT, developers were required to make sure the site looked good and ran well on well-documented platforms or browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. With the introduction of a wide variety of new devices, this principle will no longer apply. While your website might still look and feel the same on one specific model of an appliance, everything could change on a different specification.

The changes mean that business owners and developers would be required to create new ways of ensuring a consistent look and feel without going over budget.

9. Losing Control over Customers’ Perceptions

One of the main advantages of the current methodology of SEO is its reliance on well-known software and platforms. When you create a landing page, this page becomes a crucial point of your marketing strategy, with customers needing to visit your website to perform the desired action.

What this meant was that you could arouse positive marketing perceptions by using visual cues (such as specific colors) or relying on website navigation to subtly guide your clients to make a purchase. For SEO, this meant that the content and form of your website was a direct reflection of its search engine ranking and, subsequently, the number of visitors. Unfortunately, it’s all about to change.

During the IoT era, the majority of gadgets will be fitted with simple web browsing software that will probably be unable to handle sophisticated SEO techniques such as the use of meta-data. The majority of search queries probably won’t go beyond the search results page, with customers receiving a simplified version of the content on your page.

While this means you’ll lose at least some control over your client’s perceptions, IoT should also allow you to re-focus your SEO strategy. Instead of using meta-techniques, the focus will be on strong content and organic website growth. SEO will become much more straightforward and will no longer require reading dozens of blogs, books, and academic articles even to get a grasp of the latest trends.

10. Local SEO Will Be King

One thing that we haven’t discussed so far is transportation. With companies promising to revolutionize the automotive market with driverless vehicles, this sector is going to experience a lot of turbulence in the coming years. However, IoT is another contributing factor to this, with cars being one of the most profitable segments in the IoT era.

Cars connected to the Internet are nothing new, but IoT should expand the marketing capabilities of all SEO-savvy entrepreneurs to a new level. For example, if you’re running a small restaurant, you’ve most likely encountered a problem of targeting. Should you focus your adverts on a small selection of neighborhoods? Or focus on the entire city?

IoT should eliminate this problem. You will be able to show your ads to nearby drivers and their passengers as well as anybody who’s been regularly driving past your restaurant but somehow hasn’t yet become a regular patron. The benefits of this are two-fold.

Firstly, you will be able to reduce your marketing budget and become a more cost-efficient entrepreneur by decreasing the cost per click. Secondly, you will also be much more confident about the fact that your ads are being shown to the right audience.

On paper, IoT can look a bit scary. This is particularly applicable to SEO, with the majority of the existing SEO conventions going out of the windows. Keywords and SERP optimization were the most significant examples of this. It’s easy to get intimidated, but remember that at its core IoT represents a significant marketing opportunity.

You’ll be able to reach more customers much more effectively by relying on personalized advertisements and focused content instead of placing all your hopes on Google AdWords or the use of keywords. Just make sure to stay informed of the latest trends, and you’ll come out on top of the IoT game.

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Instagram has become a giant in the world of advertisement over the past few years, with more and more businesses, both big and small utilizing the platform. Instagram now has over 1 billion monthly users, to give that perspective, that’s some 400 million more people than the entirety of North America. If you’re in the business of selling, you need to make the most of the exposure Instagram can bring to your company. Here are 10 effective marketing tips to promote your product on Instagram in 2019.

With pop culture and social media now so intrinsically linked it is no wonder that Instagram has an incredible influence over how specific markets do business and sure enough influencer marketing and the phenomenon of the ‘social media influencer’ is something that has become commonplace in 2019.

1.   Understand the audience and tailor the page to their preference.

In the world of marketing, this has to be the oldest trick in the book, but that’s not to say that it isn’t one of the most important things to remember in 2019 too. Identifying your primary customer audience is critical in whether your business is likely to succeed, and understanding how and where to target this audience has the potential to increase your popularity exponentially.

Being the person who founded your business, you are hopefully the individual who is most likely to know precisely who you need to be appealing to. However, understanding how to reach your target audience best isn’t always as simple as it seems. When it isn’t simple is the time when you will need to take your time to do the research, and this could mean looking back through your past sales without Instagram.

Once you have identified your audience, you need to attract them with a clean and clear statement of intent in your bio, with a link to your website. Nobody wants to take the time to read through an “about us” page worth of information while surfing Instagram, have a on-line statement about who you are. The profile picture needs to be recognizable, add the company logo or latest product (but make sure the product is proudly displaying the logo).

2.   Work out the competition and evaluate their customers and or fan base.

Also old but gold, identifying your competition is an early but essential step towards understanding how to best operate on Instagram. Being able to spot and track the posts of potential rivals gives you the ability to see both what you do well, and things you could improve on. Understanding your strengths in the market is something that you should look to attack,

The internet has made it easier to see what your rivals are doing well on the surface, due to the upfront nature of Instagram marketing, there is no need for deception.

Equally, you should be looking at the people who your rivals are interacting with, if they are critical, take note of why, if they are complimentary do the same. You can also target their customers, putting in the time to reach out to competition’s customers can win you a lot of new followers and make people give you the attention you want.

3.   Post at peak times.

Sometimes in life, it is the small things that can make the most significant difference and making sure to post your content at peak times is one of those things! You need to be able to understand when it is your target audience is most likely to be online and make sure to post in those windows. There are a countless number of websites online which have information regarding when is best to post, regarding things such as the customer’s age and timezone.

By tailoring your content only to be delivered at certain times, you are narrowing your focus on the groups who you want to attract. While this may sound like it has the potential to very work heavy, Instagram has a unique scheduling tool that means you can create posts at any time and schedule them for a specific time and date of your choosing. Make sure to make the most of this scheduling tool; all your rivals will be.

4.   Prove your worth through customer interaction.

As the adage goes, ‘seeing is believing,’ and this is certainly no different when it comes to promoting your products on Instagram.  There is a lot to be said for the impact of ‘social proof’ on the levels of purchasing.

According to 15 Writers, “social proof” is producing evidence that your product is being used and enjoyed by your customers. The best way for you to maximize this potential is to encourage customers to take pictures of themselves using your goods, incentivizing customers to send you their photographs is one of the cheapest forms of promotion you are likely to come across. Encouraging customer interaction builds a level of faith, and your followers are much more likely to feel comfortable purchasing from you if they know that others have enjoyed your product.

5.   Be consistent in brand voice.

It is imperative to develop and then maintain an appropriate ‘voice’ for your company. Consistency in the tone of your posts not only presents itself as professional, but it allows for your followers and customers to become comfortable in understanding your values as a brand. Your customers will come to expect a specific tone from posts, and by continuing with this tone will affirm their belief in you.

Inconsistency can lead to the breakdown in faith in you as a company; inconsistency represents several issues for your followers and presents itself as unprofessional and unreliable. Customers want to know that when they part with their money that they are going to get exactly what they’ve paid. If your brand voice wavers — and changes on Instagram, the level of trust is going to diminish. Then your client won’t feel as secure about what to expect.

Security for your client is one of the reasons it is essential to pre-plan your posts, additions to your Instagram page that are rushed for the sake of adding new content are going to come across as exactly that to your audience. Pre-plan, keep calm, and maintain consistency.

6.   Work with other popular Instagram accounts.

Instagram has become a platform where influencer marketing now dominates a large part of the online community. Celebrities, who have a significant following on Instagram often use the platform to promote specific products or services; their online reach can have a profound effect on how a product is viewed.

Aside from celebrities, there are several people known as “influencers.” these people often have a broad online audience too; these influencers can be collaborated with to promote products. It is vital that you research which online influencer is likely to have the most significant impact on your clients. Choosing the right Instagram account to collaborate with can be extremely beneficial. However, influencers can often cause controversy, so it is crucial that the values of the influencer themselves doesn’t contradict the values you hold as a company or brand.

It is essential to realize that aligning yourself with the wrong people for your follower base can damage the standing you have with many followers. Research is critical in all decisions made for promotion on Instagram, and it is certainly no different when choosing an influencer with which to work.

There are multiple websites where you can browse through the various Instagram influencers, and they will outline what types of people they are most popular with. It is up to you to take your time and consider many different options, if you are unsure there will always be people who can offer help should you need it.

7.   Understand that the market is subject to change.

Failure to adapt to changes in the market can be one of the key reasons for business failure. Maintaining a keen and up to date knowledge of which direction your specific market is heading in is crucial. It would become increasingly difficult to properly promote a product if your understanding of the current climate was fixed and outdated. You can stay up to date with online trends by remaining vigilant and continuing a similar level of research to that you needed when first launching your Instagram page.

Any promotion of a product has to be aware of what is currently happening in the news, and I strongly suggest never trying to promote something heavily without checking the headlines first.

Due to the nature of the internet age, it doesn’t take long for thoughts, feelings and perceptions to get out of hand if they are misconstrued. Always be sensitive to the potential ambiguity of your posts and always double check your hashtags.

8.   Take time and care when promoting products, be as professional as possible.

The best way to promote a product on Instagram is to do it justice in the pictures you post of it. Instagram, first and foremost, is a picture sharing platform, so there is no point in attempting to market a product if you have no intention of doing it justice in the photos you take.

If the pictures you are using are of poor quality, then it says less than favorable things about you as a company. Followers and customers want to be able to see professional style photos of what it is they are supposed to be buying. It might take time to learn how to make the photos the type that speaks to your audience. If you don’t want to invest in a photographer — there are hundreds of huge companies from whom you can learn correct photographic dynamics. Do your research on how each brand promotes its products and recreate those feelings in your own style to suit your brand’s voice.

9.   Be aware of trends in the social media world; be up to date with pop culture.

Depending on the amount of time you spend online, you might not realize the power of internet trend culture, and the popular culture references shared online in the form of memes. Staying up to date with the latest online jokes and memes is a positive way to plan the promotion of certain products. Not only will it highlight to your followers that you have your proverbial finger on the pulse, but it will also show them that you know what they’re interested in and care about being as relevant as possible.

A recent example of this was the fallout to a last Game of Thrones episode, where a takeaway coffee cup appeared in a scene in the fantasy show causing a considerable reaction amongst the show’s fan base. Hundreds of businesses identified it as an opportunity to use the show’s popularity to their own advantage and produced adverts both joking about and featuring the infamous coffee cup.

10.  Be hype-heavy with new releases.

When you are keeping track of effective marketing tips or you are releasing a new product and service, you need to let people know, in a BIG way. What does “a big way” mean to you? Look at posts. These  posts need to build up to the day that the product is released.

A lot of companies also limit the initial release of the product for the first two weeks, making it seem as if the product is rarer than it actually might be. Scarcity of a product drives a fan base wild and creates a push for purchasing. The desire to purchase something that is deemed limited edition or rare is stronger now than it ever has been, and this affects consumer habits tremendously.

Creating competitions or interactions around the release of a specific item also makes the fan base pay attention to your statements. If there is a genuine incentive to follow when something is being released, such as winning something or receiving a product pre wholesale release, then people are going to get excited about your brand.

Promoting your brand or product on Instagram doesn’t need to be difficult, and if you follow the rules in this article, you will begin to develop genuine interest from people around the world. The most important rule when dealing with Instagram is to be consistent, and if you are honest with yourself and work hard, then you will develop a loyal fan base on the platform.

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