In today’s hyper-connected digital world, businesses and individuals find themselves navigating a complex web of online interactions as the social benefits of internet usage far outweigh the negatives. With more than half of the world (60%) now using social media, the way people and businesses connect with each other has undergone drastic change.

Brands must now establish their presence in the digital space to stay competitive and relevant. Enter Digital PR, a strategic approach that combines traditional PR principles with digital media channels to reach a broader audience. It is a crucial tool for building an online reputation and enhancing visibility.

In this article, we will explore the significance of Digital PR, how it can help modern businesses, and various strategies to leverage its potential effectively.

Related: How to Make the Most of Your Public Relations

Why Digital PR Can Be a Game-changer for Your Business

In today’s day and age, having a strong online presence is a non-negotiable factor for success. Digital PR helps you achieve exactly that by using the digital landscape’s power to elevate your brand to new heights. Here’s how it can benefit your business:

Related: Why a Good Digital PR Strategy Is So Important

Boosting Visibility and Reliability through Media Outreach

According to AdWeek, 63% of adults actively talk about various products and services online, and 81% of adults read what people have said or posted about products and services. This highlights the importance of having a good digital PR strategy in place. Media coverage has always been essential for brands seeking to gain exposure, and Digital PR opens up new avenues for media outreach. Press releases, thought leadership articles, and expert interviews published on authoritative websites could significantly boost visibility and increase reliability.

Social Media Amplification

Social media is the heartbeat of the digital age, and Digital PR excels at leveraging these platforms. A survey reports that 76% of consumers look at a business’ online presence before physically visiting it. A good social media presence helps attract and retain interested customers.

Engaging with your audience on social media can foster brand loyalty, address concerns, and promote positive sentiment. Responsiveness and engagement on social media can also directly impact your brand’s reputation and online visibility.

SEO and Digital PR Synergy

Starting with SEO can be highly beneficial when looking to enhance your public relations and overall brand image. Although these two aspects may initially appear unrelated, they are closely interconnected.

PR and SEO cater to the same segment but differ in approach. PR focuses on creating appealing content to resonate with consumers, while SEO customizes content to achieve higher rankings and improve online visibility compared to competitors.

They both complement each other in the quest for online prominence. High-quality backlinks from reputable websites, earned through Digital PR efforts, are highly valued by search engines. Google considers backlinks one of the most important factors in its ranking.

Hence, by optimizing content for relevant keywords and securing valuable backlinks, Digital PR enhances your online visibility organically.

Related: Why Combining Public Relations and SEO Will Propel Your Business in Today’s Digital Landscape

Navigating Online Crises

In the digital landscape, crisis situations can escalate rapidly. Misinformation and negative sentiments can spread like wildfire, potentially harming your brand’s reputation.

Digital PR equips you with the tools to respond effectively to crises, manage online narratives, and minimize reputational damage. It helps you stay ahead of the narrative, taking control of the conversation surrounding your brand. By engaging in transparent and timely communication, Digital PR enables you to address concerns, correct inaccuracies, and reassure your audience.

Measuring Success with Data

Unlike traditional PR, Digital PR provides a wealth of data and analytics to gauge the success of your efforts accurately. Metrics such as website traffic, social media interaction, and media mentions provide vital information about the performance of your campaign. By analyzing these metrics, you may fine-tune your plan to achieve more significant results over time.

By utilizing these metrics, you can evaluate your performance and receive valuable feedback to enhance your brand’s image.

Effective Digital PR Strategies to Leverage

To harness the full potential of Digital PR, consider implementing the following strategies:

Storytelling: Craft compelling narratives that resonate with your target audience and evoke emotions. Human-centric stories are more likely to be shared, expanding your reach organically.

Influencer Partnerships: Connect with influencers in your industry to spread your brand’s message and reach a larger audience.

Content Distribution: Use a variety of digital channels such as blogs, social media, and online magazines to distribute your content efficiently.

Online Events: Host webinars, virtual conferences, or live streams to engage your audience and establish thought leadership in your field.

Data-Driven Insights: Leverage data and market research to support your PR campaigns and position your brand as an authoritative source of information.

Related: Break Through the Noise: 5 Hacks to Boost Your Public Relations Efforts in a Noisy Digital World

Combining Traditional PR Strategies With Digital Media Channels

Traditional and digital PR share the common objective of creating a favorable brand image, but choosing between the two depends on your target audience and the approach that produces the best results.

Building a solid online reputation and increasing visibility are critical for business success in the digital era.

Digital PR offers a strategic and data-driven approach to achieving these goals. By combining traditional PR principles with digital media channels, brands can create meaningful connections with their audience, navigate online crises, and stand out in a competitive landscape. Its ability to harness the power of online platforms, social media, and data analytics makes Digital PR an indispensable tool for modern businesses looking to thrive digitally.

Embrace Digital PR as your key to building an influential online reputation and establishing a lasting digital presence.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Pixaby; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Digital PR: Building an Online Reputation and Boosting Visibility appeared first on ReadWrite.

A one-size fits all approach is, to say the least, outdated, and so are teams that follow this approach. To create efficient, growth-oriented teams, you need a diverse set of skills, and cross-functional collaborations provide you with just that opportunity. Being one of the growing teamwork trends that impact businesses, such teams bring new ideas, varying perspectives, and a broader skill set to the table, leading to greater adaptability and fostering innovation.

With how fast technology is developing, so are consumer expectations, and no functional team can respond to these changes quickly. Cross-functional teams are a great way to deliver what consumers are asking for in a short amount of time. A Deloitte survey reported that 83% of digitally maturing companies in their survey use cross-functional teams, compared with 71% of developing companies on the digital maturity spectrum and 55% of early-stage organizations.

Suppose you’re looking for effective marketing strategies to drive sustainable and scalable growth. In that case, integrating cross-functional teams into your business model can be a great starting point to ensure a seamless customer experience. In this guide, I’ll give you a breakdown of how you can elevate your growth marketing strategy with the help of cross-functional teams. Let’s get into it!

1. Outline your goals

Cross-functional teams are usually best for solving complex problems that a single-function team can’t handle or achieving ambitious, long-term goals. Projects that require a diverse set of skills and expertise are usually where cross-functional teams can shine the most.

One of the biggest companies in the world, Apple, has been using a functional organizational structure since 1997 – the year co-founder Steve Jobs returned and took over as CEO. The structure enabled the whole organization to work in close collaboration with one another. Apple’s signature piece of tech, which revolutionized smartphones as we know them today – the iPhone, was also developed using cross-functional collaboration. And Apple is nearly 40 times larger than it was then, but it still utilizes the same structure.

If your business has long-term projects and goals, then developing cross-functional teams to leverage different skills is your best bet. Some projects that are well-suited for cross-functional teams include:

1. Product development: By bringing together people from product management, engineering, design, and data analytics teams, you can help ensure that a new product is developed with a thorough understanding of market needs, technical feasibility, and user experience.
2. Marketing campaigns: Have teams from marketing, design, and data analytics work together to plan, execute, and measure the success of marketing campaigns.
3. Customer experience improvement: You can Identify opportunities for improving customer experience and implement changes by having customer service, product management, and design teams work together.

2. Focus on diversity

When creating a cross-functional team, the most important thing is that you want the team to be as diverse as possible. Start by determining which teams and individuals will play key roles in helping you achieve your goals. Put them in a single team together to work on a project.

Apart from focusing on diversity within teams, it is also a good idea to incorporate diverse individuals. This may include diversity in age, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and more. Diversity is overall, extremely beneficial for the workplace, with a McKinsey study proving that companies with a diverse workforce experience 35% greater financial gains than their counterparts.

By having diverse individuals together in a team, it will be open to varying perspectives stemming from different experiences and new ideas. It can also bring potential concerns to light that certain team members may not think about.  This will help create a more inclusive user experience for the product.

Diverse teams are also better at decision-making. A study of approximately 600 business decisions made by 200 different business teams in a variety of companies over two years, showed that inclusive teams make better decisions up to 87% of the time, with decisions being executed by such teams delivering 60% better results. With a diverse, cross-functional team consisting of subject matter experts from various areas, the chances of success go up significantly.

3. Build a team identity

Just creating a cross-functional team isn’t enough. You also need to ensure that it’s operating smoothly and members are getting along so it maximizes efficiency. A Harvard Business Review study of 95 teams in 25 leading corporations showed that nearly 75% of cross-functional teams were dysfunctional. So, the big question is, what can you do to prevent this from happening?

The optimal answer is to foster collaboration among team members, which you can achieve by building a separate team identity. Team members should be comfortable with each other, just like they would feel back on their respective teams. A good way to do this is by hosting an ice-breaker to introduce the members to each other. This can help build trust and connections before the work starts.

Regular team-building activities, joint project planning sessions, and open communication channels are also great for encouraging collaboration. With a team identity, members will feel belonging and loyalty to the team they work with.

4. Develop a project timeline and ways of working

Once the team is established, it’s time to focus on the project at hand. The first thing that you have to do is establish a project timeline. This is great for establishing clear expectations, effective resource allocation, facilitating communication, and increasing accountability. A project timeline can help the team manage and execute the project well.

To develop a timeline, visualize the project from start to finish, and give everyone a clear idea of what is a must. Project management tools are a great way to simplify the entire process and streamline reporting, making life easier for everyone on your team.

Using the Scrum framework allows you to establish a way of working, including agile practices, that keeps everyone in the loop. It also helps you be up to date with everything that is going on with the project. You can use Scrum board to keep individual tasks organized in various lists and display the workflow into separate stages. Regular Scrum meetings should also be a norm to go over challenges and address concerns that the team may have.

5. Be ready for conflict and difficult situations

A Myers-Briggs study found that 85% of employees face conflict to some degree in the workplace. It’s inevitable for conflicts to arise, especially in a team full of diverse individuals from different teams and backgrounds.

Often, creating cross-functional teams means that you will be bringing together teams that are traditionally at odds with one another, like sales and marketing, for example. While aligning members of the two teams may prove beneficial for both, the dynamics between their members may be such that they spend a lot of time competing with one another over power, recognition, and resources.

When you’re putting together a team for your growth marketing strategy, you have to face such conflicts and difficult situations. However, it’s also crucial to resolve conflicts in cross-functional teams to maintain a positive and productive working environment.

This can be done by emphasizing the shared goal of the team and seeking common ground. Remind team members that everyone is working towards the same goal and that resolving the conflict is in everyone’s best interest. Focus on finding a solution that meets the needs of all parties involved.

What cross-functional teams can do for your growth marketing strategy

Cross-functional teams can bring a wealth of benefits to your growth marketing strategy. This includes improved goal alignment, increased creativity, and more efficient decision-making, among others. By leveraging the strengths and perspectives of individuals from different departments, cross-functional teams can drive more effective growth marketing efforts and achieve better results.

Cross-functional teams are chaotic and may be difficult to manage. But if done right, they can be a game changer for your business. By incorporating them into your growth marketing strategy, you can maximize the resources available to complete difficult projects and achieve ambitious, long-term goals.

 Featured Image Credit: Photo by Fauxels; Pexels; Thank you!

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We all are in a race, striving to get ahead of everyone and anyone. Sometimes, we invent new strategies to propel ourselves further, and we mostly rely on proven tactics to improve our scores.

Who Bears the Heaviest Responsibility in Your Startup to Stay on Top?

In this rat race of acquiring growth — Chief Marketers Officers (CMOs) are the ones who bear the most burden, which eventually cascades down the hierarchy. Marketing has never been an easy job, but since the latest startup boom, SEO and Marketing have become even more challenging.

Today, startups are looking for competent individuals for their teams (read rocket ships) to drive growth at insane rates. While this strategy might work out sometimes, it becomes hectic eventually and burns out team members – resulting in unwanted performance lapses.

Retain and Build a Clear Vision in Strategic Planning

To mitigate the threats before the building begins to tremble — CMOs need a clear and focused strategic plan.

Strategic plans differ significantly – depending on the industry, consumer behavior, or nature of the business. Here are 7 strategic tips for contemporary CMOs to stay on top of their game.

1. Synergize your growth strategy

Synergizing your growth strategy is pretty straightforward when the goals are clear, and the pathway is defined. However, this is often not the case. Companies that shout culture at every intersection must learn to ideate better and implement strategies to direct efforts in a uniform direction.

At the end of the day, the task is to drive sustainable growth, ensure customer contentment and allow the champion narrative to reflect on the actions.

Every company asks for new channels to utilize and grow, but many lack alignment – which usually plays a critical role in a company’s success.

Chief Marketing Officers are the bearers of the responsibility of driving growth. They must understand marketing’s contribution from a broader perspective and develop the necessary strategic vision to excel beyond imagination.

Furthermore, aligning your efforts alone won’t cut it. The ability to turn customer insights into valuable products or services is among the top traits of marketers, as per a study; it must be suitably channeled for the utmost benefit. There needs to be proper identification of market gaps which should then be mapped through pertinent insights to make them useful.

2. Strengthen your brand’s image

In the current market, one of many requirements for a brand to take the lead is through its image, vision, and voice. CMOs are responsible for carrying the brand’s vision forward, portraying it to its merit, and ideating to perfection. A brand’s projection is merely not a means to capture eyes but the medium to complement marketing goals with subtlety.

Although it is not feasible to expect growth through brand management – CMOs need to direct energy in the correct direction and work in unison to improve brand awareness, enhance engagement metrics, uplift consumer experience standards and deliver to the actual cause of the brand.

For a brand, you cannot ever say if the efforts suffice. Certain challenges and risks may hinder the seamless process. For that, the brand management team and CMOs must ideate and implement a strategy to categorically inject a series of activities that drive results through set KPIs.

Many early-age brands blunder with their messaging and voice, which, in the long-term, adversely affects them. For that, brands are usually asked to navigate various approaches to understand their audiences and adjust their campaigns accordingly.

3. Adjust to changing consumer demands

Modern brands must be on their toes, ready to accept and adapt to changing consumer demands. Today, consumer behavior is significantly impacted by surrounding events, and to address the shifting behavioral trends – CMOs need to craft flexible procedures that are easy to get in and out of.

One way to cater to the changing needs is by creating audience-centric content that educates and assists the users in becoming customers during the complete customer lifecycle. Though, no matter if the conversion pipeline is inefficient, the customer-focused approach will see you home.

Moreover, conversion chances skyrocket when marketing and sales efforts align and target the right audience simultaneously. The data collected also plays a vital role in identifying the critical pain points and results in more likely outcomes.

Also, strategic planning aids in mitigating potential threats and supplements building processes that are more personalized and make your users feel at ease. In addition, creating promotions at the right time can act as a much-needed catalyst for any CMO.

4. Leverage the latest technology

Where we stand today is all because technology has enabled us to propel ourselves forward and build solutions that provide end-to-end coverage and resolve all the underlying issues. All CMOs should know that without accepting the change and leveraging technological advancement, they won’t stand a chance.

But not only CMOs should be spearheading the initiative. It is the responsibility of the top brass to acknowledge and understand the market needs and map their services and products to ensure customers get the technology-enabled solutions that genuinely add value to their lives.

The role of Chief Marketing Officers has become increasingly complex, so much so that everyone sees marketing as the sole revenue driver – which must enable CMOs to start looking at the factors that might come in handy. When all the technical measures are in place and the systems begin to function together, favorable outcomes usually become a reality.

While it may not be as easy and seamless as it sounds, putting the effort in the right direction through the appropriate technology stack can do wonders.

5. Optimize content strategy

Optimizing a content strategy is of utmost importance in the broader scheme of things, which often gets overshadowed by some other glittery techniques. Optimizing a content strategy is significant for growth metrics. When CMOs work for exponential growth, they must optimize their content production process.

It may involve strategizing and addressing the right audience, keeping a balance between educating and promoting, partnering with other internal and external channels and initiatives to extend the reach, and creating transparent processes to accomplish goals.

At this point, it is noteworthy that in startups, CMOs are the ones that must be leading the content distribution, addressing content gaps, and pouring in to enhance operations. The digital marketing domain relies heavily on content to achieve its targets; hence, it must not be brushed under the carpet.

Startup progress and its positioning is usually an essential factor in driving revenue, and when content portrays a lucrative picture, there is no way it can go wrong. Communicating with key stakeholders and customers sets an initial impression which helps in the long term.

6. Enhance traceability & measurement

CMOs can do everything in the world, launch the fanciest campaigns and fail to leave a mark if they don’t measure their efforts. Today’s marketing is all about data – whether the insights tell you the buying pattern or enrich you regarding the priority shifts – data tells you all.

Cosmetically, numerous tools are available that process data to produce valuable insights and graphs and churn out spectacular numbers. But these will be no good if they don’t see the linkage with marketing or business goals.

Knowing your small steps and planning them strategically and based on data findings can be more helpful than dedicating resources without proper accountability.

CMOs must always be aware of the ground realities so that they can make decisions that are realistic and will drive practical results. Based on what you are trying to achieve, performance parameters or key performance indicators (KPIs) must be established to remain informed.

7. Provide context and make sense

People tend to catch pace with you and align with your vision when they understand what you are trying to achieve. Whatever your plans, keeping your team in the shadows and not providing the complete picture would never help in the long run.

Providing context and going beyond a vague idea regarding a decision will enable others to join you in your journey.

This way, they will realize your expertise by having trust in the leadership and begin to foresee the long-term results and put more diligent efforts into attaining the objectives. It will make sense even if you restructure, define new hierarchies, and build newer roles.

Now when you are working from up above, you cannot always make sense, and not everyone can understand your position. Still, as a Chief Marketing Officer, you must be strategically leading the marketing efforts as well as ensuring that the team is putting in an equal amount of effort to materialize the end goals.

Takeaway

The 21^st century has made the Chief Marketing Officer role more demanding and complex. The fierce competition globally has pushed them to be on their toes all the time and execute plans that drive revenue.

CMOs, in most organizations, are involved in strategizing future steps and finalizing goals. In this piece, I have tried to tap the most important factors contributing to a startup’s growth involving CMOs.

These steps will enable Chief Marketers to stay ahead and deliver more than expected. Given the current financial turmoil, pushing boundaries and adapting to efficient practices are all that the startups require.

Featured Image Credit: Mario Gogh; Unsplash; Thank you!

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Over the past few years, Blockchain has emerged as a technology that is now discussed everywhere. From the tech corridors of Silicon Valley to the thriving tech capitals in multiple cities worldwide – Blockchain has become the talk of the town.

Everyone is excited about this modern technology, especially after a few staggering NFT sales surfaced on the internet.

However, many still don’t know what Blockchain is, yet they are eager to know what benefits has it hidden for the future.

To understand the advantages of this state-of-the-art technology, one first needs to know how it actually works. Only then the implementation and applications will start making more sense.

Why do we need Blockchain?

Today’s world has become a massive sphere that fuels uncertainty. Online scams are prevalent everywhere, trust has become scarce, and many don’t know the remedy to this peculiar problem at hand.

Regulators and law enforcement agencies are often left awestruck.

The world has been in the middle of a pandemic with no apparent way out of it other than social distancing. In times like these, there is nothing better to have than a transparent and secure system. A system that restricts unauthorized access and impedes modifications with unmistakable validity.

When one looks around for a solution among a plethora of technology buzzwords, Blockchain shines bright.

It offers everything we need to build sustainable, secure, and safe systems for a better future.

Understanding Blockchain

Blockchain is a decentralized technology; but what does this mean?

The Blockchain works on a simple principle – it is not owned by any company or institution – it is built in a particular distributed manner that allows the computers on the network to access the information stored in it with certain parameters safeguarding the virtual borders.

The information is stored in the form of groups called blocks which is a constantly expanding list or an array. It is indeed a revolutionary technology that is ready to power software systems around the globe. All the information or data that is verified is stored in the block in chronological order. Each block is linked with the previous one, forming a Blockchain.

The disruption in the technological realm, as we speak, has begun, and Blockchain has a key role in it.

What is Decentralization in Blockchain?

In centralized systems or procedures, an entity is usually in control of everything and holds the final authority. All the decisions made and pronouncements come from a position through a defined hierarchy. This can either be an individual, a team, an organization, an institution or otherwise.

Decentralization, however, transfers the control or authority to the system. It allows more freedom and autonomy to the lower ones in the hierarchy. This enables a more productive environment, fostering positive change.

Decentralization is an indispensable part of Blockchain and acts as one of its founding principles.

How Will Blockchain Revolutionize the Future? 8 Prominent Ways

Technology that disrupts in today’s age takes the lead, and Blockchain is one such technology that is here to stay and disrupt. Here are 8 top ways Blockchain will revolutionize the future.

1.      Better Financial Services

Finances are subject to the most fraudulent activities worldwide. Blockchain has already begun to solve this underlying problem. A number of financial service providers and banks have started to shift to Blockchain technology to build safer and securer systems.

Cryptocurrency is no doubt a seamless way to perform transactions. However, adopting modern technologies and adapting as per the changing needs is the need of the hour. Blockchain is all set to revolutionize the payments and banking sector.

2.      Safer Cyber Domain

With improving dependence on technology, the need for a more secure cyber domain has become imperative. In Blockchain, when all the data is duly verified, encrypted, and stored in the Blockchain, it cannot be modified or changed afterward.

The advanced cryptography techniques make it less prone to online hacking attempts and unauthorized access. On the contrary, centralized systems are exposed to outer world threats and are an easy target for hackers and cyber terrorists.

3.      Optimized Government Processes

Governments around the globe have been at the receiving end when it comes to criticism on slow and dated procedures to run the machinery. Although many first-world countries have progressed towards the digital, majority of the states on earth still lack an efficient solution.

Corruption has haunted the world for decades and has been a hindrance in development. Implementing a Blockchain-based process will not only ensure transparency but will also guarantee legitimacy and improved outcomes.

4.      Improved Healthcare Solutions

Healthcare has benefitted the most from technology. Masses around the world continue to reap technological advancements. However, a decentralized system with secure and easily accessible patient data or information could help transform the outlook.

Medical aid organizations, hospitals, and institutions worldwide can make the most Blockchain technology. From managing patient information to sharing it with authorized personnel to ameliorating the research work, a lot could be made convenient through this one leap.

5.      Web Servers & Services

Centralized servers and services are in use in the majority of the locations in the world. The vulnerability of such systems has been repeatedly exposed over time. The threat level has seen a continuous surge, forcing businesses and organizations to take safer measures.

A decentralized system with specified nodes connecting to a computer reduces the risk of data loss or compromise. The database to API to frontend transition has certain loopholes and limitations, and Blockchain helps us overcome many of them.

6.      Targeted Marketing Campaigns

The marketing industry has evolved over the last few years. The transition from conventional techniques to digital marketing has been fruitful but has brought along a few controversies. Major online platforms have been susceptible to collecting unauthorized data and using it for their gains.

Blockchain can help build a better ecosystem that encourages marketing methods with stringent policies and rigorous procedures. This is necessary to ensure the trust-gain of the consumer as well as for a safe and secure future.

7.      Electronic Voting Mechanism

Electronic voting is not a novel thought. Various experiments have been done to improve the voting and election mechanism worldwide. But nowhere in the world has this been entirely successful, leaving doubts in the minds of lawmakers, government, and the masses.

Blockchain, however, can solve this problem by ensuring a secure voting process throughout. From the counting procedure to ensuring correct voting processes, the technology can help get rid of all the anomalies and vulnerabilities at once.

8.      Efficient, Paperless Economies

From education to banking to healthcare and anywhere else – paperwork is everywhere and is the most consuming part. Managing all the paperwork and maintaining it takes a lot of time as well as needs more trees. This is why the world of the future cannot afford to have paper-based economies.

A few countries have already moved towards paperless transactions, paving the way for others to follow the path. Blockchain is essential and plays a crucial role in building an efficient and paperless economy, using the technology for the benefit of millions.

Takeaway

Many technologies are revolutionizing the way things work, and Blockchain is one of them. The term has gained immense popularity over the last few years, and mastering this technology of the future is the key to success.

There are numerous applications of Blockchain in a number of industries worldwide where it can be a silent player, helping the process function in a more efficient, effective, and robust manner.

However, the question remains. Is the world ready for a Blockchain future? Only time will tell.

The post 8 Ways Blockchain Will Revolutionize the Future appeared first on ReadWrite.

There’s no denying that videos are the most powerful tool to impact the viewer’s mind. This is because the human brain processes image 60,000 times faster than textual content. As a result, numerous major brands harness video marketing’s power to make the most out of their marketing endeavors. From a marketing standpoint, they’ve positioned themselves to get the best response from their targeted audience by leveraging different types of videos, i.e., 2D animation and stop-motion. Use these different types to showcase services, products, expertise, and much more.

SMBs Can Utilize Video Marketing to Boost Their Revenue

• An average individual will spend 100 minutes of online videos every day in 2021.
• 85% of people will be looking forward to seeing more videos from their preferred brands in 2021.
• 84% of people claim that videos of brands have convinced them to buy their product or service.

The stats mentioned above clearly indicate the viability of video marketing. However, the questions that pop up in mind after reading about the advantages of video marketing are: How video marketing is being conducted to yield positive results and what type of businesses are utilizing the video marketing medium?

A popular developer of the marketing software product “Hubspot” wrote an article on video marketing. This article provides the reader with in-depth research, analysis, tips, and much more concerning video marketing. Here’s the link to the study.

HubSpot: What Marketers Should Know In 2021

The study provides a deep analysis of the video marketing statistics for marketers and SMBs. It explains how the statistics will allow the readers to understand what works in the video marketing world and how SMBs can effectively leverage it and gain maximum ROI.

Even though these statistics are meant for small business owners, it doesn’t mean they aren’t viable for B2Bs. On the contrary, the latter is empowering B2C in their endeavors and build lasting relationships with them.

The great pandemic is another factor to consider when leveraging videos to market your product or service. A staggering 91% of marketers feel that the pandemic has made the role of videos for brands more important than ever. As a result, 70% of marketers expected that their video marketing budget would likely increase in 2021. Not only that but also 68% of consumers have claimed that pandemic has a positive impact on the amount of video content watched online.

Why SMBs Are Not Investing In Video Marketing?

There are several reasons why most SMBs don’t pay much attention to video marketing. That includes insufficient internal resources or a lack of skill set to create impactful videos. For example, some SMBs focus more on creating textual content rather than video content. Or they might have a small staff and don’t have an adequate resource to create marketing videos. Additionally, it is not always costly to create marketing videos.

Some videos are not more than 20 – 30 seconds, yet they’re highly effective, educating, and engaging. In addition, these short videos usually don’t cost much compared to full-fledged advertising videos with models, effects, cameras, and much more.

Nonetheless, 93% of marketers leverage videos as a marketing tool claim videos to be an integral part of the marketing strategy. Moreover, 87% of marketers claim that videos help boost their ROI, which is a significant increase from 33% back to 2015.

Why Should You Include Videos In Your Posts?

Videos are the ideal choice for customers. Posts that include videos tend to receive 3x more engagement than posts without videos. Similarly, a website’s conversion rate with videos is at 4.8 percent, while those without videos are at 2.9 percent.

Therefore, it’s crucial to include videos in marketing strategy as they play a key role in boosting your ROI.

Even though creating one video is always better than creating none, you need to create videos regularly to attract your audience. This attraction results in engagement which later in the process translates into sales and conversions. Additionally, videos help businesses to generate leads that could convert into sales. As a matter of fact, 84% of marketers claim that videos helped them generate more leads than traditional marketing methods. Moreover, 80% of marketers claim that videos make a positive impact on boosting sales and revenue.

Moreover, it’s always better to publish videos continually and make the most out of your marketing efforts. It is recommended that you maintain a robust and active online presence by regularly posting/publishing your marketing or promotional videos. This approach is more viable as compared to posting once in six months. If you’re not maintaining an active online presence, you’re simply reminding your audience that you exist.

Suppose your potential customers are at the end of their buying journey before they’ve gotten in touch with you. They’re at this stage because they’ve already done their research on your business either by reviewing your content and finding relevant answers to their queries. However, if your audience cannot find any relevant details about your company or your services or products, they would simply move on to your competitor’s website without any delay.

Hence, having a marketing video would educate your customers about your services and are the ideal marketing tool for SMBs to attract their target audience. Videos keep the audience engaged and help them move in the right marketing direction to get visitors directed towards the conversion funnel.

Why You Should Not Be Time-Intensive While Creating Animation Videos?

Another important aspect of creating videos is that they don’t have to be time-intensive. For example, don’t rush the process of creating an animation video; instead, focus on how you can capitalize on the opportunities, target your audience more effectively, or which message would prove to be more engaging and fruitful in the long run of your video campaign.

There are several platforms available online that you can leverage to make videos within minutes. Some of these platforms are; Promo, Moovly, Animaker. You can use these platforms to create effective marketing videos.

These platforms are designed to help you get rid of the requirement of hiring a skilled video animation expert. You can seamlessly create your marketing videos through these platforms; however, one feeling of the video belonging to your brand cannot be achieved through this approach. To create a tailored marketing video that reflects your brand’s true nature and core values, you would have to create it yourself or hire an animator or a company to translate your vision or expectations into a reality.

Additionally, you can also create an animation video to thank your clients for buying your services or product. This consideration or acknowledgment can also help you in further strengthening your bond with your audience. Once you grasp the importance of animation, you’ll better understand how animated posts galvanize your social media marketing.

Conclusion

Video marketing will become a more crucial role for SMBs in the coming years. The viability of video marketing is robust and fully comprehendible; therefore, businesses need to adapt to the medium to stay on par with the competition and excite and impact their targeted audience.

Moreover, as a small business owner, you should understand video marketing and the channels you can cover with your video marketing efforts. By creating a strategic roadmap, capitalizing on market gaps, and creating meaningful and purpose-driven marketing videos, you can increase brand awareness, generate leads, boost conversions, and most importantly, build customer loyalty and establish a lasting relationship with them.

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Two of the most futuristic technologies that the world is leveraging today are AI and Robotics. Implementing these two technologies can lead to innovations in several industry verticals, including the healthcare industry.

AI Robotics are Transforming the Health Care Industry

AI and Robotics are already working in several healthcare establishments. They’re carrying out tasks such as genetic testing, robotic surgery, cancer research, data collection, and more.

Additionally, in the dermatology sector, AI is detecting skin cancer. The process of detecting skin cancer involves a technology, “MelaFind,” that uses infrared light to evaluate the skin condition. Afterward, with its sophisticated algorithms, AI evaluates the scanned data to determine skin cancer’s seriousness.

When it comes to the healthcare industry, there are several disciplines that AI and Robotics need to cover.

AI and Robotics require more unveiling and continued experimentation to become an integral part of the industry and bring innovations through these emerging technologies.

AI and Robotics can fill in the medical and healthcare industry gaps.

Numerous Innovations and discoveries are going out there due to the implementation of AI and robotics, and the positive experience from these implementations predicts the viability and benefits of deploying and utilizing AI and Robotics in the healthcare sector.

However, the most important question still remains unanswered; “are we ready to hand over the life and death decisions to the machines?”, “can machines decisively indicate whether the care being provided to a patient is enough or not?”

Answering the questions mentioned above may not be easy because there are numerous challenges and difficulties that the application of AI and Robotics may give rise to. However, one thing’s for sure: AI and Robotics are destined to become an integral part of the healthcare industry.

The implementations of AI and Robotics in the healthcare industry.

We’ll be covering several parts of the healthcare industry where this technology could alleviate the overstraining processes in healthcare delivery.

Below are some of the existing examples of implementation of AI and Robotics in the healthcare domain:

• Determining the patient’s priority assessments in emergency service.
• Automated health tracking of patients.
• Quick and continuous supply of medicine and equipment throughout the hospital floors via intelligent robots.
• Interacting with patients via vocals or facial recognition.
• Programming personalized health programs in robots enable users to leverage them for multifunctional purposes.

The benefits mentioned above/implementations are a reality today. After having an overview of the viability, performance, and features of the technology, let’s discuss how AI and Robotics are improving the healthcare sector.

Intro to AI & Robotics in Healthcare Sector

AI and Robotics have already proved to be prevalent in the healthcare industry. The ubiquitous growth of these two technologies has the potential to transform numerous aspects of healthcare.

From providing personal care to patients to automating the drug production process, AI and Robotics can ensure a faster roll-out date and an efficient and accurate operation.

Moreover, there are several big tech firms out there that are capitalizing on AI and Robotics to improve the healthcare infrastructure. For example, Google is collaborating with the healthcare delivery network to build prediction models.

These prediction models by Google are based on big data and machine learning technology. They can warn the clinicians of high-risk conditions of the patient, such as heart failure or sepsis.

Furthermore, Microsoft is also focusing on transforming the healthcare industry by building and fostering a culture of intelligent health through AI and Cloud in healthcare organizations.

With so many tech-savvy companies involved in the fray, the AI and Robotics implementation is destined to prosper and revolutionize how the healthcare industry provides health care. Moreover, here are some way in which AI and Robotics are improving the healthcare industry currently:

1.   Supplementary Robots

These robots are generally aimed towards distributing stocks all around the hospital or wherever they’re needed. We’ve discussed these types of robots above as well; however, their importance and viability need to be explained furthermore.

In hospitals, there are times when multiple patients require instant medication or assistance. In such situations, the staff is usually in a hurry to assist the patient instead of carrying out other tasks. Hence, supplementary robots today are quickly taking care of tasks such as restocking, taking out the trash, and cleaning while the humans are spending more time with the patient.

A great example of a supplementary robot would be the automated UV Light Disinfectant Robot that goes into each hospital room and delivers a measured dose of UVC light to disinfect the targeted area. This robot also reduces significant pathogens in direct and shadowed areas.

2.   Exceptional Precision

Multiple robotic systems used in the world’s top hospitals today provide immense feasibility in carrying out more complex tasks at a rapid and accurate pace.

Robot’s concrete focus and attentive robots further strengthen their core functionality and enable them to perform tasks with extreme precision. These robots are backed by AI that allows them to learn while performing tasks. Due to such traits of robots, their importance in a health care organization cannot be denied.

As long as the software is correctly programmed within the robots, there are no chances of failure; however, human supervision is necessary. It’s a fact that robots need continual checkups and maintenance to work properly; hence, human intervention is crucial for now.

Moreover, some robots are also tasked to reallocate supplies throughout the hospital using specially designed routes and elevators within a hospital.

Another fine example of excellent precision would be the micro-robots used to perform micro-surgeries such as unclogging blood vessels. However, human intervention or supervision may be required to overlook the entire process or continually maintain the robotic systems.

3.   Remote Treatment

The idea of remote treatment has been there for more than a decade now. The technology was initially halted due to the poor network connectivity at the time of its implementation. However, further developments and experiments were conducted after the invention of 4G and 5G networks.

Today, although human intervention is required in the remote treatment sector, machines can perform several complex tasks independently.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense-funded the research at Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh’s University to create a robotic trauma care system for treating soldiers.

Another impressive technological marvel is the bot-pill that performs an endoscopy in a very comfortable way compared to other options. Generally, the bot takes pictures of your intestines as it travels through them, and you can eliminate it naturally.

4.   Accurate Diagnostics

The precise and accurate diagnostics of human health conditions is where AI truly shines. The AI detects patterns that are leading the patient towards various health conditions. It determines the patient’s current state by analyzing and studying the healthcare records and data.

Tests so far have concluded that AI is capable of accurately diagnosing diseases in 87% of the cases. In contrast, health condition detection by humans had an 86% accuracy rate. This accuracy is further supported by the fact that Robots and AI can skim through thousands of cases instantly, looking for correlations between hundreds of variables.

Moreover, IBM Watson, healthcare technology, has hit the 99% mark in diagnosing cancer. Hence, considering the percentages mentioned above, I pretty much assume that AI and Robotics can rival even the finest doctors of the world when it comes to diagnostics.

5.   Performing Daily Tasks

Robots can perform daily tasks and carry out several functions that were being performed by humans. For example, a robot can make a sick or elderly person/patient feel attended all the time, minimizing the need for human presence. These robots are programmed to act as personal assistance.

Moreover, robots can also engage patients in conversations, help them take their medicine on time by reminding them, and even perform a basic checkup on them to analyze their health condition from time to time. Some simple routine checkups may include evaluating the patient’s blood pressure, sugar levels, and temperature.

Additionally, the technology of robots engaged in the task mentioned above is based on AI and machine learning; hence, they continuously learn from their patients’ experience. This learning further modifies their personality and sentiment analysis capabilities.

6.   Assisting Patients & Medical Practitioners

Some specific robots are designed to help the medical staff focus on other essential aspects of the hospital. These robots are helping patients by assisting them in walking or monitoring their health status.

Before the dawn of AI and Robots, tasks such as helping a patient walk, assisting the patient for his/her checkup, taking the history of the patient’s illness were manual and time-consuming. However, today these tasks can be easily automated and quickly carried out by machines.

Moreover, today, robots are helping humans with everything from minimally invasive procedures to complex open-heart surgeries. The technologies integrated within the machines like a built-in camera, mechanical arms, and surgical equipment provide more precision, flexibility, and control beyond human capabilities.

Another excellent example of these robots can be the prosthetic legs designed by Hugh Herr. The biomechatronic feet allow the user to walk independently without human intervention.

The sensors in these bionic feet connect with the person’s muscles and allow more mobility and stability. These sensors perfectly replicate human feet’ functioning and give the user more advantage over the original feet.

The Promising Future of AI & Robotics in Healthcare

Many experts agree that the future of AI and Robotics seems promising. However, AI or robots will not be taking full control over the healthcare industry anytime soon. Human intervention and supervision would still be an essential factor in ensuring 100% accuracy in the overall process.

Also, the patients are known to develop a closer relationship with their doctors, nurses, or other medical staff. This specific relationship gives patients a feeling of not being alone. This feeling can never be replicated by machines or robots. Hence, humans will always be there with AI and robotics to cure patients and deliver a comforting and soothing experience together.

Moreover, the viability of AI and robotics is destined to prosper in upcoming years. The healthcare advantages that machine learning and robotics are unparallel to what we could accomplish manually.

From improving the clinical workflow to pinpointing the exact cause of a patient’s particular medical condition, AI and robotics benefit the healthcare domain. Hence, it is quite apparent that AI will ultimately master the healthcare domain in the future.

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The realization of the necessity of an interconnected system that leverages the Internet to make things easier revolutionizes the way we live. It led to the creation of IoT, and although the term is 16 years old – the concept dates back to the 70s. Previously known as “Embedded Internet,” the term IoT was coined in 1999 by Kevin Ashton.

A Comprehensive Overview of IoT, Big Data, Cloud Computing

Today, IoT is the primary source of big data collection. The analysis and processing of this gathered data have given numerous modern analytic solutions. IoT is also the main reason for innovation in the modern world, with more robust information. It has given rise to new business opportunities.

Today, IoT technology has given a new meaning to the world “Smart.” By forming a relationship with other technologies like cloud computing and contributing to them in terms of information, the IoT technology helps new businesses and old ones in terms of growth.

Cloud computing advances processes and data analytics

For example, cloud computing has been advancing processes and data analytics in an economical and scalable manner. Such empowering capabilities are being provided to brands by the generation of Big Data through IoT.

Moreover, IoT is also responsible for generating analytics solutions that, without Cloud, were costly and complicated due to a complex infrastructure or architecture and storage and processing requirements.

Since the IoT was a data-driven technology, it contributed significantly to Big Data, influencing various velocity, accuracy, and reliability domains.

In a nutshell, the IoT is the future of businesses and lifestyles. With the integration of Big Data and Cloud, more innovative digital solutions that consist of better, more advanced analytics and data-oriented decision-making characteristics are becoming increasingly possible. Since IoT is a vast and continuously evolving field, it is getting difficult to understand the technology and its benefits.

So, in this article, we’re going to explore a comprehensive overview of What is IoT? We will explain the relationship holistically between IoT and Big Data and IoT and Cloud. We will also cover some of the advantages of using IoT integrated Big Data and Cloud computing.

What Is IoT?

IoT or the Internet of Things is generally a network that is interconnected with physical objects. The physical objects in the term “Internet of things” are defined by “things.” These things or physical objects are integrated with IoT sensors, software, and various other technologies, which enable them to exchange data quickly and efficiently by utilizing the Internet.

Additionally, interconnected systems such as digital machines, computing devices, physical objects operate automatically and exchange data quickly over the Internet without a human to human or human-to-machine interactions. This constant change of information also fosters machine learning and information collection.

For example, consider the Internet of things as a person with a sugar monitoring implant or a plan with a malfunction alerting system. In both cases, the system can inform the person or the driver of the potential damage before it occurs.

Every man-made or natural object can be assigned an IP address within the system to enable constant information exchange. This constant interchanging of information or data falls under the framework of IoT.

Moreover, the constant research, implementation, and up-gradation of IoT technology has led us to develop more advanced mechanisms through which data can be processed.

We have created an inexpensive sensor and excessive communication techniques through which billions of devices get connected and share information. Soon the automation will begin, and machines will join human users.

Speaking of the industrial implementation of IoT, several industries adapt to this new innovative technology to bring precision, accuracy, reliability, and efficiency to their processes. The term industry “Industry 4.0” literally refers to the implementation of IoT in industries that bring industrial revolution.

The following industries have adapted to IoT technology:

Automobile industry

Global positioning systems (GPS) can be an example of IoT in the automobile industry. Also, there can be several technologies that, when integrated with automobiles, can help in avoiding accidents.

Manufacturing Industry

Manufacturing industries around the world are utilizing IoT to streamline and manage their manufacturing process and equipment maintenance.

Agriculture Industry

Smart water pumps, irrigation systems, chemical levels, and pesticide volume monitoring systems can boost production and quality in the agriculture industry.

Healthcare Industry

Integration or lifesaving technologies within the healthcare sector will help improve patients’ quality of life and ensure their health through constant monitoring.

Smart Buildings & Homes

Smart heating systems, automatic door locks, more advanced security features, and intelligent/smart lighting are some examples of the IoT being implemented in the real estate industry.

Moreover, IoT’s cloud connectivity feature enables engineers and developers to work on IoT systems and products, which enable quick and efficient engineering and development.

This process is further influenced by the network of information that IoT gathers. This ability of IoT takes it to the next level. Also, IoT’s disruptive role in giving rise to sustainable technology is worth mentioning.

IoT is constantly exchanging information, which means the technology is continually gathering valuable data and insights through interaction and reaching out to the world.

Also, the information collected by IoT is not limited to the devices owned by companies or organizations. This process includes every personal device, as well.

The IoT, Big Data & Cloud Computing

The relativity and interconnectivity of IoT, Big Data, and Cloud are used by thought-out business leaders/entrepreneurs globally.

These entrepreneurs understand the innovation and competitive edge IoT brings to the table, so benefitting from them has become necessary for businesses.

Moreover, the Internet has become a part of our lives. We want our devices to stay connected to the Internet to stay connected with each other.

This approach gives IoT a strategic advantage because internet connectivity is becoming increasingly important in the modern world. Today, nearly every personally or professionally bought device gets connected to the Internet instantly.

Moreover, digital transformation requires several devices to be connected to the Internet to share data vital for systematic and seamless communication that reduces gaps and improves productivity.

The data transferred is gathered by IoT for analysis through which patterns and inclinations are determined to improve the system’s performance.

Moreover, Cloud computing in IoT acts as a central hub for all IoT-enabled devices. Cloud connects all IoT devices and gathers data from them quickly. The technology stack involved in the process includes an infrastructure, servers, and storage where all the data is stored. Cloud computing also allows users or workers to access data whenever required.

The Relation between IoT and Big Data

Cisco estimated the IoT to generate 500 zettabytes of data yearly. This massive volume of data will increase in the upcoming years as more devices will connect to the Internet. To give an accurate number of the volume of data collected per year is extremely difficult to comprehend.

The type of devices connected to the Internet will include machines, smartphones, cameras, medical sensors, and smartwatches the list goes on. These devices will gather, analyze, share, and transmit data in real-time.

However, IoT’s primary purpose is to collect data, save, and process it. If the technology is deprived of data, its core functionality and capability will be compromised.

Moreover, according to research by IDC, there will be an estimated 41.6 billion devices connected to IoT that will generate approximately 79.4 zettabytes of data in 2025.

Importance Of IoT Big Data

IoT’s data-driven approach is hugely beneficial for the industries, which is why several businesses are opting for implementing IoT in their organizations. However, IoT’s main advantage is its collection of data, precisely where Big Data comes into play. Big Data analytics plays an essential role in IoT since it analyzes the data generated by IoT-enabled devices, which is later used in making more informed decisions.

Another main advantage of Big data in IoT is that it gathers a large amount of information in real-time and saves it for accessing later on using different storage technologies.

Here are the four main steps that IoT Big Data follows to process and analyze the gathered data:

1. A massive amount of unprocessed data is gathered by IoT-enabled devices and stored in the big data system. The data collected by IoT depends on the 3V factors: volume, velocity, and variety.
2. The big data system then saves a vast amount of data in big data files in a shared database that the users can access to retrieve information.
3. The big data stored is now analyzed using different analytic tools.
4. A report is generated from the analyzed data.

Because there are billions of devices connected to the Internet from which IoT is gathering and saving unprocessed data, super-fast analysis with large queries are required to gain insights from the data stored. Here the need for Big Data in IoT cannot be denied.

The Relation Between IoT and Cloud Computing

IoT and cloud computing are essential to one another because they work together to provide quality-oriented technical services. Both technologies may have different usage from each other. Still, they both are often considered as an integral part of each other and the components that lead to an overall better IoT service.

The relation between IoT and Cloud computing is simple; Cloud computing helps IoT store the data it has gathered. Moreover, cloud computing also gives users the advantage to access data wherever they are. Since the massive amount of data being collected by IoT requires quick saving – Cloud is the best and most efficient option.

Cloud computing is also highly cost-effective compared to other mediums of saving data, and It supports data saving, processing, analyzing, and monitoring in real-time.

Benefits of The Trending Trio (Big Data, Cloud, IoT)

The trending trio Big Data, IoT, and Cloud are considered to be an example of a perfect partnership. There are numerous advantages and benefits of utilizing these technologies to improve and reshape an organization’s operational efficiency. Here are some benefits outlined below:

Cloud-Based Solutions Provide Scalability

Cloud-based solutions are the best way to meet the needs of Big Data hosting and analytics. You can conveniently expand sever capacity or hardware resources whenever necessary, and you can also expand your big data and data analytics.

Big Data & Cloud Can Store Massive Amount of Data

Big data and cloud data can conveniently store vast amounts of data in a scalable manner. It also helps in processing and improving data analysis. Also, the lack of physical infrastructure needed to set-up big data, IoT, or Cloud leads to significant cost-effectiveness and no maintenance or support worries.

Improve Analysis, Access, Security & Review of IoT Devices

IoT, big data, and Cloud enable you to be on the edge of processes and access data quickly whenever you need it.

Since too many devices can put a strain on the Internet – these intelligent devices send data to servers for processing instead of sending them to central servers. Additionally, using IoT also gives you the advantage of improved security because data is continuously being synchronized. Any security breach gets detected immediately.

Built-In Resource Management Applications

IoT, big data, and Cloud consist of built-in management tools that help you manage your resources, processing operations, and adding value to your business through sufficient storage.

The Future of IoT Technology

IoT technology has been around us for quite a while now. Constant up-gradation, research, and bonding with new technologies have enabled it to become more improved. According to Gartner’s study, the IoT market is expected to be worth around $4 trillion by 2025.

Also, with the 5g technology becoming increasingly accessible around the world and new and more advanced smartphones and devices popping out each year – it is evident that IoT will continue to grow in the future.

IoT-enabled devices’ industrial implications have also taken a dramatic turn. We can expect unique innovations and possibilities of other usages of IoT to be discovered soon.

As of now, the medical, logistic, real estate, and several other industries are already leveraging the technology to improve efficiency, store important data, and boost growth by analyzing data.

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Did you know that every second, 127 new devices get connected to the internet? Of course, we know this phenomenon as the Internet Of Things. According to research, 20.4 billion IoT (internet of things) devices will be online by 2020.

The emergence of IoT will revolutionize a lot of industries, disrupting the way we perceive and leverage different kinds of technologies.

The most promising yet unexplored aspect of this disruption is the car industry. We are already surrounded by cars that have Bluetooth capabilities, a touch interface, auto-driving mode, and an advanced safety system, and yet there’s still more to come.

Companies are opting for connected cars, and out of them, BMW is currently leading the pack. However, other automotive brands are not so far behind either.

The dawn of mobile applications gave rise to users demanding total control of the digital technologies they were interacting with daily.

And the innovators did just that – they started integrating different features into IoT apps for cars like parallel parking, touch control, and predictive maintenance. It is just a matter of time when mobile apps take total control of the automotive industry and revolutionize the way we operate cars.

So, today in this blog, we’re going to explore how IOT apps are influencing/changing the way we drive and interact with cars, and where these advancements are leading us.

Giving Feasibility to Drivers Beyond Expectation

Automotive IoT solutions will work in tandem with the emergence of the latest technologies in the industry. Driverless car technology is currently being widely explored and perfected and this will inadvertently lead to riders being more and more free during their commutes to interact with a legion of other tasks.

From business apps to IoT apps connected to your home appliances, cars can become the command center of our daily lives, making us ever more connected to the grid than ever before. Some of the technology currently being explored in this niche is being considered revolutionary, but it’s just the start for the things to come.

In 2016, Mercedes launched the Mercedes E-Class with remote parking – app-controlled feature.

Using this application, you can easily control your car’s steering and speed. This proved to be highly convenient for the drivers because they could now easily park their car and get out of even the most challenging parking situations with complete ease.

Another feasibility that mobile IOT apps have given us is the on-board diagnostics systems, also known as OBD-II.

These systems are designed to provide the drivers with all the necessary information to keep their vehicles running smoothly.

The information that is provided by the OBD-II system come on specific apps.

Interlinking IoT Applications and Cars

Though the term “IoT” or “Internet of things” was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999, it didn’t become widespread until 2010 when Google launched its Streetview service. Fast forward, today, the global market of IoT is set to grow its market revenue to  1.6 trillion by 2025.

However, for now, automakers are laying the foundation of their connected cars using two methods: embedded and tethered. Embedded cars are equipped with an antenna and chipset, while tethered connections require hardware to enable drivers to connect to their cars through their smartphones.

Cars are increasingly becoming an extension of the digital experience.

Technology is shifting the way we interact with cars, and mobile apps are playing a starring role in the whole process. Cars are becoming more like smartphones, with several of their features being controlled by mobile apps.

Just imagine a possibility where you could literally operate your car with a touch screen instead of steering, or the car would be self-driving. Consider the example of Waymo.

Waymo is a self-driving technology development company that has been working on the self-driving car project since 2009.

According to business insider intelligence, Waymo was recently valued at $10.5 billion, and the company is expected to hold 18% of the share of the market by 2030.

Some other examples of popular consumer devices that may go through IoT implementations to get them repurposed for cars are TrackR and Bird.

The Emergence Of Connected Cars and Their Benefits

The IoT industry is rising. Even though it is only emerging, the industry’s total estimated worth will be around $82.79 billion by 2022. These stats and several other assumptions alone are enough to grasp investors’ and brands’ attention to investing in IoT app technology.

The following are some benefits of IoT app technology that can soon be leveraged by the automotive sector:

Vehicle Performance & Maintenance Monitoring

By leveraging a V2C connection, the driver can stay up to date with their car’s condition and core systems performance.

The core information is displayed on the user’s smart car’s app. The instant notification features can help prevent malfunctions and reduce the cost of maintenance.

Improving Control & Safety

This is a data-driven approach that gives you real-time monitoring of the car’s condition through a smartphone which further gives you the advantage of scheduling repairs to avoid more complex problems and breakdowns.

This means you have control of your vehicle, and you can easily identify the parts of the car that need maintenance urgently.

Ensuring A Safe Driving Experience

The V2X, V2I, and V2V technology give your car awareness of its surroundings. The car understands the infrastructure and road condition through which it automatically adjusts the car’s speed and direction.

This can significantly reduce the chances of accidents by creating a safer driving experience for the user.

An Affordable Solution

Although connected cars and IoT apps usage will cost you to some extent but comparing the fuel and time savings that this system will give you, it will prove to be a cost-effective solution in the long-run.

This Is Only The Beginning

The self-driving opportunity that AI will create will be the biggest leap in the automotive industry. Although new technology is still in the making, the US market for self-driving vehicles is set to increase to $36 billion by 2025.

This provides more automotive companies with the opportunity to learn and explore new ways for the integration of IoT apps to the driving systems of a car.

More innovations are already expected as we enter 2021 and IoT apps will genuinely play a vital role in collaborating with connected cars to take the transportation industry to a whole new level.

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Big Data has emerged as a leading technological advancement that is fueling our efforts to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. At the time of writing, the world has seen 2,585,197 cases of COVID-19, and many countries are still waiting to hit their peak. Here is how big data as a double-edged sword in the fight against COVID-19.

In such times, the efforts on the technological front to develop platforms to reduce its effects are ongoing with advancements in drug discovery, surveillance, and tracking and tracing technologies. Tech companies and governments are spending billions of dollars on damage control and in developing Big Data and AI-powered tools to help control this situation, such as surveillance drones and contact tracing apps.

While these technologies show immense promise as a vertical to fight the spread of COVID-19, there are significant limitations and concerns that have come to light about the use of these technologies. The concern of false positives and panic concerns over privacy and security in the wake of high-tech surveillance and the use of these technologies in the post COVID world has led to a lot of raised eyebrows.

Despite this, tech giants such as Google and Apple are working in collaboration to help with contact tracing while the governments of the world, such as the US, UK, and even the European Union, are relying on such technologies to fight COVID-19.

Let’s take a look at how Big Data is being leveraged in the fight against COVID-19, the limitations of the technology, and the rising concerns with regards to its long-term use on privacy and security.

How Big Data Is being Used To Fight COVID-19

Big Data has been hailed by experts as one of the leading resources in the fight against COVID-19. Experts have found uses for Big Data and Big Data analytics platforms for various purposes, such as surveillance in Smart Cities, for contact tracing, and vaccine development.

Smart Cities For Surveillance

Within smart cities, big data platforms are being used to identify the compliance of the population with social distancing measures. Surveillance data from sensors and cameras are also being analyzed to identify pedestrian traffic within areas.

Road travel has gone down by 73% in the UK, to levels similar to those in 1955. The way smart city technology is being leveraged is going to be crucial in understanding the response of the population to government policies, and the pandemic as a whole.

It can also help narrow down the focus on specific areas using Big Data analytics where these measures are being followed with significant lethargy. The rate of spread of the virus in these areas can then be corresponded to their response, helping us better understand the impact of social distancing and lockdowns in reducing the spread of the virus.

Artificial Intelligence For Vaccine Development

The coming together of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data platforms has improved our ability to dig through years of data to identify possible drugs already approved by the FDA for treating similar viruses. These AI and Big-Data powered systems can also help identify new molecules using this database to help us develop a vaccine quicker.

This process of drug discovery is powered by modern technology is one of the reasons that illnesses today are much less fatal than they would be in the 1900s. In the case of COVID-19, similar applications of these technologies are going to be crucial to the efforts of scientists and medical experts to quickly develop and distribute vaccines.

Contact Tracing

Contact tracing has emerged as a digital solution that has been accepted universally with countries like Israel (HaMagen), Singapore (TraceTogether), and South Korea already using contact tracing platforms to locate, test, and isolate potential carriers of the novel coronavirus.

Earlier this month, Apple and Google announced a joint plan to release an API for public healthcare providers that allows contact tracing apps from public health departments to be interoperable between Android and iOS devices.

Moreover, the tech giants also announced the integration of this capability within their devices for the future to ensure wider accessibility.

Contact tracing uses BLE technology to gather encrypted identifiers from other devices in its proximity and logs it. Each app’s user can flag themselves once they are tested positive for COVID, and every person who would have come into close proximity would receive an alert. All of this action is through the encrypted proximity identifier that they might have been potentially exposed, including time and date of when they were close to a carrier.

This data can be used to identify not just potential carriers but also areas with higher virility rates, helping governments take area-specific actions by labeling them as red zones.

Limitations of Big Data

One of the limitations of Big Data and information gathering is the inability of these technologies to count for social causes. This means that while they might be great at gathering and analyzing numerical data (which isn’t necessarily true), the context of those trends being unavailable can result in poor decision-making.

For example, in poor neighborhoods, especially in developing nations, people neglecting social distancing measures can result in law enforcement agencies to take stricter measures, increase fines and, and implement stricter consequences.

While that’s one way to solve the problem, it might still be ineffective based on the initial reason for the negligence. For many people, social distancing is hard because they don’t have access to the same resources as others. Daily wage laborers are one such demographic and do not share the privilege of maintaining long-lasting social distancing, and this is something surveillance technology even within smart cities cannot account for.

So while the data available is accurate, it does not point towards a good solution, and treating all data as homogenous can be a fatal mistake that experts can make.

Secondly, critics of Big data-based platforms such as contact tracing apps highlight that the Bluetooth technology might be ineffective in understanding proximity contexts. For example, Bluetooth can be caught across walls and partitions. Even if you’re safely partitioned from a person who tests positive for COVID-19 via a wall — you’ll still get a notification for potential exposure as long as you’re in Bluetooth range.

The action allows for false positives to occur and creates unnecessary panic within the population. Demonstration the idea here — is that you cannot depend on these technologies solely and require experts to weigh in on the context of the data you’re analyzing to better come up with strategies based on that data.

Lastly, the biggest limitation of big data platforms such as a contact tracing platform Is that they have to be opt-in. The kind of user penetration it requires 60%-80% is incredibly difficult to reach for the platform to be a success. The biggest trouble here is trust. With recent debacles with regards to user data and privacy, people generally vary of such invasive platforms and might not opt-in for these services.

While Google and Apple are working on device integration, most people, in fact, don’t have access to the most recent devices, meaning that for a large portion of the population, penetration will still be a significant barrier and over-relying on these technologies can result in the negligence of other important steps such as social distancing.

Privacy Concerns With Regards To Big Data

One of the biggest reasons why Big Data is a double-edged sword is its long-term consequences. The kind of technological advancements in surveillance that are being made can have a massive impact on the world post-COVID-19.

Take, for example, of the “pandemic drones” that the US is testing that can monitor body temperature, breathing, heart-rate, coughing, and sneezing of an individual. These drones can also be used to identify people using facial recognition technology and is something right out of a dystopian novel like 1984.

That’s one end of surveillance that is more hardware-oriented. On the software end, contract tracing apps and big data platforms are being developed, which can be a huge risk of cyber threat. While Google and Apple have both promised commitment to privacy and anonymity, the tech giants of the world don’t have a great reputation with regards to upholding privacy and adopting transparent systems of accountability.

The challenge we face is the long-term use case of the innovative technologies that are being developed in the wake of COVID-19. Moreover, skeptics have raised concerns over the use of these technologies by authoritarian regimes even after COVID-19. But this skepticism can be directed towards all governments and tech companies that are involved in the development of such technologies.

Is there an expiry date for the usage of surveillance tech? To what degree will we wait for COVID-19 to slow down until we can stop violating the privacy of individuals in the way that this unprecedented crisis has forced us to do.

Conclusion

One of the things that we have to realize with regards to technological solutions and leveraging big data is that they are not perfect solutions.

Their effectivity is limited to the capability of our technological prowess, and we are yet to unlock their true potential as a race. While technological evolution has made incredible inroads towards solving this problem with multiple possible vaccines now in the human trial phase, simple things like washing hands and maintaining social distancing are incredibly crucial.

How we use technology for surveillance for potential carriers, then surveillance of those already tested positive, and in testing and drug discovery are all efforts that happen side by side fulfilling our social responsibility towards this pandemic.

However, while there’s good, the double-edged sword that is technology is also something we should be cognizant about. How this tech evolves, post-COVID is a conversation that needs to happen today before it’s too late. Privacy, security, anonymity, and safety should always be an important factor in our planning in the long-run.

How secure will people feel knowing that their mobile devices can be used to determine associations and activities by in-built systems of tracing, which are much more targeted than the traditional location services? The answer lies in our understanding of ethics and the responsibility we take with regards to Big Data backed platforms that we develop as tech companies. How we choose to limit the use of this technology in the greater good of society is what will define how sharp the double-edged sword cuts back when it’s no longer needed to fight COVID-19.

The post Big Data as a Double-Edged Sword in the Fight Against COVID-19 appeared first on ReadWrite.

The year 2020 is overcome with the COVID-19. But the virus isn’t the only threat to our security. 2020 is also set to revolutionize the world with advancements that will shape the future of lives and businesses, alike. We now have 5G and IoT to Artificial Intelligence, Cloud technology, and Machine Learning. These technologies will become an integral part of our daily lives in creating efficiency, saving time, reducing costs, and unlocking new opportunities.

Though this optimistic language is something you hear quite often (and it’s not untrue to a large degree), the more the world transforms towards a digital future, the higher the rise in threats of Cyberattacks.

Modern technology is set to increase the amount of data we create online, and protecting this data will be one of the defining arcs of this decade. From system security to network security, businesses will face challenges in optimizing their cybersecurity to prevent malicious attacks from being successful.

It is hard to prevent malicious attacks because these technologies are new, vulnerabilities are less known, scalability harder due to a lack of familiarity, thereby making all of these ambiguities an excellent target for bad actors to exploit.

So let’s take a look at some of these technologies, modern regulations in place, and what businesses can do to combat this threat with regards to their cybersecurity.

The Advent of 5G and It’s Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

As 5G trials and roll-outs happen, we are entering a new era of communication and innovative consumer services. As the adoption of 5G will require companies and people to switch to all-software networks, the cycle of constant updates might result in security vulnerabilities.

These frequent updates are similar to the updates of smartphone software, but those about 5G networks can lead to security risks. Risks are something that early adopters will have to deal with since the number of 5G connected devices that send and receive information increases and remote access becomes much more commonplace, cybersecurity experts will have a huge challenge in front of them.

With increased users and use, expanding the bandwidth for 5G will present opportunities for experts looking to exploit these vulnerabilities. As enterprises and cities become 5G powered, the attack surface will become much larger, putting the burden on governments and private enterprises to pump up and revolutionize their security tools and strategies to safeguard their devices, networks, and applications against malicious attackers.

One problem that early adopters might face due to a lack of security infrastructure could be the authorization and identification of a 5G network. Access to the system can allow a significant threat to data and security, and perhaps these early users might adopt a stringent no-trust policy with regards to 5G network access.

Don’t Think Phishing Is Over

Though technology is evolving rapidly in the digital landscape, cybersecurity experts will have to deal with phishing attacks. These attacks are often targeted to penetrate a network or infect the users of the network itself.

Though phishing is a generally well-known attack, hackers and malicious actors are becoming smarter (thanks to technological evolution), and their attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated. So like 2019, security measures against Phishing will also be necessary for 2020 as well.

Exploits such as email phishing are hard to eliminate as a problem since you can’t really disable emails altogether, and hackers know that. Phishing is also an easier way to get inside a network as opposed to other modern hacks, such as exploiting a zero-day vulnerability.

Companies today have to always beware of these phishing emails since they only take one wrong click by someone with access to admin credentials on a network to open a backdoor that allows malicious actors to get in, take control, and corrupt the company’s network.

The problem that most experts face is that there is no one solution to stop phishing attacks from succeeding. At the end of the day, these attacks can boil down to a reckless click, human error, and lack of knowledge.

Blocking downloads without confirmation, assessing the email before opening any links directly, and using anti-malware and anti-spyware software to block or monitor potential malicious activities could help you mitigate the harm but not necessarily prevent it entirely.

A.I. and ML Based Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Can’t be Ignored

As the Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence market grow, their application in different business operations, systems, and infrastructure will be a challenge to overcome. These technologies are incredibly resource-intensive and will require significant efforts to make them secure against potential attacks.

AI and ML-based devices and software have to be trained with the help of data, and experts will have to keep a keen eye on the kind of data that is being used. Data duping to corrupt the learning process of the Machine Learning algorithm can be injected to hamper the training process.

This can lead to the algorithm working seemingly fine but producing wrong results, which could, in the case of analytical products and applications, cost businesses millions of dollars.

How experts monitor and analyze the data will play a crucial part in the future of A.I and ML since the data set being used can be a security vulnerability that will have to be dealt with.

In the current climate, this is a less severe issue due to A.I and ML operating in specialized environments, but once businesses begin to scale these processes, there are bound to be vulnerabilities.

When processes such as threat analysis and data review become completely automated, malicious actors could exploit these processes to misguide companies and manipulate results without any obviously apparent problems. Furthermore, the technology itself can be used to discover new vulnerabilities, breakthrough security measures, and tools, and penetrate systems through the same algorithm that is being used to protect networks.

California Consumer Protection Act(CCPA) Is Now In Effect.

The California Consumer Privacy Act can be considered California’s GDPR. It became active from January 1, 2020, pushing the world of business in a new direction, with more accountability measures being ensured to re-establish the lost trust between consumers and companies. A company to client relationships in these cases was and still is dependent on the sharing of personal information for better and more targeted services, something that lawmakers think has been misused.

The bill established new consumer rights relating to the access, deletion, and sharing of personal information that businesses collect from their users. If your business is collecting user information, under CCPA, your business has to provide a reason as to why you’re collecting this information, what this information is, how you will use this information, and guide users through the process of deleting that information from your database, if they choose to do so.

The concerns with regards to cybersecurity and data protection became news after the claim of Huawei’s 5g technology being a possible threat of the security that resulted in the US government banning all US businesses from dealing with the Chinese tech giants.

In such a world, the burden on Tech companies to ensure maximum data protection came into a significant highlight, with more and more people pushing for stricter regulations and demanding accountability from service providers to ensure that the data of their customers are in safe hands.

The CCPA enforces businesses to implement a process that allows them to obtain the consent of a parent or a guardian and the minor if they’re between the age of 13 and 16 to collect and share their data for the business’ purposes.

This comes with the additional “Right to Say No to Sale of Personal Information” which is to be provided through a web link on the homepage of a business’ website that redirects users to a page where they can opt-out their consent protecting their data and personal information from being sold by the business legally.

Businesses and Companies are required to update their respective privacy policies with the newly required information, including but not limited to the description of California residents’ rights

While these are the more straightforward laws that are placed within the CCPA to ensure privacy protection and data protection, another measure the CCPA takes is to ask businesses to avoid sending opt-in requests to residents who have opted out of the option for a period of 12 months.

The used terminology, which is “avoid” while does leave a gray area for businesses to use, it takes into account that business activities mainly revolve around data gathering, in the absence of which companies cannot promote specific deals or show ads, for which a 12 month mandatory waiting period could be detrimental to the functioning of the business.

The power of GDPR can be seen through the European Union’s 1.5 Billion Euro fine for anti-trust AdSense advertising. This fine, which was levied in 2019, brought the overall EU anti-trust bill to 8.2 Billion Euros. GDPR expects companies to use data responsibly and its breach weighs significant financial damage to businesses, creating a force that ensures that companies adopt the best data protection, regulation, and use policies.

CCPA is a similar force, being in effect from the beginning of the year. It expects businesses in California to adopt the best security practices and comply with the regulations set to protect consumers.

For businesses based in California, transitioning to CCPA compliance is crucial, and it has to be done as soon as possible, to limit the potential fines that might be coming their way. For businesses that are not California-based, planning to make this change and implementing it is also crucial. It’s likely that other states such as New York will most likely adopt their own version of the CCPA, even if it is not adopted by the Federal government.

Hiring security specialists, focusing on compliance, and devoting resources to ensure that there is a successful transition to a post-CCPA world is something that businesses in 2020 should be looking towards.

Microsoft and Linux – The future is Cloud

The future of Windows seems to be shifting towards a cloud-based platform. Cloud PCs will work similarly to how other cloud-based platforms and services work. Most likely, users will have to pay a subscription to gain access to a pre-set app bundle to run on the PC.

What makes Microsoft more interesting is their adoption of Linux and transitioning towards a Linux-based operating system.

Sounds confusing, right? Well, you need to grasp hold of it if you are planning to continue using any resources from Microsoft shortly.

The future of Windows might stay the same on the front-end, with cloud-based PCs providing a similar UI to the Windows OS we’ve grown up accustomed to, but on the back-end, Microsoft might deploy a full-Linux setup.

A fulltime Linux setup is happening because most VMs are now running on Linux iterations. Even Microsoft Azure has around 40% of its machines running on Linux at the moment.

There are a few substantial benefits of using on the Back-end, especially for businesses. Here are the benefits:

1. Migration from an older PC to a new one, its updates, and patches will become easier than before. The service will upgrade the hardware, take care of the updates and release them directly, and deal with migration
2. For businesses, Linux is a much better platform for security. Linux is a safer platform for storing sensitive data with only the admins having the root access, helping keeping system vulnerabilities in check.
3. The service is more likely to adopt a more robust security system than you would on your own hardware, which means that you will gain access to enterprise-grade security, helping you combat the rising threat of cyber-attacks.

For businesses, it is imperative to start investing in robust security infrastructure, and at Tekrevol, we’re trying our hand with some as well.

From a security standpoint, Linux is key to OS in the next decade. If you too have a wide range of OS applicability critical to your internal systems, you really need to know how Linux can make your security more concrete.

How Will Cybersecurity Trends Impact Business strategy?

According to one study by Accenture, 68% of business leaders think that there is an increased risk of a cyber-attack on their business. The year 2020 will be one where tackling these threats will become a primary focus of business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Combating this problem will require these leaders to acquire more knowledge, skills, and tools to improve their organization’s security protocols. Protocols includes network protection and data protection against possible breaches.

We can expect an increased demand for network security specialists, ML design security specialists, and system security experts. In general, the demand for security specialists across technologies will also increase.

Businesses will have to incorporate new risk assessment models for technologies such as IoT, 5G, and AI-based products.

According to Gartner’s press release, cybersecurity risk is one of the top concerns that chief audit executives have with regards to their businesses.

In 2020, businesses will come to a tipping point where they will either develop strategies and technologies that help combat the risk of cyber vulnerability, or the lack of evolution will hurt their performance in the market.

Similarly, one can foresee big corporations acquiring digital security startups for record-high acquisitions to keep up with this rising threat.

How businesses achieve compliance with government regulations and establish strict security protocols with regards to modern tech will define their success in the year 2020. So, if you’re a business owner looking to scale, transferring your focus towards establishing a robust security infrastructure has to be a central part of your business strategy.

Wrapping Things Up:

The future is digital, there is no denying it but simply focusing on the possible benefits isn’t going to cut it. For businesses, it is crucial to realize their responsibility towards consumers and take the necessary steps to ensure data protection and other cybersecurity avenues.

It is also vital for them to focus strongly on the security of their own platforms, services, and products to ensure that the adoption of modern technology drives positive results. The technologies we’ve talked about have great potential, but the journey into the world of technology requires avid preparation to ensure security and safety.

Businesses today have to invest more into optimizing their security, create new strategies, implement new infrastructure, and leverage modern tools to ensure that they are ahead of the and ready to fight any cyber-threats that may come their way.

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