No matter what industry you work in, staying on top of the latest tech trends gives your business a competitive advantage. By implementing cutting-edge technology, you’ll not only streamline your processes, but you’ll also differentiate yourself from your competitors.
As successful business owners, the members of the Young Entrepreneur Council stay on top of the latest business trends, including those in tech. Below, they share 12 big tech trends they’re most excited about and how they plan to leverage them. Follow their advice to take advantage of these trends too.
1. Online Marketplaces
Online marketplaces are lucrative models in tech and still in their infancy. They facilitate direct transactions between suppliers and customers. They rely on high-quality visual content, as professional photos usually help increase conversions two or three times over. Our company offers a photography solution at scale, so it’s an exciting time for us. —Christopher Seshadri, PhotoSesh
2. Business Intelligence
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and other data analysis tools may help businesses find more efficient ways to deploy resources like labor and capital for maximum yield. My approach to these technologies is to focus not on the technologies themselves, but on the foundations of doing business. —Samuel Thimothy, OneIMS
3. Voice Search
Voice search is already an important development in the marketing tech landscape. Now that the majority of all online interactions will happen on mobile, we’ll continue to see a rise in the use of voice search. To manage this change, we’re making our content more conversational and building it to answer questions people might ask through voice search. —Blair Williams, MemberPress
4. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity might not sound like a tech trend, given its longstanding importance, but it is evolving along with other technologies. As long as the hackers exist, cybersecurity will remain a vital part of the tech ecosystem. I always implement any tech trend if it’s going to enhance my security. A quick search on popular channels and review sites is my first step toward finding security solutions. —Vikas Agrawal, Infobrandz
5. Data Science
Data science is going to become essential for content marketers and SEO specialists. Business and customer data, which should be provided when either party opts in, can be really crucial to devising campaigns and navigating an industry. We can translate abstract concepts into concrete strategies that build market shares over the long run. —Duran Inci, Optimum7
6. Context-Based AI Advertising Tools
We’re going to see ever-tightening restrictions around collecting user data. This restriction will affect advertising and the ability to personalize content. That’s why I’m looking forward to AI tools to help create ads based on context. AI will “read” a page and then “understand” what the content is about. This process will allow advertisers to show ads relevant to what the user is reading, making it personalized. —Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
7. Blockchain Technology
I am really excited about blockchain technology. I love the fact that it can speed up cross-border payments and enable secure transactions with improved customer experience. Facilitating blockchain payments for my business is a practical change that I plan to undertake. —Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
8. AR/VR
I want to see how much virtual reality and augmented reality technology will improve over the next two years. I think we are going to see more people coming out with mind-blowing uses for these two advancements. There are some exciting marketing opportunities opening up now with VR, and we want to see how SaaS businesses like ours can use this technology to create better experiences for our users. —John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC
9. Influencer Marketing as a Business
Influencers will finally get paid, allowing influencer marketing to run like a business. This particular area has taken a decade to really take hold, but now it’s easier than ever for brands to tap into niche influencers of all sizes and work together. Whether that happens through sponsored posts, product placement or content collaborations, more is possible than ever before these days, and it’s quite affordable. —Andy Karuza, LitPic
10. Artificial Intelligence
Although it’s not new, artificial intelligence can improve small businesses and enhance their processes. I’m interested in employing AI to improve our customer service efforts and deliver even better results to our site visitors. If they’re happier, it’s likelier they’ll make a purchase and return for more. The first step would be employing it in our live chat services. —Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
11. Chatbots
I'm super excited to see how far chatbot technology will go in the next year or two. We have already seen amazing advancements in terms of both functionality and intelligence. I believe that, the longer we experiment with this technology, the more uses we will find for chatbots and other forms of AI. —Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
12. Social Media Advancements
The advancements in social media platforms, on both mobile and desktop, give me plenty of reasons to feel excited. It seems like every week we see a new upgrade to these platforms that offers more features, options and accessibility. I plan on merging our social media platforms with our website so we can take advantage of all of the features from the comfort of our business page. —John Turner, SeedProd LLC
