By Nikki Carlson, co-founder/co-president of ChicExecs Retail and Strategy Firm. She has over 21 years’ experience in PR/marketing.
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Digital transformation is a must in 2023. It’s the key to staying competitive, reducing your costs and maintaining your hold on the market. Plus, there could be a recession this year, so you need every advantage you can get.
The media is abuzz with rumors about tech and AI, but which technologies will actually move the needle for your business this year? As the co-founder of a public relations and retail strategy firm, here are five technologies I recommend considering in 2023:
1. Cloud Computing
If you’re storing everything locally on your laptop or smartphone, that’s a big business risk. What happens if someone steals your laptop? Or if you drop your phone in the pool? For resiliency’s sake, I believe all businesses need to move to the cloud. When the worst happens (and it eventually will), you can simply revert back to a cloud backup and resume business with fewer interruptions.
In my experience, cloud storage is cheaper than storing your data on hard drives. Plus, the automatic backups make it easy to back up your information in almost real-time, which can save your bacon if something goes wrong.
You don’t need a big IT department to do this, either. You can hire a managed cloud provider to do the heavy lifting for you. Just make sure you choose a company that offers end-to-end encryption. If someone tries to steal your data in the cloud, encryption makes it much harder for nefarious parties to access that information.
2. ChatGPT
Love it or hate it, ChatGPT is a business tool that’s on everyone’s mind right now. If you haven’t heard of it before, ChatGPT is an AI model that you can use to write text. It’s a convincing (and free!) tool that can write everything from social media posts to children’s stories to code.
ChatGPT is arguably the easiest way for any business to start incorporating AI into its workflow. You can use ChatGPT to create:
• Blogs
• Emails
• Stories
• Q&A prompts
But remember, ChatGPT isn’t a replacement for human labor. It’s best used for brainstorming or idea generation. Whatever you do, make sure you fact-check AI-generated content. There’s no telling where the bots pulled content from and factual errors are common with this type of content technology.
3. Automation
Are you trying to wrangle a hopelessly long to-do list? Automation can help you tackle finicky tasks that aren’t worth your time.
For example, robotic process automation platforms will deploy a fleet of robots to do tasks on your behalf. They can’t perform super complex tasks, but they’re ideal for:
• Data transfers
• Accounting
• Onboarding
• Payroll
If you don’t want to give total control to the robots, you can try a workflow automation platform instead. This type of software makes it possible to plug in your processes and automate them. Employees simply follow the prompts in the software, which ensures they take timely and consistent action on every task, every time.
However you decide to embrace it in your business, automation can make it possible for you to do more in less time. You can keep your employees on task and use their talents on the to-dos that truly matter, increasing productivity across the board.
4. Internet Of Things
If you own a Nest Thermostat or Fitbit, you’ve seen the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) in action. This type of tech makes it possible to gather data or manage your assets with less hassle.
If you have a storefront, consider embracing these IoT-enabled smart devices to save more time and money long-term:
• Lights
• Locks
• Cameras
• Coffeemakers
• Smoke alarms
• Thermostats
Most voice assistants, like Alexa or Siri, can connect to these devices, too. Thanks to these voice assistants, all you need to do is say the magic word and you’ll be able to manage your IoT devices screen-free.
5. Virtual Reality And Augmented Reality
Nope, it isn’t too early for your business to embrace virtual reality or augmented reality. You’ll need to work with a developer for this one, but it’s possible to create multisensory experiences that bridge the gap between the real world and the virtual world.
Every business is different, but you can boost your brand with VR or AR by:
• Letting shoppers try on different shades of makeup virtually
• Allowing shoppers to try on clothes or shoes with AR
• Creating in-store exclusive VR experiences to boost foot traffic
Just make sure this investment lends to the shopper experience and serves a purpose.
In conclusion, don’t let new technologies overwhelm you in 2023. Whether it is AI or cloud computing, technology can help automate and bring efficiency into your business model.
