Internet of Things: Why Should Marketers Care About IoT?

predicted that by 2020, 85 billion devices will be connected to the IoT. If you think the number is huge, imagine the data you will be able to collect and the opportunities that lie within that data.

Transformation of the ways we do business

We scratch the surface for ways to offer new products and opportunities to IoT customers, but it also affects the way we do business. Here are some ways:

Inventory Management: Anyone who spends a working day or week counting widgets will appreciate the beauty of IoT for inventory management. Smart devices can eventually track the list automatically.
Consumer Demands: Consumers become accustomed to smart devices and begin to expect “smart” behavior in all aspects of their lives. Inventors will have new gadgets, furniture, accessories, and more Field Day that can meet this new demand and provide new sources of income for businesses.
Low Purchase Cycle: For immediate satisfaction supported by IoT businesses must meet the low purchase cycle and consumer expectations.
Learn from data: Volumes of data generated from smart devices can help businesses learn how and what to innovate for the biggest impact.
Remote work: As IoT becomes more comprehensive, additional remote work opportunities will be available for tasks that require staff to be on-site to complete.
No doubt, the Internet of Things is just beginning. Businesses that are now launching to develop or expand IoT technology in their products, services, and operations can realize the competitive advantage.

In fact, like most new inventions, IoT comes with a flaw; Currently, most IoT devices are not secure, making them an easy target for hackers. Last year, millions of IoT devices were hacked and used to remove the underlying infrastructure of the Internet. Going forward, IoT manufacturers should pay more attention to security, and users should take every precaution to secure their devices.

However, every organization, big or small, in every industry, needs to consider the implications of the Internet of Things and what their business strategy means today.

The following are the reasons why, as a marketer, you should be concerned about the IoT:

Community construction
Social media continues to be an important channel for brands to create and interact with communities. Wearable technology devices, such as fitness trackers, allow users to share posts generated by the devices on different social media platforms, leading to the development of new communities focused on the users of such devices. This serves as a great opportunity for marketers to connect with a group of like-minded people and turn them into customers later on.

The rise of conversational commerce
According to a report by Edison Research, 43 million Americans own a smart speaker device or 18% of the adult population.

The development of chatbots, smart assistants, and smart speakers has given rise to conversational commerce that enables users to shop online, check order status, and locate nearby stores, restaurants, and events through these interfaces.

This has given marketers a new point of contact in the customer journey to stay connected with their audience. In the future, the introduction of new devices will form a mesh where everything will be interconnected, allowing marketers to communicate with their audience on a more granular level.

Data availability
IoT devices generate an immense amount of data that allows marketers to collect more data points about their users. The availability of data will allow marketers to test new ideas and use the results as a benchmark for their next marketing initiatives.

As the adoption of IoT devices continues to grow, the data generated will improve with it, allowing marketers to uncover hidden tastes, preferences, and behavioral traits of their users. All of this can be used to further improve marketing efforts.

Personalization
Marketers use strategies like targeted email campaigns, personalized videos, product recommendations, and push notifications to deliver a personalized marketing experience to leads and prospects. To do this, marketers rely heavily on DMP and CRM to get the right data.

IoT devices present a superior way to deliver personalized messages to your customers. With the data collected from beacon devices, marketers can send personalized messages or advertisements based on proximity to the brand’s point of sale.

Predictive analytics
Through IoT devices, you will be able to keep track of a large number of data points that may not be easy to collect with existing marketing channels.

With the help of predictive analytics, you can measure and understand the current and past shopping patterns, attitudes, behaviors, and location details of users and make suggestions based on these data inputs. This will transform your marketing into proactive mode from the reactive mode.

Enhanced engagement
All the points we’ve covered so far in this article lead us to a key conclusion: IoT enables marketers to show extremely relevant ads to their audience. People are bombarded by advertisements through online and offline channels all day long. Most ads are ignored because they are not relevant to people.

Since IoT devices helping marketers understand their audience at a precise level, marketers can target them with content that is highly targeted at them. This will cause your content, including ads, to gain higher engagement and likely increase sales.

In conclusion
IoT is the next big thing. Its application in marketing is evolving at an unprecedented rate. It’s no longer just about the online behavior of your audience. IoT enables you to understand how your customers interact with smart devices, home appliances, and other IoT devices. How you update your marketing strategy with these rapid changes is up to you.

Read more : IoT: Do’s and Don’ts of Developing