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How The Internet Changed Business Forever

– Contributed content –

The dawn of the information superhighway has been the biggest thing to happen to the international business arena since the industrial revolution. If you were to hop in a time machine and go back just a few decades, pretty much every facet of the way businesses operate would be almost unrecognizable. Here, we’ll look at some of the biggest ways that the internet has changed business forever.

Woman with bag

(Public Domain Pictures, Pixabay)

Advanced customer segmentation

Modern businesses have access to more data than ever before, and this shift has made it easier than ever for business owners to know exactly what their target audience is looking for. With sophisticated analytics services expanding all the time, businesses can segment their prospective buyers into smaller and smaller groups, allowing them to target them more specifically and get better returns for the capital they pump into marketing. A simple Google Analytics account will show any business owner where their online customers are from, the kind of browser they’re using, how they found a given website and what they used it for. More in-depth services will also allow entrepreneurs to narrow down that data even more, and refine their processes, products, and overall marketing strategy in manageable increments.

More accessible education

The creation of online distance learning has meant that there are now more people with the skills and expertise needed to make it in business than ever before. In a matter of seconds, anyone with an internet connection can find a company like Maryville University, and sign up to courses that will give them everything they need to drive success in a given business niche. Many of these courses tend to be much more affordable than conventional university degrees, and also allow a degree of flexibility that budding entrepreneurs simply wouldn’t have access to otherwise. Of course, no amount of lectures and exams can really prepare someone for the experience of starting and maintaining a profitable business. However, this increased access to high-quality educational materials has meant that far more people are able to develop themselves and pursue their entrepreneurial dreams than at any other time in history.

The growing role of social media

Social media keys

(Pixelkult, Pixabay)

No modern business can afford to exist in a social vacuum, even for a short period of time. The explosion of social networks that has occurred over the past decade or so has made the world much smaller, and created a business arena where consumers can connect with brands and other individuals regardless of their geographic location, their social status, or their financial background. Not too long ago, it was easy enough for businesses to get by on a fairly mediocre standard of customer service. However, the modern business owner now needs to worry about furious rants on Facebook and scathing poor reviews on sites like Yelp. Thanks to social media, bad reputations hang over brands much longer than they ever have before, and all businesses, from tiny start-ups to multi-national corporations, need to be more worried about their digital footprint and how their brand is perceived on social media.

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