Understanding Internet Of Things

“Anything that can be connected, will be connected.”

People who understand Internet Of Things and its potential will tell you that the Mantra above will be the talk of the town in the coming years. Anything you can imagine, anything at all would be connected to the internet, it is happening now and will only expand aggressively. So, wouldn’t it be imperative to know what exactly IOT is and how it works?

Imagine this situation. You logout of your office swiping the access card, the sensor sends a message to your car parked below which has already started and the navigation system has already plotted the route to your home alerting you about the traffic on different possible routes. The air conditioner in your house switches on automatically before you reach the house and adjusts the temperature according to the weather outside. The coffee brewer on intimation brews some coffee for you and the refrigerator sends you a message about the missing groceries. At a single touch, before you reach your house, the coffee is brewed, the air conditioner has set the tone for your comfort and the groceries have arrived at your doorstep. This is the power of Internet Of Things.

Every single device connected to the internet and integrated to feed off data from each other to make our lives better is probably just the gist of it. And this is not just for machines, it can be even for the minutest component of your machines. From a commercial airliner to a sewing machine, from your car to a water heater, everything is soon going to be unified on a single network. The opportunities are unlimited. Most of which might be out of our analytical might. Yet harnessing even a portion of it can create something as revolutionary as the wheel or fire.

 5 Internet of Things Application

Change has always been the buzzword. It is what signifies human existence. The change was first seen in 1974 with the Automated Teller Machines(ATM), and now amazingly there are far more objects connected to the internet than people on the planet. The most accepted ones so far are vehicles with all their user enhancing systems on board. With the advent of wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, the horizons have expanded even more. Smart Kitchens, Smart living rooms, Smart houses, imagine every single electric impulse transferred as data to the internet for other user oriented actions. And if this is just the beginning, we already have over 4.9 billion connected devices and counting.

 Now, that we have a fair idea of what really Internet of things is, let us see how it will revolutionize our lives in the coming future:

1. Smart Highways:  Roads with ‘on the go’ warnings about weather expected ahead and diversions in case of mishaps and blockages will soon be functional across the globe. Smart highways will have a unified platform that will integrate data from traffic signals, traffic sensors, vehicle movements and on board GPS. It will be similar to living organism that constantly updates the vehicles about traffic patterns, speed limits and adversities.

2. Autonomous Cars: Cars with auto park feature are already in the testing phase. Many cities across the globe have given a green signal for testing the driver-less car as well. The autonomous cars, equipped with intelligent sensors will feed off years of data from vehicle databases to analyse driving patterns and road hazards. Autonomous cars will constantly update itself to make the driving experience a risk free and a safe one.

3. Patient Surveillance: Monitoring of vital signs for patients in hospitals and elderly people in old age homes is an important application of Internet Of Things. Right from the blood pressure, heart beat and other vital stats, to minute changes like changes in the pressure and temperature patterns of the room, all the data can be monitored to ensure better patient surveillance.

4. Smart Homes: Internet Of Things can automate an entire home filled with appliances and lighting systems. A single touch of hand can automate appliances even before you enter the house. Right from your groceries to garbage disposal, every household chore can be planned and scheduled for. It will give you the comfort of controlling your appliances even when you are miles from your home.

5. Defense Systems: Defense forces across the world have already started applying this technology, some of them on their more secure systems. The defense capabilities of any nation will surge ahead and their warning systems will become more accurate.

How Internet Of Things is changing lives:

 
As discussed earlier, Home Automation with the assistance of Internet Of Things is soon going to change the way we live. Smart Homes are going to make our lives much more comfortable and hassle-free. By 2025, more than a quarter of the world’s population is expected to have a semi automated smart home.

A step towards this was taken by GoodWorkLabs, recently.They created an application for one of their clients which offers complete home automation solutions. With the Internet of Things application developed,  the user can control the functionality of  home appliances with just one touch:

1) Adjust the AC temperatures in your Bedroom before you even reach home.

2) Set an alarm so that you are never late for the important things in life.

3) Adjust the lights in your living room to create evening.

4) Enjoy movie nights by setting your favorite movie lists on the TV.

5) Never miss out on your grocery lists.

Read more: Click

These are just a few of the important applications we would see in the coming days, as mentioned earlier, the uses are limitless. We need to expand our horizons and think further ahead to employ ways that can protect human interests. Internet Of Things is the result of human evolution eventually. Everything we have ever invented, every medium we have explored and every thought we have recorded, all connected together.

Technically, it maybe devices connected to each other. In reality, it is every single person connected through their devices.

“If you think Internet has changed your life, think again. The internet of things will change it all over again.” – Brendan O’Brien, Aria Systems

How effective will it be to embrace AI as a marketing enabler in today’s organizations? What will be the key problems that can be solved with the help of AI? How can AI give sales and marketing the much needed competitive edge to sustain and run a thriving business?

Let’s take a look at these questions and get a quick overview of the problems AI can solve for your business’ sales and marketing division.

The rise and rise of AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been gaining tremendous traction in recent times. Multiple disciplines such as NLP and machine learning have shown the business world the type of problems Artificial Intelligence can solve. Right from providing a substantial reduction in cost overheads to boosting employee productivity, the number of areas that can be impacted by the smart use of AI is abundant. One such discipline that is ripe for embracing AI is the sales and marketing team.

Where do sales and marketing come in?

Throughout the customer acquisition journey, there are tons of routine tasks, documentation, and paperwork to be done. You may be surprised to know that only 20% of the sales rep’s time is spent on actual sales closing. The rest is spent on follow-up, monitoring, tracking, and support functions. It is these areas that can witness a dramatic surge in productivity with the help of AI. Let’s look at the three top benefits of having an AI system in your marketing team –

1. Qualifying leads

The leads qualification process is a tedious one. These include steps like

• Deep research on the right fit client for your product or services,
• Trying to phone or email the gate-keepers to find the right person within the target company,
• Carrying out a detailed vetting process as outlined in your marketing strategy

These are the key areas where AI can show its maximum impact.

2. Lead nurturing

The golden “Rule of Seven” stipulates seven engagements with leads before they remember your brand. Many inbound leads collapse due to lack of lead nurturing, or untimely interaction. This is where AI can fit in. It can not only keep track of which stage of the buying journey a prospect is in, but can also send personalized messages at the right interval – a positive sales conversion potential.

3. The human element

Today’s sales funnel is highly automated and looks robotic. As a result, the human touch is sorely missing from the sales conversion process. With the smart integration of AI into the various marketing functions, the human touch can be brought into many interactions with the lead. This helps make a deeper connection with the customer and enable conversions of leads to sale at a much swifter pace.

Wrapping it up

While lead quality and sales conversion cycle may not be made fully hassle-free, with the introduction of AI, issues with follow up and human connection can be mitigated for faster sales conversion.

At Goodworklabs we can drive the positive impact of AI to bolster your business margins. Do connect with us for a quick consultation.

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who is aware of the ‘Internet of Things’ and isn’t aware of its key to the future. Studies suggest that by 2020, the global IoT market will be worth more than $1.3 trillion with a CAGR or 16.9%. The world has already started experiencing IoT equipped devices in homes and offices, and the number of these devices will surpass 50 billion in next three years. These figures are good enough to avow the claim that IoT market is going to get bigger with time, and the success of IoT, in the long run, will be very much determined by machine learning. Before going into details, let’s take a look at how both of these terms are related to each other.

Internet of Things & Machine Learning

IoT is nothing but the inter-networking of devices in such a way that they can send and receive data automatically without any manual interference. Due to this data automation, IoT saves a lot of time and efforts, which results in higher productivity and better user experience. Machine learning, on the other hand, is a type of artificial intelligence that enables computers to learn quickly without being programmed explicitly. It automates the data analysis process and enables computers to learn from data using novel algorithms and hidden insights.

Some of the examples of machine learning can be – self-driven cars (Tesla & Google), online product recommendations on e-commerce sites, knowing what customers are saying about any brand on Twitter/Facebook, etc.

Can Machine Learning Determine The Success of IoT?

The sole reason behind why IoT witnessed a massive success in such a quick succession is because it has the potential to make everyone’s life easier and more hassle-free than ever before. Machine learning is another in-demand technology just like the internet of things and has everything required to take the success of IoT to whole new heights.

In an IoT based environment where terabytes of data need to be analyzed for capturing value, it becomes important for it to adopt machine learning to keep up with this IoT data and generate insights from it. Machine learning is perfectly capable of taking the billions of data points, review them, analyze them and unlock patterns or recurring trends. Doing this in an enhanced way without adding to cost overheads will make machine learning a key success driver in IoT.

Are there any barriers?

Although IoT has opened new doors to success for businesses, there are many unanswered questions which need to be addressed soon. With the passage of time, the data volumes and varieties will continue to increase. In order to compile it quickly in an efficient manner, and use for attaining organizational objectives, businesses will need to learn the proper application of IoT and Machine Learning as soon as possible.

What do you think about machine learning and IoT? Are they both required for a faster business growth? Share your feedback in the comments section.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – A Great Marketing Tool

Effective marketing is the key to perfect branding in the business world, and numerous businesses owners across the world strive hard to take their brands to the professional arena. Here social media comes across as a valuable tool for businesses.

With 91% of the brands utilizing 2+ social media channels, and almost $8.3 billion in social media generated in 2015, this has become the primary channel to acquire users and improve brand visibility on the digital ecosystem.

In order to extend the dramatic business opportunities presented by a good social media strategy, businesses are increasingly adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI – A quick background

Changes in the tech world and business landscape led to the emergence of innovative marketing strategies and campaigns. MAPs or marketing automation platforms are the best examples of such remarkable innovations. If market reports are anything to go by, a whopping 91% of marketers believe that MAPs had been highly successful and effective in promoting brands.

We are in a consumer-centric business world where every company or establishment is working on consumer-oriented business models. Quite naturally, SMM or Social Media Marketing has emerged as one of the most effective business advertising strategies. The latest inclusion to this list is AI or Artificial Intelligence.

Ingenious and creative marketers in the B2B arena are including AI strategies while creating business marketing campaigns. Let’s find out how Artificial intelligence is helping marketers create better SMM strategies.

Harnessing the benefits of AI

How would it be if computers had the power to comprehend certain aspects and actions of the human world? That would be great, and this is what AI ensures for you. Artificial Intelligence refers to the computers’ ability of comprehending actions in the natural world. Business marketers simply can’t ignore the potential benefits offered by AI.

The idea of integrating AI into existing business marketing models is undoubtedly fascinating. Artificial Intelligence is a compelling proposition and a highly potent tool, and here’s how it can be used to improve business marketing.

1. Create a personalized experience for your customer

Consumers want special treatments and personalized shopping experiences. As a brand owner, you will have to offer the right set of products or services to the appropriate buyer group. It’s here that you need to identify and understand buyer personas. Artificial Intelligence not only helps you understand these buyer personas but also conforms your marketing contents to those insights. You gain the opportunity to create personalized experiences for your target audience.

2. Real-time social media interactions

When it comes to captivating the attention of your target prospects, none other than popular social media channels will prove to be effective. With refined AI strategies, you can build real-time and effective communications with potential leads and prospective consumers.

3. Analyze customer behaviour

Business marketers often have to mine effective Customer-Relationship-Management tools to understand consumer behaviors and preferences. AI will help you analyze emails, phone calls, and social media contents thus gaining targeted insights into aspects capable of driving your prospects to take decisions.

Irrespective of the business size or sector, driving a deeply personalized consumer experience is a crucial necessity. Artificial Intelligence can help you ensure an awesome CX for your target prospects. In case you haven’t invested in this technology for your business yet, it is time you start thinking on these lines.

Why invest in Machine Learning

From automated solutions to consumer feedback systems, what is the one thing that integrated business technologies use to improve operations? What has emerged as a new age approach to understand clients better, enhance sales and purchase cycle, interpret clients’ pain points, or create consumer-centric products and services?

Yes, it is the use of machine learning and Big Data analytics.

Using machine learning to boost the efficacy of Big Data analytics is what will drive modern businesses into the next decade of growth and sustainability.

How it all began?

The sales and purchase cycle involves customers at every level. While making purchase decisions, consumers take quite a few aspects into account. Let’s take a look at these crucial factors:

• Recognizing needs: That’s the first thing every consumer needs to do. Recognizing the purchase needs is critical to finding the right products. Therefore, every customer needs to identify his buying needs and objectives.
• Figuring-out solutions: Once buyers are aware of their needs, they can make the right decisions. Proper identification of the problem will lead to effective solutions.
• Decision-making process: After figuring out the solutions, consumers will have the opportunity to take effective and successful decisions.

Machine learning and Big Data analytics play a vital role in this context.

Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of machine learning in understanding customer behaviors.

1. Machine learning decodes consumer behavior

Targeted and proper understanding of customers depends on studying their behaviors. Crucial insights into their behavior and actions will help you identify their preferences and choices. Machine learning and big data help you gain insights into consumer behavior in real-time. If you wish to accelerate your bottom line, it will be imperative to leverage the benefits of machine learning and big data analytics.

2. Matching products with consumer preferences

Accurate algorithms are an integral part of the machine-learning technology. These algorithms play a crucial role when it comes to determining the price points. Retailers will have the chance to determine price points and product availability, thus matching the right set of products with specific consumer choices.

Some of the leading brands are making the most of this technology and helping consumers make better purchase decisions. Machine learning reduces possibilities of getting confused while shopping, thus ensuring an unparalleled and satisfying experience.

3. Consumers can fulfill their demands

Machine learning coupled with big data analytics can present a crystal clear picture of consumer behavior. You know your consumers’ purchase behaviors in the past, which helps you anticipate their buying preferences.

With the machine learning technology, you can gather real-time customer information. From identifying the links clicked by them to finding out contents they choose for social media sharing, machine learning helps you comprehend customer behavior in details.

Parting thoughts

In an age where consumers are the most crucial parts of the sales cycle, personalized shopping experiences will be the key to promoting your brand. By helping you understand consumer behavior, the machine learning technology will take your brand to unsurpassed success.