Non-tech companies today sometimes struggle to stay profitable, especially with the coming of many smart and comfortable options from the tech industry. There is a technical solution for everything: retail, leisure, travel, beauty – you name it! And usually, it even comes at a lower price than most brick-and-mortar stores.
The Covid-19 pandemic made us even more dependent on technology and the simplicity that comes with the digitally transformed world.
So, how can your non-tech brand use technology to get back on its feet and be more profitable than ever? Here are some fine examples of companies that leveraged intelligent solutions for their own good.
Use search engine optimization to reach more potential customers
The north star of having excellent SEO is to show up as the top result on search engines. But it can be much more than that. By writing helpful blog posts that answer the search intent clearly, you are raising the chance of being discovered by your ideal customers, even when they don’t exactly know they need you.
Using technical SEO further promotes your website and helps you promote locally, even on the world wide web.
And you might think that a company that offers financial services doesn’t need a good blog or website. But here’s something to show you otherwise.
Although not an online bank per se, Wells Fargo Bank offers a lot of topics around saving, budgeting, financial management, advice on investing consciously, etc., while promoting its brand on search engines.
Use live chats for better customer service
Who doesn’t dread waiting for a customer service agent on the phone for half an hour, only to be told to refer to the website and not have their problem fixed? As a millennial, I know I do!
Big tech companies aren’t the only ones that can afford amazing chatbots nowadays – it’s one of the most useful ways to clump common questions together in areas and find a solution for the customer quickly through a couple of clicks.
For example, Canyon Bikes, a manufacturer of road, mountain, and other sports bikes, had a multilingual live chat that offers support to their customers around the world. Even though they are a brаnd that sells a “real world” product, they leverage this technology to their advance.
The CTO's guide to different hiring models
How to hire for a fast-growing tech company
Build digital assets to improve the customer experience
Even in a traditional business environment, smart digital solutions can be used to elevate the experience of your customers and help them solve analog problems.
Here’s a first-hand experience that I’d gladly share: I bought a Phillips Lumea photo epilator a while ago. Despite the miraculous job it does at removing unwanted body hair, it’s super hard to keep track of when and what you need to do to make sure I use the tool to its full potential.
But Phillips knew how complicated it was for their users, so they made an app that helps you define the frequency of your treatments, as well as determine the right settings for your skin tone and hair color. And it works like magic!
And they go above and beyond in finding other tech solutions, from how to make sure you save on electricity, all the way to sending you new recipes via a cookbook app if you use their kitchen appliances.
Learn more about your customers with the help of data and business intelligence
With the help of data engineers and business intelligence (BI) developers, you can compile useful data from your current and potential customers, and analyze it to its full extent to make sure you invest in the right moves to help your business grow.
Business intelligence (BI) is a set of technologies and practices that transform raw data about business activities into visual reports to help decision-makers get actionable insights and optimize business performance.
Whether you need to increase your market share in one product or service or the other, business intelligence can help you discover how to reach the right people, from what to invest in, to which social media to advertise on.
In successful companies nowadays, it’s almost unimaginable to find a decision being made without data. This became possible thanks to self-service BI software available in the form of independent solutions or embedded features inside other business applications.
Leverage smaller companies to build a bigger audience
Because MapMyFitness (fitness tracking mobile app) has more than 20 million registered users and over 9 million monthly active users that track and save their running, cycling, walking, and hiking activity, Under Armour (a fitness gear retailer), purchased the start-up.
Under Armour is building a new digital training experience and mobile fitness platform based on MapMyFitness's client relationships. The information gathered can also be used to increase sales and customize customer experiences.
Create smart technological solutions for “analog” problems
With some talented developers and a cool idea, you can find a smart solution to anything, even for issues that have nothing to do with technology.
For example, L’Oreal solved a common issue for regular consumers of makeup—a Virtual Makeup Try-On that helps you see how a make-up product will look on you before you order it or buy it from a store.
Conclusion
There is plenty of solutions for common issues that, granted, before the digital revolution we didn’t know we had. But technology can be used to promote or improve even a non-tech product, as seen from these examples.
