Technology is extremely useful and necessary in our times. Thanks to it, the human being has thousands of comforts and experiences that in the past were unimaginable, such as exploring space, studying the depths of the ocean and quickly accessing more information than our brain can contain.
In turn, it allows us to store thousands of bits of information, shorten distances with means of transport and communication and keep us in touch at all times.
Without going any further, thanks to technology, we human beings have the lifestyle we depend on. It provides us a better life.
The birth of technology is undoubtedly a product of man’s needs. It arises as a way to overcome, improve, analyze and promote the progress of humanity and the evolution of man.
Most new technologies arise as imitation and perfection of the human mind. It is important to emphasize then, that technology is nothing more than an instrument, a means to reach an end that is the evolution and prosperity of the human being.
The technological development -Internet, mobile communications, broadband, satellites, microwaves, etc… is producing significant changes in the economic and social structure, and in the set of social relations.
Information has become the axis that promotes social, economic and cultural changes. The rise of telecommunications has produced a transformation of information and communication technologies, whose impact has affected all sectors of the economy and society.
The expansion of computer networks has made possible the universalization of exchanges and relations, by communicating broad sectors of citizens living in geographical spaces very distant from each other.
National spaces have been overtaken by information technologies that have no borders: political, military, economic – especially financial -, social, business, etc. information. they are exchanged and transmitted every day throughout the world so that our life is conditioned at every moment by what is happening thousands of kilometers away.
Any political or economic event in a country can have a significant impact on the economic activity of other nations. The rise in interest rates in the United States, for example, affects the price of money in Europe and, consequently, the monetary liquidity of citizens, and therefore, their possibilities for consumption and welfare.
Importance of New Technologies
Today, progress in so-called information technologies, which encompass computer equipment and applications and telecommunications, is having a great effect.
In fact, it is said that we are in a new type of society called Information Society or Knowledge Society, which comes to replace the two previous socioeconomic models, the agrarian society and the industrial society.
In the agrarian model, the exploitation of the land was the way to generate wealth. In the industrial model, new technologies and new production systems enabled the mass production of consumer products.
The Influence of the Internet
Undoubtedly, new technologies have brought a dramatic and drastic change in all companies.
In recent years, the Internet has stood out as the revolutionary element, followed by mobile telephony.
In a short time, the Internet has become essential in any company, regardless of its size, and such has been its influence, that most Spanish households are constantly using it.
There is still a long way to go, but we are beginning to see cases of companies in which traditional concepts disappear as a result of the Internet. One of the clearest consequences is the questioning of traditional approaches to size.
There are already companies that operate on the Internet with a global scope of operations and, however, are considered small or medium-sized under the traditional parameters of the number of employees or number of investments in fixed assets.
Technologies Applied to Marketing
Like the Internet, Marketing has been linked to the “company of recent years”.
It is the specific way of executing or carrying out the exchange relationship that consists of identifying, creating, developing and serving the demand.
It is easy to think from the definition, that technology is of vital importance in Marketing. Technology in recent years has transformed the offer to which the consumer can choose; Products that were only available to few consumers’ years ago, nowadays they are products that are used in every household.
The pace at which innovations follow is transforming the market in a radical way.
Marketing and Sales Processes in SMEs
Among the first solutions to be incorporated, are those that improve the Marketing and Sales processes.
Among these are the solutions that allow customer loyalty, such as cards and loyalty clubs; those that manage to increase sales, such as viral marketing or promotions; and those that optimize knowledge and relationship with customers, such as permission marketing.
Mobile phones have become indispensable and personal devices. The use of the mobile is superior to that of the fixed telephone and even the model of the mobile terminal is perceived as a status identifier.
The mobile phone is the interactive communication channel with the greatest potential for marketing and sales applications in all over the world.
They are also easy to use (especially to receive) and immediate, so they allow actions in real time or by time bands and interact with other live media (TV, radio, etc.).
Many of the current mobile phones also have WAP browsers for Internet access, but their use is more limited since the navigation is slow and is conditioned by the small screen of the terminal.
In combination with other tools, such as GPS, they can offer services based on user location and personalization (choice of user profiles).
For all this, the marketing and sales tools based on the mobile phone and SMS or MMS (Multimedia Messaging), also called m-marketing, can effectively increase revenue and retain customers of the vast majority of companies in the world today.
In recent years several companies have focused on the market of mobile marketing solutions developing m-marketing tools aimed at boosting the businesses of companies.
Several companies design and market m-marketing products that allow SMEs to carry out loyalty and promotion actions in an easy and cheap way through mobile phones, so that once their advantages are known and appreciated, it is foreseen, that its use will increase.