The Internet of Things (IoT) is making a massive impact on an array of industries. To be specific, IoT technology is impacting network traffic, data volume and how people handle both. IoT also is making a monumental impact on daily living for the average consumer as devices can instantaneously transmit data to the web and back to product manufacturers. Those who take full advantage of this treasure trove of information will win the marketing game by securing more customers, ultimately raking in the cash.

Related blog: 4 Ways to Digitally Transform Business Models with IoT Technology

IoT’s Impact on Marketing

IoT is making quite a profound impact on the marketing world. IoT technology is helping businesses make their products and services more appealing to consumers by making it easier to listen to customer needs and respond appropriately. Savvy business owners, managers and marketers are using this breakthrough technology to better transmit the right marketing message at the proper time on the optimal device(s).

IoT is helping companies better market their products and services as they are able to collect more data from customers. This data is valuable as it provides insights into consumer behavior, making it easier to market products/services with success. In fact, some industry insiders argue that IoT will revolutionize marketing within a year’s time or less.

Here are some interesting stats on how IoT will impact marketing in the coming year(s):

• More than 50 percent of leading marketers across the globe anticipate IoT will significantly alter the field of marketing by 2020
• The global market for IoT will exceed $7 trillion by 2020
• The total number of IoT connected devices will hit 13 billion by 2020
• Thirty percent of the population will have a smart thermostat within the next five years
• Nearly 40 percent of the population will have a smart refrigerator within five years

Keep reading: Advantages Clients Will Experience from Your IoT Technology

This begs the question “How exactly will marketers use IoT in the coming years? From resolving customer issues to closing sales, analyzing customer buying tendencies and providing instantaneous notifications, IoT has seemingly endless potential. In fact, marketers will go as far as using IoT to provide specific customers with narrowly targeted ads for the utmost personalization. This means marketing materials shown to one customer will not be exactly the same as those shown to the next.

A Future Characterized by Data-Driven Marketing

It might not be long until the data gleaned from IoT devices largely shapes marketing strategies for all different types of products, services and other offerings. Such data-driven marketing will deeply analyze user habits across an array of web-connected platforms. There is no longer a question of whether targeted and completely contextual advertisements will reach the masses but when such ads will be commonplace.

IoT also will help provide marketers and business owners/managers with helpful insights into the typical buyer’s journey. Data derived from IoT will make it easier for businesses to understand the customer’s current stage in the buying process.

IoT Evolution Expo Recap: IoT Technology Will Transform the Healthcare Industry

Change is the Only Constant

The moral of this story is marketing, business and technology will continue to change into the future. Those who work in advertising should become familiar with IoT technology in order to maximize the value of information pulled from web-connected devices. The trends reveal that IoT will enrich the marketing world in the months to come. Those who adapt to this change will prevail. Those who refuse to change and stick with the status quo will inevitably fall behind.

There were a lot of activities at the IoT Evolution Expo at Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward Country Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida two weeks ago. Known to be the event that hails IoT technology, IoT Evolution has again impressed its attendees with groundbreaking IoT solutions that help improve business operations and generate revenue opportunities.

IoT Healthcare Conference

The IoT Healthcare Conference was collocated with the IoT Evolution Expo. The conference covered a wide array of IoT solutions and opportunities for medical organizations that will tremendously change the way they provide service to their patients. The overarching theme of the IoT Evolution Healthcare Conference was IoT technology will change the entire healthcare industry.

IoT in Healthcare

The Internet of Things has already started making its presence known in the healthcare world. With all the developments that IoT brings about, more and more healthcare providers are turning to IoT solutions. In fact, it’s estimated that the global healthcare sector will pour about $410 billion into IoT devices, software, and services in 2022. It is no surprise that the technology receives a lot of attention in healthcare due to its numerous benefits.

Remote Patient Care

One of the topics discussed at the IoT healthcare conference was remote patient monitoring. The problem with traditional patient monitoring is that patients that are not physically present in hospitals usually can’t get the care they deserve. With the involvement of IoT in healthcare, modern patient monitoring allows healthcare providers to manage and monitor their patients’ health without requiring those patients to be confined to hospitals. It means that patients can receive the care they need from the comfort of their home while their health is constantly being monitored.

Simplify Inventory Control and Asset Tracking

To provide quality service to patients, healthcare businesses depend on their medical equipment, tools, and staff. However, tracking all these assets is not that easy for healthcare professionals. This is where IoT solutions come in handy. For instance, real-time location systems can be used to monitor where things are and what things are needed. Medical employees can know what medical equipment and drugs are in stock or available to meet patient needs. Moreover, IoT implementation automates tracking.

Better Patient Experience

The goal of healthcare businesses is to provide excellent care/service to patients. They’re dealing with patients’ lives, so if there’s an industry that really needs technology to deliver crucial service, it is the healthcare industry. IoT connects doctors and patients through connected devices. Patients get more engaged throughout their treatment and doctors can reach a diagnosis faster.

Conclusion

IoT technology is on its way to transform the healthcare industry, and healthcare professionals are eagerly watching out for more possibilities this technology will unlock.

The entire world is jumping on board with the Internet of Things (IoT) business applications, so it’s vital that CEOs and CTOs of these enterprises help their customers face the challenges of this digital revolution. By emphasizing the impact of how connecting to everything and everyone— no matter where they’re located— is a necessity today, as well as using a personal approach, you can nurture leads and business engagement with your target audience.

Keep It Human

Although IoT business implementation deals with digital transformation, it’s important that your marketing plan fosters the human factor when nurturing leads. When you develop your sales and marketing strategies, emphasize to your team the importance of building trusting relationships and emotional connections with your prospects.

In a technological world of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, it’s vital for CEOs to add a human touch when engaging prospects, customers, and employees.

Communication Is Essential

Encouraging communication with your staff is essential for creating a positive workplace. When you openly communicate with your teams about your goals, it makes them feel like important assets to your business. Ask for their ideas and express concern for their well-being.

Once they share your goals, they’ll communicate with each other and your customers. This allows your sales and marketing teams to work together to lead your buyers along the sales funnel and increase positive customer experiences.

As they share their insights, your customer retention rates grow and you attract more high-quality leads.

Provide Relevant Content

Strategically providing your target audience with content relevant to the way IoT can help their businesses to collect, store, and analyze data is important during the buyer’s journey.

Each of these buyer’s journey stages requires content nurturing strategies that move your buyers toward the final conversion:

• Awareness – At this point, your prospects realize that they need solutions to maximize productivity and enhance their business profits. They’re not sure about how to solve their problems, but they’re researching information before making any decisions. When creating content for this stage, provide as much value as possible, avoiding sales pressure. Blog posts are a good way to publish informative content that answers questions, educates your prospects on the benefits of IoT, and strengthens your brand.
• Consideration – At this stage of the buyer’s journey, prospects are still looking into all their options. They’re trying to determine the trends and value of adopting connected operations like smart devices, intelligent storage, and business automation. Nurture your leads at this stage with information that presents your business as a leader in the industry, highlighting your expertise by publishing eBooks, guides, presentations, and videos.
• Decision – Now your buyers are ready to make a purchase decision on their digital transformation efforts. They’ve researched all their options and they want specific information about your products and services. It’s time for your sales team to contact your qualifying leads, explaining how your company can help them solve their problems using the latest technology.

Your content should include reports, testimonials, white papers, and case studies that show how you’ve helped other businesses implement technologies and strategies for digital transformation.

Conclusion

As a CEO of an IoT business, it’s essential for you to nurture leads by building personal relationships with both your prospects and your employees. With the increasing growth of the digital transformation economy, the time could never be better for attracting qualifying leads to your business.

Coined the 4th industrial revolution, 5G has received much hype at the CES show last week as it opens new opportunities for IoT devices. Many believe 5G will enable IoT technology to reach its full capabilities and ensure that IoT devices become part of our everyday lives.

Knowing 5G

So, what is 5G (fifth-generation cellular network)? Most people think of it as faster download speeds, going beyond what was possible with 4G. Yet it’s more than that— 5G offers high speed, low latency (the ability to a high volume of data with little delay), and seemingly everywhere global cell coverage. It promises the ability to control devices in nearly real-time, providing the speed needed when a delay could result in a disaster such as when heavy machinery is being controlled remotely or when doctors use robotics to operate from remote locations.

The Rise of 5G and IoT

It is forecast that IoT will make up one-fourth of the global 41 million 5G connections in 2024, according to Machia Research. The vast majority will be utilized in the auto industry. Research firm IDC anticipates by 2022 that 1.3 billion smart devices will be shipped globally, more than double that of 2018.

One area where 5G is expected to make a big impact is in the healthcare industry, where it is expected to make remote healthcare a reality. In partnership with Ericsson, Imaginalis and El.En. are harnessing their technologies in the surgical ward to allow surgery to be more precise, less expensive, and to reduce side effects. The companies plan to improve remote diagnosis via faster mobile connectivity and better data compression, so physicians can transfer images faster and improve remote examination.

Sprint also made a big splash at CES, announcing several initiatives including a development of a smart city in Greenville, SC and a smart vehicle test track in Peachtree Corners, GA. Both will utilize the company’s Curiosity Internet of Things platform and the 5G network. The smart city will be comprised of connected vehicles, smart machines and independent drones – all operating in real-time.

The new test track will enable Sprint to explore how AI, robotics and autonomous vehicles applications can improve communication between vehicles, infrastructure and warning systems. Examples include testing how to improve lane changes and highway exiting in connected vehicles and exploring how road messages could be displayed on a car’s dashboard.

Sprint is also teaming up with Mapbox to launch precision mapping technology to offer smart services (such as drones and delivery carts) the ability to make location and routing decisions similar to how drivers react to road changes. Mapbox has developed highly-detailed and accurate maps using data from AI and hundreds of millions of sensors. Sprint will improve the Mapbox system by utilizing its Curiosity IoT technology and 5G.

Other applications that will benefit from 5G and IoT technology include massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), such as those used for smart traffic management, autonomous driving and even solar-powered streetlights in cities and public safety communication made device-to-device when an active cellular network is not necessary.

What is telematics?

Telematics – a portmanteau of telecommunications and informatics – refers to the use of telecommunications to transfer information. Telematics is an interdisciplinary technology field that provides the infrastructure backbone for IoT devices to transmit data. In this article, we will use the conventional definition: we mean vehicle telematics when we use the term telematics. Vehicle telematics has a broad range of applications from asset (vehicle, bike, scooter, container, etc.) tracking using GPS, to fleet management and even car insurance. It has facilitated the development of new markets like car and rideshare, and it is one of the building blocks of Intelligent Vehicle Technologies.

IoT devices help improve maintenance and repairs, fuel efficiency, security, road safety, communication, and navigation. IoT also plays an important role in the implementation of new regulations such as the electronic logging of service hours.

Global Telematics Market Size

Several McKinsey reports highlight the growth potential of telematics as well as the monetary value of the ecosystem that is developing around car-data monetization. McKinsey’s model estimates that the car-data monetization value pool could be as large as $750 billion in 2030. In this model, the McKinsey consultants estimate the growth and value proposition of the consumer telematics-driven ecosystem. For this article, we have used a more traditional approach, and we estimate a CAGR of 22 percent and a Global Telematics market size of $201 billion in 2025, in line with a recent report from KBV Research that estimates a $152 billion market size in 2024 and a CAGR of 23 percent for the next five years. The KBV report mentions safety and security concerns, improved driving characteristics, and online vehicle diagnostics and maintenance alerts as major factors driving the telematics growth.

Telematics Market Segments

The commercial telematics market and the consumer telematics market are the two largest market segments. The commercial telematics market is the largest of the two. The global market size was billion in 2018, but it has the lowest CAGR of 18 percent. The consumer telematics market size was $16.5 billion in 2018, but it has tremendous potential as indicated by a CAGR of 31 percent.

The Hexa Research market report covers the commercial telematics market development during the 2014–2025 timeframe. Hexa Research sees a market boost due to technological advancements such as real-time engine diagnostics, GPS tracking, fatigue alert and drive lane assist that are fundamentally changing the driving experience. Technavio released a Commercial Vehicle Telematics Market report in 2018 and identified a growing need for fleet management solutions. According to their analysis, the logistics sector has been the largest contributor to fleet management services in the telematics industry. The demand for telematics in the logistics sector is driven by the need to reduce fuel expenses. The report estimates empty runs (trips without any goods) account for 25-30 percent of the total runs made by a global fleet. The use of telematics in fleet management helps reduce the number of empty runs, thereby reducing the overall fuel costs. This has led to increased use of telematics fleet management solutions by fleet owners.

The commercial telematics market covers the following fleet management segments: trailer tracking, trucking fleets, long-haul trucking fleets, short-haul and LTL trucking fleets, local delivery fleets, utility and service fleets, municipal and government fleets, emergency services fleets, public transportation fleets, private transportation fleets, and industrial equipment fleets.

The consumer telematics market is the smaller of the two major telematics market segments. The IndustryARC report provides a detailed analysis of the consumer telematics market and a forecast of the market development during the next five years. Their analysis indicates that the consumer telematics market is dominated by insurance telematics, followed by infotainment, navigation, and telehealth. It is no surprise that insurance telematics is so dominant; the usage-based car insurance business model has gained a lot of traction in the personal auto and the commercial fleet auto insurance segments. Also, there is a well-developed vehicle telematics and telehealth market segment. But the telehealth market includes more than just the vehicle telematics-driven market segment. A separate report by Transparency Market Research estimated the global telehealth market at $6 billion 2016 growing at a CAGR of 13 percent to $19.65 billion in 2025.

North America accounts for the largest market share of the overall commercial vehicle telematics market and dominates the consumer telematics market due to the extensive research and development taking place in the NA region.

The Telematics Market in 2019

The digital transformation of the commercial and consumer vehicle transportation industry is driven by telematics and by IoT devices. This technology is providing fleets, drivers, and companies with an abundance of real-time data that was previously not available. In 2019, we can expect more insights from predictive analytics integrated in telematics platforms, a continuing focus on cybersecurity to protect sensitive business or private information, and we can expect an increased integration of the telematics platforms with other business systems leading to better business intelligence.

Vehicle telematics brings a range of additional benefits to individuals, corporations, and governments beyond insurance and road safety improvements. This will ensure that commercial and consumer telematics will again be one of the fastest growing markets in 2019.

When we talk about the Internet of Things, or IoT solutions, we are referring to the billions of devices and sensors around the world that are connected to the internet, collecting and sharing data. Thanks to cheap processors, smart gateways, and wireless— and wired— networks, it’s possible to turn anything, from biosensors to an entire airplane, into part of the IoT. This “IoT-fication” adds digital intelligence to devices that would otherwise be dumb, enabling them to communicate without human interaction and merging the digital and physical worlds. IoT-fication is market-driven: manufacturers connect their devices to provide innovative functionalities, improve operations, and enable predictive maintenance.

Examples of IoT Devices

Any physical object can be turned into an IoT device by connecting it to the internet. Whether it utilizes a one-way communication— a data stream is uploaded to the internet— or a two-way communication meaning that the device is monitored and controlled that way.

The humble lightbulb, or light switch, can be turned into an IoT device and can then be switched on using a smartphone app, just as a motion sensor, a smart thermostat (at home or in the office), or a connected streetlight. A fluffy toy can be turned into an IoT device. A driverless truck is definitely an IoT device, as are jet engines that have thousands of sensors built in collecting and transmitting data back to the manufacturer and the airline to make sure it is operating safely and efficiently.

How Big is the Internet of Things?

The IoT market is big and it’s getting bigger— there are already more connected things than people in the world. According to Gartner, the number of IoT devices will pass the 11 billion mark in 2018. More than half will be consumer products like smart TVs and smart speakers, while the most-used enterprise IoT devices will be smart electric meters and commercial security cameras.

How Will the IoT Evolve?

To answer that question, let’s look at a few trends. The IoT market and the IT market are using the same technologies, and the IT market has seen a steady cost reduction for many years now. The performance of available computing resources, such as memory, CPUs, and disk drives, has increased dramatically, while the size and price have dropped at the same time. Similarly, the cost of IoT solutions is dropping steadily.

The cost of connectivity and bandwidth is also falling. This will be a core success and acceleration factor. IoT technology adoption and integration by manufacturers and software developers are driven by low technology cost combined with a high performance.

Therefore, we expect that the deployment of IoT solutions in a connected global network of devices and people will accelerate in the coming decade. This network of IoT devices will provide innovative functionalities, improved and more predictable operations, and will support and interact with individuals and businesses each and every day.

In this contemporary age of the Internet of Things (IoT), digitizing physical environments has become part of many businesses, especially industrial IoT firms. The keys to connecting the physical and digital worlds are investing in smart manufacturing and understanding the differences between virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

How Industrial IoT Is Paving the Way to a Smarter World

VR vs. AR

Augmented reality refers to technology that projects a digital image that serves as a composite of something from the physical world. It uses the existing environment and adds new information over it, whereas virtual reality creates an entirely artificial environment that replicates the real world. Retrieving GPS data from an app is a form of AR.

How AR in Manufacturing Creates Value

The proliferation of software for various industries has led to the rise of industrial IoT and a transformation of manufacturing in a more digital direction. The more manual labor tasks can be simulated digitally and then automated, the more productive and efficient a business becomes. Collecting and analyzing IoT data is now part of the equation for streamlining an operation.

AR and VR in Construction: How It’s Ruling the Industry for 2021 and Beyond

When introducing both VR and AR to a system, you are able to increase the values of variables such as quality, quantity, agility, and flexibility. One of the most valuable features to AR is that it can be used to add real-time analytics to an IoT device, allowing for engineers and inspectors to conduct predictive maintenance.

An AR app can monitor physical assets and alert personnel about anomalies in quality. Ultimately, creating digital representations of physical machines makes AR powerful.

Recent AR Trends

R has a wide array of versatile applications for every business imaginable, particularly factories. Here are some of the recent uses of this emerging enterprise technology:

• AR apps on smartphones and headsets allow monitoring of connected devices for proactive maintenance
• 3D e-commerce tools connecting marketers with customers
• Reuse existing 3D assets from a CAD program
• Integrate with cloud services
• Physicians can read patient data wearing AR glasses, allowing them to keep their hands free
• Step-by-step training tutorials for operating machinery replace complex manuals
• Easier collection of data from controllers, sensors, and gateways
• Remote asset monitoring
• Managing production performance in real-time

Understanding the Basics of Industrial IoT

One of the leading tech firms in AR technology for enterprises is PTC, which owns ThingWorx (a firm formerly owned by Qualcomm) and Vuforia. ThingsWorx is the leading platform for IoT developers. PTC provides tools to businesses to build customizable IoT apps with 3D modeling capabilities.

Thousands of companies have experimented with PTC’s tools to bring AR to IoT by trying out the free trial program for ThingWorx Studio. Some of these early adopters include Tesla, Toyota, Caterpillar, NASA and the US Army.

Conclusion

Organizations are becoming increasingly interested and active in using industrial IoT to generate AR data. Collecting data on vibrations, temperatures, and other variables is empowering businesses to make money-saving decisions. Consider developing your own AR app, such as a training tutorial that simplifies industrial tasks, so that you can streamline your business.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the latest phase of online exploration for businesses that generate a wealth of data. The IoT business is still very new in its development but is becoming more powerful by the day. Adding blockchain technology to the equation creates a wide array of opportunities for companies to gain more control in transactions and interactions.

How Blockchain Fits into IoT Development

Blockchain technology has become widely known through the introduction of cryptocurrencies, spearheaded by Bitcoin. The IoT business is embracing blockchain because it’s a secure way to document transactions through an online ledger that is private within a closed network and cannot be modified. But blockchain has other powerful uses, as well, such as serving as an interface for smart contracts. Once conditions are met, a smart contract is automatically executed by an application.

Artificial intelligence (AI) driven by sensors will also play a major role in the convergence of IoT and blockchain. The combination of these technologies will speed up processes and elevate the level of trust and accountability between business entities. According to IBM, the primary benefits of blockchain are building trust, cost-cutting, and faster transactions. Part of the reason IoT and blockchain are part of the same puzzle is that they both involve distribution of data.

IoT and Blockchain Integration Challenges

The main challenges that you will need to consider in building a business that supports both IoT and blockchain are security, operational logistics, and legal issues. As smart contracts become more adopted, blockchain will allow peer-to-peer agreements without the need of verification from a third party. Blockchain will ultimately be the answer to multiple challenges, such as:

• Capability of storing records
• Scalable solutions for future growth
• Time stamping to confirm a transaction
• Better privacy with a higher trust level

How IoT and Blockchain Will Revolutionize Multiple Industries

The insurance industry has been an early adopter of blockchain technology, using it to execute smart contracts for insurance policies. The combination of IoT and blockchain will help improve both operational and manufacturing technologies. The utility industry will also benefit from the buying and selling of smart contracts, as will any firm that relies on automated machine-to-machine transactions.

Essentially, blockchain can be used as proof for any type of online transaction. It can also meet all the requirements of all the parties involved so that senders and receivers are sent notifications of payment and delivery of the product or service. Blockchain will particularly be useful in the shipping industry for verification of movement from point A to point B in a supply chain.

Conclusion

There’s a bright future ahead for the IoT business as it mixes with other new technologies such as blockchain, machine learning, and security. The foundation of this convergence will involve security, identity, interactions, and transactions. Companies that are looking into these innovations will be well-prepared for next-generation technology and have a chance to establish a competitive edge in the coming years.