(This article originally appeared in Forbes)
Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1-TikTok surpasses other social media platforms in both popularity and ad revenue.
TikTok is expected to generate $11 billion in advertising revenue for 2022. The platform -which is owned by Chinese company ByteDace — is the most popular app in the world with more than half of its revenue coming from the United States. Other social media platforms such as Twitter and Snapchat’s combined revenues are still less than TikTok alone. (Source: Reuters)
Why this is important for your business:
If you’re going to spend money to advertise online it’s all about finding the right audience. TikTok has billions of daily users that tend to skew towards a younger demographic. Many employers are also using the service to advertise for young workers too.
2- Windows users should be cautious about emails promising free software.
Researchers at Zscaler have observed malicious software (malware) designed to steal usernames and passwords for infected Windows users. According to ZDNet, the malware, called FFDroider, is mainly focused on stealing login credentials for social media websites, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, but it also steals passwords for Amazon, eBay and Etsy accounts. The malware can steal cookies from Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge browsers. The attackers are said to disguise themselves as a message from the messaging service Telegram where users are asked to put their usernames and passwords in. They also have been said to push campaigns on victim’s social media in addition to stealing credit card numbers and other payment details. (Source: ZDNet)
Why this is important for your business:
To prevent this, be aware of suspicious emails about free software and keep a two factor authentication for all passwords. And get training for your employees…lots of training.
3-Pest control company upgrades customer experience by partnering with Swell.
Briostack — a pest control software — is partnering with customer experience online platform Swell to produce a new solution to create more tools for customer service. Briostack users can now receive automated text messages of upcoming appointments, see a photo of their technician and leave reviews of their service. Users will also have an inbox designed for immediate client-to-technician communication. (Source: PR Newswire)
Why this is important for your business:
More applications are integrating with vertical technologies to provide capabilities specifically geared to specific industries. The above partnership between Briostack and Swell looks promising for the pest control industry. But I’m betting there are interesting integrations between the industry software you use and other technology providers that can provide better productivity for your business. Ask your software vendor.
4 — Nextdoor expands their services to help empower small and medium sized businesses.
Nextdoor is upgrading their ad game with Nextdoor Ads to uplift small and medium business owners. The platform is specifically designed to reach local customers to better target the company’s desired audience. Business owners can have a hand in every step of the ad making process as well as track their engagement on the Nextdoor Ads dashboard. The app is expected to launch in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks with new marketing materials. (Source: Nextdoor)
Why this is important for your business:
Nextdoor is a hyper-localized version of Facebook and it’s a very popular platform in my neighborhood — maybe even yours. If you sell nationally maybe this isn’t the platform for your business. But, if like most small businesses you rely on local customers for your trade, then expanding your presence on this platform through increased engagement and advertising could very well result in higher revenues.
5 — This is app aims to help small business owners fight inflation.
A new product from fintech company Plastiq called Plastiq Play wants to help business owners by providing expanded resources for automating every aspect of invoice receipt, payment approval routing and submission and bill reconciliation in order to help balance cash flow. The app also allows small business owners to access funds from credit cards and short term financing options. (Source: ZDNet)
Why this is important for your business:
What Plastiq hopes to achieve through this app is to have business owners rely less on paper transactions, help level the playing field against larger companies, and wants business owners to collect money faster. “We’ve designed Plastiq Pay to help a small business owner organize the back office before digitizing their business, to support remote work and to unlock and operate different forms of working capital that businesses have at their disposal,” says Stoyan Kenderov, chief operating officer at Plastiq in an interview with ZDNet. “And if they don’t have working capital at their disposal, we offer a spot credit to help.”
