Inside the Telecom Industry: The Trends that Matter for 2018

It’s safe to say that the telecommunications industry is still a major driver for growth in some of the world’s most progressive countries. For sure, a great deal of these countries – think of Singapore and South Korea – depend their economic numbers on the telecommunications industry. This is mostly due to the demands for instantaneous communications and more so because of its societal importance.

To put it simply, a paper published in The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine points out the industry’s societal importance:

It provides a technological foundation for societal communications.
It enables participation and development.
It provides vital infrastructure for national security.

From telephones to VOIP software, there’s always a solution that best fits the needs of a business. And as competition in such sectors as financial services and healthcare constantly increases, it has become crucial for telecommunications to improve core business processes by zeroing in on strategies that have a direct impact on the bottom line.

Going beyond this basic fact, the telecom industry will also need to tackle major market disruptions in order to stay competitive and efficient. To be more particular, telecom companies will have to understand the recent trends that are impacting how businesses define telecommunications. In other words, they should be able to understand recent issues and, eventually, come up actions plans that promise clear and accurate results.

For a start, here are several of the most important trends that will define how companies will operate in the coming months.

A shift to higher speeds

The B2B side of the industry will address higher demands for high-speed internet. Business requirements have changed ever since the introduction of fiber optic internet. From then on, companies have made it their priority to upgrade their IT infrastructure using this technology. In recent years, the cable industry has capitalized on this trend. But despite offering a cheaper alternative for customers in the broadband arena, the industry has yet to make a major dent as evidenced by a low penetration rate.

Complexity will increase

With the demands for more efficient telecom services continue to resonate, major players will have to address the fact that their products will become even more complicated. An article from The Fast Mode was able to point this out by saying that telecom companies will have to come up with fresher and more efficient ideas for the long-term. With that said, telecom companies will have to abide by the need to simplify their products to get more relevant results.

Dealing with big data

With software-as-a-service continues to be in-demand in a lot of sectors, telecom players will need to take advantage of this development by improving their data infrastructure. With innovations such as 5G entering the market, it will be a challenge for a lot of these telecom companies to deliver high-speed connectivity capable of handling large amounts of data.

With all these trends being taken into account, telecom players will no doubt re-evaluate their strategies and make necessary changes in their sales and marketing campaigns. These trends, after all, are just too complicated to begin, so it actually helps to have a clear plan of what you’re going to do.

B2B marketers in this industry shouldn’t look far for the right approaches. All they have to do, in fact, is to identify their target audiences and the right channels.

When it comes right down to determining your target demographics, you can only look towards sectors that need such products as VOIP and OTT communications. Enterprises that engage in the online tutorial business, for instance, will require the best equipment to support their operations, so it is crucial to focus more on getting customers from this sector.

But how exactly?

One thing’s for sure, telecom companies can use the following channels in order to generate quality leads for their sales pipeline:

Email

Most prospects right now require receiving an email to make better decisions in purchasing the right products and services.

Social media

Who says this only applies more to B2C? This channel works just as well when it comes to engaging B2B prospects.

Telemarketing

It’s not dead after all. In fact, there are B2B decision-makers that rely on telemarketing to know more about a particular telecom product. Again, one of the trends that will define 2018 for the industry is that these products will become more complex. Simplification is your way forward, and B2B telemarketing remains to be a viable option.