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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. With initiatives to prioritize consumer privacy by companies like Apple , app trackers and third-party cookies are disappearing, which is impacting the efficiency of traditional methods for performance advertising. How does paying 25% more to reach the same audience this coming year sound? While nobody wants to spend more to get less or the same, that is going to be the reality for 44% of marketers , according to GetApp. Perhaps this increased cost is a fact that you have accepted already. Maybe you're not ready to make drastic changes to your advertising approach, or your company has decided to reduce its advertising budget. But what if you have to spend 50% or more for the same audience the following year? At what point will the pain become too much that you are forced to make a complete baseline paradigm shift? What's really at risk here? Related: Data in 4 Flavors, and the Demise of the C...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. I've observed an odd trend in company board meetings. Marketing and sales vice presidents will come in with charts, reports and finely-tuned data. The CFO will fire up a dashboard detailing every penny of revenue and expense. The HR chief will share hiring metrics down to the last employee. But when it comes to engineering, the lifeblood of any modern company, there's little data — just a vague sense of what's working and what's not. The reality is that engineering efficiency and developer experience remain a black box, even at some of the most tech-forward organizations. And inside that box lurk inefficiencies on an enormous scale. I've heard of big banks that employ tens of thousands of developers who are operating at 30% efficiency because of bloated processes and unnecessary toil . This is more than a waste of resources. Frustrated developers quit. Company payroll sags under t...

Since 1994, Amazon has made a name for itself — and its founder Jeff Bezos — by prioritizing customer satisfaction, record-fast shipping times included. FREDERIC J. BROWN | Getty Images But that's changed over the decades. Consumers aren't as pleased with the retail giant as they once were, according to data reported by The Wall Street Journal . Related: Amazon Is Huge Because It Started With A Great MVP As of last year, Amazon surpassed Walmart as the world's largest retailer seller outside China, per The New York Times , bringing in more than $610 billion from June 2020 to June 2021 as demand rose during the pandemic. But it appears Amazon hasn't been living up to its active customer base's high expectations. WSJ shared a recent survey from investment firm Evercore ISI, which demonstrated that the number of customers who said they were "extremely" or "very sati...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. If you were to ask five random strangers from different walks of life what the major threats to the future of small businesses are, you're likely to get similar answers. The potential responses would likely include rising inflation and possible recession, job market volatility, the speed of technological advancement, supply chain issues and more. The real question is, what insidious threat is far too often shunted to the back burner, passed on to the next operating budget? What issue is left to address when revenue is on the right trajectory, inventory is viable, growth is stable and scaling up is starting to take shape? Cybersecurity. Related: Cybersecurity Is No Longer An Option. Your Money Is in Immediate Danger. Ignoring the warnings is the easy — and shortsighted — path for SMBs Ignoring the gravity of cyber threats is a dangerous gamble. The risk is undeniable : 61% of small businesses suff...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Your product is your company's primary selling point, but it doesn't have to be the only feature. In fact, when companies open up their products to integrations with third-party software, they unlock an entire world of possibilities. In the years since releasing our flagship product, the smart video intercom, the ButterflyMX team and I have made a pointed effort to expand our reach by integrating our software with third-party products. For example, just this year, we partnered with RemoteLock so that our unified access control solutions now connect to more than 80 smart locks to seamlessly provide building and apartment unit access from our mobile app. This has significantly expanded our products' capabilities without the time, energy and financial investment of launching an entirely new product, which has helped grow our business substantially. If you're at the helm of a startup loo...

"If you are talking to everyone, you are talking to no one." So says Terry Rice, a business development consultant and contributor at Entrepreneur. In this week's episode of 5-Minute Mentor , Terry sits down with Noah Owsiany, a college student who has an idea for a business called Social Inc., which aims to connect people to local events based on their interests. Over the course of their conversation, Terry explains: How to speak directly to your target audience Why you should not be in a rush to scale your business How to identify missing components of your plan that are stopping you from reaching your goals The benefits of taking a "problem-first" approach to ideating When it is time to go from proof of concept to launched business All in five minutes! Watch the above video to hear Terry's tips and see how they can be applied to whatever project you're working on. Go get 'em! https://www.tausiinsi...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Using a person's face to authenticate themselves is something that humans have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. New technological advancements have transformed how we interact with one another, and businesses especially are capitalizing on these advancements to verify identity. Those previous pillars of in-person and digital verification, like knowledge-based authentication (KBA), are no longer adequate protection against fraud. Why? Just as technology advances, so does fraud. Facial biometric technology has become the foundation that businesses and consumers rely on to verify their identities. In this article, we will provide the top five reasons facial biometrics can help your business. Related: The Importance of Having Accurate Facial Recognition 1. It's highly accurate and can stop fraud Facial biometrics offer businesses a high degree of confidence that the customer is a le...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. As virtual reality technology continues its development, it's becoming clear that the immersive experiences that it delivers can be utilized to deliver more impactful employee training programs that can bridge a wide range of competency gaps. Eva-Katalin | Getty Images VR can not only help to develop key competencies but also soft skills gaps, with Harvard Business Report data suggesting that 59 percent of surveyed hiring managers and some 89 percent of executives found it difficult to recruit candidates that possessed soft skills in communication, teamwork, and leadership. As many firms face up to a future built on remote work and collaboration, many of these soft skills, along with key competencies, are becoming more valuable. Gallup data shows the sheer pace in which the emergence of working from home (WFH) has swept ...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. "There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government." These words of wisdom from Benjamin Franklin have, unfortunately, proven timeless. People have been defrauding the government for centuries, but last month, the US hit an estimated $45 billion in COVID-19-related unemployment fraud. Now the government starts the long, costly and inefficient process of recouping the money, conducting investigations and punishing those responsible. This process is often called the "pay and chase" model. With all that fraud, it can be challenging for government agencies and private companies to separate the wheat from the chaff (or, in this case, the fraud from the noise). For example, is a person calling your call center with a device you haven't seen before actually an existing customer with a new phone or s...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Today's business leaders have a lot on their plate. Their companies expect them to manage digital change, lead digital initiatives and motivate employees in both in-person and virtual environments. This presents enormous challenges that digital leaders need to overcome. Hence, developing digital leaders is a pressing issue for the future of all industries. To be sure, the payoff is huge. Prior research has shown that digital leadership skills can improve well-being , lead to greater corporate productivity and increase profitability . In contrast, lack of leadership is a top challenge for digital transformation. However, many companies still struggle with how to develop digital leadership skills. Many place technologists in leadership roles, while others assign complex digital programs to traditional leaders. Both approaches can be a recipe for disaster. Instead, digital leaders need a mix of dig...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Economic uncertainty, rising inflation, changing lifestyles and a volatile labor market are unprecedentedly influencing company hiring and prospective IT job markets. Businesses are intensifying recruitment in critical areas, such as AI and data analytics, yet pulling back on long-term IT positions and employment. At the same time, rising IT talent is pursuing more flexible and engaging work environments as new opportunities open up and desirable lifestyle options evolve. Software developers, data analysts and cybersecurity jobs are bright spots in a rapidly moving IT employment landscape. According to a recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , software developer jobs were projected to grow by 21% by 2028, the fastest-growing sector of the national job market. Year over year, job postings for software developers and coders approximately doubled in the third quarter of 2022, while oth...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a great time to gear up on tech that would normally be prohibitively expensive. While those days are in the past, we're keeping savings available throughout the holiday season with our special December Deals of the Day. All December, we're dropping prices on best-sellers for 24 to 48 hours only so you can lock in outstanding savings if you act fast. StackCommerce For instance, if you're interested in aerial photography, it's time to jump on this 24-hour-only deal on the Ninja Dragon Alpha Z PRO 4K Wide Angle Dual Camera Drone . This powerful drone has a 4K wide-angle camera with 90º adjustment on the front and a 720p camera on the bottom so you can capture the entire picture in a single image. An undistorted lens and remote control of the aerial angle, you'll have a custom p...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Paper has made its way largely out of business, but that doesn't mean you don't still work with documents regularly. Instead, we're just working with them differently: with the dreaded PDF. These static files can be great if you're positive that a document is ready, but a serious nightmare when you have to make changes. When you're working with a lot of PDFs, you need a quality digital solution. Superace We've got a deal you'll like. For a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription to UPDF Pro for 66% off. UPDF Pro is one of the top-rated PDF solutions on the market. Geeky Gadget writes, "UPDF is a potent PDF editor and PDF converter designed to stay up with advanced technologies. It ensures that whichever features you use are up to date. UPDF not only converts PDF to Word but can perfo...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Entrepreneurs work hard, you owe it to yourself to have a little relaxation time this holiday season. A great way to do that is to kick back and relax with a great show. But if you're an Apple TV user, it might not just be your work schedule that's keeping you from enjoying your favorite shows and movies. It might be that annoying controller, too. Function101 This year, do yourself (or your favorite Apple TV user) a favor. The Function101 Button Remote for Apple TV/Apple TV 4K makes a perfect stocking stuffer for anybody who enjoys Apple TV but absolutely loathes the hyper-sensitive, non-intuitive Siri remote. This infrared remote is designed to be more like a classic remote control that people are used to. With the clear buttons, you'll be able to navigate Apple TV with ease . There's an obvious D-pad, volume...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Just because Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us doesn't mean you can't still capitalize on the biggest savings time of year. In fact, if you're looking to upgrade your home office, the next 48 hours present a great opportunity because the MagStack Foldable 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station with Floating Stand is on sale for 42% off as our December Deal of the Day. All December, we're dropping prices on best-selling products — but only for a very limited time. You can only get this deal for 24 hours, and then it's back up to the regular price. StackCommerce MagStack is a clever modular wireless charging station that works well on your desk and easily packs up with you to charge your devices absolutely anywhere. With three wireless charging spots, you can charge three devices simultaneously, includin...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The state of the economy in the technology industry has greatly affected the M&A market. In times of uncertainty, companies are often more likely to engage in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to gain market share or merge their position. One of the key drivers of this activity was economic uncertainty, as companies sought to bulk up to weather any potential storms. Low-interest rates and increased access to capital also played a role, making it easier for companies to finance deals. The healthcare, technology and consumer sectors were active in M&A activity as companies looked to tap into growing markets. In 2023, the outlook for M&A activity will be favorable. They project the economy to continue to expand, although at a sluggish pace than in recent years. Related: An M&A Wave Is Coming: 4 Ways to Determine Whether You Should Sell M&A market overview Uncertainty fuels M&A...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The discrepancy between the quality of digital experiences customers report and what businesses believe they are delivering online is proving to be more significant than previously thought. Only 10% of global customers agree that brands provide a good digital experience, while 82% of marketers believe they are meeting customer experience (CX) expectations. This abysmal statistic serves as a call to action for businesses everywhere — they must prioritize and optimize their online customer experience to meet customer expectations or risk revenue losses and a damaged reputation. Anticipating what customers want out of their digital experience through rigorous analysis can have a significant impact on a brand's success. By adopting best practices, strategies and tooling, businesses across industries can close the gap between what they think they are delivering and what customers report experiencing....