Understanding the Digital Disruptive Environment
This is probably the most important question from our webinar. Digital disruption has fundamentally changed consumer behavior by shifting attention to social media, search engines, and personalized digital experiences. We lived in a print world before that – newspapers, trade publications, journals. When the internet arrived, it changed the equation: people didn’t need print. Print was an idea that took a long time to die. In fact, some people still swear by print for communicating, although as you can see from publications in print today they are in serious and undeniable decline. Just look at the offers that come to your mailbox and the fantastic discounts offered. How long do you think that will last? Or, just look at how people work: are they working with print, or are they working digitally. Both?
The shift to digital resulted in customers expecting businesses to engage in real-time. Companies today have to offer personalized solutions and seamlessly integrate digital channels into their interactions. In other words, immediate satisfaction with their informational needs.
Condensing time to solve a problem became more and more important. The experiences you’ve accumulated over the years, therefore, became more and more important – and the ability to access those solutions into answers for your customers. The emergence of AI has caused such reaction just because of AI’s ability to condense time in gathering and delivering information. AI promises to pull together “world” knowledge to help answer questions. And your question to ask: what good are you when you compete with the world?
In other words, how do you differentiate yourself and your business if everyone has access to the same, real solutions—solutions that you yourself may have provided already digitally?
Here are some ideas for your consideration.
To stay ahead or keep pace with AI:
- Adopt a multi-channel strategy (social media, email, search, paid ads). Regardless of what business you are in, you are in a content war. You need content – lots of it. This is also because digitally, you don’t know where your audience (targets) will be at any given moment. Unlike print, where they gathered around trade publications or newspapers, audiences have splintered into myriad different channels. One of the statistics cited in our webinar was that a person will use more than one channel. Your multi-channel strategy, therefore, should start with your website, the most important marketing tactic you have, followed by social media channels.
- Leverage AI & automation to analyze customer behavior and improve targeting. One of the hidden benefits of social media is that it is a listening tool, not just a posting tool. You don’t want a monologue with customers, you want a dialogue. Take the time to listen on these channels, and also on Google, which is itself a channel. Google, in fact, now leverages AI, and when you ask Google anything, chances are it’s AI that will respond first even before organic results.
- Stay updated on platform algorithm changes (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn). TikTok just shut down because of the government recently, so you couldn’t communicate on that channel even if you wanted to. Facebook changed at least twice since its inception on how it delivers information. Even now, Facebook is adopting what X does with ending their third party fact-checking program and moving to a Community Notes model. These channels change, and this is also why your website is more important than social media channels – it’s YOUR channel. As you add content, Google spiders index your content and serve it up as people search for what you’ve posted. Keep yourself updated as well!
Prioritize customer experience—make engagement smooth and fast. Our company had and has a rule: answer the phone in two rings. For over 30 years, we’ve practiced that rule, and I can tell you the ROI on that rule is priceless. Our clients appreciate this personal attention, and it is not unheard of that we’ve become known as a 24/7 company. There is no substitute for personalization and speed in response.
Keep reading our series on How to Target and Hit the Right Customers: Deep Dive Insights.