• April 28, 2021

The key to adapting to the digital economy…

 

 

Can We Put Digital Disruption to Bed?

Businesses have been worried about digital disruption since 1997 when Clayton M. Christensen popularized the word, “disruption” in his book The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail.

On one hand, Clayton was right.

Since publishing the book, 52% of companies on the Fortune 500 list cease to exist. However, it wasn’t the apocalypse everyone feared.

Companies for example didn’t just vanish leaving millions unemployed and unable to adapt to new tools and technology like a bunch of drooling luddites.

Rather, we retooled and slowly evolved to a changing landscape of running businesses in a post-digital economy.

 

In the last 12 months alone, most of us have had to find completely digital ways to doing business on zoom and digital meetings.

So it’s not that older companies cease to exist; they just ceased to exist doing business the old way.

We are in a never ending evolution to remain more relevant.

It’s also important to note that we’re also the same consumers who are choosing to work with the brands who are worth following and engaging over ones that stop innovating and finding new ways to make us happy.

 

Is Marketing Working?

The degree of disruption in businesses over the years has largely impacted how we communicate to the marketplace we serve.

The truth is businesses fail when we’re not creating the most compelling offer and message in our competitors’ spaces.

We’ve been tricking ourselves into the false belief that marketing isn’t working.

That would first imply that it ever was “working.” Since the beginning of time, marketing has only been a series of attempts at communicating our ideas.

 

 

Marketing at a crossroads to choose one of two paths.

Businesses can choose either the traditional path and continue renting audiences through ads or take the new path to publish content on desired networks.

On the promotional playing field, publishing free and value-added content is the name of the game.

For the past decade, we’ve been a bit selfish. The mistake we make in publishing content for ourselves is making the subject about our businesses, instead of focusing on the customers we want to attract and serve.

If we’re not publishing content that puts the customer first, then it’s just selfish. Consumers know it and leave it alone.

Having an audience is a privilege. It’s not about us anymore, it’s about them.

 

A Major Shift is Underway

Throughout the world, we see the simultaneous redefinition of the media and content industry and a reinvestment by many companies in media to produce their own content.

These major shifts won’t stop anytime soon; the single most important decision for businesses to make is to decide which game to play.

Do you continue to just buy ad and interrupt content or publish content to build and grow a community and scale a network?

 

 

This is the New Game Now

If businesses don’t contribute volumes of valuable content, it makes the effort almost downright impossible for customers to organically find businesses online.

17 new websites are added online every single second. Businesses competing only have no choice but to compete on volumes of content.

Obviously, if we’re truly looking to build awareness, convey quality and increase a healthy reputation, deciding to cut against the grain is not a recipe for success.

In today’s digital age, the customer experience begins online, and those brands that are easiest to find are the most helpful. The most creative brands get all of the attention.

 

Where Does Your Company Fall in This Space?

Today, the people and businesses that are capturing customer attention online are those communicating the clearest message. Additionally, they have the greatest plan to guide their audience to the solutions they solve, which leads to increased launches of digital movements.

• Help Scout reports that 74% of people are likely to switch brands if they find the purchasing process too difficult.
• And 51% of customers will never do business with a company again after a negative interaction.