Guest post written by Brian Solis
Brian Solis is principal analyst at Altimeter Group, a research-based advisory firm that helps businesses adapt to new business opportunities. His latest book is “The End of Business as Usual.”
Brian Solis: Living social.In 2012, the digital landscape continues to undergo significant shifts that will have profound effects on business in the months ahead. The challenge is that hardly any business leaders have noticed. That’s not their fault, however. Even through the impact of technology on business and consumer behavior has been widely reported, in-depth reporting on how this will affect business has been scant at best.
I’m sure you’ve heard it from “experts” everywhere. “You need a Facebook brand page!” “Why are you not on Twitter yet?” “Have you checked-in on Foursquare?” “Hurry up and get set up on Google+.” “If you don’t get on social media, you’re going to go out of business!”
And, here you are…still in business I presume. But like any keen business leader, you’re avidly thinking about your next move. You already know that running the show in a mode of “business as usual” is not only limiting, it’s terribly complacent. But if you are to change, you need to better understand exactly how technology is influencing the behavior of your customers and why.
The truth is that you can create brand pages on every social network you can imagine and you won’t succeed unless you know whom you’re trying to reach and where, what it is consumers expect and value, and how these channels represent a meaningful opportunity for you and your customers to connect. You first must answer what’s in it for them – and what’s in it for you.
What the social media gurus aren’t telling you is that the landscape for business isn’t changing because of social media – it’s changing because consumer expectations are evolving. Your customers are empowered through technology where social media becomes only part of the disruption. Social networks, smartphones, tablets, review sites, gamification, geo-location, et al. are producing a new breed of consumer – and businesses are largely missing them altogether. The emergence of this more “connected consumer” is forcing the end of business as usual. The pattern of decisions these connected consumers make usher in an era of risk where any business, large and small is vulnerable to digital Darwinism – the evolution of consumer behavior when society and technology evolve faster than the ability to adapt.
Your job is not to embrace new technology with arms wide open, but instead to understand it and learn which disruptive technologies separate you from existing and potential customers. What’s unique about connected consumers is that they find and share information differently than their more traditional counterparts. They make decisions differently than the other consumers. But here’s the key thing: the connected do not displace your traditional customer, they simply expand your opportunity to grow your business. The way you’re marketing, selling and servicing customers today could be missing this new breed of consumer and thus limiting your overall opportunity for growth.
To reach the connected consumer, you must first walk in their footsteps. It takes research, not guesswork. It takes understanding, not skepticism. And it takes a dedicated, not generic approach. Why? Because while your traditional consumer relies on tangible media such as TV, radio, newspapers, direct mail, e-mail, Google search or static websites, the connected consumer is not blindly seeking information. Instead, they are reliant on the right information finding them in the right places.
For example, your new prospective customer lives on their smartphones and tablets. They network with friends, family and the businesses they support in mobile and social networks. They check in to locations to signal to people nearby that they’re in the neighborhood and to alert businesses that they’re ready to interact live. Consumers install apps to better make decisions and to broadcast those decisions to their social networks. What’s more, they research products and services based on the experiences of their peers in real-time and in turn share their experiences with everyone else to shape and steer the experiences of others. In doing so they expand the idea of audiences to something far more efficient and expansive, an audience with an audience of audiences.
While it seems foreign or dismissible to those who are not actively embracing or even dependent on disruptive technology, connected consumers are growing in size, magnitude and influence. Ignoring them is a step toward digital Darwinism. Understanding them and their behavior is a step toward relevance. Consider yourself a digital anthropologist or sociologist as you immerse in a day in the life of your connected consumer and seek to close the chasm between you and them.
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