How Well is Your Brand Adapting to Digital and Social Change?
Change is much harder to do than it is to talk about. It’s important to be nimble and adaptable as the digital landscape continues to evolve. As a brand, it’s important to create a consistent experience across all platforms for your audience, customers or users. That’s no small task especially since digital brand opportunities are constantly changing. So where do you begin? How do you stay ahead?
Be a part of the conversation
As pointed out in an article by Circle Studio, branding in the past used to be a one-way conversation. The idea was that if you shouted loud enough, often enough, and in as many places as possible, then people would start to believe what you were telling them. Today, part of your brand strategy should be connecting and communicating with your audience on a personal level. Find out what’s relevant to them and aim at making your content relatable to your target market. It doesn’t always need to be directly about your business or service. If you’re a huge sports fan or love your labradoodle, try showing some personality in your posts.
Mobile first
Companies are taking a ‘mobile first’ approach and refocusing their time and money on the small screens first. This helps to create a responsive and adaptable experience on all devices. Having to pare down your content to fit with mobile devices helps to determine what content really is essential and peels away the excess.
With traffic drastically switching from desktop to mobile it’s important to make sure your brand and website are well represented on mobile since its likely your customers will be engaging with your content from their phone or tablet. This will help with your credibility and trustworthiness. Is your site easy to use? Is the content engaging? These are important questions to ask when you look at your experience on both desktop and mobile.
Cloud computing
In the past, it was harder for small businesses to compete with big companies in any industry. Cloud computing is helping to make resources available to companies of any size. Today, even the tiniest of enterprises can access nearly unlimited computing power on the cloud for a reasonable price. Perhaps even more importantly, it is now possible to have custom solutions built for any scale or scope of activity.
For example, if you wanted to open a small restaurant your resources would be much less than a chain or franchise would have. There are now programs available that can help with promotions, point of sale, and overall management aspects of owning a restaurant. Cake, a company providing solutions to the restaurant industry, was able to pinpoint inefficiencies in a small restaurant and substantially increase revenue by implementing their technology. This allowed the mom and pop restaurant to go from hand writing order tickets to a streamlined point of sale system with a simple software solution.
Another example is right here at DCA Virtual Business Support. With the entire team working remote, it’s imperative that everyone can communicate and access the same content. Using cloud systems has helped streamline remote offices, including ours, and makes it possible for employees to work smarter and more efficiently all over the globe.
Take risks
Even brands that are disrupting and changing aren’t safe from falling into digital staleness. Essentially if you’re not open to make changes to fit the needs of the marketplace, your competitors will. Savvy entrepreneurs look for ways to put their business out there and level the playing field. An example: Facebook saw substantial growth, but has had to change their business model to stay relevant. Facebook releases software every two weeks and continues to iterate their features to provide customers with new, relevant features. Consumers continued to complain about their poor mobile experience and the lack of video technology on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. They were forced to take a hard look at the strategy that had worked for them for years and adjust to the changing wants and needs of their audience. Not every company has the resources that these big names have, but there are opportunities for to take risks in every industry. Sometimes you just have to be creative.
Do you need help getting more connected with your customers in a meaningful, relevant way? Contact us today to start the conversation about how we can help grow your business.