Digital in 2018: What's in it for your business?
Last week, Team LVC popped down to General Assembly for their Plug-In: Digital Trends Report 2018 session. We were fortunate to hear from five industry experts offering a fresh perspective on trends in mobile and data science through to creativity, design and user experience.
Here, we share a few of our highlights from the session, as well as how these exciting opportunities in the world of digital could benefit your business.
Minimum Loveable Experience.
Facebook’s recent algorithm change will favour brands that post quality content over quantity and this can only be a good thing, creative director Reece Ryan emphasised. No longer will we have the equivalent of digital junk mail clogging up our newsfeed as Facebook users drive the demand for what they want to see.
What’s the opportunity?
This quote Reece shared from IBM CEO Ginny Rometti sums it up:
“The last best experience that anyone has anywhere, becomes the minimum expectation for the experience they want everywhere.”
As a business it’s all about offering that minimum loveable experience to your customers that, importantly, is defined by your customers (not you!). Do your research, and find out - what problems do your customers need to solve? How can you make their day easier, improve their business, or simply get them excited? Act on what you discover, and strive to be the best at what you do. That way you’ll have something truly marketable to talk about?
Micro-moments are where it's at.
Reece also talked about the opportunity to engage with customers during micro-moments as they interact with their mobile. He cited Google and their efforts to hone in on customer mindsets (‘I want to do’ / ‘I want to know’ / ‘I want to see’ / ‘I want to go’) when using their smartphone as a prime example of this.
What’s the opportunity?
Paid search and re-marketing to people who have visited your website previously can be an effective way to reinvigorate their interest, but only if you get the both the creative execution and timing right. Think about the need and mindset of those you are retargeting as well as where they dropped off your website originally (according to Google Analytics), and that may give you some clues as to how you can win them back with a message that’ll resonate.
Great User Experience (UX) is increasingly important, but not a bandaid.
According to UX designer Joe Sciglitano we reached ‘Peak UX’ in 2017. And while companies are buying into the value of good design, it shouldn’t be used as a bandaid to cover up a business’s underlying issues.
What’s the opportunity?
Understanding UX and how it can benefit your business is important, but before leaping into a full revamp of your digital presence you’ll need to face up to any pain points in your business. No sexy website or app can compensate for lost orders due to a broken inventory process, iffy customer service, bad staff morale or a product that simply isn’t up to scratch.
The Cloud will continue to transform business.
No longer is ‘The Cloud’ a scary, alien concept. Selim Ahmed from Bourne Digital emphasised that embracing cloud technology will become an increasing priority this year. According to Forrester, 50% adoption amongst businesses will be reached in 2018.
What’s the opportunity?
Moving to the cloud offers many benefits to businesses, including the ability for team members to work remotely, easy collaboration and potential cost savings, to name just a few. Here at LVC we love cloud-based apps such as G Suite, Slack and Trello that make it easy for our team to work efficiently and effectively. If you’re curious but unsure where to start, a great cloud software integrator (like Business Continuum) can help.
Businesses can never be lazy ever again.
Reece Ryan pointed out that unlike previously, anyone and everyone can now air their opinion on social media, which means businesses can no longer get away with being substandard on any level.
What’s the opportunity?
Embrace feedback, and see it as a positive driver to change your business for the better. And not only that, look for the opportunities to outperform where your competitors are falling short.
If you want to achieve big things for your business in 2018, you’ll need your marketing to work as hard as you do. Whether you need help with what we've talked about above or are simply keen to work with an experienced agency that truly gets their clients (and has the case studies to prove it), get in touch with us for a chat.
Share