Social media has undoubtedly changed the business world.
However people can get too tired up on the technological change...it is more than that, it is about becoming a social business....because it has changed the way that your customers think, it has changed what they expect from you, from your service and how they perceive value.
- They are online for more than 4 hrs a day, if you assume 8rs sleep then that is 25% of their day.
- They don't ask you for advice, they ask Google, they ask their friends, they research....they don't need you as much for the pre purchase process...so if you are not online, or your website is not providing the answers to their questions...you will be ignored.
- Access to the web is now available all the time through tablets and mobiles. They don't think or shop with a 9 to 5 mentality. They expect an all pass access.
- It has changed what we take for granted...quality, customer service are now not game changers they are the price of entry. No they take for granted that the problem that they have can be solved.....from anyone, anywhere in the world. They are influenced by great content, ease of access, personalised service not as a premium but as a basic criteria of purchase.
- Companies used to define content - think of the TV companies who used to choose what you watched through their programming - now the consumer defines the content, you can define why, what and how you can offer it to them but if you don't understand your customers, or their needs and wants...then you will be left behind.
- The web has changed a consumer from a passive person of 'consumption' into an active consumer of information and sharer of information. They may be sat down surfing but don't fall into the trap of seeing them as passive, what they share and what they say is action which you may not control of but you can influence.
