Adaptation or stagnation, Our Digital Future:
Written on the 16 of September, 2009, by Rob Bare
With the Government spearheading a $43 Billion initiative to build Australia’s largest infrastructure project, the national broadband network, it’s clear that our future online is bright and on it’s way. As bandwidth surges so will our capacity to deliver business goods and services directly or at least assisted online. So the question for many, or any business, is how to take steps toward that future today.
Already I hear many clients and colleagues cutting their advertising dollar from the once useful yet still expensive door stop, the Yellow Pages. They realise this is no longer the way customers are finding them. The old word of mouth is still the winner for many businesses however that ‘word’ can now travel on the ‘super highway’ via a myriad of digital channels with or without the supercharge of social media. Even my mum uses the internet to find stuff! So the big driver behind all this is convenience in our modern, time poor lives.
As the world becomes more convenient peoples expectations change. If they have a positive ecommerce, service, information or brand experience online that will become their benchmark to what they will expect from the next business they deal with, your business. If your digital assets don’t communicate your brand, products, services and deliver on your business promise whether it be ‘great prices’ or ‘excellent service’ then it’s time to act or be left behind.
As our lives become more digital and our capabilities and digital tools converge there will be very little that can’t be facilitated by digital technology. This revolution doesn’t stop at your website. It does and will to a greater extent effect how you market your business, how you talk to your customers, how you deliver your goods and services, how you collect and interpret business information, your internal culture, your brand culture, your brand experience. It may expand your business offering or it may send you broke if your no longer relevant or useful.
In any business, strategy is important. However at this point in time I believe that business strategy with a skew toward how you will operate in the digital age is more important than ever. This is about staying relevant, innovating, finding new ways to talk to your customers, finding new customers and working smarter not harder.
This doesn’t just apply to technology based businesses either, this applies to every business. Every business needs customers, needs to communicate, sell, provide service and be found. So start to think about your business, it’s customer touch points, it’s objectives, what it offers now and what it could offer in the future. With the current rate of change a new digital paradigm will upon all businesses well within a decade, depending what you business your in it is already upon us.
If you’re a business manager that’s not technologically inclined and all of this is makes you uncomfortable then you need to talk to someone who can align your business objectives with your digital assets and opportunities. It doesn’t need to be a massive change that happens overnight but rather a staged approach that is prioritised strategically to ensure you are well positioned for tomorrow.
You can read a bit more about what a digital strategy is here.
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Rob Bare
Digital Director
Director and co-founder of R&B, Rob Bare has worked with technology and design, with a focus on the internet for 10 years. Combined with a proven entrepreneurial record and marketing degree, this makes Rob a leader in the digital services industry.
