Reasons why you NEED to think Innovation
Most of us feel that if we just put ourselves out there, that it is enough. How many people do you know who have a website or a Facebook page, but do no advertising? How many of those people tell you that neither of those platforms helps them deliver any quality leads?
Twenty years ago, it was almost enough to put up a website and count the money as it rolled in. Now every 60 seconds there almost 300 new websites that are launched. For established brands this means more competition for their market! This is a screenshot at the time of writing this article taken of ‘internet live stats’ website that tracks online activity.
In 2012 there were only 8 million pages as opposed to over 60 million in 2019. Only 6 million of those pages are actively advertising. Therefore, the competition for eyeballs had gone up 10X in less than 8 years.
The algorithms have been constantly adjusted to allow the pages that have fully understood their target market to keep their market share. The pages that are created with no clear identified avatar and how to engage them, are left to wonder where their followers have gone.
In reality, the brands that embrace innovation in social media and their online assets, have the lion’s share of the market. These are the brands that understand that technology has altered the customer expectations for every industry.
Therefore, the brands that have kept their finger on the pulse are driven by the question – “how do we engage with our audience better”?
They understand their role is to make the engagement with the people they serve as easy and fun as possible.
In this digital age, innovation is the only edge a business has to stand out and ensure long term success!
Here are a few reasons to illustrate the power of innovation.
Attract better quality clients
Utilising the latest tools to promote your brand and engage with your target audience. The tools at your disposal will allow a brand to see the analytics and adjust to get more of the good result and less of the bad.
Therefore, the quality of the clients you attract gets better. Some of the existing client base also get better service and they become happier and better clients. This last one comes down to a simple principle, everyone wants to feel they have been heard.
Engage with more audiences
The global market is now at everyone’s door. Coaching clients in other time zones is now possible with various tools.
Each person wants to engage with your brand in a way that suits them at a time that suits them. Therefore, using tools like chatbots allows people to feel like they are asking questions that are relevant to them. This will remove the objections they have if you have designed the engagement correctly. Especially if they can do it at a time when they can have the attention space to do so.
Tools like AI and machine learning will help identify patterns of each individual and allow for a customized feel. Virtual tours can be used to present residential and commercial properties to allow people to view them and make offers to rent or buy. This removes the haste of having to take time out of your day if you are not able to do so physically!
Therefore, you can make engagement easier for different audiences regardless of their location, age or understanding of the platform you engage them on.
Attract Better Talent
Talented and innovative people want to work in a company they know is progressive. They want to know that they will be nurtured, challenged and their ideas taken on board.
This is why innovative companies have a unique culture. This culture will help them achieve their own goals of personal impact on a larger scale whilst improving the organization’s market share.
Better growth
Technology gives an organization the tools to help identify their strengths and opportunities in the market. These tools when structured correctly allow them to serve more clients with ease or onboard and train new staff easier to meet the growth in the business.
Upskilling and better morale
Articles published by Fortune and Forbes have highlighted that 40% of jobs that exist right now will be gone in the next 15 years. A study by a team of economists at the McKinsey Global Institute identified that one of the most affected will be office support.
Therefore, the time is now to provide innovative ways to protect your team. Upskilling through the use of various tools such as social LMS tools will allow you to provide centralized training to team members. These tools once implemented can raise the morale of the team as they learn to become more efficient.
Be the gamechanger
Digital disruption is affecting every industry. For those who implement tools first they are able to stay ahead of the pack a little longer. In a normal market there are normally two or three brands that are the identified leaders.
With digital disruption the marketplace has become open season even for the newcomers. Their ability to innovate and steal a share in the market is now so much easier. Keeping that market share will be dependent on what innovation they bring in to grow that engagement. Facebook is a great example as they came in at a time of Friendster and MySpace.
Facebook have used innovation to drive these and other platforms out of their market. They continue to innovate year in and will buy any other platforms they identify can help them add to their user base.
Therefore, the tools you add will bring new followers to your brand and separate you from others in your industry.
In life and in business one of the worst statements is ‘that is how we have always done it’. Sure it helped you get to where you are. But no brand, large or small, government body or non-profit organisation is immune to the changes that come with the rise of technology.
If you want to continue to do business, then innovation should be a priority.
If you have been waiting for a sign. Then maybe this is it!
