This new decade is starting out to be unlike any other before. Consumers and buyers are completely emerged in the realm of digital interactions on multiple channels, constantly changing to the new "channel" while being bombarded with digital noise. Technology has altered what moves the cheese.
Back in December 31st, 1999, the eve of Y2K, the world was about
to change as the functionality of every computer could potentially wreak havoc
on society at large. Your car may not start, your computer turn on or the
street lights change. The financial industry was at the mercy of a little
computer clock that might shut down the entire network of ATM's and banking in
general. That quartz crystal clock embedded in every single computing device on
the planet (and still to this day) is the timing belt of digital and as
naysayers purported, the computer programming and functionality of these
devices could just... stop.
For the first time ever, society came to realize that reliance on technology had a profound impact on everything that occurs in our
lives. The following decades of the internet has brought an explosion of
technologies and with it, mobile "smarter" devices. These
technical marvels have changed everything and we are just at the edge of the
tipping point where this newest decade will be unlike any other. Technology will
yet again be what moves your buyers' cheese.
Some may feel that technology limits creativity and the
advent of A.I. and automation will make us feel like we are all becoming
robots. Artificial Intelligence, machine
learning, block-chain, chat bots and autonomous cloud services, when done well, will increase quality, automation and most of all, the experience. These
technologies will impact human consumption of information, and the usage of
"things" will be accomplished at accelerated speed where convenience will flourish.
What is also about to change is the manner in which
businesses consume new products and services.
B2B buyers consumer approaches coupled with on-demand subscription based experience could
potentially nullify the need for vendor interactions.
Customer "relationship" management will be a thing of the
past... Sorry Mark Benioff!
In this new decade 2020, now in the throws of uncertainty, the
launch path for the Age of the Post-Modern Buyer will come into fruition. Relationships will be
replaced with relevancy based decision making, supported by autonomous peer
based input. Anything manual or analogue will no longer survive or will it?
To attract, engage and nurture B2B buyers, business must now reshape the relevancy of their brand if they
wish to be considered. This requires the engineering of a digital first buyer experience. Brands must execute a series of programmatic digital efforts that
enlighten the buyers' ecosystem of influencers, peers, analysts and buying
committee stakeholders with evidence based knowledge that is authentic and
relevant. Because that is your buyers' audience. That is who B2B
buyers rely on before, during and after they have made a purchase decision.
It requires you to engineer a digital experience strategy,
from the curation of compelling content that brings clarity to buyers' choice,
to integrative digital data that empowers sales execution. The digital
experience is everything in the age of the post-modern buyer.
We are encouraged by those readers who embrace the post-modern buyers' experience as a series of integrative moments that must always be relevant. The goal should always be to help your customers by reshaping the relevance of your brand to the intended buyer and their audiences. We have learned that by understanding the crucial moments taking place during the evolving buyers' journey, our desire is to educate CXO's on how best to make that a relevant experience is paramount in what we have coined the Age of the Post-Modern Buyer.
Here is a breakdown of what organizations must consider for future growth strategies to create an advantage in their marketplace.
STRATEGIC EDGE™ – Unifying Philosophy
What exactly is your exclusive business model/product or service offering, your engineered go to market strategy, who you are targeting, segmenting, profiling, and mostly importantly, what is your edge? Why your company versus the current market competition/business models and what is required to motivate the desired buying audiences to act in your favour? We conduct primary and secondary research at a macro level, drilling down into buyer journey mapping and personas development.
ENLIGHTENMENT – Brand Awareness
This is all about advertising and promotion, SEO, SEM, stakeholder engagement models and outbound digital marketing (i.e. Blogging, Digital PR, Social Media). You need to revisit your current internet and social presence. We accomplish using a 150+ point assessment, identifying the gaps and recommending the appropriate messaging and channels necessary to communicate the business purpose via social, business and direct mediums.
ENGAGEMENT – Digital Marketing
This has three transformative components that include think
(data and analytics), feel
(stakeholder engagement) and do
(creative, design, content and production). These are known in the industry as Big Data, Content Creation + Curation, Inbound Marketing and Marketing Automation wrapped into programmatic initiatives. Engagement is about converting anonymous visitors into digital personas that want to engage with your brand.
ENABLEMENT – Buyer Trust
Technology is the hub of every digital first business. Not unlike a company ERP, logistics, financial or HR system, there must be a centralized marketing, sales and customer service technology. A system of systems that manages the intakes, throughputs and outputs of your interactions and communications with the audience and internal stakeholders. Your website must serve the role as the "hub" of the digital experience and then branches out with functions (i.e. eCommerce enablement, inbound marketing/automation and visitor engagement, buyer conversion and customer loyalty enhancement).
EMPOWERMENT – Sales Intelligence
Here, you must focus on determining the appropriate sales distribution model (i.e. Account Based Marketing, Inside Sales, Sales Readiness, Direct and/or Channel). You want to review how to best embrace the new normal of distance selling, identify the gaps and revisit execute tactics that will optimize the performance of sales. This might include sales employing the use of hiring psychometric assessments, investing in a structure inside sales training program, developing concise playbooks, creating new customer personas 'battle cards', buyer engagement paths and business negotiation that combines both art and science. Compensation and incentive programs must be anchored with realistic goals that map to your audience of prospective customers. You may need to install a progressive buyer and seller portal (digital and analog) to manage each interaction, content assets as well as the chronology of events.
ENHANCEMENT – Customer Experience
In this phase, organizations must acknowledge that the customer lifecycle, retention, augmentation and revenue improvement is a continuum exercise. This can only be achieved by employing data science, omni-channel programming, buyer re-engagement tactics and loyalty delivery and an outcome of the experience they receive, all of which must be tied to customer relevancy management.
The Straedgy Consulting Group approaches Growth 5.0 as a system of systems that serves to enlighten, engage, enable, empower
and enhance your brand relevancy. You can learn more about our Growth 5.0 program by subscribing to our new Forethought.Insight® eMagazine and blog posts here.
