10 Technology Trends Radically Changing How
Businesses Will Engage With 10 Technology Trends Radically Changing How
Businesses Will Engage With Customers In 2016
Wednesday, November
18th, 2015
Howard Tullman, CEO of 1871, offered SMW Chicago
attendees a rapid-fire review of major technology trends that are radically
changing the ground rules and the new ways in which businesses will be reaching
and engaging its customers in the near future.
In the near future, the way businesses interact, engage, and sell to customers will be entirely different. The ground rules and the new ways of communicating with individuals will take the best of the best that exists today, learn from the failures, and make both sides happier along the way.
At Social Media Week
Chicago, 1871’s CEO, Howard Tullman, presented 10 cultural trends and
technological innovations that will impact businesses around the globe by next
year.
1. Time is the Scarcest Resource of All
Simply put, time
matters. Time is the scarcest thing we have, and we must admit that we
can’t do everything we’d like to get done. Once we realized this, companies and
services such as Uber, Instacart, Amazon, and even Starbucks are catering to
our needs with unique programs and clever ways of thinking like a customer.
One example Tullman
gave was Mastercard, and the ability to use facial recognition to pay for
something instantly. No credit card or even Apple Pay required. If customers
could pay for groceries, clothes, and other goods in the same way you pay for
Uber and no-touch interactions, it will save individuals time, and optimize
processes for businesses.
From a customer
service perspective, it’s not longer acceptable for brands to tell customers,
“we’ll get back to you in 1-2 days,” Tullman says. Now, your business must
provide on-demand answers and support. So much so, that the expected time for a
response (not necessarily an answer) is 3-5 minutes. Allowing customers to have
that initial interaction (even if you automate the process), is a step forward.
In fact, 3-5 minutes
feels too long for some companies. Amazon, Tullman said, is thinking about new
ways to ship items to individuals before they actually make a purchase, but are
extremely likely to make. Amazon uses machine learning, data, and a specific
metric loosely called “digital drooling” (also known as “cursor hover time” on
a product page) to make contribute to these types of forward-thinking
decisions.
Whether your Starbucks
order is waiting for you as you arrive, or your Target shopping list is
curb-side as you pull up to the store, the accessibility to data, and the shift
in consumerism, is combining more and more to make both businesses and
customers incredibly happy.
2. The Consumer Wants Full Control
Tullman advised
attendees to think of games, and how individuals interact with them, when
considering the future customer. “It’s all about control. The consumer wants to
sit behind the wheel and drive the car.” People who download and play games
decide when they play, how much they play,
and what they play. Adding onto this control, gamers don’t want to
commit in the beginning, and rather they want to make decisions as they play.
It’s part of the reason why many individuals end up paying more for games
because they pay per month for add-ons and upgrades instead of a one-time fee.
Once individuals gain
more control over every consumer-driven decision, this power shift will creep
into other areas of life. Binge-watching, on-demand live streaming, and
content-sharing across devices are all current examples, and other businesses
will take inspiration from this, and implement it in new ways. Consumers want
their own terms, their own price, and on their own time, all without asking.
And as crazy as that all sounds, Tullman says, it’s not just possible, but
plausible too. Fixed pricing is dead, and products and services will have
flex-pricing in the future based on individuals’ information, convenience,
accessibility, timing, and intent to purchase.
3. Attention is the New Currency
“Everything, and I
mean everything, competes for your attention,” Tullman said. Every single
thing, big and small, competes for your attention, mindshare, focus, and
engagement. At all hours of the day, you are forced to decide on what deserves your
attention, and how you want to behave as a result. Right now, Tullman
explained, our attention span is that of a flea. A real-world example of this,
he explained, are Tic-Tacs that change flavor as you suck on it. Not entirely
the same, but the analogy is spot-on.
The shift for
businesses that want consumers’ attention is entering a “pay for their
attention” world. If you can invest money, and your time, in gaining more
eyeballs, it will pay off, especially if you ask yourself some vital, yet
simple questions most consumers ask:
·
Will
your business save me time?
·
Will
your business save me money?
·
Will
your business make me more productive?
·
Will
your business make me a better decision-maker?
·
Will
your business improve my personal status?
The fifth question is
more important than most people realize. Today, businesses exist purely for
improving one’s status. In a way, Tullman said, Facebook exists because it
personalized the Internet, and allowed individuals to change others’ beliefs
about themselves, and those around them. More businesses will emerge based on
status, and how to successfully change your status through a product or
service.
4. Context is More Important than Content
“If I’m not
listening,” Tullman said, “it doesn’t matter what you say.” Context trumps
content on the web, where consistency is more valuable and trustworthy to
individuals. This “smart reach” is customized for individuals at the right
time, the right place, and the right message. It helps consumers answer the
questions: What do I need? When do I need it? Where can I be to benefit from
it? ContextMedia is one business that understands the value of context. They
specialize in advertisements and marketing materials for patients in doctor
offices and waiting rooms, where the time, place, and type of messaging all
makes sense.
Tullman explains
that contextual commerce is someone saying, “You have to reach
me, the message must change my attitude, and ultimately change my behavior.”
5. A World of Constant Connectivity
Back in the day, there
were 22 million nightly television viewers, and that seemed like an
astronomical number at the time. But now, as Tullman explained, we saw more
than one billion people use Facebook every day for 30 days straight, a goal
that Facebook is proud of, and one that tells us quite a bit about how
technology, media, and our interactions with each other have changed over the
years. Now, we are constantly connected, for better or worse.
The average person
looks at their smartphone over 160 times per day, our cars are increasingly
becoming media and connectivity hubs, and our mobile devices leave endless
trails of data and information wherever we go. Tullman painted the picture of
retailers using data on window-shoppers to improve sales, and offer loyal customers
special discounts as they enter the store, instead of as they exit. In sports,
decisions to substitute a player are made by computers that know how tired an
athlete is, rather than coaches that think they can make the best call. We, as
humans, create data constantly.
If you can imagine,
Tullman warned, Disney has Magic Bands that you can wear in the park, make
purchases with, unlock your hotel door, and many other capabilities. These
bands can also tell Mickey, Goofy, and the characters around Disney the name of
your kids, where they’re from, and what they like seconds before asking for an
autograph. Incredible but spooky to say the least, and more experiential
interactions will enter our lives in this fashion.
6. Messaging Trumps Email
Mobile messaging is
simple and accessible. You can use your phone, smartwatch, tablet, and any
device for most platforms, and some countries are ahead of others in the
messaging space. WhatsApp, Messenger, Weibo, GroupMe, and Snapchat.
These platforms are
simplifying communication exchanges, yet incorporate the necessary features of
email, such as attachments, but offer users the opportunity to be more
productive. We’re also getting into AI fusing together with messaging, where
individuals want immediate answers. It’s what Facebook is certainly thinking
about. They’re testing artificial intelligence within Messenger, using an AI digital assistant called “M” for a small group of testers. “M” can “can
actually complete tasks on your behalf. It can purchase items, get gifts
delivered to your loved ones, book restaurants, travel arrangements,
appointments and way more,” added David Marcus of Facebook’s Messaging team.
7. Search Is Changing, and So Are We
Just because more
people are joining us online each day, and our web use continues to grow, that
doesn’t mean searches, especially on Google, are increasing as well. Instead,
we’re seeing the rise of niche mobile apps that provide the value and info users
want. There are 3 billion Google searches each day, which still ranks as the
top search destination. However, Facebook receives 1 billion searches each day,
and Twitter sees 300 million every day. From an e-commerce perspective,
two-thirds of all product searches begin on Amazon.
We’re living in an age
when searching on Google might not be the right place. Instead, Twitter offers
hyper real-time results through users’ Tweets, which include rich information
such as location and personal details. Facebook relies on their incredible
social graph to provide the info and answers you’re searching for. For example,
if you’re planning a trip to Australia, you can search on Facebook for “my
friends that have visited Australia” or “restaurants in Australia my friends
visited.”
8. Personal Data is the Oil of the Digital Age
Data is, and will
continue to be, the oil that drives everything we do for business
decision-making. If 30 million people use #lunch on Instagram, those photos of
food are so much more than just that. They can tell us where people eat, what
time they eat, what their favorite food is, and how often they eat the same
meal. We can also extrapolate their future behavior if we recognize patterns.
Real-time data allows us to notice these patterns, and change consumer behavior
in response.
9. Access is More Important than Assets
Consumers fear
ownership of assets, such as cars, houses, and even routine items. We’re
shifting more and more towards the “use it, and lose it” mentality where
renting and sharing items, both for free and paid, are not only preferred, but
the norm. Uber, Airbnb, Alibaba, and even crowdfunding sites are proving that
businesses do not need to own assets in order to be successful.
“The Uberization of
everything” is underway, said Tullman. Most businesses are subject to making
their service faster, localized, and inexpensive. We’re also witnessing
individuals that have disposable time, and want to monetize. This results in
Uber drivers, Amazon delivery men and women, Postmates couriers, and other
forms of surplus time translating into extra income. This has pulled people
back into the work-force, and confirms that business is everywhere, both inside
and outside of office walls.
10. Video Content Continues to Dominate
Photos, videos, and
other visual information is processed 60,000x faster than text-based content.
It won’t be irregular, Tullman said, for companies to communicate with
customers solely through video content.
One can even build a
business and media empire out of his or her bedroom via video content. YouTube
creators, Snapchat artists, and Vine celebrities take advantage of this shift
by consistently producing videos and visual content to their dedicated
audience, and there are no signs of this trend stopping.
The next phase for
video content, both from influencers and popular creators, is the
implementation of data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to create
more engaging content. AI will enable businesses to customize and personalize
video content for specific individuals, and the next amazing story you ready
might not be created by a human. AI is expanding, growing, and learning at an
incredible pace, and its ability to formulate stories and content is going to
play a vital role in the near future.
Director of Content, Crowdcentric
Tyler is the Director of Content at Crowdcentric. Previously, he
studied and worked in sports, entertainment, and events, and assisted with the
social media and marketing efforts for Six Flags, the National Hockey League,
the NYC Marathon, and New York University. Tyler has an affinity for sports,
craft beer, podcasts, dog parks, and travel.
