Agence France-Presse (AFP) recently featured a news story about how Internet traffic is set to grow fourfold by 2016.
“Each of us increasingly connects to the network via multiple devices in our always-on connected lifestyles,†said Cisco vice president Suraj Shetty, “Whether by video phone calls, movies on tablets, web-enabled TVs, or desktop video conferencing, the sum of our actions not only creates demand for zettabytes of bandwidth, but also dramatically changes the network requirements needed to deliver on the expectations of this ‘new normal.’â€
More and more people are not only going online, but they are also spending more time online and doing more things online. Other reports have surfaced that have found that consumers want to find new and innovative ways to use the Internet. Google even wrote a book about this new market trend called ZMOT, Zero Moment of Truth, and what it fundamentally describes is that a large and growing percentage of consumers base their decision to buy into a product or service by the online presence of that product or service, even just by the presence of that company online. The new generation of consumers want to know that what they are buying is as connected as they are.
But how does this affect your company’s marketing strategy? Personally I feel it should not only affect your marketing strategy but how your business operates, because a new marketing strategy will be outdated the moment something bigger and better comes along. Building an ecosystem internally that can adapt quickly to new trends is the solution, doing what you do best is what you should keep doing; the messaging attached to what you are selling will just be different.
The new global movement in online business is not only offering another way you can market your current products but can open the door to a whole new line of customers and products you can sell. Small companies can compete with large companies for their slice of the online pie. Brick and mortar stores aren’t a must-have anymore. Your company can be as big as you want it to be online or as much as you’re willing to spend online, but growing a company’s online presence can be a lot simpler and more cost effective than growing a traditional company.
Sometimes all it takes is a little out-of-the-box thinking about not only your product but your company and how you do business.
So ask yourself the question “Is my business ready for the tech-savvy internet consumer?”, if not then now is the perfect time to get ready for what could be the latest and greatest wave to hit your company.