Consumer adoption of digital commerce has advanced 5 years in just the last 5 months, and now is the very best time for brands to catch up.
By: Cameron Wykes
Tags: Content Strategy, Prototyping, Augmented Reality, Digital Experience, Brand Strategy

Consumer adoption of digital commerce has advanced 5 years in just the last 5 months, and now is the very best time for brands to catch up. Cameron Wykes Dec 7, 2020·5 min read

The hyper-evolution of digital commerce has been one of the (few positive) by-products of the Covid Era. While it has accelerated consumer expectations for better digital brand experiences, it has created an even deeper chasm between brands that have ‘doubled-down’ on their digital offering, and those who have decided to cut back and wait for things to get back to ‘normal’.

As we witness the biggest e-com boom since early 2000, we see that consumer purchasing habits have fundamentally changed. This is not new news. For consumers/humans (whatever we call them these days), this unprecedented reliance on digital engagement has not only established a new level of confidence in digital, it has dramatically raised the bar (and the stakes) for brands in an already competitive and beaten down economy.

So where can brands invest their energy to drive greater consumer engagement through unforgettable digital experiences?

Reexamine your Content Strategy

Too many brands think of their content strategy as a ‘one off’ or as addressing an immediate need, rather than focusing on the future.

One-off content solutions are going to fix the need today, but that effort is rarely ever repurposed (“repurposeable”?). Yet brands speak to building customer trust, satisfaction throughout their engagement, but don’t typically build strategic plans to accommodate those goals.

Take a look at how your content strategy maps to your customer journey(s). It sounds logical but you would be surprised at how these rarely match up. Brands tend to focus on channels that are getting the most traction at the moment, foregoing a more comprehensive content strategy that can have a greater and more relevant impact across more of their consumer touchpoints.

While you can’t ignore an immediate need to push out content that’s timely and relevant, it’s critical to create longer term strategies that move your content efforts from ‘reactive’ to more ‘integrated’ in approach and execution. Model your content strategy around what your customer wants to experience and when’s the best place and time to experience it.

Rethink Integration

Looking across your customer journey, you will see content needs that require the contribution of a number of divisions (silos…?) across your organization. A thorough strategy is going to require the abilities of a number of stakeholder groups, requiring a truly integrated approach. Which is much easier said than done.

Many brands and agencies typically look to the leaders in each division to be responsible for integration while being dually responsible for their own KPIs. It’s an agenda that is not going to succeed without a champion. Someone who can not only wrangle the efforts of key divisional leaders, but speak all siloed dialects (studio, media, strategy, creative, CRM, SEO, UX, etc.) to align interests and get integrated content solutions online more cohesively and effectively.

Once the integration protocol is in place, the champion can then focus on a more agile process of getting content ideas to market quicker. Prototyping methodologies help brands and agencies test out content ideas through a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) protocol that tests the validity of an idea and make sure it can scale accordingly — before a significant budget commitment is made.

Reinvigorate your Technology Chops

Immersive content creates a deeper degree of engagement for your brand. Yet choosing what types of interactive content is best for your audience and budget can be a tough one to navigate. It starts with a clear understanding of what your target audience is seeking along with what types of content are going to elicit a positive and lasting impression.

Prototyping, as mentioned above, is usually beneficial when a new technology is being tested for consumer traction and interaction. Having a technology team that can balance longer term executions with very short dev ‘sprints’ is now essential for keeping up with the content needs of your target audience (and your competitors).

Having a development team that is eager to engage in new technology platforms and languages is key, as new content platforms are coming online faster than ever. It’s figuring out which platforms and forms of content engagement are going to connect the dots for YOUR customers and make a lasting impression for the longer term.

Reinvest in your Studio

I don’t think I have ever been told by the studio team that they were working to their full potential — and I don’t mean time sheets or utilization percentages — I mean leveraging the mad skills of each of your existing studio staff, with the work that truly challenges them and brings out the very best of their skills.

Now most don’t start with their in-house or agency Studio, simply because we think of the studio as the ’executors’ of the content — the last step in the process, not the first. But without looking into the digital capabilities of your studio, you are missing an opportunity to further your content strategy agenda by looking for those in-house diamonds in the rough.

Most already know multiple coding languages, or new interactive video platforms, or have even dabbled in AR or VR. Simply asking if they want to help hack together some interactive content prototypes will get you an exuberant and positive response. And as many new technologies become more democratized, the learning curve becomes much less daunting, opening opportunities for studio staff to be encouraged/incentivized to take on some at-home online courses to sharpen the tools in the toolshed.

Reboot your outlook on the future

We will indeed be getting back to ‘normal’ but it won’t be without the residual shift in shopping habits and online behaviours.

Consumers have quickly adapted to a ‘digital-first’ approach, and will continue at an unprecedented rate to explore, compare, rate, share and shop online. As we have all heard ad nauseum, “never let a good crisis go to waste”, this is indeed the best time to invest in a digital-first content experience strategy that aligns with your customer’s needs and desires, while unfolding a faster path to a successful future.