Digital Experiences that Work in 2023

I'm all about experiences. Always have been. Always will be.

And one of the things that STILL boggles my mind is the lack of effort that most brands put into their digital experience...especially once they say their No.1 priority is to compete strongly in the digital market place.

Because the on-going brand relationship you build with your customers is based on an experience that, at the end of the day, comes down to how your PEOPLE show up.

But companies spend all their time, effort, energy and money on SYSTEMS instead of people.

Now, I'm not saying that systems can't be good. I have lots of systems (some automated, most NOT) that make my business go around (big thanks to Asana here), but the experience I create isn't defined by the system. It's defined my ME...and then I configure the systems to match it.

So today I want to talk about the most important thing you can do in 2023 to make your digital experiences work for you AND all the other people who interact with your business, including employees, partners, vendors and the all-important client.

Let's start with where most companies are

Most companies, when entering the digital landscape focus ONLY on visibility. As in, making it possible for people to find you. This includes things like:

• Building a website (or paying someone else to build one)

• Getting social accounts on every platform

• Posting content on every platform

Let's call these what they are...BILLBOARDS.

Nothing but digital billboards.

Some of these companies have experience with ACTUAL billboards.

A lot of them don't.

But we've all SEEN a billboard.

How many of them do you drive by aimlessly?

Probably about 90%. Which mean 10% you actually SEE.

But which ones make you STOP and take action?

Oh...none of them?

Just from my own perspective, I have NEVER driven by a billboard and immediately went to the store to buy something. Or pulled over so I could make a donation. And people aren't doing that online either.

Especially if you're selling a high ticket service. Training. Web Development. Consulting.

It's just not a thing. Because they aren't there to create an experience. They're there to be a REMINDER of an experience that's being created somewhere else 💡

Yet somehow, we ignore this information and just focus on building our billboards online where the attention span is even shorter.

When we spend all our time, effort, energy and money on billboards, we're NOT spending our time, effort, energy and money on things that actually turn into sales.

So if you have a gigantic advertising budget like Apple, Disney or Coca Cola, then go for it. But if you don't, there's ONE place where you can spend your time, effort, energy and money that DOES build an experience. If that's your priority 😉

What's Your No.1 Priority?

People, at the end of the day, are always the "thing" that creates an experience. So, in order for that experience to be created online, your people have to be online creating experiences.

It sounds simple. But there are literally thousands of reasons for companies to avoid this:

• That's outside of our Safe Usage Policies

• We didn't hire them for that

• Only Marketing does that

And a million different questions that need to be answered:

• What if they say something off-brand?

• What if we lose potential customers?

• What if people don't know what to post?

• What if we don't see everything they post?

• What if they start using this space for personal surfing?

You probably have some yourself. Feel free to share them in the comments on this article if you'd like them to be answered 😉

At the end of the day, it comes back to the company's commitment to accomplishing a thing. Is it your No.1 Priority to create a digital experience that turns into people relationships (aka. business)? Or not?

This isn't a should or shouldn't game. It's about actually making a commitment to a SINGULAR priority.

If your No.1 Priority is to increase sales, an optimized digital experience can do that.

If your No.1 Priority is to decrease marketing spend while making your marketing more efficient, an optimized digital experience can do that.

If your No.1 Priority is to move your sales funnel from offline to online, an optimized digital experience can do that.

If your No.1 Priority is to transition all the lead generation from one individual to a team, an optimized digital experience can do that.

If your No.1 Priority is to attract the best possible employees online, an optimized digital experience can do that.

You decide your Priority. And yes, I said Priority (capital P), not priorities. Because if you have more than one, which one wins out at the end of the day?

A Digital Transformation for Your PEOPLE

If you didn't answer "YES, one of the above listed items is my No.1 Priority", then you can probably stop reading now. Because here's where we get into the What To Do's if it IS in fact your No.1 Priority.

Let's take a look at some of the above challenges and questions, and see what that looks like from a Digital Transformation of People perspective.

That's outside of our Safe Usage Policies

Well, people created your current policies, correct? Which means, people can change them. Although one of the bigger challenges might be the corporate culture of not trusting employees to be brand ambassadors in the online space. Those will of course need to be address BEFORE it feels easy to update your existing policies 📍

We didn't hire them for that

This is likely true, especially for anyone outside of Marketing and Sales. But you provide your people training right? Training that allows them to do their job better and contribute to the company? So, if this is your priority, make it show in your training program as well ✅

Only Marketing does that

Similar to the first item, this is a rule created by people. So on the simple side, it just comes down to changing the narrative from, "The Marketing Team are the ambassadors of our brand publicly" to "we are ALL ambassadors of our brand publicly" 😊

What if they say something off-brand?

First of all, who is deciding what is off-brand? If it's ONE person, a CEO or a Marketing VP, then what you're really saying is it's off YOUR definition of what's "On-Brand". So, first ensure the entire team is aligned with what IS on-brand, and what is NOT. And then, remember that a brand is a combination of all of the people who are providing experiences to people. So, in essence, it's much more OFF-BRAND to have only one person speaking for everyone 😉

What if we lose potential customers?

You're already losing potential customers. The "potential customers" who don't choose you aren't aligned with what you're out to do as a brand. And those people will ALWAYS not choose you. But you can't tell me that a well-respected project manager or COO at your organization is going to scare away good customers? Sure, they might repel BAD customers, but that's not who we're looking for anyway. We're looking for people who can be customer advocates, and those happen faster when those people have a relationship with someone who is an employee advocate 💖

What if people don't know what to post?

You help them. Train them. Help them understand their part of your corporate story. And enable them with ways that feel authentic for THEM to share that story online.

What if we don't see everything they post?

You won't, so you might as well get OK with this now. This isn't about giving people the space to create and then censor what they create. It's about actually trusting them to create things that build relationships with people. In their way. Not ONE way 👍

What if they start using this space for personal surfing?

It's possible. But what kind of people have you hired? If you've hired people you trust, what IF they use the freedom to personally surf AND create an digital experience that attracts the best kind of clients? I would still say that's a win ✨

This sounds like a LOT...who can help with this?

The team at Consult Crux are ready to help you with each of these priorities with a Digital Transformation for your people. One that is based on teamwork. Because when your team gets "in it together", there's no where you can't go 💞

Schedule a Discovery Call today to get your digital transformation underway ASAP.