It’s an unavoidable fact of life that the world is now data driven, tech oriented, and becoming more and more focused on short term gains and instant gratification. We could talk all day along about the consequences of these factors, and in many respects perhaps we should. However, as a business setting out to help fellow small businesses far and wide, we must consider the potential upside, or at least take a positive perspective on what we’ve just mentioned.
It’s A Balancing Act
On one hand, the corporate world with its deep pockets and private networks continue to invest in data, tech and maintaining their grip on consumers; on the other hand it helps to shape the business world and small businesses can watch, learn and hopefully implement some (if not all) of what works.
meed isn’t the focus of this article, but it’s absolutely part of this conversation as it’s these elements of the modern world and in some way shape or form, either enable us to do what we do or inspire us to do what we do.
The Impact of A.I.
Look at A.I. for example. Specifically its rise in public consciousness over the past year or two and certainly its implementation.
ChatGPT blew the lid off the tech world when it became widely available and, like many people, I was blown away and I was wowed from the get go.
Now full disclosure, this article you’re reading has not had ANY A.I. related implementation. It’s entirely written by me, a human (on a good day).
That being said, A.I. is used by me as much as possible. Why? Well, ultimately speed. And, in a business capacity, time is money and speed is obviously important.
Of course, there’s a time and place for A.I. but it would be immensely naive to think that it wasn’t here to stay. Its functionality is rapidly expanding and now we’re looking at deeply intelligent and informative analytical abilities.
Thought you knew consumer behaviour? Think again.
Loyalty, Memberships and Rewards. Are you a member of the club? Are you a VIP?
These days it’s not uncommon for businesses to incorporate a membership or rewards programme into their operations.
The idea is really nothing new - Leisure centres, department stores and golf clubs have been doing it for years but small and independent businesses can provide much of the same type of services now too.
Is it worthwhile to offer a loyalty programme of sorts? Is it worthwhile to create a membership package?
Do these efforts really pay off or do they just take away from the core business?
Honestly, I think it comes down to the offer at hand and it comes down to how seriously you want to take it.
Lord only knows how many times I’ve stood at a checkout and seen a flyer asking me to follow an instagram page.
This tells me the business values their social media presence - but ultimately what’s in that for the customer?
The last time I did this I got a free cookie. I just wanted a cookie.
Social Media and Loyalty Platforms
In all honesty, following yet another shop on Instagram serves very little purpose for the consumer, it certainly makes the business feel good though.
I’d argue that likes, follows and comments are a legitimate form of currency to young business owners of the modern world.
Nothing against measuring these areas but ultimately, does it benefit the customer? If so, how? Seriously, let us know.
Do loyalty platforms such as meed offer anything of practical value or benefit to its users or is it just more stuff, is it just another thing?
This is a good question. Actually this type of consideration keeps meed focused on the right things. We can’t speak on behalf of other alternatives but we can speak to what we do at meed.
Our Outlook and How it Moves us
We look at all the high tech advantages huge companies have had for years.
They’ve had big budgets to spend on advertising, apps, partnerships, distribution and so on.
If the biggest and wealthiest companies in the world allocate so much time and money to finding new customers and keeping them buying over and over, then let’s learn from that.
So, how do we take much of what works for them and put it in the hands of small businesses. And, how do we keep it all as simple and affordable as possible.
We do it through building meed and always working hard to improve.
We want businesses to praise meed for its speed and it ease of use and we want businesses to use meed to reward their customers.
Customers are the ultimate investors and you’ll know where you stand as a business simply by what customers say and do.
Do your customers shop regularly? How much do they spend? What do they like? What was their latest comment? Did they refer a new customer?
These questions speak to incredibly powerful insights and the answers will open up so many doors.
Yes, it’s customer loyalty. Yes, it’s membership. It’s rewards. It’s all of those things.
It’s helping your business increase its revenues, but most importantly it’s about genuinely satisfying your customers in ways that are personal, engaging, entertaining and meaningful.
Short term gains and long term…. Bored next topic.
For better or worse we’re in the age of short attention spans ; A goldfish would likely outthink many of us these days.
They used to joke about a monkey being able to perform a certain task, I’m afraid they might just have to in the not too distant future.
As technology advances the world becomes smaller, things become more disposal and conveniences become, well, more convenient.
We’ve gotten to the point where most of what we want is literally at our fingertips.
Want to date someone? Use your phone. Want to order food? Use your phone. Want to video call? Use your phone. Want to exercise? Use your phone.
Want to make a phone call.. What’s that?
The point is that we expect so much now with as little interference as possible.
Even offering something just for free now seems labour intensive to consumers because they / we now have such short attention spans.
In the past if you offered something for free, you’d have dozens of people ready to take advantage of the offer.
Now, consumers are both used to the idea of “free” and they’re immediately considerate of whether or not it’s worth their time. Let’s face it, they could be playing a game.
So - given all of these changes and these nuances. How does a small business, a local tradesman, an independent retailer etc keep up to speed with all of this?
Well, that’s the challenge we’re facing head on at meed. We’re working to build a service, a solution that tackles all of those subjects.
We know A.I. is impacting the world and we’re implementing ways that can help small businesses make the most of it.
We know that membership and loyalty programmes are worth it, because it’s so important to keep customers coming back for more. It’s far more costly to find new customers.
And we know that in the modern world, people want more and more and they want it quicker and quicker - so we’re addressing this too.
We’re doing it all in one place, all under one roof - both for businesses and for their customers.
I encourage you to join our waitlist if you’re interested in staying up to date with the modern business world and up to date with consumer expectations.