This year efforts were forced to shift up the gears lightning quick to address everything we were facing. But what about consumers? Let’s take a look from the average consumer’s perspective.
Wind back the clock to January 2020 when the UN published a comprehensive report detailing how inequality had reached unprecedented levels. It showed more than 70% of the global population living in countries where the wealth gap was growing. Let’s just say that the remainder of 2020 did not exactly do much to address this imbalance. Quite the opposite in fact.
Events of 2020 created too many precedents to mention (precious few of them positive) and a huge number of understatements, a notable one we have seen several times is “digital transformation is an actively discussed topic these days.” While processes started to be computerized 30 years ago, digital transformation became something of a preoccupation for many enterprises in recent years. This year efforts were forced to shift up the gears lightning quick to address everything we were facing. But what about consumers? Let’s take a look from the average consumer’s perspective.
Changing consumer behavior
Used to a hybrid mix of brick and mortar establishments and the online digital world to furnish them with the goods and services required to sustain their daily lives, the prevailing norm for most was turned on its head overnight when countries locked down. Swathes of retailers and service providers with a physical presence were forced to close their doors and for many consumers, online became their only option. But so many had little or no previous online experience and were thrust unprepared into this brave new world.
Driving loyalty is the name of the game and trust is hard-won but oh so easy to lose. Understanding exactly what makes your customers tick is not always easy but nobody should lose sight of what customers value the most. And it’s not what you might first think either, the answer being surprisingly simple – their time. But the whole concept of time has been skewed in a multitude of different ways this year.
On the one hand, millions found themselves with more time on their hands than they knew what to do with but on the other was everything a global pandemic throws at us – worries about work and where the next paycheck would be coming from, concerns about how to source basic goods and services and the wellbeing of friends and loved ones in often far-flung places, to name just a few.
Brands address urgency with CPaaS
The commonality is that 2020 has driven a sense of urgency for both brands and their customers like never before. It’s more than brands. Governments and their citizens (all consumers at the end of the day) are feeling the same. Communications have to be clear, concise, and framed to drive the highest levels of engagement and conversion. Timing and frequency are integral too of course.
But all these efforts will come to nothing unless ubiquitous channels are used which people inherently understand and feel comfortable with. Enter stage right A2P (Application-to-Person) SMS and the wider area of CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) which brings additional, familiar channels to bear, such as WhatsApp Business and Viber. WhatsApp Business for example is expected to grow 5400% among medium and large businesses looking to take advantage of the technology.
Now is not the time to be testing out new and edgy means of communication. Now should be about doubling-down on tried and tested channels that are kept clean, clear of spam, and anything that could potentially harm consumers at this most difficult time. And Mitto knows all about this.
Making communication happen is what we do. Mitto helps operators globally leverage their A2P assets and we are obsessed with the rapid and accurate delivery of marketing, transactional, and informative content globally. Our customers come first. We never assume anything and understand the importance of educating the wider ecosystem. And you should put your customers first by speaking to them in ways they are at ease with. Just ask us how.
