Relevance: The quality or state of being closely connected or appropriate.
We live in a time of considerable and uncomfortable change, where economic, social and political chaos have been created, and the last 2 years have been a testament to that. Nowhere is this clearer than in the world of business, and no business is safe from the factor of change.
When it comes to the discussions of staying relevant, there are business owners who will succeed and others that will cease to exist. The question is, are you up for the ‘challenge’ of change. Because as a business or business owner change will be the most challenging factor that you will have to consider in your life. As change can make or break your business, but without change you will not be relevant and inevitably become obsolete.
There are plenty of examples that can support this:
- When apps like Uber, Grab, and Lyft entered the scene, Taxis became not relevant
- The Sony Walkman easily lost traction when digital music became the new, hot trend.
- Menulog, Uber Eats and DoorDash created a restaurant ordering system for your geographical area.
- Printing photos and film died overnight when SmartPhones were invented. Where is Kodak?
- Nokia 5110 was the phone that everyone had, Millennials wouldn’t even know who Nokia is now.
I am sure you can think of about 30 more over the years, the reality of these examples is they lost relevance, and this is the kind of scenario that can happen to any type of business.
So, the question is, how do you stay relevant in your business? What must companies do to be competitive in today’s market?
I have recently stumbled on a book by Michael McQueen called ‘Winning the Battle for Relevance’, that drives into the question, how will you win the battle for relevance and become obsolete?
As a business and leader, you are sometimes too busy, being busy to notice the world changing around you. Especially when it comes to the digital world. There is always something new, something growing and something everyone is talking about that if you aren’t reading the trends you are going to miss the boat. But as a business or leader it’s about waking up and making the change required instead of being on ‘autopilot’.
The last two years have taught us that the secure and profitable business model will be tested and what worked yesterday will more likely not work tomorrow or ever again. Michael McQueen states “When one considers the sectors currently under siege, from traditional retailers to postal services and newspaper printers, it is clear that no industry is immune to extinction”. Look at Taxis and Walkmans.
McQueen explains you need to always measure the success of your business and understand the ‘relevance curve’ to either retain or regain your position.
He argues convincingly that if we re-calibrate, re-focus, re-fresh, re-engineer, re-frame and re-position, we will have a greater chance of regaining and or remaining relevant as a brand.
There are many avenues that you can do to assess this, here are some ways to adapt given the change in the business environment, and how to stay relevant in business:
1) Your audience’s mind will change – understand and listen to them.
Your audience’s mind and mental state will change every month. There is always something new in the world that is affecting their busy schedule or even affecting their lifestyle. Your current strategy will always change, and it’s a waste of time and resources if you think that you can continue on with this path and they still be thinking the same as they were last month.
Phone calls are becoming obsolete when making bookings for restaurants, emails are even being avoided if the company has a Facebook page. Therefore, it’s important you create the time to learn about your audience again on a regular basis. Treat them like a new target market.
To ensure that the business stays relevant, the first thing that you should do is spend more time where your audience does and not where you are. To explain, as a consumer you might prefer to call a restaurant to book, but in reality, your target market is not interested in calling, but would prefer a book online system.
What lockdown and pandemics has taught us, is that the audience’s lifestyle is dictated by all factors of their environment. If you were a gym that didn’t offer online classes or motivations then you would have lost your customers when restrictions were eased.
Every few months, work out what your potential clients are doing, what they’re interested in, what they want, what they are reading, what apps do they use, the places they frequent and even understand their online activity.
Getting the right information about your target demographic will be crucial to your success.
2) Stay connected.
Technology changes every day, so you must keep up to date with the changes to remain in touch with your customers.
These days, most people are on the go, they are driven by their mobile, so you have to be mobile as well.
Although traditional methods of communication like television and radio ads, newspaper ads, and standard printed media are still relevant, many consumers prefer to communicate online and not have any face-to-face action. Even online dating is more convenient than going out and meeting someone.
Use technology to your advantage, don’t think of it as a hindrance. Yes, those fees are very annoying and who doesn’t hate additional fees, but the reality is, you will lose more customers without it.
Once you have figured out what your audience is doing, invest in apps or booking methods that they want you to use. See what social media platforms they use the most for information – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest etc. As well as your presence there, your posts and imagery need to be relevant to gain awareness, traction, and sales. Talk to a marketing professional to understand the difference and what needs to be done.
You need to be nimble, be flexible, put yourself in your consumers’ shoes, what do they respond well to, then create them.
3) Study the Competition and Trends
When you look at Kodak, you can see that they didn’t worry about the trends of Smart Phones taking photos or even online stores like Snapfish. It wouldn’t have been hard for Kodak to adapt an online photo store or even create an app for iPhone to edit photos. All relevant inventions made now by other companies.
A competitive analysis is important to understand their strengths, weaknesses, the opportunities in your industry, how they are exploring it, what you think they are missing out on and how you can capitalize on the same.
Study them, observe them, see what the advantages are and how you can embrace the same.
Again, this comes back to the consumer. What was the consumer telling you about what they want? If you take Kodak as an example, they were looking for convenience at home. Knowing who your customers are and what they want is important. But remember your competitors are trying to get your customers. What are they doing differently?
As a marketer, I have had companies tell me I don’t want to copy what others are doing, and want to run my own path, and this is all true in a fashion. But I am sure that if your competitor next door was offering delivery and getting more business, then why aren’t you offering delivery? Sometimes it’s not about copying, it’s about understanding what the consumer wants, and clearly they want ‘delivery’.
4) Collaborate and Innovate.
Look for new ways to collaborate with paired businesses which can deliver value. In the business world today, you don’t have to stick to doing business only in your industry. Collaborating will further your reach, gives your customer a point of difference and improves your profit as you are adventuring into different markets.
Also, it helps you understand what the adjoining businesses are doing. For example, apps are being adopted in several industries. Some are creating them, some are partnering with people who are, some are even selling their content for other companies designs. You should know what modern trends will affect your industry. When you prepare yourself with that knowledge, you will be prepared for when that change hits your industry.
Sharing your expertise to others can also help build your customer database. However, collaboration doesn’t work if you are in it for selfish reasons. You need to share and gain, not just gain from the experience.
Apart from this, you will discover new tactics or strategies that you can use in your businesses.
If you are in the product-based business, make a product together or even exchange ways to market to each other’s database. The possibilities are endless.
In summary, staying relevant and timeless in business is about knowing your customers, being aware of trends, and adapting fast to change and technology. Need help staying relevant, or just want to see if you are? Chat to one of our team at CLS and let’s help you transition your business into the now and have you soaring and thriving