No matter what your company’s services are, the need to engage customers effectively is paramount. Here are some key ways to adapt and develop your company, taking into account the needs of customers and the best ways to interact with them.

Research what your customers want

Taking the time to keep reassessing who you think your market is, who is actually buying from you, their needs and how they absorb information is vital to your company’s growth. Does your target market read trade titles or just consume through TV and social media?

For the first time ever, the UK will be spending more media time on their mobiles than laptops and computers, with 2 hours and 29 minutes, representing an 11.8% increase*. It is also predicted that by 2018, an average of 29.5% of media time will be spent on mobile and tablets, just 1%* behind TV.

We are always analysing what types of ads various groups of people engage with the most. Research and analysis, especially into marketing, can often be overlooked, but is such an essential part of winning business and raising awareness of your brand.

Our Format Effect research into online video advertising shows that the proportion of millennials who felt inspired by watching an outstream video format advert was double that of a more intrusive pre-roll format, which can have a negative effect on the viewer’s feelings towards the brand.

Knowing your market through research like this can give you an advantage over the competition. Consumers expect meaningful engagement from brands, and if they feel like their private sphere is being invaded by blanket marketing messages, the next step is usually installation of ad blocking software.

People are being hit by all sides in the media landscape

Ensure authentic and engaging content and ethos

You might find yourself just going through the motions but taking a step back and thinking about why your company started, what the aims are and what your ethos is can reignite that passion or excitement you can then share with your customers.

How you present your marketing materials to your audience can also have a great impact on the impression you make.

Our research shows audiences are becoming less tolerant of bad, obvious advertising and instead look for more of a connection and emotional engagement. Consumers, particularly millennials, want to feel engaged with brands that reflect their lifestyle and interests and also want to gain interesting or valuable insight.

Engaging content will draw the viewer in to keep watching or read more. This elevates their thoughts on the brand. Whether it’s a sponsored interview with an intriguing person or stunning imagery, content should tell an exciting story and it will really pay off by making people more likely to buy your products.

Adapt to become future proof

Invention, innovators and technology all can move at a rapid rate and it is important to keep up. As things have reached what we call “escape velocity”, many larger and more traditional businesses simply cannot match the pace new companies set.

Whether it is social, on-demand services, the IoT, or brand new developments like Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technology and OTT, it is been proven that smaller and more nimble organisations tend to disrupt the normal business cycle.

The internet of things will become increasingly pervasive in years to come

Large businesses from London to California have continued to “gobble-up” the start-ups and, most of the time that leads to the end of innovation, or worse, the end of the company.

At Publicitas we have had to adapt from print to a digital world and there are some really exciting opportunities around Virtual Reality and 360 video we can move into. What are the challenges facing your industry and are you acknowledging how you can adapt for the future?

Adopting new technology and changing your offering can elevate you to become a leading force and unlock new opportunities for growth, so why not start offering 360 or VR tours and product views if that is applicable to your business?

In our Marketing Priorities Survey, almost all of the participants agreed that developments in mobile technology, and the power of mobile devices especially, will most likely influence their business in the next 12 months.

There is interest in immersive technologies such as VR and AR technology, and a clear feeling that these will impact their business in the immediate future. In fact, 70% agree that Virtual Reality will drive the next technology revolution.