Every business established in the market are either green and growing or ripped and rotting. Where is your business now?

The emergence of the internet, Google, cloud, smartphones have changed the way how businesses are operated since the past decade. The rate of change in the operating trends of the business is accelerating, and business who are looking to gain competitive advantage cannot afford to adopt the same old methods in the business.

The new technologies should create efficiencies and pave the way for growth because it helps to reduce a lot of time and money. The new technology should impact the bottom line profile while providing significant learning curve with the new systems and technology. You should be ready for productivity suffering during the initial transition. iPhone was released into the market in the year 2007, and people who use it today are struggling to unplug from the devices, which ultimately affects their productivity and creativity.

Doing things the same old way and expecting a different result is stupid. The business with SLAY approach is the first indication of madness. They are a number of stories of the business that failed due to their inability to adapt to the change. The businesses list include major corporate286s like Kodak that dominated the photographic film market with 90% of the share. The company failed as they failed to respond to changing trends of the market and transition digital photography despite being the company to bring innovation into the photography market by launching the first self-contained digital camera in 1975.

Steven Sasson, the inventor of the digital camera, described corporate response on the invention: “But it was filmless photography, so management’s reaction was, ‘that’s cute – but don’t tell anyone about it’.”

Old people, in fact, remembered it as real ‘Kodak Moment’ but, it filed a bankruptcy in the year 2012. Many other examples are loaded in the history about the business failures due to missing of the technology boat or stood reluctant to change. Blockbuster, Borders, Atari, Nokia and BlackBerry are few more examples of the scenario. They were all household names in their day, which proves that you cannot afford to get satisfaction.

Drive business with a focus on future

No industry in the market can escape from change. Many games changing products that are available in the market today are soon going to become the mainstream. iPhone is an excellent example of the scenario. It is your discretion to accept or reject the change, but, if you observe your business in a flat line declining state, it is important to have forward focus.

Take the help of historical data, and marketing techniques don’t rely on them completely. It is not ideal for running the business, focusing on the firms that is behind you. You should use the rear- mirror to see the queue to make sure that your competitors are not gaining ground on you. You should have a forward focus on what lies ahead like technology, software that gives your business a competitive advantage. You should watch out for emerging trends in the industry and look at what your competitors are doing.

The famous corporate in the world Apple claimed that “it was always focused on what it’s doing, not where it’s been.” The company helps many small companies that are focused on duplicating past success. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance of the business. Instead of abandoning on proven marketing strategies, the business needs to adapt to changes in technology and marketing.

Utilise Digital Marketing

Marketing has turned to be head of the business in the past decade. During past days, sales representatives ran to show controlled sales process. Any requirement of the buyer should be channelled through a sales representative. With the emergence of online services, buyers can operate a self-service market. They are motivated by self online research, and the role of the sales representative is no more today. If they do exist in few, they are only reached for the last piece of information that is not found online.

Many old advertising strategies like advertisements on paper, letterbox drops have lost their glory. They are no more effective as online searches today. The old advertising strategies are now replaced with new ones like content marketing, social media promotion and e-mail marketing. Even the referrals outside are shifted with reviews online. In the current world fuelled with the internet, you need to have a website that acts as electronic Boucher to the customer.

The digital transformation has seen the greatest acceleration in making SALY method marketing filled with danger. Every business needs to adapt to the changes as per consumer behaviour, and your marketing strategies should target niche markets and ideal customers. Here are some questions that serve as a great starting point for any business.

Who is your target customer ? start identifying the ideal customer
What is your customer demography, location and forms of social media they prefer?
What is an irresistible message that forces an ideal customer to contact you?
How will you take them through the journey and turn them into loyal customers?

There will be plenty of advice flowing in on social media promotion, Google AdWords investment and search engine marketing. However, before you invest money on advertising on various strategies, develop a detailed marketing plan to see good results.

Max Margin Accountants is a registered accounting firm based in Melbourne. We specialize in helping our clients with a full array of Business Advisory, Taxation and Accounting services. We help businesses in all industries and sectors including Automatic Mechanic, Hotel and Bar, Barber & Hair Dresser, Car Wash, Home Builder & Architecture, Cafe and Coffee Shop, Cleaner, Computer & IT Industry, Family Day Care, Gym and Personal Trainer, Small Businesses, Medical Practitioner, NDIS Business, eCommerce, Property Investors, Tradies and Taxi Drivers.