influence development using technology was seemingly more effective for the brand than an entire marketing department !
At the same time , water cooler chatter began questioning how I even managed to get any work done as I was apparently ‘ always ’ on LinkedIn . This wasn ’ t the case , but a good piece of content could make it look that way ! The way in which the distribution algorithms work meant that even if I hadn ’ t published a video for seven days , it might still be populating newsfeeds if it was performing well .
So , very quickly I had become the smartest and laziest person on the corporate team !
My experience in consumer retail , and as a communications , marketing and media consultant , has equipped me with a diverse perspective on business transformation . Here , we look at three factors for business transformation in the fitness industry .
1 Don ’ t just use technology - embrace and understand it
Technology is a lot about technique and process , and you should be using it - but it won ’ t work on its own .
If technology adoption isn ’ t managed and fulfilled adequately , it can quickly become something that is perceived as a necessary evil . ‘ We have to use social media ’ and ‘ we have to use that system to track the task ’ are the types of statements that quickly become commonplace when technology is implemented for tasks without engagement from the user . The simple use of the words ‘ have to ’ is a major sentiment signal that the use of technology is a necessary evil . Alternate phrases like ‘ we use ’ and ‘ we ’ re able to use ’ demonstrate a distinct contrast .
It didn ’ t take me long to realise that technology adoption was not adequate , let alone advanced , within the business and this was demonstrated by my ability to somehow achieve , individually , some of the things an entire marketing department was attempting .
Technology is an enabler , whether for generating leads or for improving the efficiency and reducing the costs of everyday processes . Technology adoption and implementation needs to be embraced , but it is absolutely critical that the purpose of a technology and its corresponding consequences ( positive and negative ) are understood . It is only then that technology can help to transform functions , departments and experiences - for customers and employees .
For example , if you use a CRM , it is imperative that relevant stakeholders are clear on how the CRM benefits the experience and outcomes for customers and employees . If you ’ re simply using the CRM because you think you have to , it is likely that you are not deriving optimal utility from it because you don ’ t understand the purpose of the CRM .
Conversely , if you use a social media content scheduling tool because you think it is the right thing to do , you
THE QUICK READ
• Technology advancements have transformed the way we communicate and how we can establish , develop and leverage influence for the benefit of our businesses
• If technology adoption isn ’ t managed and fulfilled adequately , it can quickly become perceived as a ‘ necessary evil ’ rather than an enabler of growth
• Two-way communication requires the creation and publishing of content that is not only relevant to your target audience , but invites interaction and conversation
• Follower count does not necessarily correlate with business performance , so it is far more important to invest in achieving meaningful and material influence than in simply building numbers .
could inadvertently shoot yourself in the foot with your attempt at efficiency . How so ? By scheduling content in advance , and then neglecting to keep a close eye on performance , you may find you ’ ve published one post per day for two months straight without realising that content performance has deteriorated . If only you had been monitoring content performance as closely as when you used to manually publish content .
2 Don ’ t just tell - engage and converse
Communication must be two-way , so embrace the art of conversation .
Traditional marketing tactics for bricks and mortar retail outlets , such as the anecdotal ones I shared at the beginning of this article , are ordinarily one-way . Comfort and confirmation bias influence us ( marketers especially ) to believe they are two-way . For example , we distributed flyers to the mailboxes of our nearest prospective customers and were inviting them to communicate back by making a purchase based on the
18 | NETWORK AUTUMN 2021