It seems like only last month that we thought AI was a long way off and that its impact on our businesses was something to push down the list of priorities.
But now we know Generative AI is with us, and here not only to stay, but to play an ever larger part in all our lives. All businesses are trying to understand how to come to terms with this rapid and dramatic change, how it will impact every part of the business, from the finance department through to customer service, to lead gen and conversion, and to every element of your brand’s digital experience.
This swift and dramatic change in the tech landscape is just one factor at play when it comes to your app or website and to your customers’ online experience of your brand.
It’s a key example of the technology innovations which need to be continually addressed and integrated as we evolve those digital experiences. You would not be alone in feeling anxious about this evolution. A PWC survey found that 40% of UK CEOs believed their company’s current technological capabilities “were not good enough to meet their strategic objectives, and thought the problem would get worse without urgent action”.
Evolve we must. New platforms and technologies frequently emerge. AI is just the latest in a long list. But technology change is not the only reason why it's important to constantly evolve your digital products and services. Your Digital Transformation doesn’t end with the launch of your digital product. So what are the key considerations for your product evolution?
1. The competition
As Darwin (almost) said “It's a jungle out there, and only the fittest survive”. In this instance your brand’s digital experience is up against stiff competition and keeping ahead of the game will ensure that your experiences are standout. You know that your competitors are developing new features, friction free and more personalised customer experience. An EY survey that found 32% of CEOs surveyed “aim to boost customer loyalty over the next six months using technology to optimize product suites and services”.
You know that they are watching you, you’ve just got to stay ahead.
2. Your customers
Whether your business is B2C or B2B your customers have needs and ever changing expectations. Some of these may be driven by their experience of your competitors or simply from shopping on Amazon or watching on Netflix.
Either way it will pay you to listen to them, watch their behaviours as they navigate their way through your customer journeys, and make sure that these are constantly optimised to best meet their needs and deliver the conversion you are looking for. That way you will ensure their satisfaction, their conversion and their loyalty.
3. Feedback loops
Listening is critical. You need to foster a test and learn mentality to ensure your processes allow rapid and reactive change. A considered test and learn programme and the ability to constantly tweak customer journeys, or to understand how new features that might bring added value, will be invaluable. Make it the bedrock of your CRO strategy.
4. Bugs, bug bugs
According to clutch.co, users’ primary site frustration is its unreliability. 54% of users will stop using the site if they find it unreliable. And if this problem persists, nearly 63% of visitors will ditch a site permanently. Confused users are not likely to convert.
This may not be the fault of your developers or UX team, it’s simply important to understand that a watchful eye on performance, bugs and security updates to ensure reliability, low crash free rates and always optimised page load speeds. This will keep customers happy and returning and in turn help your App and Play store scores.
5. Scalability and business growth
Having worked with ITV on all the iterations of their mobile platform over the last 10 years it has been critical for their business success to enable scalability.
With the launch of ITVX at the end of last year the relaunched platform not only delivered new features but many additional hours of content, meaning the business saw over 1 billion streams in the first four months of 2023, and an increase of 49% of streams in Q1.
The number speak for themselves. To be able to scale is to deliver business growth.
So, back to AI. It's impossible not to see the opportunities for your business to enhance your digital experiences, whether it's in quality assurance, improving customer journeys, in optimising the content on your platform, or for more rapid deployment of new features.
But then you’d need to evolve your platform to make the most of it, and you’d need to start now. As Darwin said (and he did actually say this) "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."
