A Pathway To Unlimited Business Growth In The Digital Age
Written By: Kyle Musser
Here at Digital Conversion Labs, we’ve been working on something that we’re pretty excited about. 🤓
We call it our DCLabs Pathway. More specifically I like to refer to it as…
The Pathway to Unlimited Business Growth. 💸
This framework is something that’s going to be evolving as we work with more clients, grow the DCLabs Community, and as we continually experiment with both new and proven growth strategies that Turn More Conversations into Conversions.
You’re probably asking “Well, how and why does this matter to me and my business?” 🤔
When I first created DCLabs, I knew that one of the core values that had to be included from the start was the “Committment to Continuous Experimentation”.
I also know that there’s one truth that all of you reading this can embrace when it comes to growing a profitable brand and that’s this…
“Great story is the key to an engaging and interactive brand conversation.” — Kyle💭
But even as my own business has evolved over the last year, one of the biggest things that we (Myself and my team) are discovering is that while platforms, tips, and strategies might change over time… what remains constant is that it’s up to you and your team to execute on this core value of continuous experimentation.
Let me explain…
Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and now… Snapchat, oh and let’s not forget Facebook Live, YouTube Streaming, Periscope, 60 Second Instagram clips, Virtual Reality, and so on…
“The commonality remains that social and digital are living, breathing, evolving and artificially intelligent platforms.” — Kyle 💭
Many businesses and entrepreneurs that I consult with still have a hard time remembering that at the end of each bit, click, byte, conversion, etc., there’s a common thread… people! 👥
And even though all the bots, apps, and endless ways to test and optimize this interaction are amazing. The truth is that if you want to grow a successful you have to understand and remind yourself of this fact that your prospects and customers are what’s really driving these platforms. 24/7, 365… people are at the heart of any digital technology.
So while some people might call me crazy for placing the term “living”, “technology”, and “social” all together as one… this is a reality that’s hard to deny.
In fact, change is a naturally occurring phenomena that’s part of the evolutionary biology of life here on this planet. And it’s not just something that’s driven solely on natures’ terms anymore.
Where we used to look at change in terms of…
Change of seasons,
Change of time,
Change of weather,
Now the fact is that nothing in this universe is static, including the integration of technology and humanity.
And what’s interesting is that now we’re now at a place here in 2016 where technology is allowing us to capture this intelligence in real time.
Then, as the pathway to unlimited growth would prove we can then package the human-technology interaction into product(s) that continuously change, shift, iterate, and as I see sit… artificially evolve as the users (you) guide this process along.
Example, Instagram.
Just this past summer, they rolled out a new feature that allowed for the additional content creation in the form of 60 Second Storytelling.
Where did this change come from? Simply put, their users… aka you!
Small changes in their testing (which we all can do with our brand’s digital strategy) have allowed them to access data which revealed to them that there was a 40% increase in the time people spent watching video’s during the past 6 months.
Take it back further and you’ll not be surprised that this change was coming as consumer adjustment and changes to Facebook’s opening of Digital Ad Products on Instagram have been being testing throughout Instagram users feeds.
Damn marketers ruining everything… 😏
So what do all these changes tell us about the future of social and digital, specifically when it comes to social platforms like Instagram?
Well, let’s dive into the Optimization Labs (Part of our DCLabs Pathway) and discuss The Pathway To Unlimited Business Growth In The Digital Age…
Rule #1 — Social is Always Changing
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but social and digital are going through evolutionary changes faster than we’ve ever seen before.
We are now in an age of continuous disruption and constant innovation where it’s not just about the amount of content you’re putting out.
Perfect example, which Gary Vaynerchuk from VaynerMedia describes as “The webs water cooler” is Twitter.
And because we’re a small business ourselves, we understand the need to leverage our time and resources where they are best fit.
But when I look at and evaluate ROI on platforms like Twitter or any social platform for that matter, it’s not just about subscriber growth or follower count.
What it’s really about in terms of measurable business KPI’s is increasing engagement through the cultivation of more dynamic conversations within your tribe. Because the reality is that there are overwhelming amounts of bits, data, pieces of content, etc. being shared on a round the clock basis.
Just a quick Google search of “How much data is created each day?” and our friends at IBM show us that…
“We’re creating more data in a day than we have in the last 2 years alone.”
Or, if you’re a visual person like me…
Why is this relevant to you if you are let’s say a small business, a blogger, or a solopreneur?
If you take a step back and study the evolution of social and digital, you’ll quickly understand based on consumer behavior what platforms are winning vs. which ones are losing.
Like right now… Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have a very clear understanding of what’s working, resonating, and creating engagement with their user bases.
This is happening for several reasons….
One, the platform (users) are changing what is actually going to get the opportunity for the most engagement. Aka, if you’re running paid Facebook ads you’ll understand that the laws of supply and demand are in effect and catching up quickly based on your targeted ad spend vs. the actual ROI.
Two, people (customers) are telling the platform what engages them by the clicks, likes, etc. Which then translates into massive amounts of data for these platforms to utilize for monetization and growth as they evolve. And when I say evolve, I literally mean that.
So what’s your takeaway from this other than the fact that there’s content overload happening.
Well, here’s my high level though which is to focus on the measurable variables that actually matter to you and your business.
Don’t worry about what’s next or what you should be doing. Instead, focus on what you can control and that’s your own strategy and plan.
This whole transition that artificial intelligence is coming (is here) gets me even more excited because consumer adoption of technology is what’s creating so much opportunity right now for small businesses and startups.
You, me, and the billions of other users are feeding these platforms the intelligence (data) that humans and machines (algorithms) need to evolve on a daily basis.
I’m with my man Gary Vaynerchuk in that this is happening whether you like it or not. So my call to action is that you embrace it because the clocks ticking.
Whether or not this freaks you out with the notion that the machines are taking over the world is besides the point.
The truth is that these platforms work when it comes to lead generation and the small businesses that utilize them are winning because of the all the data that they have that’s crowdsourced from their user base.
Platforms will become more and more intelligent as their users continue to feed them the data that brings them to life.
Some examples…
Women searching fashion trends on twitter and then brands capturing that data to offer directly to consumer sponsored tweet ads via retargeting that contain a one-time offer to that potential buyer.
Brands showcasing new styles and products directly to consumers via one time deals through platforms such aslikenow.com on many of today’s top Instagram fashion influencer pages.
So whether you’re a digital marketer, upcoming social media influencer, startup founder, small business owner, or working within a growing brand. The fact is that social will always be changing because consumer behavior is changing right along with the technology.
And when people change their behavior, it’s no surprise that you see massive shifts and disruptions around them.
Rule #2 — Aggregation of Content Matters
Each time you put something out there in the digital world, many brands, entrepreneurs, and even digital strategists still don’t understand the fact that it’s not just creating and forgetting.
Yeah you might get a ton of engagement in the form of likes, hits, hearts, clicks, retweets, etc. out the gate.
But that’s not the goal. The goal for any business with a digital game-plan should be ultimately be conversions.
It’s about your brand having an actual content strategy in place that sparks engagement among your community on a consistent and ever increasing basis.
Or like we like to put it here at DCLabs, it’s about…
“Conversations that lead into Conversions.” 💭💸
Going back to Instagram example…
As consumer behavior has continued to influence the amount of engagement on the platform, the teams over at Instagram HQ decided to change up the feed so that you see things based on engagement.
I’ve personally seen more and more of this over on my personal Instagram account Kyle Musser.
And while they haven’t yet introduced full aggregation, you can bet that with hundreds of millions of users and more coming every single day that this platform is going to evolve with more and more discovery features.
When I say discovery features, it’s just like Facebook where content pieces and updates that create higher engagement will move higher into your feed.
Which is no surprise given the fact that Facebook owns Instagram.
So it’s not just about setting and forgetting a piece of content. Platforms are becoming more and more about the aggregation of the content specific to your audience.
Ever heard the saying,
“It’s not about your content, it’s about your distribution.” 💭💡
If you haven’t, now you have. And I want you to remember it because this is more relevant than ever when it comes to growing your business in the digital age.
When you craft a piece of digital art and gift it to the world, a piece of great content is going to win against good just as good content will win against horrible content.
And as a founder of a digital agency, I respect and can appreciate how design, branding, and quality are now being factored into this based on consumer engagement.
Take it one step further to the evolution of these platforms and look what Facebook rolled out in the form of ‘Reactions’.
Social media is living, breathing, and becoming more and more humanized as it becomes more and more integrated into our daily lives.
This is why you’re seeing aggregation becoming more and more relevant to the digital media landscape across all the social platforms.
Just check for yourself in this article from WIRED where they talk about the power of post emotions…
Rule #3 — You Never Own, You Just Rent Space.
I’m sure that some of you have heard this thought before.
The fact is, when it comes to your digital strategy… you must have a home base.
And that doesn’t mean you can’t start out on a rented lot. Perfect example for those of you that are reading this.
I’ve made the decision to build out our content base on Medium for a few reasons…
Reason #1 — Medium has a base of users and a community that’s pretty interactive and engaged specifically in business. So I figure that this experiment will translate into a nice audience which will lead into a growing email list.
Reason #2 — I’m too busy growing my business and our agency to invest the resources in a full content team. Medium has a great UX // UI that allows for easy content creation without much resource investment.
So while I realize that this strategy might hurt things like my SEO and organic Google Search, I’m willing to give that up in the short run so that I can build out and attract our audience through consistent content curation.
And I know that Michael Hyatt would advise against this, as I’ve heard him say…
“Don’t build your house on a rented lot.”
Sorry Michael, but like anything in your business… you have to figure out what works for you and just roll with it. You can figure out if it works later after you see and measure based on the feedback loops that you establish.
I definitely can’t be too far off with this assumption since Jason Fried and his team over at Basecamp moved their whole blog over to Medium on Signal vs. Noise back in 2015…
But just like deciding on homeownership vs. renting, you have to take your own goals into place when matching your long term vision with the strategies that are going to get you where you want to go on the profit pathway.
So either break the lease and move on to another rented lot if you don’t like your current conditions.
Or…
Suck it up and work with what you’ve got here today because while you’re busy complaining about how fast things are moving or how much you hate platform X, there’s laws at work that supersede you and your business as…
“It’s in our DNA that change and evolution will happen.” — Nature 💭
It’s not just my assumption that digital platforms are going to continue to change, it’s a fact that you and your customers are leading the charge when it comes to the evolution of social and digital.
Here at DCLabs, we get excited about this type of technological transformation as it’s creating massive opportunities for leverage thepathway to unlimited profits business model.
In fact, the validation that Instagram alone has grown to 400m+ monthly users is proof in itself that this evolutionary path is not stopping any time soon.
And while it might be slowing, it’s just growing up in the form through which it’s presenting itself to end users as the convergence of man and machine continues to evolve.
But not to worry as the machine’s are far from taking over. 🤖🤖🤖🤖
So to sum it up, here are 3 rules to remember…
Keep these rules handy as a quick reminder that while things are moving at an incredible pace, your brand doesn’t have to get lost in all the noise.
And don’t just take my word for it. Just check out what the pros at Apple are doing to invest in virtual reality and adaptive technologies that are designed with artificial intelligence in mind…
TAKEAWAY: Which one of these 3 Rules of Digital Business Growth do you and your team find most relevant?
Be sure to leave your comments below and share it with a friend if you’ve found any of these helpful…
And if you’ve found this valuable, I’d be much appreciated if you could leave a HEART below… 💙
I’m Kyle Musser,
Founder and CEO (Chief Experiment Officer) of digitalconversionlabs.com. Come check out what we’re up to and be sure to check out our FREE RESOURCES by clicking on the link below the image…
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