Learning the art of digital sociology

It’s amazing how the simplest, most basic technology we use every day allows us the biggest insight into how our species is changing.

But I’m not sure we’re using it the right way.

We look at Google Analytics, customer behaviour and site traffic — all basic, fundamental tools of doing business in 2017. We understand what our customers are doing…but we should be going further.

In fact, if you’re involved in any digital enterprise, whether it’s data science, strategy, design or otherwise, you should start thinking of yourself as a sociologist. Because that’s what you are, really — you’re watching human behaviour change before your eyes.

And I think in the next 10 or 20 years, the businesses that understand that will be able to outperform those who don’t.

For the past several years, marketing has been about a “segment of one” approach. To understand individual consumer behaviour and personalise it, to make people feel as though they are being catered for but also part of a bigger story.

That’s all fine. But it doesn’t go far enough. To put it simply, it’s one thing to have data — but actually interpreting and optimising the browsing behaviour of all those segments requires an anthropological mindset.

That mindset is crucial for businesses to truly understand how humans behave differently over time — it’s the only we’ll be able to be proactive in embracing, or avoiding, certain behaviours before they become critical.

As an example, consider what we’re seeing in terms of the growth of adblocking. It’s one thing to know that people are shutting off ads through browser extensions or apps — but it’s another thing entirely to learn that most people don’t need adblockers because in the last decade their brains have evolved to block them out automatically.

Or think about scrolling. We know that as people become more time-poor and use their phones, convenience is king. They don’t want to spend time searching and clicking through separate pages; they want to be able to just scroll down a page and find all the information they want.

We also know people are moving more towards self-service, and not just on the web — everywhere. We appreciate some minimal level of service with some help available, or some extra options if we need them — but most of all, we just want to be left alone.

Understanding these anthropological shifts is crucial to making good business decisions.

Just consider how many people are annoyed now by phone calls, even from friends and family. We’ve moved into a texting-first culture, and that’s a massive shift we couldn’t have predicted even 10–15 years ago.

But of course, we don’t tend to think in long-term trends. In business we’re focused on the here and now, and that’s why we love analytics and data. It shows us exactly what’s happening at any given moment, giving us better insight into the next business decision. Then the next. And the next.

But we need to look further than that. Analytics is great at showing trends — e.g. more people are going to this page rather than that one, or fewer people are scrolling to the bottom of a page — but sociology is about putting those patterns in context. Identifying how those patterns then contribute to a bigger picture before we arrive, so that we can be prepared.

And while we’re getting better at using data to make those decisions, I don’t think we’re going far enough and really looking for where those shifts in human behaviour occur.

Last year PwC conducted some research which found that Australian businesses want to make data-driven decisions, but right now, they aren’t. And we’re behind the rest of the world on that front.

But what data is going to help them really understand sociological shifts? It isn’t going to be stuff like page data and sales charts. The data that needs to filter through to big decision makers like CEOs are more detailed breakdowns, like heatmap reports and click tracking. That information gets seen by middle management, but all too often the C-suite doesn’t have that information.

But that information is crucial for making the big decisions those in the C-suite are tasked with. The types of shifts we’re seeing — i.e. convenience being valued more than ownership, influencers trusted more than brands, brands valued more than governments — those are huge, industry-shattering changes. Understanding them is crucial, and you can’t necessarily see them fully in the day-to-day.

So then, competitive insight doesn’t come from solely from watching them. It comes from putting those analytics in the context of human experience. Remember, we’re changing so quickly — digital tools and data will always be there, but human behaviour and habits will evolve.

If you’re involved in digital, how can you understand that and not consider yourself a true studier of human behaviour — a true sociologist?

So look at the trends. But you’ll only be truly competitive if you understand where that information sits alongside the bending arc of human experience — and how that behaviour will eventually shape what your business does, and how you do it.