What is business agility? Maybe the more important question to ask is “Does your business have it?” And if not, how do you go about getting it?
Put into simple terms, business agility is the process and ability to constantly adapt to a changing environment. Someone once said that the only thing constant in life is change. How ironic. That proves true in our personal lives as well as in the business world.
Look no closer than the pandemic of 2020. The pandemic hit businesses by surprise. It forced them to adjust rapidly to survive. According to research, over 9 in 10 organizations developed their digital strategy as a response to the global pandemic. That is a little scary – that around 90% of businesses did not have a digital strategy in place before the crisis hit.
This, in essence, is one of the most compelling reasons why business agility matters. A company that remains static is digging its own grave.
Buzzword or Trend?
Does this really matter? Is business agility more of a buzzword or a trend? In other words, should your business really be spending time and energy on something that won’t matter 10 years from now?
Well, let me ask you this question – “Is the future of your business important to you?” If the answer is “Yes” then you need to be paying attention to this. That is because business agility involves having the mindset that you can future-proof your business. It’s about managing all the unexpected changes that come your way. It’s about seeing the risks ahead of time so that, when they come, you can deal with them and bounce back rapidly.
So, if you want your business to survive long-term, this is important. Typically, for your operations to be agile, you will need to analyze areas such as your risk management strategies, specific insurance protocols, market trends and awareness, your innovation strategies and and personnel skill acquisition.
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You will also need to reconsider your public interactions. In the instance of the pandemic, it drastically affected your audiences beliefs and behavior. It changed what they need and how they want to communicate. If your business doesn’t adapt to what they want, they will take their business elsewhere.
So how does your business become one that can adapt quickly? Here are some strategies to use.
Focus on data-driven analysis
Running marketing surveys takes a lot of time. However, there are other ways to access real and accurate data about your audience. Data marketing such as social media ads can give in-depth insights without any of the hassles of surveys.
For instance, if you run Facebook campaigns, you can use a personal report of your Ads to gain a better understanding of your metrics. The typical report lets you visualize how much each interaction costs and how much it generates per period.
From a marketing perspective, it’s an easy solution to figure out what your audience expects from you and what interests them. More importantly, if you run multiple ad campaigns, you can compare products or services and demographics. Ad analysis offers the data you need to adjust to changing demand.
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Embrace gif communication
The gif culture is huge and constantly growing. Gifs are no novelty. They have regained their lost popularity in recent years with the launch of Tenor gif search engines. The move toward virtual workplaces has encouraged the revival of gifs as a part of digital conversation.
Why are gifs inherent to business agility? Because they communicate ideas in a matter of seconds. At a time where professionals in the B2B and B2C environments work predominantly in remote positions, digital fatigue is a risk to consider. Your audience doesn’t have the attention span to engage with every bit of digital information. There is too much going on online.
A gif keeps the conversation manageable. It also makes it friendly, engaging, and memorable. They contribute to fighting off stress and short-temperedness, creating stability and keeping business agility manageable.
Go where your audience is
The pandemic has transformed online interactions. As a result, your audience is always on the move to find the most reliable and helpful platform. As work situations and digital know-how progresses, the choice of platforms also becomes more diversified.
It’s in the interest of every business to reach on many social media platforms. The idea that B2B clients can only be reached on Linkedin and that B2C public is only on Facebook is inaccurate. Diversifying your social media programs maximizes reach and brand awareness.
Many people work online. So they naturally turn to social media for everyday interactions. As such, spreading your message out across digital platforms can serve many purposes.
For one, it ensures that you can capture your audience wherever they are. This supports revenue growth. Additionally, it cuts down your paid marketing budget as brand awareness can arise from these natural interactions. It also guarantees brands can spot new trends early enough to react and adapt.
Use automated chatbots and machine learning
How do you maintain your online presence when it is spread across multiple platforms? One answer is Chatbots. Building your own custom chatbot for the website or individual social media platforms can help manage visitors’ interactions and boost machine learning.
Chatbots on social media platforms can prompt discussions, welcome new followers and establish the first contact. They also collect data, learning from conversations and engagement metrics. Ultimately, a bot offers new insight into your audience’s needs and behaviors, so that you can adjust in real-time to changes.
Just remember, this is all about adjusting to the changing time and your changing audience. You need to secure a constant stream of communication with the market via your audience. Doing so will save yourself a lot of the last-minute hassle and costs of business agility practices.
Leave a Comment or Answer a Question Below: What are some other ways businesses can adjust to the ever-changing world? How has the pandemic changed your view of the world and everyday life? What did your business have to change in order to survive?
Photo courtesy of Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash
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