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Mar 29
0
Reducing customer effort in the pre-agent telephone experience

Reducing customer effort in the pre-agent telephone experience

By | Blog, On The Phone

With an increasing amount of research telling us customers will go elsewhere after a bad telephone experience – or stay loyal after a good one – we’re often asked whether the focus should be on reducing customer effort, increasing customer experience or driving operational efficiency.

The good news is they’re all linked, and using OnBrand’s design methodology, you can achieve all three.

Time is becoming increasingly short as people juggle their work and family life, and people become quickly irritated when a poor choice of options present themselves on the phone; even more so if their call is misdirected, leading to further on hold times.

Also, if callers hear a voice that doesn’t “sound like” the brand, or if the audio quality is poor, or worse still – are the menu options are so complex that it’s hard to choose the right option – the callers are far more likely to become frustrated, choose the wrong option, and end up having to be transferred. This has two negative impacts that are detrimental to your business:

  • The customer needs to put in a great deal of effort, leading to a negative experience. This is likely to damage the brand relationship.
  • The call agent has to deal with the caller’s frustration. It’s not nice to be vented at, and imagine how this can affect the agent’s mood before they speak to the next customer.
  • Operationally, misdirected calls are more expensive to handle, presenting the business with an immediate cost, and the potential to lose countless customers.

OnBrand Audio

However, if the caller’s attention is captured with a positive welcome, and they’re spoken to in a personal way using language they understand, the caller will be happy. If they’re presented with a few short and simple options leading them to the right place at the first attempt, they will reach the agent in a positive frame of mind.

The result? The call will be more pleasant – for the customer and the agent – and your brand will be remembered fondly, and held in a positive light when customers and staff discuss you with their family and friends.

At OnBrand we have over 15 years’ experience in improving customer journeys. We take time to understand our customers’ brands, learning what they do, who their customers are and what we want customers to do when they call. We then design and produce new caller experiences to achieve the joint goals of reducing customer effort, increasing caller experience and driving operational efficiency.

Give us a call on 03333 22 00 22 or sayhello@onbrandgroup.co.uk to find out how we can help your business.

Mar 29
0
Mobile users cannot be ignored

Mobile users cannot be ignored

By | Blog, Digital

In a recent report by Ofcom, 58% of the UK population now use a smartphone, so we really have no choice, but to adapt our way of thinking and target our efforts towards a more mobile audience.

It’s well established that shoppers use their phones for practical purposes such as researching products, comparing prices and locating stores, but the potential for retailers goes much further than this. On average mobiles account for 31% of site traffic in the UK so why aren’t centres doing more to connect and influence shoppers through smartphones?

Here are a few useful statistics that need to be taken into consideration as part of your ongoing marketing strategy to keep up and not get left behind by the digital consumer.

44% of shoppers admit to ‘showrooming’ using their smartphone

29% of shoppers have made a purchase using the mobile web

32% of smartphone owners use mobiles to research products every week

73% of smartphone owners have used their device while out shopping

It’s no wonder that retailers are now beginning to heavily invest in providing a user-friendly mobile channel to connect with their customers and soon it’s going to be impossible to ignore the role that mobile shopping habits evolve as technology moves forward.

The question that shopping centres need to consider is how can smartphone users be encouraged to visit their local centre rather than stay at home and shop online?

Free wi-fi is a subject which is being discussed across many shopping centres that don’t currently offer it, but there’s no doubt that offering the digital shopper the right platform to enhance a visit can’t be ignored. Simply said, shoppers are using mobiles in your centre, but are they using your site? Are you part of their community? Shouldn’t they be accessing your retailer deals and offers via you? This is where OnBrand Digital can help. Our solutions are easy to maintain and good for your business and your shoppers.

Shoppers have high expectations from using their smartphones and they’re digital ready. It’s now up to shopping centres to welcome the mobile customer with the right experience.

Ask us for a demo of how we can work for your centre 03333 220022

Sources: Econsultancy 
Mar 29
0
The benefits to blogging

Why your business should have a blog

By | Blog, Digital

You have a company website, you have your Facebook page and you are probably on Twitter tweeting like crazy, but now someone has suggested that you should start a blog.

You may be thinking ‘Why do I need another online platform?’

Blogging is a great way for a business to take advantage of increasing web traffic and build brand awareness online.

Websites are now losing impact as web users look for up-to-date content rather than just a static information page. A blog contains material much more specific and customer focused than your website often written by your public relations team or sales staff. In effect a blog is like a newsletter, but with more frequent updates inviting customers to interact and comment. This creates a more personal and human side to your business. It shows that behind your ‘shop window website’ there is a human somewhere giving advice, the latest news, developments and opinions about your business.

This helps to develop a closer relationship with your customers (and potential customers) and will give you more of a brand identity.

Where do I start?

It all may seem a little daunting at first but it’s quite simple…

Write about what you know!

Firstly, don’t use a blog as a personal tool for self-promotion or sales. This isn’t an effective way to engage with your readers, which is the whole point of a blog. Keep your content interesting and relevant to your area of business and don’t be afraid to show your personality. Update as frequently as you can; obviously most of us don’t have the time to write posts every day, but it’s a good idea to write at least one decent post a week. Your posts don’t have to be huge scribes of information though. There is no set length and word count you are aiming for, but regular informative posts will help establish your position as a source of knowledge within your industry by sharing your expertise on a broad range of subjects. This will in turn encourage readers to return to your blog instead of exploring elsewhere where similar topics are easily accessible.

What Blogging Can Do For You?

Blogs are still just another piece of your marketing strategy (becoming an increasingly important piece) and should be added to your website, newsletters, e-mail signatures, letterheads & business cards.

Many companies rely on the use of the ‘traditional’ social media platforms such as Facebook & Twitter for their digital marketing strategy as blogging would seem too much effort. However, integrating and sharing content created on your blog effectively harnesses the power of your social following whilst increasing the likelihood that your message and brand gains a wider audience. After all one of the primary reasons to use social media is to drive traffic to your business.

7 benefits to blogging

  • It’s an Inexpensive online marketing campaign
  • To provide news of current events, offers and promotions.
  • Building better customer experience relationships
  • You gain feedback and new ideas from readers blog comments
  • You provide a more personal experience to your followers
  • You can reach out to a new audience
  • Increased customer loyalty

And the biggest benefit….

It increases you search engine rankings (SEO)

According to Hubspot business blogging leads to around 55% more website visitors. Search engines, such as Google, have a tendency to ‘like’ websites that are frequently updated with original content. To put it another way, a blog is a one of the most powerful ways of keeping the content on your website fresh. Also, every new blog post creates new opportunities for your site to be ranked in searches, which will hopefully lead to more people visiting it. A good way to encourage this is by giving each blog post a simple, relevant title that reflects a popular search term for your industry.

Your traffic can increase when people link to your blog. Someone who finds your post useful might choose to share it somewhere, for example on Twitter, or even their own blog, which could then lead to several more people visiting your post and sharing it themselves. You also have the option of posting links across your own social networks, encouraging the people who have already shown an interest in your business by choosing to ‘follow’ or ‘Like’ you, to visit the blog too.

Remember, the more pages a visitor reads on your website, the closer they are to making a buying decision with your company, so you need to integrate your blog’s content into every aspect of your sales & digital marketing approach.

Everyone loves a winner, and you can be known as the local industry expert when you dominate online search results. Grab the attention of your customers when they are online, and a well written business blog will do exactly that.

Who should write your business blog?

It’s easy to pick your marketing department or top sales personnel and give them access to the blog. In most cases, they might be the perfect people, but they aren’t always the best choice when it comes to accomplishing your goals for the blog. Go back to your discussion about your strategy for the blog and the topics that you want people to think about when they think of your company or your products. Who in your company has expertise in those areas? Do you have someone with great ideas? Are there any employees passionate about those topics? If so, recruit those people to contribute to your blogs. Someone passionate and smart, but outside of management probably has more time to spend on the blog and might just come up with some innovative and interesting personal ideas.

Conclusion

By now, you’ve realised that blogging has many benefits and should run in conjunction with your other social media campaigns leading your audience to your on-site content.

Remember to establish yourself as the industry expert by staying active in a particular field or topic, express your thoughts and opinions, help people if you are asked questions and above all… Have fun & be creative with your writing.

Businesses that make the mistake of not blogging or being up to date with content creation are making a mistake — but it’s a mistake you will want your competitors to continue making. With less competition, a well written blog becomes even more clear, providing even more benefits to those businesses willing to make the time investment.

Mar 29
0
Digital CMS

When did you last update your website?

By | Blog, Digital

If the answer is because it is hard to update, then it’s time to start looking at a way to keep your site up-to-date to keep visitors coming back to you. No one wants to keep visiting a website that just looks as if it has been collecting dust over the months or even years so it’s really time to add value to what your customers want.

Technology changes and the way people search and interact with brands is constantly changing. Social media integration is one of the most popular ways to increase your community within your current website.

A complete redesign might not be needed, but additional functionality can be added to make websites mobile and tablet friendly. This could be as simple as installing a CMS (Content Management System) so you can update elements of your website content yourself rather than creating a new website from scratch. A CMS allows for easy updating from any computer to keep content fresh and ultimately keep your visitors coming back for more.

Search engines love fresh content

What this means in simple terms is that the more you update your online content the more the search engines will come back and visit your site and the better chance you have at higher search engine rankings.

The relevance of the content you place is just as important as how often you add it. You can add news, offers, events, or provide fashion tips to your audience. By integrating a social media feed this content can be updated several times a day hence you will never have a stale and boring website again.

The explosion of digital and social media, and the harsh realities of trading in a recession with less budget and more channels is a challenge to even the best in our industry.

OnBrand Digital provide simple solutions to shopping centres to help them manage their digital channels, provide consistency, and the ability to use just one platform to manage all this content. Whether it’s local news and marketing events, promotions or promotion spaces, retail jobs, store directories, trading hours, store guides or maps, our Digital CMS puts Web, Mobile, Facebook & Twitter one click away.

Mar 29
0
Ed Sheeran

I’ve heard this song before

By | Blog, In-Store

Music is just music, isn’t it?

 
Let’s put a CD on at work or in our shop and it’ll be fine … We are sure no-one will mind the ‘Now Hits 2015’ CD or ‘The Best of Chill Out’ will they?

Alas, it’s not quite as simple as that. As an employee you are on work premises for, let’s say 40 hours a week and your ‘Now Hits best of compilation’ plays for two hours in total, this means that you’ll be hearing Ed Sheeran’s song – ‘Thinking Out Loud’ 20 times this week. Now, we all quite like Ed Sheeran here at OnBrand Music, but 20 times a week? And, there’s a good chance that we will be hearing it on the way home in the car too, or at home on the radio.

No matter how much of a die-hard fan you are of a particular artist there really is a limit on how many times you can be subjected to a song over and over again. Let’s be clear here … We are just using Ed Sheeran as an example, but it could be any track * Insert song here * that comes to mind.

The staff choice issue

Many years ago an office I worked in had a policy of letting every employee have a day each of their music choice. The kitchen had an auto-reverse cassette deck (remember those?) and we all brought in our compilation tapes to play during the working day. You can imagine … the same one hour of music repeating & repeating & repeating for eight hours!

Even I finally got fed up of my Pink Floyd cassette in the end .. and that’s saying something.

This same concept still happens today in some of the retail premises that we visit. We were told that staff kept disappearing from the shop floor to change CD’s and many of the staff even argued about the choice of music and disappeared again to skip tracks that they didn’t like. One of the downsides to using most CD or media players is the fact that once the music reaches the end of a play-list you suddenly get silence, so then, whose job is it then to restart the music?

Another issue is the choice and style of music that the staff like to play. For example: Is R&B with profanity & swearing appropriate music to be playing for your customers?

Just a point here about playing in-store music from a personal MP3 player or iPod: This music is designed for personal use only and not to be broadcast publicly. At OnBrand Music we ensure that all appropriate music licenses in the workplace are provided for.

Solutions

From previous research we have shown that 66% of employees like having music at work & many customer surveys show that playing music in a store increases the brand image. So, it’s not just a case of turning off the sound & having silence.

What is needed is a ‘brand’ profiled, fully scheduled play-list (checked for profanity & swearing of course) of around 90 tracks upwards. This will give you over six hours of music that are scheduled to play during your opening hours, limiting the amount of times you hear the same song. OnBrand Music can provide play-lists containing over 24 hours of music if required, so you will only hear the same song every third day. Our media player technology counts how many times a track plays to ensure no conscious repetition. This means less moaning and arguing from the staff about songs that they don’t like. After all, a four minute song you don’t like once or twice a week isn’t going to make you want to pull your hair out.

 

For further information and help in creating and audio brand for your business or workplace then call us on 03333 220022

Mar 29
0

Background Music Influences Customer Choice Behaviour

By | Blog, In-Store

Consumers consider themselves beyond the influence of such factors, however music psychology studies have shown that the right audio has a direct influence on many behaviours beyond conscious awareness. Research has shown that consumer behaviour is highly sensitive to background music in the shopping environment.

Studies show that customers select more expensive wine in a wine merchant when exposed to classical music as opposed to pop music. We associate classical music with sophistication and affluence; hence shoppers feel in a more ‘higher class’ frame of mind. Since music has the ability to prime certain thoughts, customers were more likely to buy more expensive wine with music that primed thoughts of affluence.

Consumers make decisions in a logical and rational way however, environmental psychology studies point out that very subtle changes in the retail environment can dramatically shape consumer behaviour. This supports evidence that the behavioural economics viewpoint of what consumers do is rather irrational, and is largely driven by the unconscious processing of the external environment.

Although people do not walk around a store evaluating the music at a conscious level, background music is able to influence emotions beyond recognition and exert a powerful unconscious influence over consumer behaviour.

Despite background music being highly controllable by a store or company, many businesses fail to optimise this in-store marketing technique for a number of reasons. Firstly, background music is usually chosen by the management. Secondly, the way in which most companies would test the influence of their retail environment on consumer behaviour is likely to be through attitudinal surveys and other traditional marketing techniques. Acquiring consumer insight in this way largely ignores the unconscious processes that drive their behaviour.

To quote music psychologist Dr Vicky Williamson: “Music positively influences consumer mood/emotional states through psycho-physiological reactions and autobiographical memory associations. It also creates a sense of auditory privacy, so valued in these days of the personal music device, thereby promoting browsing and diluting the conscious passage of time. Silence by comparison can be intrusive, as it throws unwelcome attention on the consumers’ behaviour. By extension, silence can also suggest a lack of care for the quality of consumer experiences.”

PPL music researchers also found that 86% of retailers believe that background music can help to relieve tension and awkward silences for their customers.

Mar 29
0
Create brand identity with music

Create brand identity with music

By | Blog, In-Store

Short songs, jingles and sound logos are all around us. For instance; imagine the Intel jingle or classic Nokia ring tone. But, what purpose does sound branding serve?

A company can be represented and identified by a specific sound

Sound has a direct link to our brains and causes an emotional response to memory. In the case of advertising – this is something that makes us take action. In many cases this element of advertising actually turns consumers into fans by adding an extra element of brand identity. We all live in a multimedia society and the power of sound and music cannot be ignored. Can you just image silent adverts on TV or films without a well-crafted soundtrack? The background sound all adds to the overall experience and delivers a response on an emotional level, which is helped by sound branding.

When customers walk into your store, what do they hear?

Is it your favourite radio station or staff CDs? Appropriate music needs to be played that fits your brand and if chosen well can actually increase time that customers spend in your store.

The natural assumption is that music plays merely a pleasant background environment to a store. However, by offering an unsuitable selection of music, establishments lose the ability to identify their branding needs. Businesses now use sound to influence retail behaviour from increasing shopper dwell times and spend to providing an ambiance that creates a positive uplift in the retail experience and improved customer satisfaction ratings.

Our research shows that 72% say playing good music significantly improves the image of a store. However, brands have spent a lot of time and money on visual branding while sound hasn’t been treated as a brand element that needs to be explored.

Branding business through music has emerged as a great sales & marketing tool and by compiling the correct music, OnBrand Music have created a premise where music becomes as important as decor. Like all good interior designers will tell you, consistency is key.

Music is one of the most cost-effective ways to identify with your customers

Choosing the right music means your customers know that they are in your store. They recognise the music you are playing. They sing along, browse, buy and tell their friends. Your customers actually embrace your identity that is driven by your musical branding. This isn’t a radical big budget change that demands huge expenditure to improve your image either … just a simple case of using the correct choice of music that sends a direct message to the customers. You may have many competitors nearby, you may have simple interior decor and you may not have the most competitive prices, but you can have the best choice of music!

Research conducted by music licensing company PPL revealed how retailers could boost their bottom line by playing music and enhancing their in-store customer experience.

A resounding 97% of staff surveyed recommended that all retail stores play in-store music and 99% agreed that in general, retail stores that play music tend to be modern and appealing places to shop, providing brands with a real advantage in a competitive marketplace.

Music Matters

Your customers have an image of your business and using the correct audio branding is one of the best ways to create a memorable identity for them. There are great opportunities here to communicate your overall store image and influence your shoppers behaviour. Therefore, sound and audio branding is a tactical low-cost tool that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Mar 29
0
Shoppers Leave Stores Due To Annoying Music

Shoppers Leave Stores Due To Annoying Music

By | Blog, In-Store

Half of Britain’s shoppers have left a store because they were so annoyed by the music being played.

 
The findings illustrate the danger that leading High Street stores face by not developing a suitable ‘sound’ for their brand, according to a study. Three-quarters of shoppers will notice the music playing in-store and out of those that do, 40per cent will stay longer in a shop if they feel the music is well chosen for the environment. Three-quarters of shoppers will notice the music playing in-store and out of those that do, 40per cent will stay longer in a shop if they feel the music is well chosen for the environment.

The study was carried out on more than 1,000 shoppers, who were asked both about their attitude to in-store music, and about how music affects them psychologically and emotionally. Conversely, 40% will spend less time there if they feel the music isn’t suitable. In fact, 49% of all shoppers said they have stayed longer in shops because they like the music versus 45% that don’t.

But the report, carried out by Immedia Plc, which develops music strategies for retailers, found that half of all shoppers say they left a shop because they didn’t like what was playing or because it was annoying.

And overall, 23% say they would be less likely to return to a retailer if they don’t like the music it plays.

‘Audio is the single most effective way to capture the attention and imagination of people who are on the move inside your shop or restaurant’

This is supported by numerous scientific studies that demonstrate how an effective music strategy does everything from improve staff morale to enhance the customer experience, to crucially increase sales.

Especially given the challenging economic environment, it is important to optimise every element of a customer’s sensory experience.

Capitalising on the general effects of music will only get you so far in boosting a shopping experience. Maximising the positive impact of in-store music requires an understanding of how to match sound and brand.

Mar 29
0

Good Sound is Good Business

By | Blog, In-Store

Sound generates feelings & emotions. Feelings & emotions drive behaviour!

 
Not only does sound enhance a brand, it adds a higher level of sensory experience that leads consumers to choose a particular product. Every space has its own natural sound, geography and noise, therefore in-store music can influence consumer judgment. Retail environments, public places and physical spaces are increasingly more important in the relationship between consumers and brands. The opportunity for music & audio is to provide soundtracks for these experiences.

Businesses use sound to influence retail behaviour, from increasing shopper dwell times and spend to providing an ambience that creates a positive uplift in the retail experience and improved customer satisfaction ratings.

Various companies have shown that at least one clear path to people’s hearts, minds and wallets is through their ears. Sound adds dimension; music adds emotion. Sound can help shape a potential client’s perception of your brand. It can also potentially help you connect with the client on a deeper, more subconscious level.

Department stores and supermarkets may use the right music to cue shoppers to consider certain product categories or to visit certain sections of the store that sell those products.

Examples of music in retail situations

French vs. German wine:
In 1998, Adrian North, David Hargreaves and Jennifer McKendrick ran a test in a British wine shop to determine the role of background music in purchase decisions. For a number of days they played French and German music in the shop, alternating between the two. It was found that on French-music days, the French wine outsold the German wine by a ratio of four to one. On German-music days, German wine outsold the French by a ratio of three to one.

Several studies have shown that the style of background music played has affected customer behavior. In a recent study, Gueguen and Jacob (2010) obtained that the mean amount of money spent in a flower shop was significantly higher while love songs and romantic music was played, whereas pop music did not lead to an increase in the amount of money spent

Our case study:

Based on previous studies (Mattila and Wirtz, 2008) we know that store atmospherics have a significant effect on the customers’ emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses, as well as on the quality of the interaction between customer and staff. Music is considered as one of the central atmospheric variables in creating an in-store experience and connecting directly with customers’ emotions (Morrison and Beverland, 2003).

To investigate the influence of music “fit” on the staff performance, customers’ behaviour, and in general the atmosphere in the store we conducted our recent case study at 6 Internacionale stores. Data was collected from 520 customers and 72 staff over the period of 4 weeks.

We obtained that:

1) Our right choice of music represented the products and the store identity more than the music the store already had (up to 15%)

2) this leaded to 24.7% positive improvement in the general atmosphere liking due to the type of music

3) We were able to improve staff performance in the store up to 15.67%

OnBrand Radio are now broadcasting to over 250 malls, our advertising network now boasts an incredible footfall audience of over 120 million per month. With this reach, and its proven influence to increase and drive shoppers into store, we could be the perfect anecdote to the current climate.

Mar 29
0
Innovation And Change In The Shopping Centre

Innovation And Change In The Shopping Centre

By | Blog, Digital

When people think of change and innovation, they often think of high-tech ideas and new inventions, but change is important to retail because, without change you are likely to lose your competitive edge and possibly your loyal base of customers.

Innovation is simply change

Changes don’t have to be linked to radical ideas and costly expenditure, but can just be simple changes to how your current operations are run. Changes that result from the adoption of new technology are the most common and while innovative technology may seem radical, changing your working processes here can ultimately lead to increased business. The onward march of multi-channel activity and social networking has affected how we all communicate. Your customers are increasingly buying online and listening to recommendations from friends or other online users via social networks. This is a growing concern for retailers as they need to do all they can to get customers into the stores. This is the perfect time to use technology to enhance the shopping experience and encourage people to visit the shopping centre.

In the past, changes to business had to be carefully planned, but today one of the biggest challenges is the pace at which changes happen that affect the attitude of consumers toward shopping. The time has come for managers and business owners to be open and receptive to new ideas and innovations, and to identify areas of their business that need improvement.

When to change

The culture of change is about continuous improvement and efficiency. However, it would be foolish to jump into the latest technological breakthrough without a well-planned strategic plan. Equally if you’re too late to the party then the opportunity for commercial advantage has gone. Areas for improvement need to be assessed, changes implemented then successful results repeated. Many businesses have been frightened of changing though … For example, many shopping centres use social media and this has led to a change in the consumer experience. Customers can now access the latest sales offers, deals and events from any place at any time and then tell all their friends what they think through their social channels.

Our research has found that many centres signed up for social media accounts some time ago, but didn’t see the benefit of spending time and resources in this digital space and abandoned these channels to expand their marketing reach. Obviously there is great scope for improvement here as control of the shopping experience now lies in the hands of the customer, but many shopping centres are reluctant to continue and are blinded by previous efforts. This means there are huge gaps where the shopper can resort to sitting back on their sofa and buying everything online. For many customers, retail purchases are no longer a simple case of deciding to buy online or offline and involves the process of online research and sometimes several visits to their shopping centre.

Buying online isn’t perfect

More than half of us buy books, music and games online now and many of us also choose to purchase fashion items. There are problems though … Over 60% of online fashion buyers are annoyed by deliveries that don’t arrive on time, or simply when whilst they weren’t at home. Equally as frustrating, are stories of online shoppers having to guess what size clothes they are ordering and then having to spend time re-packaging and sending the items back. Of course we are aware that online buying is convenient and we often find a greater product range than instore, but the reality is that people still like to try clothes on and feel products before they purchase. This is, and always will be the major benefit of the shopping centre experience.

Why to change

Customers were quite satisfied coming to your shopping centre years ago and spending the day visiting all your shops, but unfortunately we live in a society that has become ever more impatient. We simply can’t wait anymore and as the digital world evolves and so do your customers. They are demanding new types of experiences and services to suit their needs. The consumer is becoming more social with their shopping habits unlike previous years where the purchasing decision was a private affair with hands-on direct retailer driven visits.

People are also influenced by what friends within their social networks are saying about particular products. Consumers now arrive in your shopping centre armed with the facts and many retailers don’t even realise that this as happened. The sales process has started before the actual store visit and the visit is just to complete the purchase. Simply put, customers are finding new ways to use technology and they expect retailers to evolve as a result, so it really is time to get up to speed.

Decisions to be made

Some major high-street retailers have vanished from our high streets in recent years due to increased online competition and many more are struggling in today’s economic climate. They are finding themselves needing to make difficult decisions that can affect their business. The ability to change is critical for these retailers wanting to maintain a strong relationship with their customer base.

On a more basic level, changes may simply come down to managing time and resources more effectively with marketing efforts. So if you can’t run your social media accounts, then let one of your management staff do it, but if they can’t do it, let the centre administrator do it. If it still can’t be done … Then, it’s a resource or people issue that needs solving.

Opportunities & Growth

The ability to embrace change is important to explore business opportunities, through new creative ideas. Innovation by using social media effectively can help a shopping centre increase its awareness to a wider audiences and fills the gap in the ever increasing digital marketing space where one great idea can make a big difference in the success of a shopping centre.

Simply asking “Why?” can lead to changes that directly impact the bottom line. Centres that change the way of looking at their customers needs, new ways of delivering service and better ways of increasing the customer experience may well attract new customers. This change in efficiency can make for more satisfied customers with higher levels of quality and service.

Change is inevitable

Change is an inevitable part of doing business, but is not always embraced with open arms because of the fear of adapting to change. Customers are embracing this technology rapidly and their expectations of retailers are changing, but shopping centres aren’t keeping up! Customers have instant opportunities to comment on what they demand and what they don’t like about the products they want to purchase. There’s nothing the shopping centre can do about it if they aren’t listening and responding by having a social presence.

If shopping centres can get this right and improve their communication services by engaging with consumers through digital channels this can have a beneficial impact on success in the long-term. Staying current with digital trends by participating on social media is one of the most cost effective marketing channels and has the ability to attract potential customers as well as help maintain current customers.