Have you met your iCustomer yet?
If not, then you’re causing significant damage to your business. Your iCustomer is your most important customer. He or she wants to engage with your brand or product. They are constantly on the lookout for the next digital trend, the coolest app, the most creative user experience. They want to make a purchase.
And what’s the key to reaching your iCustomer?
In the wise words of Brian Solis – our favourite thought leader in Digital who we interviewed in November – “in a post-PC era, mobile is no longer a strategy or technology; it’s a lifestyle”.
He is so right. We can’t ignore the fact that consumers are now using mobile more than ever to engage with brands and make purchases. In his latest eBook, “Mobile is Eating the World”, Brian emphasises just how engaged mobile consumers have become. For instance, did you know that they spend on average 177 minutes on their phone every day? Their phones are their first go-to resource; the shiny toys that they love to use whenever possible. And the more they use them, the more they learn about mobile technology, actively or intuitively.
This affects their expectations of a brand. Once the bar has been set, they won’t settle for anything less. They expect every business to look, feel and operate as well as their favourite app. This level of expectation is what characterises them. They are Generation C – the iCustomers.
WHO ARE MY ICUSTOMERS? WHERE ARE THEY?
You may ask. Well that’s the best part. They are anyone and they are anywhere. As Brian says, they are not defined by age, income, education, location or any other demographic. They are simply defined by a lifestyle that is fully immersed in digital. Anyone who has a smartphone could be part of Generation C.
However, there are some dead giveaways.
You can spot members of Generation C simply by paying a little more attention while going about your day-to-day. Look around you on the train, while waiting in line, grabbing lunch in a café, or even just walking down the street. Anyone with their head buried in their phone is a potential iCustomer. It’s easy to dismiss this as mindless web browsing or general time-wasting. But it isn’t. It’s just how they get things done.
iCustomers will almost always use their mobile device to begin the customer journey, whether it’s a fleeting display advertisement or an organic search result. This is why the small screen has undoubtedly become the new battleground for attention. If you want to emerge victorious then you have to really drill down to the core of your iCustomers.
The small screen has become the new battleground for attention. To emerge victorious you have to…
ICUSTOMER HABITS
Among other habits, here are a few examples of how iCustomers use technology.
- Uploading screen shots of bank details instead of scanning bank statements.
- Traveling with mobile boarding passes.
- Using apps like Uber, Lyft and BlaBlaCar to get from A to B.
- Dating via mobile apps
- Thinking of smartphones as TVs where they can access on-demand content.
- Watching YouTube videos to solve problems instead of googling, sifting and reading.
Generation C is made up of multi-taskers. They can do and think about so many things at once. But they make their decisions and purchases equally as quickly. Everything is done at rapid fire, “in micro bursts dozens of times each day” (Brian Solis, Mobile is Eating The World). iCustomers don’t have the patience for outdated PC legacies. They expect products and services to be ‘born digital’ and ‘born mobile’.
iCustomers don’t have the patience for outdated PC legacies. They expect products and services to…
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So what next? How can you begin to connect with your iCustomers?
Embrace digital and the power of mobile. Accept that it’s not just about repackaging something which already exists and pretending that its new. You have to integrate digital into every aspect of your business and begin working towards totally mobile-focused marketing. Then make the journey more meaningful, culturally relevant and customer-centric.
The customer is always first, after all.
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