I’ve had two conversations this week with separate individuals and about seemingly unconnected topics but which had more in common than they might first have appeared.

The first was with a colleague in the office, about the way in which we in the digital team are able to witness and understand the complete view of brands and businesses because we have the ability to test and refine messages and content in a way that offline channels don’t tend to naturally offer.  The consequence of being able to constantly tweak an online campaign or tactic means that we can often predict what “success” will look like even before we start. 

A search campaign can change every day (it often does) emails can be sent to different groups of customers with different messages and banner Ads can use a variety of creative design to understand the best way to engage with a customer.  These are all things we've done in the last month or so, with measurable results.

For our clients, this is great because conversations about budget and more importantly the potential return on that investment are framed around value and customer interaction, to the point where digital and research coupled together become a powerful force that can help to influence offline activity – branding or experiential campaigns for example.  This insight driven approach means businesses are given a competitive advantage in an ever more competitive economy.

Which leads me to the second conversation, over dinner with a friend who also works in the online industry.

We were talking about the ways in which digital media have made doing business more efficient and direct.  I recounted an argument I read that sets to about the challenge the potential of digital channels. 

It goes something like this:

Now it's possible to do business more efficiently than ever before, reaching a wider audience than you’ve ever been able to, the paradox is that it becomes ever harder to increase margins and turnover, particularly since your competition have also been able to reap the very same efficiencies.  So how do businesses do something to stop efficiency driving becoming the thing that kills them? 

The answer, it seems is both simple and incredibly difficult.  The relationship with these 2 conversations is in the connection that digital makes with its audience.  Whilst we're in a period where this facilitates spectacular efficiency, this time will pass.  What we're left with, is still something powerful.

Connect with your audience, measure their interaction with your business and work towards making exceptional, remarkable products and services that will make people want to talk about you and your business.  Only then will you have done something that takes advantage of the efficiencies in your business.