January 22nd, 2020 / Tags: Survey Insights
Today, Shift7 Digital, the modern digital agency for manufacturers, announced that it has tripled its profitability in the last 24 months including adding nearly 40 manufacturing clients to its roster and growing its team by 36 percent in just the last year. The growth is driven by the company’s innovative approach to helping manufacturers deliver on the digital experience. A new study shows two-thirds of manufacturers plan to invest significantly in their online experience and technologies in the year ahead, while a recent survey from Salesforce shows that 74 percent of business buyers say they’ll pay more for a better B2B experience.
“Like every industry today, manufacturers must maximize their digital footprint now to connect with current and prospective customers in more seamless and meaningful ways,” said Andrew Walker, CEO of Shift7 Digital. “Shift7’s mission is to help manufacturers evolve and succeed in this decade and beyond and that includes ensuring they understand the nuances and opportunities in the digital space, including transitioning to a more customer-centric approach to doing business. Our growth signals that manufacturers understand the value of our expertise and we will continue to focus on putting them on a path to digital fluency.”
Shift7 Digital collaborates with businesses to help educate them about the changing landscape, including analyzing their digital presence, integrating the brand experience across platforms and streamlining a company’s digital properties.
To kick off the new decade, Shift7 Digital is revealing its top five tips for digital engagement in 2020:
Online Experience is Everything… and Means Everything: If your website isn’t generating leads, chances are your user experience is subpar, and that spells trouble with the continued demands of B2B buyers. 80 percent of buyers will switch suppliers if the experience is poor. Brands will need to continue to think through how customers are discovering the product, their website interface and the sequence of actions customers take as they navigate the site and the impressions they take away from the experience – everything from beginning to end.
Product Organization is King: Deeper into the user experience, if a website’s products aren’t organized in an intuitive, easy-to-use way, buyers will take their business elsewhere. Those making purchasing decisions must be able to find what they’re looking for within seconds of visiting a website. Manufacturers are catching on here, and four out of five will invest in product information tools to support online distribution channels.
Customers Write the Rules: Today, customers expect consistently high-value digital experiences. It’s no longer just about the product – they want meaningful relationships with brands and they hold the power in where, how and if they want to engage with a business. Acknowledge your customers as the decision-makers they are for your business and make sure your digital footprint matches their needs.
A Positive Purchasing Experience is Essential: In order for customers to know you, understand who you are, and take action – you must have the ability to transact. This can happen on your site, a third party site, a marketplace, a dealer or a distributor partnership. Customers are researching and shopping, and eventually will move to purchase – this moment will come and go if you don’t have the capability to exactly meet your customers’ needs.
Know the ROI: As with all business decisions, investments in digital can’t be made without knowing how they will service the business. Set up measurements and analytics tools to be sure that your investment in digital is hitting its KPIs and working to drive traffic for the brand.
Shift7 expects to maintain its aggressive growth trajectory, including plans to add more than 50 employees in 2020.
About Shift7 Digital
Shift7 Digital is revolutionizing the digital experience for manufacturers and their customers. Backed by a team of experts with deep industry insights, Shift7 truly understands the challenges and opportunities facing the B2B market today and delivers a customized, yet prescriptive process for partnering with companies as they evolve from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach. Shift7 is modernizing manufacturing to help businesses transform through digital marketing to drive connections, commerce and revenue.