How Connected Are You? Are You Friends With Your Car?

By David Gosman, CEO, pcAmerica

“The Connected Consumer”. This simple term represents a huge shift in what people buy and where they’re spending their money. The term generally refers to a person that uses a myriad of technologies to research and discuss products, and actually make their purchases. We live in a world where people talk to (yes, TO) their phones, discuss products with random individuals anywhere in the world, make purchases before they get to the store (IF they even go), and publicly share a lot of information about themselves or the products they buy with just about anybody listening. Many consumers expect businesses to interact with them through several mediums including e-mail, blogs, text, Twitter, and Facebook.

Businesses face both challenges and opportunities in this new environment. There are a few emerging technologies to consider that may help a business capture a higher share of the connected consumer’s spend.

Social Monitoring and Reputation Management
25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content*. Word of mouth has evolved through the use of social networks, blogs and consumer review sites. In the past, good or bad experiences were passed by one person to a few of their peers. Now, word-of-mouth experiences will be shared with countless friends or strangers. They live as permanent fixtures on the internet that  affects web rankings and overall social reputation. Many businesses are struggling to process this abundance of information and properly respond to the feedback. Several tools have emerged to help a business monitor their reputation and decide when and how to participate in the social conversation.