Every time I get my weekly Adweek magazine (in print, by mail), my heart does little palpitations. On the good side, Anna Wintour, Vogue Magazine’s Editor in Chief, is on the cover this week, labeled a Brand Visionary at 67. An objectively labeled trendsetter at 67!
On the inside cover, however, is this little doozy…for teens, 47% favor Snapchat. Only 9% say Facebook is their favorite. Just as I am coaching clients on how to even use Facebook (strategically, for business), the next generation has already said “buh-bye” (to use a Seinfeld reference that no one from iGen, born after 1997, would recognize anyway.)
A couple of months ago it was an article about Human Resources reps who only post jobs on Snapchat (hyperventilate-don’t those disappear after a minute?). Or one about not “if” you were going to integrate chatbots into your website, but when, how and with what features.
Ugghh, I thought. I would hate talking to a robot. Except that I actually love it. You may too and not even know it. You are on a website and friendly Cathy pops up and says “Can I help you find something?” If she’s programmed to answer the question you have, you will love her. If not….well…re-read the first sentence of this paragraph.
For many of us in the post-50 Gen-X or baby boomer generation, we may not have grown up with technology, but we won’t grow old without it. And if you are still in business, or still have one more big push or idea or passion to pursue (please, yes?) technology is actually your friend.
Jumping in may be the first step
Have you ever noticed the person who comes to fix your computer isn’t afraid to push the wrong button? That may be the trick, knowing that everything online is so fleeting and evolving so quickly, that it’s okay to experiment. It’s your body of work that you post online, over time that builds your online brand and presence. And, whatever purists will tell you, you can, indeed, edit after posting or hit delete on something you regret posting.
In the new Bladerunner movie, the Alexa/Siri equivalent of the future is now a hologram of a beautiful, life-size woman who can also be seen advertising products all around town. Absolutely I don’t doubt for a minute that this is the future.
But it’s not happening right now, in your business.
The real question is what are your current goals, obstacles and opportunities? How can getting started or diving deeper with technology and online marketing keep you in the game? What happens if the next time you see someone using a new platform or technology, instead of saying “I would never use that,” you ask, “how do you use that?” and see what evolves.
And be sure to seek out help where you need it.
One thing that hasn’t changed over time is the old adage, that the only bad question is the one you didn’t ask. Of course, it may be a different story now if you get caught asking that question on video and all your friends share it.