Welcome to Touchpoints a BLOG by SMBsocial.
Before I go into the details of why we decided to use a naming convention vs the traditional term of BLOG, let me first say Thank You for visiting and tell you a bit more about what we hope to achieve on this site …who it’s for and what direction we hope to take it ? However, before we can get to this point, we need to talk about what Digital Presence is and how it correlates to Touchpoints and why do you care or should you care anyways?
Let’s get to it! – Back in May this video “Look Up”, telling people to put down their phones went viral. It was posted on the major news sites and appeared for a week or two, it was difficult to escape social media links to the poem that was part and partial “the” message of the video, which exhorted people to tear themselves away from their screens and experience the world around them.
Interesting enough the attention it garnered in likes, tweets and plethora of shares was not lost on the author of this very digital media expose on mobile phone usage. The fundamental aspect of all of this is the realization, that technology has irrevocably changed the way we all experience daily interactions in this global world that we find ourselves living in today. How we interact with each other and businesses continues to evolve to the point now where it’s near impossible for people to put down their phones. As examples; When was the last time you saw a teenager watching TV without texting his or her friends or surfing a social site? How often do you see restaurant guests taking pictures of their meals and sharing that experience on a mobile device? What about the glamorization with selfies?
It all comes down to this…”people expect to fulfill their most spontaneous desires with a few finger taps, which changes their expectations.” These are – Touchpoints, of a more personal level.
Our lives are being more inundated with devices that connect to the things we do and interact with our mobile devices to enrich our lives in ways we never thought imaginable just 10 years ago. Many Apple supporters will say it started with the release of the first IPhone in 2007 or even the IPod back in 2001.
Either way the technological improvements of the internet combined with all these “things” has resulted in another buzz word you are sure to hear even more about in coming months and years. What I am talking about is the Internet of Everything or (IoE), or more commonly called, the Internet of Things (IoT). This refers to ordinary objects re-imagined as programmable, Internet-connected devices. The IoE ranges from thermostats to parking meters. I am sure you have heard of the various types of fitness devices like Fitbit or Nike FuelBand to name a few? These are physical devices that record activities or events and share the data with our mobile phones and the internet. This is another kind of Touchpoint.
According to Gartner, Inc., by 2020, more than 26 billion things will be connected to the Internet, representing an incremental revenue opportunity in excess of $300 billion dollars to business that can harness the data and provide appropriate services. (Here is a great slide show with some interesting facts and figures on IoT presented by Business Insider.)
So how do People and Business cope?
People are living their lives in an increasingly social and digitally connected manner. They expect products, services, and information to be available in a digital self-service way and in near real-time.
While many business are still struggling to deal with this onslaught and have yet to complete their “digital transformation”, to be able to take advantage and stay competitive with these ever-increasing changes. The ones that are changing need to ensure they never lose sight of the very simple objective of digital transformation: to enable them to engage better with their customer base and to be able to “inbound” new customers.
As this trend continues, customers expect increasing levels of personalization, and your company will find it increasingly crucial to engage people and other businesses digitally. Right now, your competition is meeting its customers where they are, on numerous mobile devices and multiple screens, on social networks and in the palms of their hands. Are you comfortable with your current customer engagement strategy?
Where is your business on its digital journey?
This is where Touchpoints Blog can help. By sharing insights into what other businesses are doing and elicit an open dialog to share best practices, tips, advice and anecdotes along the digital path.
Businesses, need to keep in mind that digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. Like many great journeys, it should be enjoyable and the process should be viewed optimistically as exciting, enlightening and fun.
With that said, I think the most important take away from a Small Business perspective today is, “You have to be totally connected with everyone who touches your brand from any point!”
These points are all-inclusive and part of our “digital presence”….with your website serving as the hub. Now add in the frequency and the consistency of what is displayed on ones mobile and web properties, the creation of a powerful social affinity base and its comprehensive content management system and tools, that serves in concert to draw customers in and immerse them in the brand. (Whew – that’s a sentence ….how-about we say CMS?) None of this would be possible without a digital business.
Back to the Blog name: Touchpoints. As you have read…. covers a lot of areas from branding, inbound marketing to social media engagement and even of the personal….sit down share a cup of coffee type of social interactions. 
As we move along the digital realm….with our “sights” tuned into all these social and digital connections, we want to share them with a reader base that wants to: learn, interact with, be entertained (with humorous tidbits as we come across them….or that contributors provide, hint…hint…) and make this journey something we can all share from to better ourselves and our businesses. At this juncture it just seemed that “BLOG” was too generic a label. We want everyone that is involved with Touchpoints to be inspired and or inspiring to anyone who is reading or contributing. Touchpoints therefore, is an aspiration that depends on YOU.
Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my personal affinity for high-octane espresso…..so anytime you may be local….and want to connect…..Touchpoints covers us there too!
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Tom Townsend
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