The customer expectations over what is valuable content have changed. This is happening because customers are becoming more informed and savvy over technology. This means that they understand that companies are obtaining information about them and so that information to be used accordingly. They demand personalized content in a consistent experience across all sales channels.

As digital content first emerged, companies were focusing on creating content to engage and create brand awareness. This was a Marketing task and so, content success was measured with Marketing metrics, such as views, likes or shares. More mature companies on this matter are now viewing digital content with goals like, cost savings, lead generation, customer loyalty or customer satisfaction.

As stated by Altimeter, there are three major customer expectations driving the need for a change in content strategy:

1. Customers want more than promotional content.

A study from the Economist Intelligence Unit found that a great customer experience relates to sales and service functions rather than content that entertains or raises brand awareness. They prefer content that solves problems and informs, like fast response to inquiries or complaints, simple purchasing process, the ability to track orders digitally or to communicate over digital channels. Hence, a mature content strategy must be customer- centric, not marketing-centric

2. Customers want personalized content.

Since brands collect behavioural and demographics information from the relation with the client, they now expect to be treated individually and see their specific needs attended. A vast majority of customers expressed frustration by receiving irrelevant information, and that affects the relationship with the brand.

3. Customers want a seamless experience.

To a customer, there is only one brand. However, inside a company’s organization, several departments will compete for attention. Sales, Marketing and Product Management each will want their content to be promoted. A mature company must organize the structure around the customer needs.

In the end, a mature and customer centric company will produce content that meets customers’ expectations and delivers a consistent brand experience across all digital channels.

As we live increasingly mobile, digital and virtual lives, museums must find new ways to tell their stories and engage with their audiences. As digital experience and physical spaces merge, so will the audience and the curator. Over the next years, several problems will place pressure on museums to innovate and adapt to changing user needs and economic realities. New technologies – like augmented reality – are changing how and where we can have museum-like experiences. Moreover, social and cultural shifts in society are influencing what type of experiences people will expect, while restriction to funding will continue to put pressure on some museums to be both profitable and more inclusive at the same time.

No organization or sector is now immune to digital transformation; the question is how to embrace it and to make it a competitive advantage. Digital has a fundamental impact on how change takes place, so even tough transformation is not only digital, it cannot be achieved without it. Digital is shaping the competitive battleground in all sectors and the cultural area is no exception.

Digital technology applied to cultural heritage allows to create and share information amongst a wider audience that is also actively involved in co-creating and interpreting that heritage knowledge. As digital technologies become more complex but at the same time more affordable, they have arguably an increasingly prominent role in the communication and interpretation of heritage. Digital Experience and heritage are now crucially connected.

Digital innovation success will depend on how well integrated are digital media and museology/visitor studies domains, in order to deliver a rich visitor experience.

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In a world where online shopping and digital interactions are growing constantly, one must be aware of their consequences for retail and how it can benefit from this. Big retail chains are keeping up with the phenomena by reinventing its way to attract more shoppers, either by creating very complete online portals or by bringing technology to its physical spaces.

So, how consumers are using digital platforms for buying goods while inside a physical store?

The answer is, by using Apps or Websites that allow to know more about the product they are looking at and even compare with others.

A growing number of consumers are using mobile as an in-store support device as well as retailers are using it to attract consumers to stores. The combination of classic, in-store retail, with digital technologies and platforms, will simply do what is more important in a business – to serve clients as good as possible.

This information is backed up by statistical information, from a study ordered by Google Think Insights to Ipsos MediaCT and Purchased®. This study was made from the 10th to the 22th January 2014 where 4,500 respondents completed one of nine vertical specific online surveys. Some of the key findings are listed below:

1. 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information.
2. 50% of consumers who conducted a local search on their smartphone visited a store within a day, and 34% who searched on computer/tablet did the same.
3. 4 in 5 consumers want ads customized to their city, zip code or immediate surroundings.
4. More than 60% of consumers have used location information in ads.
5. Local searches lead to more purchases than non-local searches.
6. 88% of local searches are done on smartphones.
7. 53% of consumers search locally at home, 51% on the go and a staggering 41% search for information when they are already inside the store.

In the US alone, 44,6% of respondents said they use smartphones inside a store. This is a great opportunity to develop your own app and start attracting and engaging with your customers.

This trend will not change.

You can read the full Paper at journalengineering.fe.up.pt/article/download/270/170.