Digital Intelligence - and why we should be so intelligent about it

Back in the early 2000, it was enough for a company to manufacture and market its products through available media – which was print media. And, all they were concerned about was the reaction of the general public which came in way after the product had well penetrated the market. And often, even if the product reviews weren’t positive by the general public, companies could get away with just investing upon reviews and ratings by influential people as advertisement through print media was often beyond the reach of the ordinary man. The associated cost of publishing also kept many individuals out of the scenario. And, any media coverage mandated widespread outrage.

But, the situation now in the year 2018 has transformed immensely. With digital disruptions, it is the effective digital intelligence a company can count upon for its very existence in the market. And, with emerging social media – a form of digital media, enabling worldwide connectivity almost free and within the reach of every individual with a mobile phone with internet connection, digital intelligence is crucial not just for the company’s existence but also for it’s growth, publicity and sustenance.

Gone are the days when only celebrity endorsements are trusted and relied upon to make purchase decisions. With digital media especially social media allowing free access to its services, many viral YouTube videos uploaded by common users just like us without any celebrity quotient associated, comments about the products or services on the company’s page or fan clubs or review pages in Facebook, tweets about the same on Twitter are referred more. People prefer to rely on recommendations by fellow users rather than following the endorsements by celebs. That apart, with e-commerce in the scene, people do scan through reviews and ratings while deciding if they should continue with the purchase. Companies therefore have to use strategic intelligence regarding handling digital communications on the web space which play a vital role in promoting the products or making it a complete flop. Any adverse mood depicted by the analytics tools are taken seriously and action taken to rectify and remove the grievance. To quote an incidence – an airline service recently gave a free ticket to an elderly person after his grand-daughter took to Facebook complaining the callous ticket-issuing portal and negligence in in-flight services which caused problems to the person. Had this been a few years ago, this problem might have been overlooked. But now, with the kind of reach and impact digital media can have, maintaining a responsible digital-intelligence team has become mandatory.

The significance of digital intelligence can also be illustrated in the fact that people now are cautious about maintaining their digital profile regarding the information they share online. The Gmail and LinkedIn profiles receive due diligence and people are also willing to pay to remove any adverse facts about them from the database as many companies do scan through data available online prior to hiring candidates. And, with so much data across social media handles, companies do invest in analytics tools in order to grasp what is the buzz all about - thereby getting cues about their marketing campaigns and PR management. 

 Further, with so much news of internet bullies and catastrophic events following them, hackers and machine learning experts and artificial intelligence gaining momentum, everyone - right from the common people to big companies and industries, everyone must execute - intelligence while handling digital media. With so much fakes cropping up and blackmailing that follows, it is really mandatory for all the users across the globe to use digital media with safety norms - so that everyone can utilise the immense benefits offered by digital media yet, be safe from any negative impacts which might crop up unnecessarily and disrupt their inner peace.

Thus, digital intelligence is necessary for any and every individual and company. Any neglect in messages emitted over digital media can have catastrophic impact for the public image the person or the company holds.