How we got here is balance between the natural human desire for instant gratification and maturation of economic forces driving the internet. In 18 years we’ve gone from an internet that was used primarily by academics and individuals to share research, to a vast universe where internet giants offer us better, quicker and easier, in a desperate attempt to win our attention, data and in many cases money.

Grandiose statements aside what does this mean for the vast majority of companies that want to excel digitally? I believe there is a great deal of opportunity for businesses to do what they set out to do, offer excellent service to their customers and a customer experience better than their competitors, they just need to be creative about it.

A digital presence, whatever it includes must be well integrated with all aspects of the business and it may be the case that a business would do better living inside one of these walled garden communities, be it Facebook, LinkedIn or any of the networks that allow companies to engage and interact with their customers. I’m not saying companies everywhere should ditch their website (although I’ve been known to argue this after a few drinks too many) but for the vast number of SMEs and trades people that have no chance of competing for a decent search placement and can’t afford extensive PPC campaigns, this is a way to compete.

Either way, before implementing businesses need to step into the shoes of their customers, to understand their environment and work out what they are looking for in terms of a user experience. Nine times out of 10, this is where things fall apart. This disconnect has given an army of web designers, SEO ‘experts’ and social media gurus years of easy money and has left SMEs everywhere wondering what the hell to say on “this Twitter thing”.

So this is my bold proposal – agencies everywhere should ban designers, techies and digital planners for initial meetings with clients and instead invite in psychologists, sociologists and researchers. Let them dig into what makes the company unique and the wants, needs and circumstances of the customers so they can produce a plain English list of problems and opportunities which they can move forward. If done the other way there is a risk that the agency will invent a problem to fit the solution they would like to build rather than inventing a solution to fit the problem that needs to be solved.

I want to know – How do you deal with the planning stage of a project? Do you disagree with me passionately? Don’t be shy….let’s discuss.