Contact Tracing: 4 Lessons Learned from the Front Lines

Contact tracing is a critical component to containing and flattening the curve of COVID-19. Tracking those who are infected and who may be exposed helps agencies stay ahead of potential hot spots and understand how and where the disease is spreading.

During the TTEC on-demand webinar, “Contact tracing: Why the road to recovery requires people, process and technology,” experts from TTEC and Pegasystems shared insights about how government agencies are ramping up contact tracing programs with a technology-enabled, empathetic approach.

While contact tracing itself is not new, “it’s going to take something fundamentally different than what historically has been done before,” to meet the challenges of COVID-19, noted TTEC CMO Nick Cerise. The speed and scale of the virus means a new approach is essential. Government agencies are looking at the whole continuum—evaluate, trace, and care—to contain the spread and engage the community in new ways.

There’s no standard playbook and different agencies have different needs. As state and local governments look to contact tracing, here are 4 lessons learned from early COVID-19 contact tracing initiatives that show the value in blending technology and humanity on the roadmap to recovery.

1. Centralize the response, but personalize the outreach

Speed is the name of the game. The faster you can identify who is infected and where they might have exposed others, the faster containment can happen. To do that, speed is also essential to get programs up and running in record time. Centralize efforts as much as possible to make decisions fast, get swift budget approvals, share technology, and streamline ongoing contact tracing operations.

A centralized contact tracing effort at the state level is more effective than a patchwork of local health departments with their own small programs. Coordination with local communities is critical, however. Understand the needs of the community before deciding on how to balance technology with humans, such as languages spoken, technology access, and other unique community factors.

2. Avoid getting lost in translation

We’ve seen underestimation in the ability to support different languages in contact tracing efforts. Many communities impacted by the novel coronavirus are underserved and made up of non-English speakers. Residents will be more likely to retain information and build trust with tracers when interacting in their native language. Take the time to understand your local language needs to create relevant materials, support, and hire tracers who can communicate with residents in the language they prefer.

3. Hire right the first time to avoid scrambling later

With a standard of 30 tracers per 100,000 people, there is an enormous need to get people out in the field to conduct contact tracing. There is an understandable rush to get as many people hired as quickly as possible. But take a moment to consider the unique circumstances of potential candidates in today’s environment:

High unemployment does not equate to a vast talent pool. Much of the unemployment is temporary and new hires may abandon the program for their old jobs when they become available again.
Many programs will be done virtually, which sounds great for some but may be impractical for others.
Volunteers typically have a shorter tenure than paid employees. If possible, create a mix of volunteers and paid contact center professionals to mitigate attrition risk fluctuations.

Before blanketing the area with tracers, figure out the right amount for your specific needs. On average, each tracer can make about 16 calls per day. But these can shift based on community factors. If you hire too many people at first, it may be problematic down the road.

4. Create a flexible contact tracing operation that maximizes people and technology

Mobile messaging and automation can be applied right now to quickly make contact tracing more efficient. Messaging allows for 4 times as many contacts as a voice call, which reduces the number of people needed to conduct outreach. And the public prefers it. In one example, a state that offered messaging saw a 50% adoption rate within a few days.

For an efficient and consistent COVID-19 response, some programs use the same agents for both voice calls and messaging, which helps prevent workforce fluctuations and uncertainty.

Automation, meanwhile, optimizes time and energy by eliminating the need for people to do redundant, simple tasks. Online FAQs and chatbots can help the public. And you can simplify the employee experience by using bots to automate parts of their job that cause friction, such as completing forms, logging into multiple systems, or finding answers to questions while interacting with the public.  

Watch the TTEC on-demand webinar, “Contact tracing: Why the road to recovery requires people, process and technology,” to get even more insight into burning questions about contact tracing for successful COVID-19 response.

Data Breach Report: Credential Theft, Social Attacks Lead to Most Security Breaches

person typing on keyboard — Man typing at his laptop computer at night

Cybercriminals, hackers, and fraudsters are, if nothing else, adaptive. In a new study, the 2020 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, researchers identified the patterns and trends behind recent data breaches and attacks.

This year’s report analyzed more than 32,000 security incidents, of which 3,950 were confirmed breaches—nearly double the number of breaches from the previous year. The majority of breaches (over 67 percent) were caused by credential theft and social attacks such as phishing and business email compromises.

Other findings include:

43 percent of breaches involved Web applications
25 percent involved phishing
22 percent of breaches was due to human error
External actors accounted for 70 percent of data breaches, with organized crime accounting for 55 percent of these.

Human error: the equalizer
Data breaches triggered by human error are now as common as social breaches and more common than malware, according to the report. “One of the interesting things that we saw this year is the high percentage of breaches caused by human error,” says David Hylender, senior risk analyst at Verizon Business. “When you look at the breaches by industry, you’ll see that error was usually one of the top causes across the board.”

The report attributes the rise in breaches caused by human error partly to companies failing to enact proper security controls when migrating to a cloud-based infrastructure. “It’s very easy to set up storage in the cloud and start moving things but sometimes you’ll see databases that don’t even have a password and are entirely open to the internet,” Hylender notes. And in other cases, he adds, it may have been due to employees rushing and failing to observe security protocols.

Greater digital targets
Another vulnerability for many companies are Web applications. Industries that are becoming increasingly digital, such as healthcare, can expect cybercriminals to double down on their attacks. In fact, the number of confirmed data breaches in healthcare came in at 521, up from 304 in last year’s report. This number will surely rise as more healthcare organizations open patient portals and digital tools to better engage patients and members.
Web application attacks, stolen credentials, and miscellaneous attacks (e.g., compromised business emails) are among the most common ways for cybercriminals to gain access, says Hylender, who advises healthcare organizations to “look at what you’re currently doing to address those vulnerabilities and put the bulk of your security efforts into closing any gaps.”

The types of cyberattacks that companies are seeing in 2020 are likely to accelerate into the next year. Given that many companies rushed to set up online work capabilities without extensive planning, preparation, or vetting of tools, cybersecurity measures and protections will be more important than ever. “It may sound simplistic, Hylender says, “but a lot of the misconfigurations and errors that we see are due to carelessness, so paying attention goes a long way.”

3 Ways Resiliency Helps Companies Shift Back

A forward-thinking strategy is the best solution for overcoming uncertainty. For CX-leaders in the contact center space to overcome the fallout from COVID-19, the digital, remote, and perseverance strategies that carried them through the crisis in the first place may be their best move.

TTEC’s webinar, Shifting Back: How to prepare for what’s next in the contact center, discussed the innovations needed to build a long-term digitally resilient organization. Here are three strategies worth embracing.

1. Seize the distributed workforce model

Before COVID-19, many contact centers were operating in varying degrees of centralized hubs. Organizations that primarily focused on brick-and-mortar models were forced to rethink the notion of a distributed workforce.

We are now seeing incredible geo-diversification of the labor force. CX leaders in the space are embracing decentralization and becoming more flexible to virtual models. They can now utilize an agile workforce that can be redistributed the globe with a hybrid of brick-and-mortar and virtual associates. The newfound agility of their workforce helps organizations minimize the previous risks from over concentrating in certain markets.

The historical shift from physical centers is currently a temporary model, plan for a portion of agents who may wish to stay home or become incorporated in a rotational mode. Consider how this new workforce may fit into a hybrid virtual and brick-and-mortar model.

When strategizing the future of your distributed workforce, consider:

Real estate needs and costs
On-demand technology enablement and security
Blending virtual and brick-and-mortar attributed staff

For the foreseeable future, there will be less density in physical centers and decreased reliance on real estate. These factors will call for deeper investments in digital transformation tools that will enable employees and customers to better use self-service through intelligent knowledgebases and chatbots.

2. Invest in readiness

Many organizations invoke triage strategies that served the needs at the top of the funnel while de-prioritizing less critical interactions. While necessary, it resulted in organizations deflecting many interactions.

These emergency protocols were rolled out too quickly and CX leaders will need to be more prepared next time. Organizations should be poised to scale fast and invest in technology that allows them to be prepared for the unexpected even faster.

When planning for future crisis invest in:

Triage strategies
Case management and workflow capabilities
Exception-based operating rules pre-vetted and approved

Part of this will rely on the ability to pivot and scale support capabilities from your remote workplaces. But you will also have to rethink training and vetting your agents for rapid onboarding during emergencies. This will be driven by digitally enabled training so all the pieces are in order before disaster strikes.

3. Take the lead with digital

Digital transformation is here to stay. The pandemic created a cultural and behavioral shift that is going to drive new innovations in the field. The contact center must take the opportunity to be at the forefront.

The massive drive around digital adoption is in part due to the need to interact with other human beings. It’s becoming a testing ground for organizations to see just how well they can provide authenticity with ingenuity.

Chatbots and automated capabilities are making massive strides in deflecting low-effort interactions. But as the digital front door swings open, it adds more pressure to upskill your labor force to complete complex interactions. It means that it’s time for AI to step up for the simple things.

Invest in automated capabilities that can handle complicated tasks with discretionary authority. This can be accomplished by utilizing chatbots as a virtual co-worker with remote agents to provide relevant suggestions and prompts for highly emotional conversations.

As you digitize remember:

Digital transformation is no longer a luxury
Digitize and automate to unlock self-service
Social distancing=need for distributed interactions
Nature of labor talent needs will evolve

Innovate one step at a time

Embracing the new standard lies heavily on a leader’s ability not only to recognize change but act upon it. And it’s okay to start small. Focusing on high-impact, low-effort strategies will achieve quick wins and gain buy-in across the organization. Then build from there. It’s important not to get bogged down by tackling all these strategies at once.

Watch the full webinar, Shifting Back: How to prepare for what’s next in the contact center, to learn more about what it takes to ensure business resilience for your contact center.

3 Ways to Revolutionize Customer Service After the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated change in customer service. Daily at-home life for customers and agents has forced organizations to look closer at digital transformation as a serious opportunity to provide scale and cost savings to human touch to people when they need it most.

On Shep Hyken’s Amazing Business Radio podcast, he recently spoke with Jonathan Lerner, president of TTEC Digital, about what it means to move beyond the new normal. Here are three takeaways from the discussion that are essential for providing meaningful engagement in this very different looking world.

1: Employee experience is a necessity

Creating moments that delight customers are crucial during the crisis, but employees need to be delighted too. The move to an at-home environment has given organizations a prime opportunity to invest in technology and digital transformation that make their agents’ job easier. The time to jump into intelligent automation is now.

Advancements in augmented tools such as chatbots proactively give agents information and insights during overwhelming volumes of interactions, which is essentially a digital shoulder to lean on. Augmented tools will be important for a remote-based future where the perks of having a co-worker nearby are all but absent.

Understanding the tools your front-line agents use to free up their time to work on the conversations that need empathy and authenticity will be crucial. Leaders who can orchestrate digital tools into roadmaps and strategies can take the lead.

2: Embrace change and charge

The COVID-19 crisis is and will continue to be incredibly challenging; companies need to embrace the innovations happening now to create moments that truly matter. While brands generally understood the importance of digital adoption for the future, the pandemic made it an urgent priority for the present.

Forced, global digital adoption—regardless of an organization’s readiness—has redefined the marketplace across industries, geographies, and customer expectations. Whereas organizations may have once relied on personal relationships to differentiate them from the competition, effortless experience is the new standard that defines the . In a support world that once operated mainly with voice, video technology can become a mainstay opportunity to deliver face-to-face moments that is incredibly important and will become an integral part of life in the future.

The pandemic has shown how customers can adapt to change. For customer service to be proactive, they need to take the lead on utilizing the channels that are out there.

3. Enable strategies with ROI potential

Your agents and team leaders are on the front line of the innovations happening today. They’re experiencing real changes that are affecting customers as well as themselves. They are dealing with incredibly emotional moments and working under these new conditions has enabled them to create better strategies for the future. Organizations with C-suites that are open to implementing these real-time strategies can better meet the modern expectations.

Proposing strategies to executives takes work. If agents want their strategies to be heard loudly it’s essential to attach an ROI to your strategy. Executives want to look at innovations that are affecting both their customers and employees, this is a very much a numbers game. Sharing an ROI with shareholders will give your strategy the extra punch it needs.

Great CX: A crucial differentiator

As brands exit crisis-mode, their ability to capitalize on these temporary innovations will be invaluable as they move forward. Now more than ever, the future of CX will be won by those able to create the best experiences.

Let’s continue this discussion when Shep Hyken is the featured guest on TTEC’s live webinar, Rise Above the Chaos in Uncertain Times, on May 14th 12:30PM ET.

How to Rebound from the Coronavirus: Your Top Sales Questions Answered

Like a massive tidal wave, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended business operations, supply chains, and economic activity, leaving a path of uncertainty. However, it has not changed the need for sales teams to produce results.

On a recent webinar, “How to readjust and future-proof your sales,” sales growth experts from TTEC addressed prevalent questions about selling in today’s new reality and shared proven tactics, tips, and strategies.

How do I enable a sales environment with at-home sellers?

The key to enabling sellers and other employees to work productively and successfully in a remote environment is to establish regular communication streams. Schedule daily video conferences to quickly review priorities and tasks just as you would for an office meeting. Set up a peer-to-peer communication channel for informal conversations and collaborations, such as over a messaging app, in addition regular training and coaching sessions. Offer virtual coffee breaks, lunch-and-learn sessions, and virtual happy hours to build camaraderie. And don’t forget to acknowledge wins at meetings. The goal is to help sellers feel that they are part of a cohesive team—wherever they are.

How do I justify adding more sellers when budget is tight or non-existent?

Justifying the need to hire new sellers when most companies are tightening their budgets is challenging, but now is the time when talented, experienced sellers are most essential. An outsourcing partner that is experienced in rapidly training and ramping up sales teams is an effective way to extend resources. Additionally, remote workforces can be scaled up or down as needed and increase operational efficiencies while reducing costs.

What should our sellers focus on if deals are on hold?

Check in with clients and listen to what they need at this time. Be empathetic to the challenges that clients are facing. Even if a client puts a deal on hold, continue to reach out, share information, and maintain the relationship. When the client is ready to resume buying, your company will be top of mind.

Be proactive in providing useful insights and value. For instance, bringing your clients together in a group meeting where they can share notes and challenges is a valuable opportunity for your clients and increases goodwill toward your company’s brand. And with deals on hold, approach that time as an opportunity to pursue new markets. Be creative: what products or services could be retooled for a different industry?

How can I use data to deliver the right message?

With market needs evolving so quickly, data analytics and insights are more important than ever. An experienced partner can help companies identify, implement, and deploy the right data analytics tools to understand and anticipate buyer sentiment and behavior. Data insights are invaluable for understanding buyer intent and interest across the entire life cycle to drive growth and retention. These insights are also crucial to uncovering new demographic groups and opportunities.

How do I align field sales with inside sales?

A team effort has always been required to succeed in sales. This is especially true today. Sales organizations must effectively utilize all the available resources and be prepared to work in a more fluid model. Equipping field or outside sellers with the training, coaching, and resources to do inside selling maximizes resources and vice versa. From a tactical perspective, an at-home sales model also allows for greater flexibility and more personalized meetings. For example, a field sales team could line up meetings and pass them on to an at-home inside seller within the prospect’s geographic footprint to provide more relatable conversations.

The key takeaway is that these may be uncertain times, but with strategic planning and creative thinking, sales teams can emerge even stronger and well-positioned to meet their clients’ needs in a new reality.

To learn more, watch the on-demand TTEC webinar, “How to readjust and future-proof your sales.”

Here’s How Sales Professionals Can Succeed in the New Reality

At its best, sales is about helping clients succeed. When we help our clients win, we win as well. But these aren’t normal times and sales approaches that worked a few months ago may not work today. How can salespeople survive or even come out stronger in this new reality? The answer comes down to three core principles: be authentic, buyer-focused, and human. Here are four examples of how sales leaders can do exactly that.

1. Double down on providing value

The most important thing salespeople can do right now is ensure that they understand their clients’ needs. Check in with clients and listen to what they need during this time. Contact centers also hold a wealth of business intelligence and speech analytics resources. Make sure your organization’s sales team is aligned with its customer support team for insights about what your clients and prospects care about, sentiment about your company and your competitors, and emerging relevant topics.

2. Think seamless virtual interactions

In a quarantined environment, salespeople need to think in terms of virtual selling. At the same time, individuals have different preferences for how they want to be communicated with and sold to in the sales and buying process. Be prepared to communicate with buyers through a variety of platforms and devices from video conferencing tools to mobile apps, SMS, web, social, and voice. As buyers come to expect seamless and personalized virtual experiences at every step of the buyer journey, an internal flow of customer data and collaboration across the organization will be more important than ever.

3. Maximize efficiencies

Artificial intelligence and automation are invaluable in enabling effective and efficient selling. Even before the pandemic, AI was streamlining data-driven tasks, boosting productivity, and accelerating lead prioritization and data entry. Now is the time to lean into AI to drive speed to value. A buyer, for instance, could be greeted by an AI-enabled chatbot that quickly gathers information about the type of product that the buyer is interested in and routes the message to the right salesperson. On the backend, AI can provide the sales representative with relevant buyer insights in real time while also performing data entry.

4. Be human

Most sales professionals are already used to conducting business over the phone or video. But many people may not be used to this mode of communication. Remember to be even more conscientious about time spent communicating with prospects, buyers, and clients. Acknowledge that they’re busy and may also be adapting to a new environment. Plan out your outreach conversations as structured conversations, with plenty of research and thoughtful questions to ensure you’re using that time effectively and efficiently.

Recalibrating for a new normal

Sales professionals today are walking a tightrope in acknowledging the COVID-19 crisis without being opportunistic while still producing results. Instead of despairing, sales professionals have an opportunity to find new ways to connect with clients and do what they do best—help clients solve their problems.

To learn more, register for the TTEC live webinar, “How to readjust and future-proof your sales” on April 28 at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Contact Centers Maintain Human Connections in Times of Crisis

In times of crisis — like right now — people are naturally anxious. They are unsure of what will happen next. They have questions. They need answers. And in many cases, they are looking to connect with other people to share their experiences, emotions, and find someone who will listen. It’s a way to gain reassurance that we’re all in this together.

Contact centers and customer service organizations play a critical role in enabling those human connections. They are on the front line of a brand’s relationship with customers and the public. They provide essential services that in some cases deliver life-sustaining support of banks, healthcare organizations, telecommunications, travel, and insurance, just to name a few.

The people who work in contact centers are often dealing with their own personal situations amidst the coronavirus outbreak, yet they continue to show up for work and give their very best each day. They provide empathy, compassion, and expertise to directly help individuals during one of the most stressful times in history. It’s inspiring and humbling.

Some agents field questions about whether treatment and testing are covered by health insurance. Some help banking or phone customers pause payments due to a furlough or layoff. Others track restaurant delivery orders to follow-up about when those chicken wings will arrive. While others allow customers to buy or replace products virtually when physical stores are closed.

Contact center agents truly are the lifeblood of our new reality, when things are fluid and unpredictable. In their interactions with customers, contact center employees provide crucial communications to those in need or they allow some semblance of regular life. They are the voice of the brand to customers looking for help.

Contact center agents are more important than ever

The need for customers to reach organizations accelerated nearly overnight. Airlines, hotels and other travel-related businesses are reporting hours-long hold times. State and local government agencies are getting overwhelmed with calls about unemployment insurance, health tips, lockdowns, and more. Call volumes for anything even remotely related to coronavirus are surging, putting strain on the employees and systems designed to provide great experiences. Websites, emails, and other static resources don’t provide the individual attention and reassurance that people are looking for right now. They are looking for help and calling contact centers to find answers.

It’s never been more critical for businesses and agencies to be available to help customers. And how they deliver customer experiences is adapting to this changing environment. Here are a few examples:

Work-from-home goes front-and-center

During this unprecedented time, companies including TTEC are shifting contact center operations to work-from-home situations as much as possible to maintain business continuity and allow agents to be available for customers safely even during lockdowns and curfews. Some are literally bringing desktop computers home, while others connect their own devices to networks to work remotely in a secure environment. We are also adding to our work-from-home workforce to increase the amount of support we can provide clients from nearly anywhere.

In a few isolated cases, highly sensitive or regulated operations may prevent a complete move to remote work. Government and financial regulations require extra security on some accounts where a move home just isn’t possible. In those circumstances, TTEC has undertaken WHO-recommended cleaning and prevention measures including deep cleanings multiple times per day, fogging of entire locations, temperature checks, and social distancing. And we are keeping all employees informed with regular tips on prevention and self-care, along with news about what the company is doing to maintain employee safety and health.

Get the message

Voice calls can only be stretched so far. Instead, many companies and customers are opting to include messaging options including Apple Business Chat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and direct SMS texts. Unlike voice or even live chat, messaging allows one agent to conduct up to 4 conversations at once. Background noise is never a problem. And just like when texting friends and family, emojis and shortcuts (LOL) enable the personal connection users are looking for. Messaging can be deployed with minimal IT support and can be configured and implemented quickly, sometimes within days.

Automate intelligently

Not every customer interaction needs a human. And that’s ok. A blend of AI, robotics, journey/workflow management, and innovation can both meet customer needs and gain incredible efficiencies in the contact center. Customer-facing AI-enabled bots can replace or supplement human interactions for simple, repeatable questions, while time-consuming back-office work is streamlined via automation to eliminate associate administrative time so they can focus on helping customers. This frees up agents to deal directly with customers on more complex, emotional issues where personal connection matters most.

In these trying times, there is enormous value in human connections. We humans are made to interact with one another — physically, mentally, and emotionally. Contact centers are working hard to fill the void and bring humanity to business during the pandemic and every day. And when they get it right, we’re all better for it.

Please visit our microsite at http://www.ttec.com/coronavirus to read more about TTEC’s Crisis Management solution, client case studies, and keep up with new developments.

Work-at-Home Benefits: A Primer for the Move to a Remote CX Workforce

As COVID-19 spreads and impacts work around the globe, work-from-home options become more enticing to keep contact center business continuity customer operations running smoothly. To help prepare an organization for the shift to an at-home workforce to ensure business continuity and employee health, we’ve outlined key benefits of using home-based contact center agents for some or all of your customer sales and support.

Business continuity

When a crisis hits, geography can be the deciding factor if your business succeeds. Moving work to an at-home model reduces geographical risk of an on-premise contact center. A remote workforce is especially crucial during pandemics like COVID-19, where close contact among large groups of people is discouraged, and in some places banned. Moreover, if unforeseen regional macro challenges occur in offshore contact centers, e.g. ISP failures, remote workforces in more stable regions can offer a viable contingency plan.

Significant cost savings

A home-based model provides much more value to a business (and customers) than traditional contact centers, both in terms of cost savings and the quality of the customer experience. Low operational costs make it an attractive onshore option for companies looking to move back to the U.S., and the highly skilled and trained associates provide a higher standard of service.

When moving to a home-based model from a complete brick-and-mortar contact center operation, TTEC clients typically see real estate and equipment costs shrink by 70% and 25%, respectively. At the same time, employee retention increases by 65%, and performance management efficiencies increase by 20%.

A broader (and deeper) talent pool

Recruiting for home-based associates isn’t limited by geography, so the quality and volume of the talent pool automatically rises. Companies can find the best employees for both part- and full-time work from anywhere. And with an average age of 40 and an average work experience of 11 years, at-home associates bring professional and life experience to a client program, along with higher educational backgrounds.

Keeping data safe and secure

Information security is the number one concern when it comes to the at-home model. Often, fear of data breaches prevents companies from implementing home-based associates. TTEC takes data security very seriously, whether our agents work at home or in our brick-and-mortar sites. We have been operating an at-home environment for different industries for almost five years and can rapidly stand up PCI, HIPAA, HITRUST and GDPR complaint at-home solutions. Our on-going investment in best practices, into training, and vulnaribiity testing positions our clients for success when they use our at-home platform.

Playing the long game

Forward-looking businesses recognize the benefits of flexible staffing far outweigh sticking with a static, traditional work environment. When it comes to meeting customer expectations and maintaining productivity, the more flexibility companies have in ramping up or down quickly with a variety of dispersed staff; the better organizations will be at meeting service levels and delivering a great customer experience—regardless of what comes next.

Getty Images: The Secret to Impactful Images is Thinking Consumer First

portrait of young woman under neon light — Chinese, migrant, queer, femme, first generation, Gu Zheng player, artist, friend, roommate, spiritual, Relaxed, curious, joyful, sleepy, caring, capable, self-assured, comfortable, committed, driven

What insights can be found in the many photos, images, and other visual content that brands use to convey messages to customers? In a survey of more than 10,000 consumers and professionals across 26 countries conducted in partnership with the market research firm YouGov, Getty Images set out to understand the trends underlying the visual content that marketers and creative professionals select from its enormous database and what resonates with consumers.

As part of the survey, respondents were asked about their personal values, likes, dislikes, and the responses were analyzed alongside Getty Images’ search and sales data, internal findings from its creative visual team, and other market research data. The learnings included recommendations on what to consider when selecting images for popular areas such as technology, wellness, sustainability, and realness.

For example, when looking to visualize technology, Getty Images recommends showing technology as the “center of the action” and using “graphic illustrations that represent the connections that technology enables” for greater impact. We also reached out to Dr. Rebecca Swift, global head of creative insights at Getty Images, for a deeper dive into the key insights that marketers and creative professionals should consider when making decisions about visual content:

When selecting images for content, how should businesses balance gut-based decisions with decisions that are based on A/B testing and other data-driven methods? Is there still room for gut-based decisions?

Imagery is such an emotionally driven decision that unless there is an implicit understanding about how all the elements work together in the frame, it is difficult to determine image choice. Machine learning can do so much but it cannot predict the response to content when the elements do not create an emotional connection. (The reasons are multitudinal – visual memory/seen as cliched/color palette doesn’t work/seems inauthentic etc).

We have found that data can point us in the right direction but there needs to be a sentient being involved in the final decision-making process. We can predict what is most likely to work but we are also continually testing what will work best next by imbibing creative ideas into the content and analyzing how our customers react to it.

What is the key takeaway for companies that want to select images that resonate with their customers?

You must take the time to unearth understandings about what matters most to your key consumer groups—specifically, what impacts their decision-making. Luckily, we’ve done the legwork here. While the audience for each brand is different, our data identifies several points for consideration among four key Forces.

In terms of realness, consumers resonate most with brands who come across as transparent, honest and real with their imagery and messaging. Not a surprise, per se, but an understanding brands can feel better about now that we’ve got the data to back it up.

For wellness, we found that consumers value physical health and mental health equally, and place a high value on both–suggesting that brands should consistently concern themselves with visualizing both in an effort to better reach consumers.

When it comes to Technology, we’ve found that visuals related to the “hottest” and “newest” devices are all well and fine, but consumers are most concerned with their relationships with technology, both good and bad. For instance, 97% of consumers say technology makes them feel more connected, but 41% say that technology has damaged their relationships, too. It’s a push/pull dynamic and one brands should concern themselves with. For that reason, and based on our findings, brands should emphasize visuals which highlight the positive aspects of technology and the interconnectedness it enables.

And lastly, while people claim to value sustainability across the board, their actions don’t consistently line up. Specifically, half of consumers say they only buy products from brands that try to be eco-friendly, but roughly just as many (48%) also say that convenience is more important. There’s an opportunity for brands to help consumers shift their actions to mirror their attitudes.

What was most surprising about the survey responses in relation to the 4 categories or forces that were identified as most popular among companies?

One of the most surprising takeaways arguably came from our sustainability findings, through which we found that sustainability is important to consumers of all ages, across generations, continents and cultures. One might assume that sustainability is something favored only by younger generations, but that’s likely not the case–which means there’s a veritable opportunity for brands to better reach consumers across all groups by embracing sustainability-forward visuals. We’ve also identified a missed opportunity stemming from a lack of older generations being depicted in imagery. For instance, our findings show that the percentage of Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers that value overall wellness, wellbeing and “living by one’s principles” is greater than that of younger generations, and yet most visuals depicting wellness show Gen Z and millennials. As we see it, there’s a clear correlation between the importance of wellness and age, and brands should take note.

How sustainability is reshaping relationships with consumers and clients

On Feb. 17, Jeff Bezos announced the “Bezos Earth Fund,” pledging $10 billion against what he deemed Earth’s biggest threat, climate change. “It’s going to take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals,” posted Bezos on Instagram.

Sustainability, and consequently climate change, have become an intense area of conversation as organizations and experts fear drastic tipping points. In his 2020 Letter to CEOs, Larry Fink, the CEO of the global investment manager BlackRock, cited climate change as a leading factor that may shape the long-term profits of companies and the planet.

The letter represents not only wider acknowledgement of the forces shaping the planet, but also the urgent sense of responsibility and action that the current and next generation will face in the marketplace. As Fink wrote, “a company cannot achieve long-term profits without embracing purpose and considering the needs of a broad range of stakeholders.”

A healthy planet is good for business

Recent findings from ING, stressed the repercussions of organizations who turn a blind eye to the market’s growing environmental concerns. Their report, “Learning from consumers: How shifting demands are shaping companies circular economy transition,” stated that 61 percent of consumers would be less likely to buy from companies with poor environmental practices and less than half under the age of 34 would boycott food companies that fail to address environmental concerns.

BlackRock’s Letter to Clients stated sustainability as the new standard for investment, and with this proclamation came both an assurance to help clients adjust to environmental standards and a word of warning to those teetering or tampering with negative environmental actions. One example is its pledge to further evaluate, and potentially exit, sectors it deems to be at high environmental risk such as thermal coal producers.

One of the biggest promises in terms of sustainability is Microsoft’s effort to combat carbon emissions, a factor in climate change. Microsoft pledged to be carbon negative by 2030 and by 2050 it will remove the entirety of its carbon emissions since its founding in 1975.

These drastic calls to action from some of the world’s highest-ranking CEOs exemplify the power of large corporations to shape the market and world with their capitol and resources, as well as their will to adapt to new expectations of the public.

Going beyond purpose

In late 2019 when I interviewed Jeff Fromm, a speaker and writer on consumer trends, we discussed what it meant to be purpose driven, Fromm stated, “it’s purpose in combination with other factors.” Unless you are the Amazons or Microsofts of the world, it’s going to take a lot more than saying you promise to do good.

In 2020 organizations may continue to make pledges to positively impact or right the wrongs that are important to their customers and clients, and subsequently the world, but what will truly drive exceptional moments of authenticity is their ability to drive change with innovation to stand out and survive in a changing marketplace.