The revolution of digital applications is impacting every business industry across the world, from healthcare to automotive to retail to professional services, and everything in between. Going digital is no longer just an optional differentiator; it’s truly become essential for doing business in 2020. And by following the right digital transformation path, you can reap some potentially transformative ROI for your business, too!
Why haven’t more businesses and organizations chosen to embrace a real digital transformation strategy? In many cases it boils down to one of two things (or both):
Many local brick-and-mortar businesses don’t make primary use of e-commerce platforms. These business leaders can be led to believe that a digital strategy isn’t relevant for them. They assume that since their customers aren’t virtual, and neither are their business products & services, then a digital transformation really isn’t needed. Sadly, these leaders simply don’t understand how much a digital transformation could benefit them.
Some businesses falsely believe that as long as they’re making use of some digital tools, then they’re doing fine. They figure that incorporating a little technology makes them “digital enough,” thank you very much. Or, they know they need to be more digital, but they don’t know how to get there. Many well-intentioned leaders are so caught up in their day-to-day busy-ness that they never take the time to step back and create a proactive digital plan for really helping their business.
For starters, ensuring your business has the right digital tools will empower your marketing efforts through better data analysis, easier content creation, better brand engagement, and improved CX for your users and visitors. Optimizing your website & social media accounts and taking advantage of CRM software can help you with lead generation, sales conversions, and managing your customer relationships more efficiently & effectively.
Digital transformation will look different for each individual company based upon the scale of your organization and how it operates, but it’s an effective strategy which can be successfully applied for any business. In essence, digital transformation can be defined as applying digital technologies to various areas of your business to improve key metrics like you operate, how you communicate, and how you deliver value to your clients, customers, and prospects. Digital transformation also involves a certain change in business perspective and culture; the more digitally literate your organization can become, the more beneficial results you can attain. Embracing digital capabilities will allow your company to be able to see the world around you, your employees, your business partners, your competitors, and your customer relationships in a new light, with new insights.
Although digital transformation can vary based upon each individual organization, there are a couple of constants and common themes which all business and innovation pioneers should consider as they plot their digital transformation course. The right digital marketing partner can help you to develop your digital strategy, design your framework, and implement all of your needed assets.
Some common components (and benefits) of digital transformation include the following:
But how can seizing the opportunities that digital transformation offers make you a real industry leader?
Never before have businesses had more information available into which they can tap for really understanding their customers. The rise of big data and its subsequent analysis can give you a real competitive advantage, if you know how to take full advantage. By utilizing historical data and making some informed predictions, you’ll have everything you need for making better business decisions in real time.
Are you using digital technology to connect with potential customers? If you’re not, then you’re likely giving a ton of leads to your competitors by default. A digital transformation can place a huge list of potential customers right in your lap, if you’ll only do what is necessary to entice them. With the right desktop and mobile development in place, you can grow your customer base in practically any target area, unrestricted by geographical limitations or other typical demographics.
The information and processes that digital transformation allows aren’t just relevant to customer management. Digital transformation also enables helps businesses to understand their rivals better, and gain a better sense of the broader market in general. The businesses who are finding the greatest success are those who are utilizing digital to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities in their prospective markets.
Since your employees are really the driving force behind your business, it makes sense to enable them to be as effective and efficient as possible. Digital technology can give them the power to work from any location, minimize idle time, and facilitate knowledge sharing for better communication & improved understanding. The right technology can help streamline important business processes as well, which further frees up employees to work on other key areas which need their attention.
Once you have effective technology in place, you may also find that your business model and scope are starting to shift. The digital world offers plenty of scope for expansion, including taking advantage of new omnichannel business opportunities, or even those which are exclusively digital. For instance, a company known for its in-depth industry insights can explore ways to monetize these insights digitally, such as through digital consultations and webinars.
There is no such thing as an organization which is 100% digital. Why? Because, at the end of the day, businesses and organizations are still made up of people. Nevertheless, today’s companies can leverage technology to better manage their people, internal & external relationships, products, services, processes, policies, AND strategies!
As long as you have a clear understanding of all the moving parts within your business ecosystem, then a digital transformation can be leveraged to refine that ecosystem to be more responsive to your business goals, needs, and wants. At its heart, this kind of transformation is really about revolutionizing the real-world experiences of people and organizations.
The basic components of an effective digital transformation are perhaps best summarized by the acronym AMPS, which stands for:
Analytics (gaining insights from big data)
Mobile (designing mobile-friendly apps)
Platforms (utilizing the cloud for data storage, sharing, and web hosting)
Social (optimizing social media for more effective networking, outreach, and brand building)
Ready to help your business or organization blaze a path towards digital transformation, but don’t know how to get there? Then partner with a digital marketing and development professional you can trust – reach out to the experts at Cibirix! We specialize in helping small and medium-sized businesses to grow, and we can help you grow your business, too. Contact us online today, and let’s get the conversation started!
Prashant Yadu is a Social Media Analyst at Cibirix, and he’s now been part of our team for over five years. His particular area of focus for us revolves around Facebook advertising. With the help of his analytical skills and creative ideas, Prashant has helped to generate some remarkable results for our marketing clients. Before diving deeper into social media marketing, Prashant’s work focused on search engine optimization, where he handled both On-Page & Off-Page SEO for business clients. When he’s not hard at work, Prashant enjoys watching movies, listening to music, and hanging out with friends/family.