How You Can Implement Digital Transformation Smartly

Digital technologies are changing most industries – via digital transformation – in a very important way. Using these new capabilities in the context of your organisation is no longer an option but a question of timing. While there is definitely regarding hype around digital, it is widely accepted that the adoption of relevant capabilities is the way forward. Most CEOs and CTOs are thinking actively about their next steps.

While there’s a crystal clear intent to make better utilise digital technologies, however, not many leaders have the ability to progress beyond step one, resulting in false starts at best as well as loss of leadership credibility at worst.

Even though each company is unique in the way digital capabilities will advantage it, there are major principles that are applicable to all leaders who are wanting to embark on their digital transformation journey in a smart and effective manner.

What Leads To The Necessity For Digital Transformation?

Present and future shifts as well as changes, leading to the requirement of a quicker deployment of a digital transformation strategy, can be encouraged by a number of different causes, frequently at exactly the same time, on the levels of customer behaviour as well as expectations, new economic realities, societal shifts (e.g. ageing populations), ecosystem/industry disruption in addition to (the accelerating adoption and innovation regarding) evolving or existing digital technologies.

In practice, end-to-end customer experience optimisation, operational flexibility and innovation are key drivers and aims of digital transformation, along with the evolution of new revenue sources and information-powered ecosystems of value, so leading to business model transformations and new forms of digital processes.

However, before getting there it’s very important to solve internal challenges as well, among others on the level of legacy systems as well as disconnects in processes, whereby internal goals are inevitable for the next steps.

Identify What Digital Transformation Means To Your Organisation

With the plethora of digital capabilities which are available, understanding how some of these opportunities will really benefit your business is the key first step. Think big but start small and identify those areas that will benefit you immediately. Make sure that you take a two-pronged approach. Think about key specific challenges the business is facing and marry that back to new technique.

Communication Is Key In Digital Transformation

As face-to-face interactions were put on pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, other forms of communicating with internal business teams or academic classrooms were heavily utilised. For some industries, email and instant messaging have proven their worth. Even in the academic setting, a lot of schools and universities implemented learning platforms such as Google Classroom as well as Blackboard into their programmes.

However as people navigate a new normal of working and learning from home – and also adopt hybrid models of working – and circumstances are personalized, it’s pertinent to make sure a clear and malleable communication strategy. As the initiator of the communication, you need to first make note of which platform is best to execute a specific message. The content should drive that decision.

Depending on the level of importance, at times video goes over better as an initial point of contact, with maybe a follow-up email. If more colloquial in nature, messaging platforms tend to be a better route. B2C and B2B firms should look to adopt a similar strategy in communicating with their customers. Video drives higher engagement, while social media leans more informal.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Do you want to master the art of digital transformation? If you do then you need to do our Digital Transformation Course. Follow this link to find out more.