The need for efficiency in Digital Marketing is pushing businesses to find more intelligent, data-driven ways of planning campaigns, producing content, and managing processes and finances.
The path chosen for almost all of them is a concept called Digital Transformation. This brings companies’ administrative and operational capabilities to a new era of automation and optimization.
With that in mind, let’s talk about Digital Transformation and how you can implement it with the following topics:
- What is Digital Transformation?
- Why companies need Digital Transformation?
- How to start a Digital Transformation in your company?
- Examples of Digital Transformation
What is Digital Transformation?
A lot of people mistakenly take Digital Transformation as a market solution, like software or a platform. And some businesses even thrive selling it as if it was one.
But no, you can’t buy Digital Transformation — this is the first thing to clarify.
It is more closely related to a culture that leads C-Level professionals to restructure their companies around technology.
A better way to define the concept is: Digital Transformation is an effort to integrate, organize, and redesign data and processes to be completely realized in a digital environment.
Although not the only way of explaining the term, it is a good starting point for the discussion.
When you go to the market in search of solutions, you are not getting a turnkey solution but rather the tools that will allow you to implement the goal you envisioned.
That difference is so vital that other schools of thought approach Digital Transformation more like a way of thinking. A culture of innovation based on efficiency, optimization, and automation.
But whichever definition we take as the most accurate, Digital Transformation can be seen as the sum of cloud-based software and infrastructure, Business Intelligence, and modern ways of managing productivity and projects based on data.
Why companies need Digital Transformation?
More than just finding the perfect pitch for Digital Transformation, what matters is its practical benefits.
To keep the discussion going, let’s take a look at those benefits that are quickly apparent after implementation.
Optimization over expansion
All this popularity made Digital Transformation a buzzword with a significant shift in the market in the last few years.
In the past, when businesses wanted to increase market share and work with more simultaneous clients, the only option was to grow larger. More people, more equipment, larger rooms.
But technology, especially cloud computing, changed that forever. Now, these tools can help you optimize productivity — cutting down on processes and automating tasks to do more with the same resources.
What does that mean? The race for consolidation and brand awareness is now in how efficiently you do your work and how you can translate that into a better end-product.
Especially in innovative areas like marketing, it is the difference between stagnation and success.
Strategy before action
Digital Transformation is not only about better productivity, but also about having the right plan to achieve your goals.
Data-driven administration can find better, deeper insights into marketing trends, your buyer persona, and the benchmarking your competition.
With larger pools of data and the tools to analyze them, it’s easier to include Business Intelligence in your decisions, acting quicker and more effectively than more hesitant brands.
More productivity
We can’t avoid talking about how Digital Transformation tools impact the actual process of producing content in a marketing business.
Automated processes, cloud-based tools, real-time communication solutions, and project management platforms help you and your team be more organized and proactive.
The result is a group of highly engaged professionals with greater means to achieve their vision and innovate in the market.
Quicker responses to the market
Innovation is vital if you wish to be competitive in the future. The market is moving towards ever-changing trends and the pulverization of niches — all powered by digital experiences and interactive content.
A marketing plan doesn’t work anymore without taking digital into account — and even as a priority. So why should productivity be any different?
With data-driven strategies and an efficiency-based structure, any business can be prepared to respond to changes in demand with speed and assertion. It is a future-proof move rewarding CMOs with a first-mover advantage.
How to start a Digital Transformation in your company?
When analyzing what this concept brings to the table in terms of productivity, efficiency, and brand positioning, it becomes clear that Digital Transformation isn’t just a competitive advantage.
It may be now, but it will quickly become the means for survival.
With highly optimized pipelines, the companies that fail to follow this specific trend will never manage to offer the same prices, quality, and deadlines that the new market standards demand.
How does one begin? There is no recipe to follow, as each business has its particularities and stages of digital consolidation.
However, some tips are obligatory for those beginning their journey. Let’s take a look!
Assess the present
For your planning to start correctly, you need to know where you are digitally.
This means, at first, making an inventory of the digital solutions you already have implemented. But it goes well beyond that.
It is time to draw a map of productivity and project management — how processes are designed right now to make the business function.
While you do that, you can start by analyzing which of those could be cut, or could be solved by automation.
It is an assessment of digital consolidation. From that point on, your path becomes a lot clearer.
Set your goals for the future
Having cloud storage and some software isn’t enough to be considered as a good transition towards Digital Transformation.
The broader concept considers these as tools for achieving the real benefits — the means, not the end.
So think a lot about what you want. A more streamlined production? More integration and collaboration among the team? Decentralized project management that helps your company work with more clients at the same time?
These goals will not only guide Digital Transformation but also create an identity for your brand. A culture that attracts and retains more of your public and even influences the campaigns you can plan from now on.
Find the right solutions
Now that you know where you are and where to go, you can finally invest in the tools to help you. For Digital Transformation, a solution as a service is the best method for speedy implementation.
Integration is key when searching for the best platforms. Try and find those that offer the greatest variety of functionalities with support for BI, collecting, and automatically analyzing data.
Motivate your team
It doesn’t matter how many Digital Marketing tools you acquire and implement; they won’t do much if your teams’ mindset isn’t in the right place.
As we’ve already said, Digital Transformation is also a culture, a way of being productive by prioritizing efficiency and collaboration.
The best tip we can give on the matter is to let them be a part of the whole process from the planning phase. Ask their opinions, offer specialized training, motivate their participation when implementing each new solution.
Integrated systems, highly engaging communication tools and software that incentivize teamwork will move your team, and, therefore, the company.
Examples of Digital Transformation
Now that we’ve discussed the main points on Digital Transformation let’s see what it did for some notable companies.
Each one of these examples is a testament to the importance and the benefits of the new digital era.
Going digital for storage and sales management
This may not be your field of work, but seeing what giant retail chains did with Digital Transformation is a clear and simple example of its benefits.
Huge companies like Home Depot, Target, and Best Buy went through this transition in recent years, focusing especially on deep cuts in operational costs.
Those same brands used the opportunity to improve their digital presence and online shopping experiences, with intelligent order management and more efficient customer success.
Going digital for Marketing and client-focused strategies
Nike is a giant, but it doesn’t mean they take it for granted. The company is constantly investing in Digital Transformation, always trying to adapt to public and marketing demands — the COVID-19 pandemic is an example of that.
What is interesting in this case is their focus. Of course, they are always improving operational indicators, but they go digital mainly because their audience is there.
Nike’s goal is to bring solutions to improved marketing, powerful data analytics, and richer purchasing experiences.
These are all set to keep doing what they always have: creating a strong brand image and an identification with their buyer persona.
Going digital when you are already digital
A great example to demonstrate the power of Digital Transformation is seeing tech companies investing in it too. Microsoft is a huge example of that.
Over the past few years, the brand drastically changed its position to be a provider of innovation and technology as a service.
And it has paid off, as Microsoft saw its stock exponentially grow in value in the 2010s. The lesson they teach is how investing in a digital connection with clients is necessary for the future. Cloud-based solutions and live experiences are bringing people closer to the brands they love. It improves retention, and it poses a new opportunity for customer loyalty.
With all those points considered, we can see that Digital Transformation is a necessary mean towards a business revolution. It helps you increase efficiency and brings intelligence to your future decisions. It gets you closer to your audience and allows you to offer them better services and experiences.
So how about start using this new power to create an innovative, data-driven company? Check our exclusive e-book on Market Intelligence!
