Digital technologies are being spoken of everywhere. Most companies – medium or large-scale – are contemplating the digital move to meet customer expectations and keep up with their competitors. In fact, McKinsey conducted a global survey where more than eight out of ten respondents said that their organization had taken measures to enhance their digital footprint.
In a growing number of companies across sectors, the most visible face of the digital transformation is the push to adopt a more digital sales model driven by eCommerce sites and omnichannel customer engagement with tightly aligned backend business processes geared to deliver powerful customer experiences.
However, the success rate of these efforts is low. Less than 30% of companies succeed. Another report by State of Digital Business reveals that 47% of companies have not even begun their digital transformation. And 59% of companies believe that it is already too late for them. By some estimates, $900 billion out of $1.3 trillion invested in digital transformation yields sub-optimal results. Even companies in digitally sound sectors like tech, telecom, and media struggle with such changes.
So, why is this digital transformation so difficult for most companies? We are here to claim that this is because they ignore the tight integration between technology, analytics, and marketing. Many companies treat these as separate practices and pay the price. They either attempt them independently of each other or hire different agencies to provide solutions in each space. Their transformation efforts suffer from fundamental misalignments, take longer to execute, and cause them to offer disjointed and inconsistent customer experiences, that drag down the entire effort.
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21st Century’s Customer: Digitally Aware
Digital transformation calls for the integration of digital technology in all business processes, bringing fundamental changes in modes of operation and customer experience.
One of the fundamental drivers of digital transformation is the digital customer. Businesses today are catering to the needs of a community of highly engaged customers who are digitally sound. These customers tend to buy 90% more frequently, spend 60% more over their next buy and have three times the annual value of an average customer. But these customers expect more.
To satisfy the digitally aware buyer, businesses should start thinking digital too. Businesses need to provide them the information they need, when they need it, on the channel of their choice to help them progress in their buying journey. The process starts long before the customer lands on the site to make a purchase and ends long after. Digital engagement covers customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. The onus is on the newly digitized business to adapt means like digital marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, and intelligent digital advertising to communicate with the customers across the entire lifecycle. It is important to ensure coherence, consistency, accuracy, quality, and timeliness in all transactions across touchpoints.
There’s little doubt that this demands tight integration between technology, analytics, and marketing for absolute success.
Getting Started With Digital Transformation
A study at MIT proves that companies that have digitally transformed themselves are 26% more profitable than the competition. Here are the quick steps to begin:
Define Your Strategy
Define your current situation and where you see yourself in the coming time. Now make a plan of action to achieve your goal. Assess the opportunities and threats created by the emergence of the digital customer to utilize the full potential of digital transformation.
Visualize The Customer’s Journey
40% of the respondents in an HBR survey said that customer experience is their topmost priority for choosing digital transformation. Therefore, you should get into the shoes of the customer and look at your business. What are your customers looking for? What can save their time and resources? How can these customers feel differently about you?
Develop An Apt IT Strategy
45% of executives say that their companies lack the required technology for digital transformation. But of course, technology is just the essential backbone for the array of activities the digitized business must undertake. This is where a full-service partner agency can help layout and implement a comprehensive strategy that integrates technology, analytics, and marketing for a better customer experience.
Personalize The CX
Customers want to feel unique and appreciated today. Accenture says that customers tend to buy more from companies that:
- Recognize them by name
- Understand their purchase history
- Provide relevant product recommendations
Therefore, companies invest in powerful technology solutions that allow them to create a customer-oriented experience by evaluating their past history and trends.
Seamless Multi-channel Integrations
Since customers have a range of devices at their command, seamless multi-channel integration is a must in digital transformation. And this applies across functional areas. For instance, more than 50% of customers expect instant customer service. They also want solutions on weekends and public holidays. Companies need strategies that allow them to address all digital channels, like the website, social media, and feedback shared through mobile apps, for the desired impact.
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The Collaboration Of Technology, Analytics, And Marketing
In the digital domain, technology, analytics, and marketing must come together to ensure success. This collaboration can be leveraged for unbelievable results in the following aspects:
Designing Marketing Campaigns
Companies can analyze data and target the core needs of their customers. Such targeted marketing yields better results when implemented with real-time analytics and technology integration.
Economic Decisions
Traditionally, companies used data like competitor pricing, demand, and value of the product to determine its price. With technology-driven analytics, they can use various other factors like performance-based data and automated price regulation for driving real-time pricing decisions for maximum profit.
Optimizing Website Content
It’s no longer possible to keep the website static. Product information and offerings must be provided in a manner designed to drive conversions. Analytics and technology can be used to market appropriate products and offers to different target audiences. By showing relevant content as per the customer’s data, one can enhance personalization and drive better outcomes.
Optimized Operations
To improve operational efficiency, technology and analytics must address key internal operational areas. Digitalization at this scale is mostly about introducing automation in operations, to improve customer experience and raise profit margins.
Customer Acquisition And Retention
Digitalization with technology, analytics, and marketing can help companies find innovative ways to acquire customers and retain them. The automated systems can collect information about the user’s preferences and determine discounts and product bundles for excellent customer satisfaction.
Gearing Up For Ultimate Digital Success
Most businesses acknowledge that it is time to make the business digital. As we have shown, the need of the hour is to address the challenge with a robust and unified strategy that covers technology, analytics, and marketing. Instead of seeking different solutions from different agencies, it’s wiser to opt for digital transformation from Ignitiv, a full-service agency with industry-leading expertise in CX, eCommerce technology, customer analytics, and digital marketing. It’s, quite literally, the best of all worlds.
