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August 15, 2016
Take the Opposite approach to Digital Transformation
“The one constant of change is that it’s always for someone else...except it's not.”
Today's customers demand to be recognized across every channel, whether online or offline. They don't care about which part of the company they are dealing with, to them, there's only one brand. Yet, companies continue to give customers a disconnected experience, with sales, service and marketing each working to engage the audience on their own, without coordinating their efforts. It makes customers frustrated, disengaged and disloyal. In a 2013 research study by Oracle, 89% of customers said they had switched brands due to a bad customer experience.
The convergence of technology and behavior is only accelerating and the butterfly effect it causes is transformative and disruptive. Markets are shifting to such extent that they open the door to innovation with new products, services and ways of doing business becoming the norm as…
How to survive digital transformation
I'm not sure we should be encouraging people to think of digital transformation as armageddon scenario, but then again it does bear certain similarities. It's hard work, and keeping your team united is key to success (or that's what I'm lead to believe by all the survival movies I've seen).
When you're working on a digital transformation project, anything that can go wrong probably will. It's a difficult task, so it makes sense to get some help. In fact, Gartner research shows that digital transformation initiatives only have a 30% success rate, so most fail. To make sure yours doesn't, it might be wise to have a read of tfm's new Digital Transformation Survival Guide.
Thanks to tfm for publishing this infographic. If you want more advice on managing the digital transformation process, expert business members can download our …
The key to effective transformation is being connected
If there is one word that seems to be in every conversation today, it’s transformation. It started as digital transformation and now many businesses are panicking about business transformation. This new strategic focus is driven by the disruptions brought through social, mobile, and digital…. which were all the buzz words du jour over the past few years. Remember when every conversation you had last year was about “big data”? And the year before it was all about social and the social enterprise? And a few years back it was all about mobile? And many years ago it was all about digital media and digital channels?
All these are buzz words about a new technology or platform that was evolving from being an emerging trend to becoming mainstream. Digital channels, social enterprise, mobile networks and big…
Five recommendations for approaching digital innovation in order to serve the customer better
Through using digital technology and media, customers have found new ways to communicate, consume and share. They now measure the performance of organisations and the brand experience based on the standards set by ‘digital natives’ such as Amazon or Uber. Customers expect the same rapid response times, a seamless omnichannel experience and real-time information from every other organisation they do business with.
While most traditional organisations now have customer-centricity and enhancing the customer experience high on their strategic agenda, they’re at a distinct disadvantage as few of these organisations have been built around the customer’s needs or with an ‘outside-in’ approach. Digital start-ups, on the other hand, have customer-centricity at their very core which gives them the edge on customer experience.
Why digital disruptors have the edge…
4 Agile Marketing Experts give their views on what it takes
Unfortunately, too many marketers have confused ad-hoc social media promotions with genuine agile marketing.
While the original concept of ‘agile’ as a way of working was first popularised in the world of software development, it wasn’t until recently when applied to the realm of social media that we’ve started to talk about ‘agile marketing’.
Certainly real-time engagement with your customers can get you noticed. Oreo Cookies, for example, is famous for its ‘dunk in the dark’ tweet during the Super Bowl power outage.
The success of Oreo Cookies has spurred many brands to attempt their own quick turnaround content for social media, which has often got them noticed in the wrong kind of way.
From barely thought-out newsjacking attempts, to the sloppy creation of ham-fisted memes, poor execution has helped make agile marketing a…
Technology is continuing to change the way we view digital marketing at breakneck speed, but the future is bright for digital marketing
It’s quite apparent that technology has brought the marketing field a long way. We wouldn’t be immersed in the digital marketing field without it. However, many marketers, particularly those in small businesses, don’t recognize just how much and how often technology is changing. For that reason, they have a very difficult time keeping up, which could be their biggest marketing mistake.
“In a nutshell, we’re living in a rapidly changing world where ‘on the fly’ collaboration sessions involving voice, video, and data sharing are becoming commonplace,” says Jeremy Cioara of CBT Nuggets, a company devoted to technological advancements. “Executives and employees have their expectations set high when it comes to supporting collaborative communication within an organization.”
With the ever-present…
What is Digital Transformation and what can hamper it?
This new infographic summaries a new report from Infomentum exploring barriers and steps to digital transformation.
It starts with a definition of digital transformation, which although by Brian Solis, isn't as dynamic as you might expect. It also doesn't get to the main success factors which, for me, are people, process and tools in that order. Here's the definition James Carson and I cooked up in our Digital transformation toolkit:
"Digital Transformation: A staged programme of business improvements to People, Process and Tools tools used for integrated digital marketing to maximize the potential business contribution of digital technology and media".
The infographic goes on to explore the barriers and how to overcome them but keeping them straightforward for a CEO. Possibly too simple, but the second part of the infographic does highlight the success factors and reason for change.
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An interview with Ann Holman discussing approaches for encouraging change
The Managing Digital Marketing 2015 research from Smart Insights showed that many businesses are planning a programme to manage digital transformation.
Around a third of businesses are planning a transformation programme, with another third of businesses already underway with their programme. So, what can companies who are about to embark on Digital Transformation learn from those who have already started?
In my interview with Ann Holman, Strategic Digital Director helps answer this question, since she works with companies on their digital transformation. She set-up Our Think Lab to focus on R&D around digital and social media, providing consultancy on digital transformation. The interview discusses the importance the barriers and levers to change and suggests why larger organisations needs to act more like a start-up and…
A review of digital change management – examining ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’methods
"Like so many other revolutions, digital marketing has taken hold from the bottom up. Here, we find digital natives steeped in digital culture and practice — twenty- and thirty-somethings who came of age on the social web."
Jake Sorofman, The Rise of the Digital CMO
We often think of Senior Management as being the drivers of change within a business. After all, it is they who have they experience to see when change is necessary, and them who have the power to enact the change itself. However, as the quote above suggests, this is somewhat of a fallacy in the current climate – digital change has bubbled like a kind of ‘groundswell’, often meeting executives who are almost unaware.
Bottom Up Change is Commonplace
There are few better practical illustrations of change coming from the bottom than the growth of…
Fewer than half of businesses are responding to Digital Disruption by Digital Transformation
Business leaders today know that Digital technology is disruptive, the question is, how do they respond it as part of 'Digital Transformation' - as shown in the stages of our infographic.
Pwc's 6th annual Digital IQ survey reveals that:
'having a strong Digital IQ, the by product of leveraging these five interlocking behaviours, were 2.2 times more likely to be top-performers in revenue growth, profitability, and innovation.'
Their findings show that many larger businesses still trying to overcome challenges and 70% of those who are successfully driving Digital Transformation, are ensuring that their Chief Information Officer and Marketing Managers/Directors are working closely together to engage in 'digital discussions'.
How many businesses are concerned about the Digital Disconnect?
The findings show that 75% are ill-prepared to respond and adapt to technologies, and 69% can not keep up with the speed of technology, even though…
