Understanding the How’s and Why’s of “Digital Transformations”
A big part of being a digital marketer is staying up to speed on the many changes that occur in the digital realm. Usually we so this on a more molecular and highly focused level of SEO, but this week we are looking to a recent ClickZ seminar to understand the meaning of digital transformations in the context of the bigger trends that are happening online in 2016.
Before we get into the many definitions of what constitutes a digital transformation, let’s first acknowledge a basic truth about digital marketing in the 21st century: with technological and consumer behavior developing faster than ever, companies need to learn how to adapt differently from their competition or risk being left behind. Back in 2007, we were all shocked by the speed, which iPhones ushered in the age of mobile search but in 2016 it is only the most obstinate companies who don’t have a mobile-friendly, responsive site. As mentioned in the seminar, phenomena like Pokemon Go can now take hold of the country’s attention and rack up daily users on par with Twitter in a matter of days, but as a digital marketer, how can you leverage this age of speed into making meaningful digital transformations?
While this is a term that is still being defined, it has gained rapid currency amongst search professionals, with searches for “digital transformation” increasing exponentially this year. So how are we defining a digital transformation?
Firstly, it most obviously involves technology, and especially companies’ abilities to adapt to changes in a platform or new device quickly and taking advantage of new content forms and types before one’s competitors. For example, it’s media companies like MTV and DJ’s like DJ Khaled who have really emboldened their brands through smart and innovative use of the Snapchat platform, which have inspired countless imitators.
Secondly, building off the last point, digital transformations also relate to a business’s ability to transform its marketing strategy in line with its brand ethos quickly and in a way that makes sense to longtime customers. Many companies get used to their legacy technology–the platforms and tools that have worked to them up to this point alongside the general thinking and accepted strategy–so much so that it creates barriers to them innovating with new platforms or even thinking outside of the box on the platform they have had the most success with, which is a surefire recipe for being left behind by the competition.
Finally, and on a point we’ve discussed quite a bit in the past few weeks, customer experience is still one of the most crucial and essential aspects of any type of digital transformation and your company’s ability to offer a positive and streamlined experience to your customers is key. If your customer service involves users getting stuck on the phone for hours with unhelpful reps or it takes more than a day for you to respond to questions and complaints on social media, then you are most definitely losing out on potential digital transformations. Only by paying attention to both the macro and micro changes that occur with your customers and technologically modifying your internal practices accordingly will help your company to really reap the benefits of digital transformations.
