Close your eyes and try to imagine a world without Uber, Airbnb, Facebook or Whatsapp. It’s difficult, isn’t it? It’s incredible to think that a decade ago Facebook was in its infancy, with the others just a twinkle in the eye of ambitious tech developers.
These trailblazers have irrevocably shaken up their industries with their innovation and transformed the way consumers connect with businesses and each other. I believe it’s absolutely crucial for brands to be open to digital disruption. However, it’s clear not all businesses are equipped to transform. Capgemini research found that since 2000, 52% of companies in the Fortune 500 have either gone bankrupt, been acquired or ceased to exist, due in part to being unable to keep up with the pace of digital transformation. So, how can marketers embrace digital change?
Think about the customer
The first step towards digital transformation is being open to change. Ultimately, marketers and businesses need to consider how digital transformation can enhance, improve and refresh the customer experience. Customers are now more accessible than ever across a range of platforms, meaning there is unprecedented potential to connect with them. Research by Adobe found that 65% of marketers feel an increased pressure to contribute more to the business in terms of revenue. For customer-facing businesses, it’s, therefore, crucial that digital innovation is geared towards enhancing the customer experience.
There is little point in investing funds and resource into technological change if the front-end experience isn’t also improved or refreshed. Businesses need to ask themselves: how will this technology not only improve internal processes but deliver our services in the best way to our customers? What brands like Uber have done is bring a new level of convenience to customers, as well as revolutionising the whole taxi-booking process. I urge businesses to be brave and think about how they can transform the customer experience in their industry.
Keep up with start-ups
The advantage that start-ups have is they can learn from the lessons more established brands had to learn the hard way and can enter the market at an accelerated pace. Capgemini found that 74% of companies responded to digital disruptions only after the second year of their occurrence. In this fast-paced digital world, this is far too long to wait. Customers are empowered and adaptable and have the power to switch between brands and businesses with ease. Incumbent businesses are at risk of losing customers if they do not respond quickly to keep up with challenger brands. But marketers of long-standing businesses have the advantage of leveraging their existing status and refreshing the experience they offer customers.
Empower employees with the right technology
Of course, businesses have a bottom line to maintain and limited budgets within which to invest and execute change. Indeed, the Adobe research revealed a lack of resources and budget were said to be the biggest barriers to success for nearly 40% of marketers across Europe. Too often, skilled, highly engaged marketers are let down by the technology they rely upon to do their jobs. The raison d'être for marketers is to build a relationship between the business and the customer, by delivering a great experience which keeps them happy and loyal. But, with 74% of marketers feeling businesses aren’t investing enough to provide them with the structure they need to help reach their goals, there are clearly frustrations.
Get the basics right
Behind every innovative leap forward towards digital transformation should be a solid back-end system that contains customer data in a consolidated and easily accessible way. I often find what hinders marketers in their everyday lives is either a lack of access to this data, or access to so many different databases that it becomes a confusing and painful process. Businesses need to break out of the silo mentality and think of the customer experience as one that is consistent across all departments. This means all customer-facing teams (sales, marketing, customer service and so on) need to have the right tools to identify their customers amidst a sea of data. Having complete control of customer data and confidence in how to decipher it will all help to deliver a seamless customer experience.
We’re living at an exciting time, with digital innovation transforming how we connect with the world. For businesses, the first step towards transformation is having the right mindset and infrastructure to enable disruption. Marketers need to be open and agile to change to not only keep up with their competitors but lead the way in their industries. I look forward to seeing more industries shaken up by brave businesses forging a new path for customer experience.
By Daniel Heck, senior director of marketing EMEA at SugarCRM
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