What do you think about when you hear the phrase ‘digital transformation’?
Perhaps increased convenience comes to mind. Or maybe you’re thinking about the wonders of social media and digital marketing, and how it can help increase your business’ reach. It can even be new ways of working – from hybrid work arrangements, to completely remote work where your workers are stationed all across the world.
Digital transformation can definitely bring all of those perks, and to great effect.
Take toy company Hasbro, for example. Hasbro took to digital advertising and marketing in late 2012, investing enormous sums into data analytics for targeted marketing campaigns, social media marketing, and digital storytelling.
The result? Increased sales of US$1 billion, reported Forbes.
It’s not just MNCs who benefit either. A study by IDG found that start-ups can increase their revenue by 34% simply by relying on digital-first strategies, according to Forbes.
But for all its perks, ‘digital transformation’ can seem like a monster term with no clear roadmap for how to approach it. It can be expensive as well. Hasbro’s digital marketing switch saw them increasing ad spend by a whopping 1100%.
For the firms who are not quite sure where to begin, here are three simple steps you can take to kick-start your journey:
1.What pain point are you trying to solve?
Digital transformation is a means to an end, and shouldn’t be an end in itself. The most important thing to do before you embark on any digital transformation initiative is thus to decide what your goal is.
Establishing a goal will help you figure out the starting point of your journey. Besides that, it is also a useful way for you to keep track of progress and ensure that your digital transformation journey is on the right track.
For example, if you are looking to improve efficiency, one performance indicator you can watch out for is the number of man hours saved. This time can then be dedicated to other higher-value business decisions and actions.
2.How do you achieve your goal?
After you’ve established an end goal, it’s time to think about the next step: getting there. At this point, you should be breaking down your end goal to small, actionable steps.
If you’re trying to improve the efficiency of your business operations, for example, you can look into ways to digitalise payroll or automate administrative tasks. Meanwhile, if you’re looking to generate more leads, you can look into expanding your social media presence or integrating SEO and digital advertisements into your marketing plans.
These steps create a phenomenon known as micro-revolutions, where small actions lead to a bigger change down the road. Take Microsoft as an example. Microsoft helped electrical and telecommunications retailer Dixons Carphone create a conversational bot which helped customers and employees to do stock checks and look up information about different products.
This bot then opened up pathways for Dixons to collect data on their customers’ needs and buying habits. They were then able to use data analytics to transform this data into actionable insights, such as new products that fulfilled a customer’s need, or more targeted marketing efforts.
3.Digital transformation is a team effort
Successful digital transformation requires the entire company to be on board. Having employees that are resistant to change or reluctant to pick up digital skills can greatly hinder your efforts.
This is why it is important to ensure that your hiring and recruitment processes take into account the digital transformation goals of your organisation. For example, an organisation looking to expand their digital marketing efforts can consider hiring candidates that are well-acquainted with social media marketing, or at the very least be willing to learn.
Charterhouse can help you find the right fit for your company. Simply share with us the digitalisation goals that you would like to achieve, and we can help you find a candidate that is the best fit for your organisation.
Want to find out more? Reach out to us today.
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