All too often we find ourselves immersed in the "digital" conversation that usually results from stating that you own a business. Many of these conversations go directly to digital marketing and how we, as the business owner, are using digital to our advantage.
The problem is, digital marketing is only the beginning. For years now we've been implementing digital strategies into our marketing efforts in an attempt to grab any foothold we can to progress forward. Have we been doing this correctly - hopefully! But there's another step we must take, and that's total digital transformation.
Digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. It's also a cultural change that requires organizations to continually challenge the status quo, experiment and get comfortable with failure (enterprisersproject.com).
It's a classic example of Darwinian evolution, only in this case we're discussing business life instead of living life. As Darwin states, in order for a species to survive they must adapt, called Survival of the Fittest. The same applies to businesses - in order for a business to survive, it must adapt. Guess what ... welcome to the digital world!
From a marketing perspective, becoming keen on the digital world may be the result of life and death for the company. Many companies are still traditionally mindset and haven't merged the gap between traditional and digital strategies. Unfortunately for them, they are losing out on valuable marketshare that their competitors have because they haven't undergone any type of digital transformation yet.
So what drives this transformation? Answer - technology. The continuous updating of technological platforms and marketing automation has shifted the paradigm from a traditional lead to a digital one. With a constant onslaught of new technologies, companies need to be able to adapt and become innovative in order to survive. This doesn't have to scare you though and don't think for a second that you're too far behind. There's always time to transform and the larger the transformation, the bigger the splash in the marketplace!
In regards to digital marketing transformation, the implementation of marketing automation platforms is key. There are several platforms out there that provide this: Salesforce, Hubspot, Sharpspring, etc just to name a few. All are unique in their offering and pricing and each have their own advantages. Essentially, this automation is the ability to run all marketing efforts under one roof. From one dashboard, you can control your social media efforts, email marketing efforts, PPC campaigns, advertising campaigns, ad re-targeting, etc. At Ignite! Marketing Solutions, we provide a dashboard to our clients that helps us run their campaigns, but also allows them to view whats happening and how it is effecting their business.
A company must also find innovative and exciting ways to market their products. We are in a world where augmented and virtual reality exist! 10 years ago the only time we heard of virtual reality was in sci-fi movies - now companies are using AR and VR to market their companies to their consumers. By attacking the marketplace with innovative solutions, your company will be able to increase their marketshare and simultaneously engage with many more consumers.
As mentioned above, digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into ALL areas of business. From our standpoint, we can discuss marketing, but to fully dive into your digital transformation, don't forget the other key areas of your business.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at any time. We're here to help!
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