Top 10 Tips to Thrive in a Digital Era
“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” — John F. Kennedy
The Age of the Internet and Digitization has made digital transformation an absolute must for businesses. In the wake of the pandemic, companies that were yet to board the digital revolution train failed to survive. Just a few years ago, digitization was a choice, but today it is the solid foundation on which businesses are being reinvented.
It’s still not late. Non-digitized businesses can still attempt digital transformation by experimenting with the latest trends and strategies This article discusses the top 10 tips that can help businesses not just survive but thrive in the digital era.
Understanding Technology – A Friend not a Foe
Businesses need to understand that technology is here to stay, and their stubbornness against going digital can cause many disadvantages. Companies that don’t modernize lose out on many benefits that digitization offers businesses.
Understanding technology means embracing the fact that by integrating technology into your business model, you can actually go head to head with your competitors and improve communication with your customers and employees.
You need to recognize the areas in which you can substantially improve productivity and lower operational costs such as using tools like Microsoft Teams as a platform for instant communication within your organization.
Cultivate a Digital Culture – Appoint Tech Savvy Leaders
The culture of an organization directly influences the productivity of the workforce. Leaders and managers play a crucial role in developing the organizational culture, and by placing tech-savvy personnel in leadership roles, you can cultivate a digital culture in your organization.
Modernizing your company doesn’t just include automating functions and using tech tools but it is also about improving your work culture, business processes, and strategies to match the current trends. Having tech-savvy leaders will ease the change process in the organization as they can skillfully guide the employees into a new, more automated working process.
Conduct A Digital Audit – Recognise Key Areas Of Change
Conducting a digital audit will help companies recognize areas where they can significantly improve by using digital tools. The audit will help companies gain better clarity on their digital requirements before directly making heavy investment decisions.
By auditing your company processes you can also plan out a much needed revamping strategy that many organizations forgo and stay stuck in decades of old operational processes that have turned inefficient in this day and age. You can hire experts from an IT solutions company that can help you recognize the right tools to optimize your business operations.
Create A Digital Plan – A Roadmap For Modernization
The next step in the digital transformation of your organization should be creating a digital plan for various departments and functions of your company. Since you have already conducted a digital audit and done your research on the tools required to optimize your operational processes, you can now plan your budget and find a starting point for this digital transition.
Modernization doesn’t occur overnight. You need to find a starting point and focus your energy on executing that one thing before the motivation to change fizzles out.
Build A Website – Start From The Basics
Building a website for your physical business is one of the most basic steps of digital transformation. The catch is to build it according to the needs and preferences of the customers today. You need to work on the content and quality of the website, so it can be mobile-friendly as people today majorly use smartphones for all their curiosities.
You can hire an IT firm that will provide you with a team of experts such as web designers and website developers, SEO experts and content creators for customizing your website. They can also help you maintain the website so it is user-friendly and free of any bugs or glitches. A high ranking website with a strong SEO strategy will bring more business and benefits to the company than one made just for formality.
Stay Mobile Friendly – Socialize On Social Media Platforms
The majority of the public is all over different social media platforms these days; therefore, to catch the attention of your target market, you need to establish a strong social media presence. Digital marketing is the most prominent form of marketing these days as it reaches over to a large audience across the globe and can be customized to reach the most relevant type of audience for the business.
Create your business account on multiple platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, which are flooded with audiences from around the globe. Keep posting updates and fresh content about your business and products to keep high audience engagement, and you will notice a boost in your business sales.
Create a Mobile App – Invest In The Right Tech
Mobile apps are the most convenient form of online shopping these days. You can hire the most trusted app development companies in your locality and create a customized mobile app for your business. An app is also a form of digital marketing as it represents and markets your brand to customers.
Making a smart and secure app integrated with AI will help you get accurate information regarding the likes and dislikes of your customers. Investing in creating a mobile app is a step in the right direction of modernizing your business and thriving in the digital era.
Use Data Analytics – Understand Your Customers Better With AI
Companies need to invest in data infrastructure that will allow them to gain better insights into the minds of their customers and the overall market. Businesses must understand that data analytics is the key to success in the digital era with the unbound information it provides. AI has the ability to crunch large sets of data and give out core information that will help businesses make better and faster strategic decisions.
A latest study by Genpact reveals that only 8% of companies worldwide have fully modernized. Due to this divide, companies who can quickly adapt to AI technology are far more likely to get great opportunities and advantages in the future compared to those who don’t.
Adopt an Agile Mindset – Embrace Change
“In today’s era of volatility, there is no other way but to re-invent. The only sustainable advantage you can have over others is agility, that’s it. Because nothing else is sustainable, everything else you create, somebody else will replicate.” — Jeff Bezos, Founder, Amazon
An essential aspect of growth and a thriving business is being able to adapt to the changing trends and walking hand in hand with the technology that is driving those trends. Being open to change and willing to learn, unlearn, and re-learn is the most significant initiative in digitally transforming your company. The transformation must take place on both ends, internally (within the organization) and externally (for the convenience of the customers).
Keep A Steady Pace Of Change – Don’t Take on More Than You Can Chew
Modernization is an ongoing process that can’t be accomplished all at once. As an enterprise, you need to keep a steady pace of change not to disrupt your business practices and overload your employees with too many changes. Taking on more than you can handle at a time will be inefficient.
You can start at the basics and slowly grow from there. Sometimes you just need to monitor the implemented changes and how they work for your business and your customers. If you don’t get desired output, then you need to change course and adjust your digitization strategy.
The Way Forward
When in Rome, Do As The Romans Do. Therefore to thrive in the Digital Era, you need to undergo digital transformation and embrace the new changes that the technology brings about. The primary learning in this process of change and acceptance is that digital transformation can’t be accomplished overnight and is a continuous process of new discoveries. You need to be careful and invest in the correct type of technology for your business that doesn’t put a strain on your finances and boosts your productivity.
With the right strategy, technology, and leaders, your business can effectively modernize and thrive in the digital era.
Author Bio
Erik Watson, a content crafter at GoodFirms who intends to share his outlook on the fast-paced tech industry and all the new and exciting global trends with the audience through his writing. A writer by the day, and an avid reader by the night, Erik enjoys exploring different genres that help him grow as a writer and individual.
