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Why you're wasting time with digital transformation
Ben Hart
Why you’re wasting time with digital transformation… unless you understand the “why”
Are you wasting time and effort with digital transformation? There’s no doubt that digital is the new norm – it’s everywhere, all the time – and many organisations are working hard to keep pace. But the fact is, digital transformation isn’t just about doing more digital things. It isn’t just moving to the cloud, talking Big Data and a bit of cross-collaboration.
At Atmosphere, we believe that positive change to move an organisation forward is catalysed by a shared belief in why change is necessary – and change is best informed by meaningful insight.
So what exactly do we mean by insight? Well, it’s not graphs or dashboards and it definitely isn’t data – that won’t do the thinking for you. True insight is about the `why’ behind the want. It inspires action and provides a clear target to aim for.
How do you achieve insight? You ask the right questions:
Why do we need to change?
Because your customer is already way ahead of you. Digital connectivity has changed the rules of engagement and customer loyalty is a vague but pleasant memory. Loyalty can be nurtured, but only for brands that keep up the pace and meet contemporary expectations. Put simply, it’s a question of going digital or getting left behind.
Based on an understanding of real-time demands and expectations, your digitally enabled insightful competitors are able to connect meaningfully with customers. They’re better equipped to scale up the pace of change. Those that get it right claim a greater share of customer satisfaction and as a result, a greater share of the return.
Choice abounds in a here-and-now world where customers are in the driving seat; while technology provides the means for data collection and analysis, it is the resulting insights that provide the competitive edge.
Who and what do we need to become?
Digital transformation is business transformation – and reinvention, by its nature, requires bold decision-making.
Being bold is good but actually, being insightfully bold is better. In a fast-changing market, insight can be used to carve out your distinct, unique market space with precision. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater, it allows your current strengths to become the solid foundations for growth.
Data is key to identifying strengths, weaknesses and forward direction - but to paraphrase an insight from Steven Sonka, Professor Emeritus in consumer economics at the University of Illinois, ‘Big data doesn’t mean it’s good data’. Many businesses collect masses of data for its own sake, simply because they can.
Deloitte Digital stress the importance of having the necessary organisation, systems and processes in place that support the implementation of value-adding, insight-generated actions. This raises questions such as: What are your challenges? How much data do you actually need? Where should you get it from? How will it be used? Who will be empowered to use it?
Understanding the answers to insight-driven questions helps you extract the wisdom from data – and this makes the difference between a successful digital transformation and one that struggles.
Where does this fit with the customer?
Your customer’s attention is at a premium, while their expectations are sky high. And to be frank, why would they care about your strategies to gain their attention?
In the digital space, your customer is constantly distracted by new sources of information. Reaching your audience, and then convincing them to purchase, is a complex game with a multitude of variables and permutations. If you fail to reach them effectively, there will be no shortage of competitors who will.
To truly engage in this cacophonous digital environment, your customer needs a good reason to care beyond the transaction. They need a brand experience that’s beyond their expectations. It has to be immediately appealing, personally relevant. And all this in the context of whatever they’re doing at the time - accessible in the place and format of their choosing.
In truth, your customer is calling the shots. And you need to understand where they’re coming from.
Insight… Where your customer is coming from
If you already have insight, this is how your digital strategy starts to look and feel:
- It elicits the reaction “you obviously understand me”
- It solves a real problem
- It results in the creation of new customers
- It provides a clear rationale for what to do next
- It tells you how to deliver value to your customers
How are you delivering value?
Your customers come to you with a problem, a need. This is a given. But are your solutions a match to what your audience actually needs? Do you really understand the problem? Knowing the answer to this provides an opportunity to create genuine value exchange.
Powerful insight is about truly understanding your customer’s values, needs, behaviours and desires. Juxtapose these with their barriers – worries, objections and preconceptions, the strong emotions that occur during conflict or tension – and you start getting to know the individuals, not just the market.
Rich seams of insight enable you to increase your relevance, your difference in the market and ultimately, the value you create in response to the needs and motivations of your customers. They allow you to create a loyal, enduring bond.
Who’s going to do it?
Insights are terribly difficult to find - but they’re critical for organic growth. Without them, your digital transformation is at risk of becoming a time-consuming and frustrating waste of effort. You have to dig deeper to understand the `why’ behind the want - the motivation, the outcomes that people want. Who’s going to do that for you? And how will you turn insight into action that drives persistent growth? Start by talking to people who are passionate about insight. Ask us a question, and let’s set out to create something truly amazing for your customer.
You have to dig deeper to understand the `why’ behind the want - the motivation, the outcomes that people want. Who’s going to do that for you? And how will you turn insight into action that drives persistent growth?
Start by talking to people who are passionate about insight. Ask us a question, and let’s set out to create something truly amazing for your customer.
