Top Tips for Developing a Digital Strategy
Are you struggling to develope a digital strategy? This year has presented some of the toughest challenges where sustaining a business is concerned. Especially given the current economic climate and the repercussions that arose with the global pandemic. When we all shifted to a remote lifestyle back in March, a panic of sorts set in. Figuring out how to connect with our businesses, customers and employees quickly became a priority.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned during the pandemic about businesses, it’s that those who remained successful during these unprecedented times are digitally mature companies who are equipped with the proper tools to help them win in this new world we’re experiencing. Giant e-commerce organizations and media outlets, like Walmart and the New York Times are among those companies. Businesses like these are strongly digitized and have proven themselves pioneers in digital transformation by staying on the cusp of trending technology while keeping their audience and customers at the forefront of their strategy.
Are you ready for a digital transformation?
If you’re an entrepreneur or a business with the ability to adopt a digital business strategy, the implementation should be simple. If you’re not sure if you or your business has that ability, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is your technical equipment up to par?
- Are you using the best software available for your industry?
- Do you have the best people to help apply your digital strategy?
If you can confidently answer ‘yes’ to each of the questions above then you already have the foundation of what it takes to build a promising digital business strategy.
If you’re not confident in agreeing with the questions above, follow along to learn more about how you can build a solid support system to take your digital strategy to the next level.
Cutting-edge equipment
Top-of-the-line technical equipment is critical for an effective digital strategy. Along with having more powerful internal hardware, a stronger processor and more memory, savvy technical equipment also promotes energy saving benefits that save your company money in the long run. While this may seem like a no brainer, a number of businesses don’t have the appropriate resources to arm their employees with brand new laptops or machinery to help advance their workflow and overall outcomes. However, the pros greatly outweigh the cons when it comes down to it. Investing in new technology, especially today when most of society is working remotely, should be a priority.
The best software
It’s critical to know whether your business operates on open-source software or a proprietary software. The difference between the two is that, with open-source, the codes are publicly available to users and programmers, whereas proprietary software (or closed-source software) has private source codes that aren’t accessible to the public. Both options have both benefits and drawbacks, so it’s important to understand your business’ needs in order to implement the right kind of software. Afterall, the operating system is the most important software that runs on any device.
Something to keep in mind, especially if your business is more complex, is to consider using open-source software such as Linux, which powers tech giants like Samsung, Tesla and Mozilla FireFox. Open-source software can be distributed commercially and non-commercially by anyone. That means your programs can function across platforms and open-source software offers users the ability to freely access, redistribute and modify it as they please. Open-source software is great for industries in education, printing, data centers and help desk services.
People influence outcomes
Equipping your business with people who have a digital-first mindset will help strengthen your digital strategy. One way to gain a competitive advantage is to reach your customers online earlier than your competition in the buyer funnel. Having the right kind of people to implement a digital marketing strategy is how you can make this happen. The last thing you’d want is to lose customers due to a data breach or a product recall because you didn’t have the right people in the trenches to mitigate that risk. A recent Forrester study revealed many compelling online reputation statistics and found that 54% of executives believe a positive online reputation drives revenue growth. People who leverage digital strategy as their craft can close unguarded gaps in your business’ digital landscape.
Businesses and entrepreneurs alike have faced many uphill battles this year as they’ve tried to navigate the new world we’re living in. Digital strategy lies at the core of what’s made businesses survive. If you can work toward investing in the best equipment, software and people, you’ll be able to conquer whatever the future has in store.
Photo by William Iven on Unsplash
About the Author
Willis Turner, CAE CME CSE is President and CEO of SMEI and founder of Virtual Memorial Gatherings which both rely heavily on digital marketing.
