It should be clear by now that a true digital transformation must be based on a comprehensive strategy and not on the simple insertion of some technology. But what are the steps to introduce Digital Strategy? into the company. Let’s see them one by one to understand how to make your traditional company even more competitive on the market than before.
1. Evaluate the impact of digital in your industry
Any strategy, digital or otherwise, begins with understanding the battlefield. If you don’t know which environment you’re going to be in, you can’t even know which tools to choose or which skills to hone.
The first step is therefore to study the market in which you operate. Is digital widespread Are customers ready to change their habits What new opportunities open up Which competitors will you meet?
During this study you must thoroughly analyze what the advantages are but also what the risks are.
Furthermore, this exam will also allow you to understand which tools you can introduce into the company to improve production or sales. Together with this, you need to understand which new collaborators you will have to hire, with which studies and with which skills.
It is certainly a long study, but it is essential to understand the place you will occupy in the market if you introduce a Digital Strategy, but also what would happen if you didn’t.Â
During this analysis many are held back by the risks, they only see those. What we recommend is to open your mind and evaluate, first of all, what the opportunities are.
2. Aim high
Do you know what was the result of Starbucks’ strategic move Thanks to the app, sales have doubled.
Today customers no longer have to queue at the counter to order, but can do so conveniently via the application a few minutes before reaching the point of sale and then collect the still steaming drink.
Kodak was not as bold, however, and this led it to be overtaken by competitors and find itself with enormous debt.
What made the difference Ambition.​
Starbucks aimed high and responded with an intelligent strategy to a decline in customers in its stores. This is what Digital Strategy is.
With this move the company has not only made a digital tool available to customers. He thought about their needs and created value. This is the difference between a simple integration of technologies and a real strategy.
In reality, the mechanism underlying this psychological process is not that different from what happened in the traditional strategy. This is why already structured companies have an advantage over new start-ups that think almost exclusively about mere technologies.
3. Make changes in the company
A change in strategy inevitably requires new tools and new skills. This means making changes within the company.
How to make a simple change a breakthrough Starting from your strengths.
Study what differentiates you from your competitors, what has made your company a leader in the market, and then develop a strategy that combines these competitive advantages with a digital mindset.
If you bring in new tools or new processes, you’ll need new staff. Study the roles you need, but also think about your old collaborators.
The employees you have had to date are the ones who have allowed your company to become what it is. Don’t leave them in a corner just because they don’t have the right skills.
Their strong point is the great experience in their job. Empower it by offering training through seminars, online courses and workshops with experts.
Furthermore, we said that one of the keys to making the Digital Strategy effective is that of open-mindedness. We therefore advise you to free your employees from rigid positions and allow them to work in synergy within the team to enhance the final result.
Creativity, a new mindset and the valorization of your collaborators will instinctively bring new talents to your company.
4. Select the projects to start from
One of the most common mistakes made by companies that implement Digital Strategy for the first time is that of wanting to revolutionize everything immediately. This is a very bad idea.
Think about Starbucks introducing booking and payment via app. A single project, a huge result.
Trying to change everything right away leads to two negative results. You cannot thoroughly study every single strategy and the impact it will have on your company, and you will not be able to be consistent in its implementation.
This is why we recommend that you act by priority, exactly as happens in the traditional strategy.
Consider the market, customer experience, time, budget and skills you have available or can source in the short term.
Starting from the closest goals you will be able to make changes in the company gradually and form a profit base that will allow you to achieve results even in the long term. And you will also convince investors that you are moving in the right direction.
Remember though, a short-range goal does not mean an irrelevant goal for the company.
To establish your priorities, always look for a meeting point between the competitive advantage you want to achieve in the market and an added value that you can create for your customers.
5. Keep pace with digital transformation
Digital transformations are not always linear. Often they can be, but many times they can be discontinuous.
What does this mean That if you set your Digital Strategy objectives too far ahead in time, your plans risk not being aligned with the real situation.
Let’s take an example. You organize yourself to make your changes in view of a complete result that you imagine achieving in five years. But in five years, digital transformation can be very different from now or very different from your expectations. The same applies to the behavior of the end customer.
We told you all this to make you understand that it’s okay to aim high, but you must always be ready to review your digital strategy based on the evolution of the market.
This is why it is important to start with short-range projects and then evolve further and further. A strategy of this type prevents you from investing a lot and then not seeing the desired results.
You also have to take into account that processes and technologies change much faster today than in past decades. You must therefore be ready to make a beneficial change of direction for your company when you see the need.
At the beginning, when discussing what Digital Strategy is, we said that it is a process. This means that it is not enough to study the strategy once, but that you must continue to study every single day to allow your company to become a leader in the market.
