Digital transformation is a term that the industrial and business sectors uses to describe the change from traditional to digital products, services, processes, transactions, and other business-related matters carried out online or using digital technologies.
Digital transformation does not necessarily eliminate traditional businesses. Instead, it’s a way to keep up with the technological advancement of doing business. If we focus on commerce for example, this means taking your business to digital platforms and using online marketing strategies so you can reach out to more target consumers and be more profitable. Digital transformation is about improving the process that your company uses to work more efficiently and effectively. Transformational change doesn’t necessarily mean a complete reworking of the business, which may require a long period of consultation and planning but you can do things like enhancing your activity workflow, reduce costs, and more generally make better use of your resources by integrating the digital processes into the existing ones.
No matter what business you’re in, there are some solutions out there that can help you convert some of your old processes into a new way of doing things. Just because you think that there’s no need for this change doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take steps to improve your business performance at all. Take the time to do research on your market, see what’s out there, and get in contact with your business solutions provider who can help you.
Some businesses have difficulty adapting to new technologies and others are just plain incapable of doing so. If you are not sure if you can afford the change, ask a business consultant if they can help you with the project to know exactly what needs to be done.
Here’s a list of how digital transformation can change your business:
1. Converts Traditional Business Into Digital
Nowadays, traditional businesses can gain more profits if they convert or integrate their business into a digital one. This means you can use all your business assets which will include your physical infrastructure and your internet connections, email systems, call centers, and more. This kind of transformation is often referred to as an extensible or transformational product.
Today, having an online presence has become imperative for most businesses because they cannot function without a dedicated website where visitors can explore the products and services they offer. This is the first and basic step of going digital which we will detail further in this article, but be aware that you can push your digital transformation much deeper by introducing digital tools and technologies in almost all of your business processes.
2. Reaches Out To Target Audience
Another standard way digital transformation can change your business is by helping you engage and interact with your target customers through technologies, and digital platforms like social media and your business website. Since the internet is now the go-to place for most people for various online activities like shopping, surfing, and connecting through various social networking sites and blogs, digital transformation allows you to get in touch with your customers easily.
You can even engage with your customers using ringless voicemail and text messaging services like Drop Cowboy to deliver your company’s message to customers. These are tools that are unobtrusive so people won’t block you since your voicemail can be transcribed into an email form.
With digital transformation, it helps you effectively convey your brand image in a clear, concise way and communicate to them about your services and products. It will also allow your customers to interact with the company as a unit or as an individual, enabling them to quickly locate information about your company and keep updated with the latest services and products on your site or social media accounts.
3. Satisfies Customer
Another way that digital transformation can help a business is by increasing customer satisfaction through improved digital navigation and experience. When you have a well-managed, streamlined, and effective system, you’re able to deliver a high level of service.
You can use service-based systems to cater to your customers’ needs. This is where your business becomes an excellent customer service provider as you give your clients a single interface to communicate with your company. If your services allow your customers to reach out to you quickly, their queries and concerns will be easily addressed, making them feel satisfied.
4. Improves Employee Engagement
One of the primary things that digital transformation does is to improve employee engagement. For any business, an effective digital transformation solution can help you improve employee productivity and keep them happy. People like working in a productive and efficient environment. By aligning your systems with the latest technology, you can provide them with new and engaging opportunities to help them stay motivated and do their task easily using various tools and resources.
You have to keep in mind some things, though, so you can find the right solutions for your organization. For instance, it’s essential to ensure that the digital transformation you choose blends well with your current and ongoing practices. You also need to ensure that the entire team understands the benefits of integrating the digital transformation with their daily activities.
Take a look at the various studies that have been done on digital transformations. You’ll see that employees generally respond better when they’re informed about the changes in a company. This can help make your working environment more enjoyable, fostering a sense of involvement in what’s going on. You can use a mass text app to disseminate important messages or make announcements directly to your employees’ phone numbers in an efficient manner. Because the mass text app allows you to send bulk messages to groups of numbers, you can easily convey your company announcements digitally.
The fact is, when you engage your employees, they’ll feel like they are a part of the whole process and that you care about what they do.
5. Reduces Costs
In addition to employee engagement, digital transformation can help you save money because it can reduce or even eliminate the need for costly training sessions, seminars, and conferences held face-to-face. Using tools that allow you to integrate your processes with the technology can save costs and still deliver top-quality service.
Most large organizations have a massive number of redundant, duplicate processes that slow down the entire operation and take away valuable business resources and energy which are crucial in running the business successfully. Digital transformation makes these redundant, duplicate procedures modular and easy to update. As these are updated, the company has more ability to decide which ones need to be kept in place and which can be removed and adapted to suit the changing needs of their business. In this way, digital transformation reduces business costs while maintaining the company’s progress.
There are some instances where digital transformation saves money even more than traditional methods because it’s highly scalable. Companies that don’t want to wait for the IT infrastructure to be built can either use a combination of traditional and non-traditional methods to reduce operational costs or deploy their in-house technology that can be operated by anyone who has access to their data and software. Because it’s not expensive and can be applied at any point in time, the companies that can implement digital transformation often see immediate cost savings. This is particularly true for businesses that are still growing and are looking to scale their operations to increase their revenue or reach their corporate objectives.
Another way digital transformation reduces business expenses as opposed to traditional approaches to business is the ability to improve the company’s structure without needing to alter the way people work. Traditional methods require the same processes to be used throughout all areas of the business, thus causing a lot of duplication. As a result, a company must hire new employees who possess the skills, knowledge, and competencies required to do the previously carried out tasks by existing staff. With digital transformation, you can easily change these methods that cause duplication without needing to hire more staff or changing your whole team. That way, you can save on hiring expenses.
6. Improves Efficiency
Another benefit of digital transformation is it provides your company with an opportunity to improve your marketing campaigns‘ efficiency and effectiveness. Since more customers are turning to the internet in purchasing products and services, there are more opportunities for you to promote and advertise your products and services through online advertising.
One common challenge companies have nowadays is about increasing the number of customers who make purchases online. This challenge can be successfully solved with digital transformation.
Aside from building your online presence, this process also allows you to enhance your search engine rankings via Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. This is especially important because a high page ranking indicates that a person or company is popular and reputable among the rest of the websites or businesses. This will help you increase your online visibility and generate more sales.
Thus, you can increase your profits with digital transformation.
Conclusion
For businesses seeking to take advantage of the digital transformation, turning your traditional business into a digital one is necessary. By doing so, you can build your online presence which enables you to attract more customers. Since more people are using the internet to look for what they need, your business can reach potential clients through social media and your business website. If you make your brand known online, more people will visit your site. You can do this with SEO so you can rank high on search engines.
You can target more customers and also improve your employee engagement as they use tools and technological advancements in performing their tasks. By integrating digital transformation into your business, you can improve your efficiency to make more profits while reducing the costs of business operations.