OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE: Free Consultations for local businesses

April 29, 2020
Digital Marketing

Why Now is The Best Time to Plan Your Digital Transformation Initiatives

Brands and businesses have been forced to rethink how they operate, in some cases, from the ground up. Even in 2020, there are several businesses across industries, that barely have a digital presence because they were doing OK without investing in digital platforms and marketing. With the majority of the world’s population stuck behind doors with only the internet to look to – it’s the perfect time to create a digital transformation strategy or dust off the one that’s been in the pipeline for the last couple of years. 

What is Digital Transformation?

With digital transformation, businesses use digital technologies to not only create new ways of doing business but also new ways of offering core products and services through digital platforms. Every growing business needs to reimagine its processes from time to time. You don’t want to get left behind while your competition races forward. It’s important to pause and self-reflect on how to stay relevant to consumers’ current and future needs.

Digital transformation isn’t just a sales or marketing function. It’s a core business function that needs to be addressed by the leadership. You need to think about where your customers spend most of their time. Then, think about what you can do to put your message in front of them at the right moment. It all culminates with thinking about and putting together the right mix of digital tools to attract, engage and convert your prospective customer with the least amount of friction and best possible experience.

For businesses just starting up, digital transformation will be at the crux of their business plan. In this day and age, every business needs a digital strategy in order to capture and convert its target audience. Building a 21st-century business using Microsoft Office and on paper isn’t sustainable or scalable. Thinking about, planning, and building a digital transformation strategy will ensure a business is agile and suited for growth. 

Putting Digital Transformation in Context with Examples

Legacy Business Case:

Netflix is a great example of how a legacy business used digital transformation to stay relevant and become a tech behemoth. Netflix’s disruption is legendary and one for the history books. It proves to be fantastic learning for every business that’s been around for a while. It’s hard to imagine today that Netflix started out as a mail-order service where you rented physical copies of movies by post. It was competing with Blockbuster, a business that has basically gone extinct. At the time, digital innovations made it possible to stream video on the average home internet connection. Today, Netflix takes on traditional broadcast and cable television networks and production studios all at once by offering a growing library of on-demand content at ultracompetitive prices.

Local Mom and Pop Case:

On the flip side, we worked with a 40-year-old distributor of photography equipment in the UAE: M.K. Trading. They had dealerships for some of the biggest brands in photography accessories. Their primary business was to sell to stores and other online platforms, rarely direct to the customer. Unless they walked into their storefront. Doesn’t get any more old-school than that. The leadership recognized the need to evolve and was looking for a digital transformation strategy. We went to them with the following:

  1. Build your own e-commerce store – it’s a no-brainer because the hardest aspect of any e-commerce business is the inventory and logistics which they already had in place
  2. Create your social media presence – you’ll need brand awareness within the market and drive that traffic to your online store
  3. Craft a digital marketing and content strategy – it’s crucial to drive quality traffic to the online store and get conversions
  4. Marketing Automation – Email marketing with automated workflows and lead magnets across the website will help increase conversion rates

Getting Started with Digital Transformation

Don’t believe this: “Going digital is too expensive and takes too long”. Transforming your business to function on digital platforms may sound daunting but it isn’t. It never has to be “over-the-top” or “too expensive” for your business. When done correctly, digital transformation is a tailor-made strategy for a business based on its current state and future trajectory. In some cases, it could be as simple as building a new website with a What’s App chat functionality and a couple of lead magnets. 

On the other hand, it can be a massive undertaking for a legacy enterprise business that’s been operating with a derelict website, no CRM, lackluster or non-existent social media presence, or without a strategy for tapping prospective customers through digital channels. 

More and more agencies are seeing support for digital initiatives from their clients, even while battling COVID-19. When done right, it will produce a business that is more aligned with customer demands and resilient in the fast-moving digital future.

Finally

Even with lockdowns easing up, the world on the other side of this isn’t going to be the same. Consumers will continue looking for solutions online. Even while battling to stay in business, you can’t ignore how to continue being relevant in the future because the status quo will change, dramatically. Digital transformation encourages businesses to ditch and rethink traditional marketing and revenue models. So don’t fear and take that first step in figuring out how your business can transform digitally and grow revenue! Transform your business with the best digital marketing agencies in Dubai.

Tags: Digital TransformationGrowth Marketing

Subscribe to our Blog

subscribe-to-our-blog

Subscribe to our Blog

Get our latest blog posts sent directly to your inbox. You’ll also receive our newsletter along with a look into our latest work.

Subscribe