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A Practical Guide on Adapting to a Digital World LoyicaBlog

Every business hits a stage where its sales will stagnate or even go down. This might go on for weeks or months and sometimes that

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Author
Loyica Team
Feb 27 2020
A Practical Guide on Adapting to a Digital World

Every business hits a stage where its sales will stagnate or even go down. This might go on for weeks or months and sometimes that business may be able to turn that around by implementing new sales strategies, or acquiring new equipment to increase business efficiencies or even cut down costs by laying off employees and whatnot.

Most of the time, businesses are just unsure of what strategy to take next, especially when that business sticks to old, traditional methods and when it's no longer adaptive to change, to what's new, to the disruptive technologies that dominate industries these days.

This is why digital transformation is not just a luxury but a must-have for every business these days. How a business presents itself to the consumer market changes from time to time. What used to work before may no longer work nowadays. Customers are prone to changes since economies, technological environments, or even personal values also change. All of these are crucial to the success of a business’s marketing campaign. If companies fail to acknowledge these changes, their marketing campaigns may lose their effectiveness – costing companies for nothing.

Transforming in a Digital World

The world has been transforming the past few decades and this change and development has tremendously accelerated this year. More technological breakthroughs have been discovered and invented and gaps and distances have been bridged. Through technology, everyone can become interconnected. This global interconnectedness opened a massive opportunity for businesses to offer something valuable to societies and make money out of it. But not all businesses are equipped with the knowledge of creating a unique selling proposition or even the idea of marketing themselves well over the Internet.

That is why businesses have to be responsive to the market conditions–especially the changing market trends. Businesses that are able to ride on these trends were able to exponentially grow by boosting their sales or maximizing their efficiencies. Businesses that were not able to catch these trends, on the other hand, were left behind and lagged in terms of market share.

Businesses have to augment their technology. They need to be able to maximize their efficiencies in terms of production and lessen their expenses. They also need to be able to catch marketing trends –– study the consumer market’s purchase behavior and encourage sales conversion to leads and prospects every step of the way. Only through transforming digitally can you adapt to a digital world.

Introduction to Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is the planning and implementation of improving or integrating existing technology to businesses to improve processes for efficiency. It recognizes that the changes in technology have caused the rise and downfall of several companies. If a company refuses to acknowledge the importance of digital transformation, it can lead to its lack of relevance in the modern market. Digital transformations around companies have changed and disrupted industries. And a difference in output caused by technology can mean millions in profit or loss.

Modern businesses are characterized by their use of technology to improve their operations and profitability. For most modern businesses, efficiency is key. Without efficiency, costs could skyrocket.  This could hurt their prospects of gaining profit and achieving growth. 

Modern businesses are also not just concerned with using technology, it also has to consider using the best technology. As the needs of modern businesses evolve, tech companies evolve too. Hundreds of tech companies come and go, offering software or systems or platforms to address the needs of businesses. Some of them are great at what they are doing. Others just fail.

There are more things modern businesses have to factor in when making business decisions. They have to consider their customers’ needs as well. Because the business environment has continuously evolved over time, it is expected that customers’ needs and preferences will. These days, customers are all about speed and quality of service. Fail to do that and you may lose that customer forever.

These highlights the reason why it is imperative for businesses to be careful in choosing the best technology and shaping the best work practice. Because in the age of technology where everyone is almost interconnected, word spreads like wildfire. And a bad reputation could cost you your business.

How to Adapt to a Digital World

  • Identify your target audience’s buyer persona

 Any business in the modern world should analyze the buyer persona. It is the most basic step to technological adaptation. From this, you will be able to determine what kind of technology do you need to fit the preferences of your target market. You will also be able to identify the weak spots of your business and patch them up using technology.

A buyer persona is a term used to refer to “who” a company is selling its products and services for. It should include their location (which can be gathered using web analytics tools), age, income (purchasing power), or even their job titles. You can even dig deeper by gaining insights on your customers’ goals, challenges, interests, and priorities, all with the help of technology.

  • Use the right tools and technology

 Speaking of technology, it is imperative for businesses to carefully choose the technology fit for their goals when undergoing digital transformation. The technology that they will be integrating into their business practices will be crucial in determining the level of productivity or efficiency that their business will achieve. These benefits should outweigh the costs of digital transformation. Or not, you will just be spending for nothing.

Businesses should treat digital transformation as an investment. And just like any investment, businesses should be able to determine their returns. If the actual and potential benefits do not outweigh the costs, then it is probably better to stick to traditional methods of marketing.

But there are also other things you need to consider like the competitive landscape where your business is situated.

  • Understand the market you are in

 The competitive landscape where you are in should also be factored in when planning for a technological revamp. You should be able to identify and analyze the technological capacities of your competitors. Do they have the upper hand? How do they use technology to set themselves apart? Are they massively growing as a business because of the technology they are using? These are several questions that you need to answer. Knowing the answers to these questions will guide you in choosing the right technology to arm yourself with.

Conclusion

Digital transformation may sound like a new concept to a lot of businesses. But if you are going to take a look at how businesses have transformed over the past few years (or even the past few decades), you will notice that the evolution of how businesses sell products and/or render services are primarily shaped by the technology of the time. 

Technological advancements drastically change markets. They change how people interact with each other– and determine how the supply market engages with the consumer market, or vice versa. If you are a wise business, you will learn from history: large companies going bankrupt because of their failure to adapt to a new market– a market that has changed its needs, preferences, and priorities.

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