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The digital tools used by a business is crucial because it could mean the difference between a successful business and a struggling one. For smaller businesses, this can be a tough decision since the adoption of these tools can be expensive and time-consuming, especially if you’re just starting out.
It’s an investment that you’ll have to make sooner or later, however, as 87% of companies have believed since 2016 that digital is a business disruptor. Unfortunately, less than half of them are prepared for it. Hiring new employees in an effort to future-proof your business isn’t a sustainable way of addressing the issue, and it’s becoming increasingly challenging to find people with the necessary skills to ensure a seamless—and successful—digital transformation.
The key is upskilling your employees so they reach a level of digital proficiency that will help take your business to the next level. According to the World Economic Forum, 54% of employees will need significant reskilling in 2022. There’s no better time than now to address this concern; the continuous education of employees will help your business gain a long-term competitive advantage and ensure that your employees become valuable assets.
Digital adoption will also help organizations completely embrace technology and make it an integral part of business workflows. This presents a number of challenges but comes with long-term benefits that will mo re than pay for themselves.
How to Accelerate Digital Adoption
It’s undeniable how deeply technology has affected the way business is done today, so much so, that it’s now considered an area where you can gain an advantage over your competitors. There’s an urgency for digital adoption in today’s business, but efforts should be organized and methodical to ensure best results.
Digital adoption can be a challenge in itself due to limited resources, but taking a strategic approach can help reduce costs and maximize your investment. Below are a few ways you can facilitate digital adoption in your own organization and reduce the friction during the transition period.
Leverage Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most direct and cost-effective ways to communicate with your customers and prospects. The best email marketing tools allow for integration with other business software to craft marketing messages and facilitate email campaigns. Email marketing works as an accelerator of digital adoption by combining direct marketing and digital marketing. It helps make customers aware of your latest offerings by integrating your email systems into your marketing automation platform, encouraging customers to interact with your brand digitally.
Email marketing also provides opportunities for employees to immerse themselves in the organization’s digital strategy and tools, increasing familiarity and proficiency. Employees will be more open to digital adoption efforts if they feel a connection with the technologies you use and find that these technologies make their lives easier.
Focus on Your Online Presence
Social media has roughly 3 billion users, which makes it an excellent medium when it comes to establishing your online presence. The good thing about social media is that you can take the organic approach and not spend anything, or you can spend money on ads to increase exposure and followers. As companies have made social media a part of their marketing mix, most of the social media networks offer some plans or programs designed to help you promote your product or brand.
You can combine your social media efforts with a blog so you have something to link to and help increase traffic to your website. This is also a great way to distribute marketing messages and content and establish your brand as an authority in your chosen industry. If you’re consistent in creating engaging content that’s useful to your target audience, your blog will not only increase your website visitors but also make them regular followers.
Craft a Go-to-market Strategy (GTM)
Taking a new approach to your GTM strategy will help with digital adoption because most brand and product interaction nowadays is done online. Digital tools are a must for forward-thinking businesses looking for longevity and increased revenue. It might feel similar to your traditional marketing strategy, but a GTM strategy helps set the direction when launching new products, reinvigorating existing ones, and tapping new markets both online and offline.
Leveraging digital marketing tools like Salesforce allows for data-driven insights that will help you identify and address customer sentiment and pain points. Training your staff in the use of these digital GTM solutions helps with digital adoption efforts because it allows them to master the tools and learn about the long-term benefits of their use.
Take a Holistic Approach
To facilitate digital adoption, your digital initiatives should go beyond the implementation of new digital tools. Of paramount importance is ensuring that your digital approach is the same across the organization or, at the very least, your initiatives should complement each other and work toward the organization’s bigger goals. Digital adoption will be challenging if there are gaps in the implementation; trying to work with dated processes and analog systems will hinder digital adoption and transformation.
Streamlining systems is also one of the main objectives of taking the holistic approach. This minimizes the learning curve for users and increases your employee’s confidence in navigating the digital tools used by the organization. Redundant and unnecessary processes should also be eliminated from the organizational workflow to ensure seamless operations.
Choose the Right Technology Partners
After crafting your digital adoption strategy, you should choose the appropriate technology and service provider. This provider should understand the needs of your company and the industry in which you work. Choosing the right partner ensures that you have the tools and systems designed to provide the best service possible to your customers and make your employees’ lives easier.
Adopting Digital Truths
Regardless of where you are in your business journey, taking the digital route is an inevitable step that you’ll have to make sooner or later; the sooner you prepare for it, the better. Digital adoption can be a challenge because digitalization of an organization can be its own challenge. Without proper planning and getting the full cooperation of all members of the organization, your digital initiatives can fall flat and result in more challenges than benefits.
Ultimately, it’s a delicate balancing act. investing in digital tools and approaches should also mean investing in digital adoption strategies that will make promote the maximization of these digital tools. The key is careful planning; identifying what works and doubling down on those and identifying areas for improvement where digital tools can provide the most value.
