Digital Adoption Techniques: 3 Different Approaches & The Scenarios In Which They’re Effective

Digital is so pervasive in the modern world that adoption scenarios are now extremely varied.

From the new hire struggling with enterprise apps, to customers performing actions on a business website, and everything in between — digital adoption managers continually rack their brains for the best ways to get people using digital tools effectively.

Here are 3 winning digital adoption techniques you can use, regardless of your situation. Just match the approach to your current digital adoption needs, apply the technique, and enjoy success. Simple!   

3 digital adoption techniques: one of these will work for you, whatever your situation

1. A change management approach

Change management is defined by Prosci as, “the process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change to achieve the required business outcome.

“Change management incorporates the organizational tools that can be utilized to help individuals make successful personal transitions resulting in the adoption and realization of change.”

It’s a broad discipline that covers many different techniques, processes, schools of thought, and frameworks. But the majority of them have much in common.

For example, change is seen as a process. It requires an alteration in human behavior for it to work. It needs considerable planning and strategic process around it. And in an organizational context, senior support is needed, otherwise it’s likely to fail.

Digital adoption is a process of change. It requires users to change or improve their digital behavior.

It too needs a strategic approach, planning, resources, and of course, senior support to work. That’s why a change management approach can be applied to digital adoption techniques.

When is this approach most effective?

Using a change management approach is ideal when implementing digital change internally and at an organizational level.

When rolling out major digital change, using a change management model like Kotter’s 8 steps, or Prosci’s ADKAR, can really help. Why? Because they cover the most important aspects of adoption: the users.

Kotter’s 8 steps begins with helping others see “the need for change” through a “bold, aspirational opportunity statement that communicates the importance of acting immediately.” He calls this, “creating a sense of urgency.”

In cases of technology implementation and digital adoption, communicating the vision — an aspirational future state arising from using new digital tools correctly — is extremely important for getting users onboard.

Kotter’s model is comprised of the following 8 steps:

1. Create a sense of urgency (as explained above)
2. Build a guiding coalition (to guide, coordinate, and communicate the digital change)
3. Form a strategic vision & initiatives (clarification on the route to the future vision)
4. Enlist a volunteer army (influencers and digital change champions to rally the troops)
5. Enable action by removing barriers (make it easy and natural for the digital change to happen)
6. Generate short term wins (recognize, collect, and communicate successes to track progress and raise morale)
7. Sustain acceleration (build on the momentum of your initial successes)
8. Institute change (connect the change with organizational success & ingrain until it’s “the way we do things”)

2. A Digital Adoption Platform (DAP)

What is a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP)? It’s the single most important tool an enterprise can use to facilitate, even guarantee, successful and rapid digital adoption.

An algorithmic layer, the DAP can be applied to any existing digital system, platform, tool, or software. It uses AI and advanced machine learning to understand user behavior and provide them with the help they need, in app, when they need it.

The DAP is completely customizable, depending on your unique situation, and easy for administrators to use.

Its simple, drag and drop interface allows administrators to set up virtually any kind of workflow and goal they can think of. And if something in the system’s navigation or features changes, it’s easy to notify users through the DAP.

When is this approach most effective?

Using a DAP is one of the most valuable digital adoption techniques you can employ. It’s effective in any digital adoption situation, including:

• Onboarding new hires to digital systems and enterprise apps
• Training existing employees how to use new digital tools
• Onboarding customers to your digital products
• Nurturing and guiding customers on your website or app

More than that, the DAP also uses advanced automation to auto-complete certain tasks on behalf of the user.

This is extremely useful in enterprise situations where employees are spending time completing mundane, data entry, or repetitive tasks. It frees them up to do other important aspects of their role.

3. Leading from the top down

You could also call this the influencer approach. It’s based on the idea that people aspire to be like those they follow or look up to.

So, when it comes to digital adoption, if an “idol” or superior uses, loves, and promotes certain technology, the followers of that person are going to want to aswell.

When is this approach most effective?

The influencer approach can be used in both internal and external digital adoption scenarios. So, for example, your enterprise is rolling out a new app or feature to its customers. Let’s say it’s a revolutionary workout app.

A powerful way to motivate your customers to try, use, and fully adopt all features of the app is to have influential people that they follow, lead by example. In the modern world, this is where digital adoption and PR crossover.

So, you get one of the Kardashians (if that’s who your audience finds influential) to trial, use, and explain the features of the app publicly — on Instagram, for example. Where these influencers at the top lead, others will follow.

This is one of those digital adoption techniques that can also be used internally.

Within a large corporate, the most influential people are (generally speaking) those at the top. This approach works best in conjunction with a visionary CEO who visibly and audibly spearheads digital adoption.

Imagine that your organization is rolling out a new intranet or HCM. If your CEO is proactively using it, communicating his messages through it, and embodying its benefits for all to witness, employees are much more likely to follow suit.

In an organizational context, it’s about making the new technology the new normal.

So there you have it: 3 digital adoption techniques that can be adapted to almost any situation. Now all you have to do is action one of them.