The Requirements of Digital Transformation
This is the first article in five article series entitled "The CRAFT of Digital Transformation"
- The Case for Digital Transformation
- The Requirements of Digital Transformation
The Requirements Digital Transformation
Now that we've shared the Case for Transformation, we should talk about what's really involved in order to go about this in a way that maximizes an organizations success rate with digital transformation.
This is hard work. Not only because it requires focus and organizational will, but because it requires AGREEMENT. Organizational leaders have to be aligned and agree that this is a worthwhile pursuit, a 'get there whatever it takes' kind of attitude. There are three requirements here to discuss.
#1 Collaboration
Digital transformation has enough failures in its trail, that I can say this with confidence, it can no longer be driven by any one part of the organization ...it requires the C-suite to come together and consider digital transformation as a holistic change necessary for the business to lead in the coming decades. Of course the CMO has a very critical role to play in this transformation.
According to Gartner and other industry experts, it is marketing that is expected to create exceptional brand moments at every customer touchpoint. This is not something that the CIO, CEO, or other corporate leaders can do well by themselves without the CMO leading its orchestration.
#2 Marketing Knows the Customer
This is key, in crafting these brand moments and analyzing the results, improving, and crafting even better brand moments, marketing becomes what I call the customer incubator. That is, they are allowing the profile and engagement data to inform their 'mind of the customer' so they can provide customer driven engagement opportunities, in order to continue to provide exceptional brand moments. Consider: "
86% of CMOs believe they will own the end-to-end customer experience by 2020. - The Economist
#3 Organizational Alignment
What I've been seeing rather consistently, is that traditional organizational structures that result in silos, are simply not designed to deliver great customer experiences. Organizations the put the marketing function (who knows the customer) in the center of all customer touchpoints within the organization are also the ones who succeed in creating 'win ready' engagements and exceptional brand moments.
Help! - - - So what if your current position doesn't give you strong influence to directly affect items #1-#3 but you want to aid in transforming customer experiences? Consider these techniques.
Technique #1- Create Personalized Experiences
We know why we should do this, but what should we be doing to create personalized experiences? Inventory recent communications you've published and ask "was this a monologue or a dialog?" If you are doing batch emails, cold calls, random ads, or managing static websites these are in keeping with "monologue marketing", if you are doing things like, triggered emails, warm calls, re-targeting ads, or personalized web content these in line with "dialog marketing" as they facilitate relevance and responses.
Technique #2- Span the Entire Customer Lifecycle
Its a long standing principle that in most cases, organic leads offer the most value to the marketer. This is because buyers journeys are often 'self-directed'.
"Today's buyers control their journey through the buying cycle much more than today's vendors control the selling cycle." -Forrester
Spreading budgets across all stages.
The data that is available to a digitally transformed organization gives them a competitive advantage when it comes to marketing spend. This is because the data at the bottom of the funnel starts to inform top of funnel investments. This also allows marketers to spend less to create meaningful engagements at the top of funnel, and shift those dollars to mid and bottom of funnel activities.
Technique #3- Measure what Matters
This cannot be overstated. There is so much that can be measured in a marketing practice. Move from "what if" questions when it comes to what you can measure, to "why should" ...we be measuring.
Marketing leaders who are clear on the executive priorities of the business, should also be clear on what marketing offers to drive those priorities. In the "Measure what Matters" category, ask yourself, does this measure the effectiveness of a marketing practice which clearly ties to the executive priorities? It's about alignment. There are certainly levels of KPIs (executive, strategic, and tactical) which I may talk about at a later time, but in the end their aim should be to provide education and alignment.
Is this useful? Share your thoughts below.
Next up in the series? We will talk more specifically about the people of the organization in "The Artists of Transformation". This provides competitive advantage and is ideal for marketers whose markets are are teeming with noise.