Digital mastery is essential in this day and age. On this matter, consultants Ernst & Young argue that its importance will continue to grow and consume the way that we do business. The consultancy states that:
“Digitisation is a step change even greater than the internet… The winners will act now and build a strategic advantage that leaves their counterparts wondering what happened”.
Indeed, Ernst & Young argue that everything is becoming digitised, and business models need to be able to change accordingly so that organisations are able to engage with stakeholders, as well as “maintain relevance and drive the conversation”. The goal is that businesses need to command on all digital channels, and doing this is not just about marketing. It requires a strategy that works towards continuous improvement. Here are ten steps to become a master of digital business.
10 Steps To Build Digital Business Mastery Intelligenthq- Content is King – it is almost folklore among those in the know that digital mastery relies on excellent content that is used to draw in the customer and attract them to click through to your website, and hopefully buy your products or services. All digital masters know that getting this content right is essential to success.
- Look to engagement – engagement is one of the key buzzwords of digital mastery. Activities that are carried out digitally should be engaging and draw the customer in. This may include the use of blog posts, photographs, video, sharing of other people’s content or anything that is relevant and timely that may attract and engage customers.
- Collaborate – collaboration is a big it word right now, and digitisation makes it even more possible than ever before for organisations to be able to collaborate with their customers. One example of an organisation doing this is Starbucks, which has an online suggestion board from which improvements are implemented.
- Move to mobile… now! – 2014 is the year of mobile. Get a mobile app and promote it with customers. Make sure that the app makes customers’ lives easier. Also look at ways in which mobile applications can make it easier for you to manage your own business. There are mobile apps for just about everything. If there’s a task that seems very drawn out, chances are mobile can improve it in some way.
- Embrace flexibility – customers may want to be able to interact with your business in all manner of different ways. Providing them the opportunity to do so will help to prevent them from moving to a competing organisation to get what they need.
- Don’t spam – in all elements of digital activities, spamming should be avoided at all costs. This goes from everything to sending emails to customers to advise them of new products and services or discounts that may be available to making posts on social media platforms. No matter how good your product or service is, no one wants to be bombarded by you.
- Understand which channels attract which customers – some customers will be attracted by digital channels and others will not. Focusing on targeting the right customers digitally rather than all of your customers is important, as it makes sure that your messages are more focused and pinpointed to the people who will be seeing them. The bottom line is know who your digital customers are, how they differ from your wider customer base (if they do) and focus specifically on them while on digital channels.
- Embrace the crowd – digitisation of everything means that there are endless free tools and resources online built by crowds and communities that work together towards open innovation. This can save you a lot of time and money.
- Use diagnostics – creating your mastery of all things digital will not be possible without reviewing what you are doing and understanding how it is going. There are some excellent tools for this, such as Google Analytics. Such tools show how many people clicked on what and when and from where they originated. This information can be used to refine what you are doing and drive further success.
- Listen – digital mastery requires you to listen to what your customers have to say. The digitisation of business has led to a two-way conversation rather than brands being able to talk at their customers. This is actually a great advantage in many ways because you can learn a lot about what customers want from listening to them, and this can help you refine your offering.
Paula Newton is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Paula’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Paula has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Paula has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
