The Ultimate Digital Transformation Guide for 2021
With the rapid expansion of the internet, marketing strategies have also seen a transformation. Not only has the traditional marketing tactics have entirely changed, but even within the digital marketing space, we see frequent updates and changes that marketers always have to be on their toes. Hence, marketers have to constantly turn to digital transformation guides to stay updated.
What is Digital Transformation?
The concept is quite straight forward. In our day-to-day life, one may see how things have increasingly become digitized in the last few decades. Due to the ease of management, data accessibility, and reduction in time taken to do any particular task, digitization began with modifying the professional space, but it rapidly penetrated people’s personal lives. Now, when every other person uses a smartphone, indulges in online banking, online shopping, even online medical consultations, digital transformation has come a long way. And it is continuing more rapidly than one can imagine.
Similarly, digital transformation has affected digital marketing strategies, as well. Digital marketing targets customers to bring internet traffic to the brand’s website and interact with them on digital platforms to build an online reputation. However, digital marketing does not limit itself to that. It also targets mobile phones, social media, SEO marketing, etc., to promote the business.
As they say, change is the only constant. Hence, it is imperative for marketers to alter their strategies from time to time to stay relevant. The continuous growth of the internet, new apps and platforms, and constant development of algorithms are driving digital marketing companies to evolve and embrace digital transformation. Digital strategies have to continually transform to penetrate newer market spaces and maximize the potential business contribution of online technologies and media.
But digital marketing strategies are changing so fast that marketers also have to increasingly focus on digital transformation strategies.
Guide to Digital Transformation
Obviously, the consumer’s positive experience leading to customer satisfaction is the eventual target for all digital marketing strategies. But it is crucial to drive the customer towards the brand. Digital marketing strategies have several target areas for the comprehensive promotion of any business.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Pay-per-click campaigns (PPC)
- Social Media Marketing
- E-mail Marketing
- Online advertising
These strategies are here to stay with constant changes and updating. All good marketers base their strategy on digital transformation guiding principles.
1. SWOT Analysis: To begin with, any digital marketing service will analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization, in short, they will conduct a SWOT analysis. They will also examine the customers and scrutinize the competitor. This will primarily help in formulating marketing tactics.
2. SMART Goals: Digital transformation strategy will then set the goals keeping in mind five benchmarks- specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound, or SMART.
3. Planning: With these digital transformation guiding principles, a strategy must be devised to attract the customer. This would include various methods like social media marketing, online advertising, SEO strategies, PPC campaigns, website development, and management, etc.
4. Reach the consumer: Attention has to be paid to the penetration of the product into an existing market. That is where personalizing content to individual consumer plays an important role. Thanks to social media platforms, the possibility of knowing the interests of customers is increasing. Hence it is now possible to make recommendations based on their interests and previous purchases.
5. Convert to sales: This is one of the most crucial parts of the digital marketing strategy. There is no point in making all the effort if there is no or low conversion to sales. The marketing agency will use a multichannel approach to increase the conversion rate of a brand.
6. Retain the customer: For any brand to survive, it’s essential to have loyal customers who return to the same product or service. Hence, besides giving them a good product, it’s important to engage with them regularly. Marketers may use ways like e-mail marketing, automation, etc., to retain existing customers.
The shift to the digital landscape has been no less than a revolution. And it is an ever-evolving process. Our communication systems, supply chains, retail system, education system, banking system, everything has changed around us. Therefore, it’s imperative for marketers to frequently adapt to digital transformation strategies.
