In the blog titled ‘Digital Darwinism: Survival Theory of the Businesses,’ we learned about ‘what do you mean by digital Darwinism?’ and some real-life examples of how businesses in different fields have experienced digital Darwinism. All of it explains that companies must prepare themselves to face Darwinism.
Industries are constantly advancing and evolving in the race to provide the best possible customer experience.
Many businesses face the problem of being prepared to keep up rather than step up. This attitude makes the companies face difficulties laying a weak foundation for the future.
The last few years have marked a significant fall of the giants like Borders, Kodak, and Blockbuster as they succumbed to digital Darwinism because they couldn’t maintain pace with the rapid changes.
Tips for handling digital Darwinism
Here are some ideas on how to cope with digital Darwinism –
1. Remain customer-centric
Every business needs to remain customer-centric. Businesses need to engage the target audience with the brand through the website, email, or social media.
Big brands have already adapted to the situation, considering that about 98% of luxury shoppers have mobiles. These brands have devised an idea of developing a customer-centric focus, targeting these users with interactive apps.
Businesses should always look forward to improvising their understanding of customer behavior at every step of the shopping journey. Using this customer-focused policy as the top priority for digital transformation certainly saves companies from falling.
2. Connecting inter-departments
As a human body needs all body parts for survival, a business also has many key factors that make it fit to stay in the long run. About 52% of the companies are unwilling to share their customer intelligence data with other departments outside their contact center.
Businesses need to understand that not sharing data and restricting inter-department communication can lead to losses.
Implying digitization across the organization and uniting the workforce with a shared goal and common vision is important. The transformation of future businesses lies in eradicating inter-department communication.
3. Available through multiple channels
Customers have different means to research products, interact with brands, and execute an online purchase in this digital era. The companies need to consider every point of contact with the consumers and should not be relying only on a single channel.
Research has shown that many customers browse through several channels before purchasing. More surprising is that those customers who use multiple channels spend an average of about 82% more on each transaction. Missing such opportunities can lead to a loss.
4. Focused leadership
Every individual should make efforts to take an active part in digital transformation. As every drop of water fills the ocean, similarly, every individual contributes to digital transformation.
Moreover, playing a role of an active leader by individuals will make companies feel more supportive. Individuals well-versed in digital practices and are open to learning new innovative trends and ventures form the pillar of the companies.
A leader should always remain prepared for the digital age. He should be well versed with digital practices, and it’s important to avoid being taken down by digital Darwinism. Having skilled digital leaders ultimately improves chances of successful integration into the digital era.
5. Catch-up with trends and digital transformation
Trends are ever-evolving and digital transformation is unstoppable. Keeping these two factors in mind, organizations need to continuously upgrade themselves to stay ahead in the race. They need to focus on creating something new not to lose customers.
For any digital leader, innovation is key. Nowadays, companies must focus on digital transformation and embrace new social media platforms.
6. Skilled workforce
It is good to have the latest trending technologies but is useless without knowledgeable people around it. One of the major hurdles many firms face during digital transformation is the workforce with no skills or zero-knowledge.
Educating employees about the digital culture or availing policies where employees earn bonus points for learning digital methods can be a great initiative. Other areas where organizations can benefit are increasing customer satisfaction and boosting workforce performance and productivity.
7. Tracking engagement rate
Reaching ‘n’ number of likes in comments on any social media platform is not enough. It gives a false notion that – things are going well. But when it comes to customer engagement, these vanity metrics are not always correct.
According to Mckinsey’s research, less than 15% of businesses plan to quantify the impact of their digital initiatives. Instead, companies should consider the Return on Experience (ROE) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and not focus on social media statistics.
These factors help to know what really matters to customers, their expectations, and whether they enjoy using the brand. All these help better understand the customer journey and look for measures to improve the ROE.
8. Using advance technologies
Advanced technologies such as machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps to give a personalized online shopping experience. Leveraging the full potential of information and data automation techniques helps businesses gain more information about their customers and fulfill customer expectations.
9. Making better investments
Going digital is not the only option. There are several ways businesses can choose from. Organizations need to determine what will give the best Return on Investment (ROI) at any given time.
In fact, training and developing employees to acquaint them with the digital future can be the best investment. Other ways can be investing in a campaign on social networks.
As big data, cloud computing, and customer relationship management are gaining popularity, it becomes difficult for organizations to choose the best. Making the right choice will help businesses save money and get future-ready.
Wrapping up
As digital disruption emerges, various organizations need to adapt quickly and try new things. And even if, by chance, it fails, attempting to learn and recover from the mistakes is not something that companies cannot do.
According to Gartner’s research, it is estimated that only about 30% of companies embracing a digital transformation will succeed. As technologies like AI and machine learning progress rapidly, there is no time to waste. And companies that do not involve themselves will be left behind so much that they won’t catch up again.
The digitally equipped facilities enable businesses to connect with customers and find more aspects to deliver valuable content and valuable products and services.
Thus, the companies need to indulge in a complete digital transformation to pace the rapid future movement. And to do so, companies need to check the balance between people and digital technology to remain relevant.
According to global futurist Chris Riddell, digital Darwinism is not just a revolution in technology but a human revolution too. Within no time, digital Darwinism has shaped companies’ future and will continue to do so. Companies worldwide need to prepare themselves and get ready for digital Darwinism with whatever they can.
To learn more visit our latest whitepapers on digital Darwinism and similar technologies here.
