What is digital transformation?
Because digital transformation might look different for each company, it is challenging to give a universal definition that describes all industries. In general, we would define digital transformation as the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, resulting in fundamental changes in how a company operates and delivers value to its customers.
One example would be getting rid of long excel files where you store your potential and existing client contacts, which you then have to manually follow up on, wasting a lot of time and risking a potential lead going cold.
But beyond that, digital transformation is a cultural shift that necessitates organisations constantly challenging the status quo, experimenting frequently, and becoming comfortable with failure and obstacles.
At times this might entail abandoning long-standing business processes which companies have been using for a long time in favour of relatively new practices that are still relatively new. In other words, digital transformation is a continuous and effective cycle of implementation, revision, and optimisation.
Why is it beneficial?
To keep up with or surpass your competitors, digital transformation is an absolute must. In digital transformation, two departments stand out: marketing and sales.
In general, implementing a CRM system, such as HubSpot, will significantly improve your lead generation time and allow you to be present to your customers and leads 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through various automation services. Imagine not having to worry about manually writing down contacts, sending them follow-up emails, and manually updating long prospect lists. Let’s dive a little deeper!
Sales and Marketing: 5 things to consider
1. Mindset
When it comes to digital transformation, having a good grasp of the mindset behind it is the key. The main focus of such a process is to switch approach, from focusing on the product or service you are selling to whom you are selling it. In short, the focus becomes your customers and their experience when interacting with your brand.
If you can clearly understand the problems that your customers are facing and offer them a customer experience that can solve their issues, chances are they will become more inclined to choose your brand over the other ones out there.
These issues vary by industry, but once you commit to this mindset, determining what your audience is looking for will be easier.
2. Automation
Automation serves to eliminate as many redundant and repetitive tasks as possible. We discussed some examples of how automation can save you time and money earlier, but let us dig a little deeper.
Many businesses are increasing their profit margins by lowering the cost of hiring additional employees to do jobs that a CRM system can do better and more efficiently. Anything from data collection, email responses, client follow-ups, seasonal cross-selling and upselling, and many more.
3. The Customer Journey
We mentioned that understanding the problems that your customers are facing is key to a proper digital transformation mindset. The best thing one can do to start such a process is to create business buyer personas.
Afterwards, create their respective customer journeys. We recommend using the HubSpot flywheel method for a more effective and easier-to-grasp concept, more about it here
The main idea of the flywheel is to divide your strategy into three categories: Attract, Engage, and Delight. This division allows for better visualisation of your customer experience efforts while at the same time optimising the journey for your customers along the funnel.
4. Optimisation
Funnel optimisation is one of the main areas that digitally transformed businesses should pay attention to. Here we see the true potential of digital transformation and its connection to sales and marketing.
The content production side that the marketing department should focus on plays a huge role in attracting the right customers and engaging them throughout their journey by providing information and solutions to their problems. For this to work as intended, all outlets where people can reach your brand should align with the desired customer journey. If done correctly, you will soon see qualified leads coming in.
Then, your sales team can take them to the Delight phase, completing the flywheel.
5. Review, Revise & Learn
Everything changes rapidly in the online world, even more so in recent years. Technology evolves, trends govern the market, and keeping up with the changes is more important than ever. That is why keeping your marketing strategy up to date is crucial.
Frequent performance reviews and revisions can be the main drivers of keeping your business afloat and relevant. There is no longer a one-size-fits-all scenario; every business must adapt and keep up with all the changes that are going around.
The digital transformation of your business is the first step into overall improving your business while keeping up with the times.
