Digital transformation is the topic we often hear discussed when talking to companies: how integrated are the brand marketing and digital marketing teams? How much do they communicate with each other? Who wins in the battle of corporate strategy?
One year after the start of a pandemic that accelerated digitalization across all sectors, perhaps the question is no longer "who wins," but how to win and how to integrate skills within the company.
How has the market changed post-COVID-19?
The pandemic has irreversibly changed the behaviors of customers and consumers. In a recent global study by Adobe on Digital Trends 2021, the "digital shift" is everywhere and it is drastic.
60% of companies across all sectors, both B2C and B2B, report seeing growth in online customers; over 30% are experiencing an unusual increase in purchase infidelity, and about 50% are seeing new and unexpected buying behaviors compared to historical trends, where customers move between online and offline channels at all stages of the purchase funnel.
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There is no going back, in all fields, even in those traditionally slower in digital transformation. We will return to a "new normal," but that "normal" will be digital, and customers will not slow down in their pursuit of increased freedom of action.
Digital Transformation and Digital Innovation
Certainly with some exceptions, brands must now view digital strategy as an "enabler", no longer just a component of their functional strategies (marketing, customer service, product...) but a driver of the consumer/customer experience and business growth.
The marketing area governs the customer experience, increasingly positioning itself as a guide for the business and becoming more digital. So, how does this function change? How can it become more integrated?
3 Steps Towards the Success of Digital Transformation
In the market, we are observing various organizational alternatives aimed at integrating digital skills into marketing, communication, and brand and market strategy decisions focused on digital transformation. Some examples include:
- Creation of a digital marketing and e-commerce team under the commercial direction, alongside the "offline" marketing and sales functions;
- Structure of a digital business unit under the general management, which oversees all digital activities, from e-commerce sites, to apps, communication and marketing activities, product development, operations, creative development, etc...;
- Creation of a unified marketing team reporting to the marketing director, who has extensive digital and non-digital experience, consisting of vertical areas both online and offline (from brand to media, e-commerce, performance marketing, etc...);
Digital transformation: key points
It seems that each of these organizational models can work, provided certain conditions are met, which we have identified:
- The working mode of teams: multidisciplinary teams with an "agile" operating model, closer to the digital culture and younger generations, that allows for joint decision-making, cross-functional experiences, and the development of individuals with an integrated "online and offline" culture.
- L’internalizzazione of key competencies, now strategic for the business, that in the past were more often outsourced, and which do not only concern performance marketing or social media management, but also:
- UX/UI and CX: the online experience observed and measured, and integrated with the offline experience;
- CRM integrated across the entire online and offline purchasing journey;
- Data Analytics and Data management: controlling and utilizing data to support brands and categories;
- Development: developers to support innovation and the continuous improvement of adopted technologies;
- Omnichannel: integrated management of communication and sales channels, where digital technologies can also enable a better experience at the point of sale, for example. Each company will need to define which skills to internalize based on its strategy, but the speed of the market and customers will continue to require many more than before.
- A genuine focus on the Consumer/Customer experience: what kind of experience do I want to provide for my customer, how much can I personalize it? A better and more in-depth understanding of consumer insights will help identify the critical factors for generating loyalty and retaining customers, thanks to data platforms and a faster operational mode that allows for quick action in anticipating the needs of customer segments.
