Digitization and Digitalization

As the world begins to adapt and digital technologies evolve to become a staple in our lives, more companies are deciding to pursue large-scale change in an attempt to keep up and stay a step ahead of competitors or simply benefit from these changing trends.

To many people, digitalization can mean a whole lot of things, but in business, it means just one thing, growth. Now make no mistake, a lot of people seem to confuse the word digitalization with the word digitization, but by no means are they the same thing. 

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, digitization is the process involved in the conversion of something to a digital form. For example, scanning a school paper or a document into a PDF, now this is digitization. On the other hand, digitalization, as defined by Gartner is, “the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities. Think about the digital transformation of Nike to connect better with its customer base.

Why Digitalization Is Important?

Now that we’ve gotten the preliminaries out of the way the big question is Why digitalization? Why should a business, decide to go digital? 

Let me give you a quick instance, Sal and Willy make shoes in their small hometown of Westbrook. They both notice that fewer and fewer people keep coming in to purchase more shoes. So in an effort to increase sales, Willy decides to do a weekly advertisement of his business in the local newspaper, paying about $20 for each advert. On the other side, Sal decides to set up a mailing list online where he sends out 3 emails each week telling people about his newest products, their features, and benefits. At the end of the day, not only does Sal triple his shoe sales, but he also gets customers from other towns that subscribed to his mailing list online. And Willy ends up with an even lesser turnout ratio and a debt of about $200. This singlehandedly showcases why digital marketing is important for small businesses.

Digitalization is the key to the improved efficiency, marketing strategy and continuity of a business in our ever-evolving world. It facilitates better informational exchange, eliminates redundancies, and reduces operational costs. Giving you more, by making you do less.

The Path To Digital Success

Hasbro, Microsoft, and Nike are examples of companies that have successfully leveraged digitalization to transform their market position and enhance customer experience. 

While we can all agree that these companies are all driven by different goals and separate approaches, one thing they all have in common is their consistency and the overall implementation of digitalization across their entire organization. Here are some simple tips that you can follow to achieve the same and create your own digital marketing technique:

Change Of Business Mindset

Digitalization encompasses both behavioral and cultural change. So changing the overall mindset of your organization can play a key role in whether you succeed or not. A clear mindset open to various possibilities and probabilities thinks critically and rationally, by simply recognizing what works and what doesn’t.

Communication And Commitment

I’m sure we’re all tired of hearing the words communication is key. But in all honestly, the reason those words are said so frequently is that they are nothing but the truth. Frequent communication between members of an organization concerning its goals, achievements, projects, and deadlines helps to maintain engagement and zeal across the board.

While commitment propels you towards your goals and allows you to stick to your preplanned vision and goals. Because there will be good times and bad times. Commitment provides that glue to help you stay on course whenever obstacles do occur.

Set Aside Long And Short Term Goals

One huge problem a lot of businesses face these days is that they have so much they want to achieve, that at the end of the day they don’t even know what they’re doing anymore, and because of this they actually end up achieving nothing. 

Setting aside a defined list of long-term and short-term goals is a key factor in differentiating companies that succeed and companies that don’t.

Clear and defined priorities, responsibilities, and benchmarks once established aren’t easily shaken down.

Learn From The Best

Except if your business is one of a kind that the world has never seen before, chances are there are a lot of people who have been doing what you’re doing, so learn from them. Their techniques, practices, and tools, find out how they did it. That will at least give you a clear idea of what needs to be done and what paths you can follow. In simpler terms, to be the best you have to think and act like the best.

Author’s Bio

Clara Awuse is a professional copywriter/content writer. She prides herself on being a diverse writer, capable of writing in any tone of voice. Outside writing she loves reading, most especially books on human psychology.