There is an abundance of technological advancement that is transforming the workplace quickly. When it comes to business growth, technology is no longer just a luxury; it's a necessity. Companies that can innovate and adapt in this age of technology will be the ones that succeed. Let’s explore how you can leverage technology to drive growth and stay ahead of the competition.
Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is the process of integrating digital technologies into all areas of a business, from operations and customer service to marketing and sales. This can involve automating processes, streamlining workflows, and improving customer experiences. By embracing digital transformation, businesses can become more efficient, agile, and competitive.
The most successful companies are using technology to drive growth. Let’s look at a few.
Luxury jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. has responded to consumer demands for more engagement at retail by embracing technology. Its integration of virtual and augmented reality has completely changed the way people purchase. You can now virtually try on a Tiffany necklace or ring at a Tiffany store and see how it looks on you. Of course, you can still try on the real thing, but that requires a salesperson to assist you, and many shoppers prefer to do a bit of self-discovery before engaging a sales person. This technology is a great example of how technology may improve on the traditional shopping experience.
Warby Parker is another company using technology to expand their growth in the eyewear industry. They invested in virtual try-on technology to enhance the online shopping experience. Their Home Try-On program allows customers to try frames at home before purchasing. The intention is to give online customers more confidence in their selection, and also reduce returns and post-sales regret..
Domino's Pizza has become a digital leader by investing in mobile technology. They developed an app in collaboration with a company called Future Platforms that increased their online orders by 44.5%. This not only made them more efficient, it also delights customers with innovative features like pizza tracking. The Pizza Tracker allows an easy way for the customers to engage with their order. Eager customers can go to the tracker and see what stage their order is in. You can see if your pizza is being prepared, packed, or delivered. It becomes an important part of the customer experience and takes using automation to make this type of experience possible.
The Foundation of Growth
A customer relationship management (CRM) system is the foundation for dynamic sales and marketing improvements. Today’s CRMs go beyond storing customer data and tracking interactions. Using a robust CRM (we call it “Smart CRM”), you can automate sales and marketing communications, stay on top of large volumes of prospecting in less time than ever before, and engage in highly personalized — yet efficient! — sales communications throughout your sales pipelines. A Smart CRM will function like additional teammates to your marketing team and provide your sales team with their own sales assistants! CRMs can also be integrated with other business tools (e.g., email marketing, accounting) to create a seamless workflow.
How do you choose a Smart CRM (instead of the equivalent of a digital rolodex)? Check out this video to learn more.
Website Development
Your website is your digital storefront, and the approach should differ depending on whether you're targeting businesses (B2B) or consumers (B2C). A well-designed website, using the right technology to help you achieve your goals, will help you attract the right prospects and convert them into customers. We wrote an article on things to think about and how to connect your website to your strategy … check it out here.
Marketing Automation
Email marketing, social media campaigns, and content marketing are essential for reaching your target audience. But managing these campaigns manually can be time-consuming and can become impossible as your business begins to grow. Marketing automation tools can help you automate repetitive tasks, personalize your messages, and track your results.
To learn more about marketing automations, click here. Or check out this article on our StrategyWerx blog about 42 ways to automate your business!
Connect with Your Audience
In-person events like conferences and mini-expos, and digital events like webinars and online meetups are excellent ways to build relationships with your audience. Technology can help you streamline planning and execution, communicate more frequently (and more effectively!) with your invitees and attendees, keep engagement levels high in both live and digital experiences, and dramatically improve the quality of your followups. For B2B marketers especially, for whom adwords and social media just aren’t meeting their expectations, events should be a bigger part of your marketing mix, and technology makes event marketing easier and more affordable than ever before.
To read more about Events and Webinars, click here.
According to McKinsey, the most successful B2B companies are using technology in these ways to grow, and are more than twice as likely to see 10% market share growth than companies that are not. If you’re interested in growth (and who isn’t?), and you’re not currently investing wisely in technology to enable that growth, it’s most definitely time to start.
