Digital Transformation: Important action you may have missed

Digital transformation (DX) is one of the keys to run a successful business. Especially after the pandemic, more and more companies are using technology to help reshape the way they make business.

Digital Transformation definition

Digital Transformation (DX) is a concept that integrates different types of digital technologies into different areas of a business in order to change how it operates. Thus, changing the way the value is delivered to customers. More than merely a tech transformation. The best definition of Digital Transformation is to provide a cultural change. One important phase of Digital Transformation is DTC (Direct to Consumer). We have been seeing companies missing translation and localization in their projects. This article will explain how important it is for the overall success of your company.

Why does Digital Transformation matter?

Businesses of any type and size have been deeply affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. If digital platforms were important before 2020, the pandemic and the quarantine made it an almost prerequisite for a successful company. This period made it crucial for companies to be able to quickly adapt to new demands and changes in customers’ expectations, as well as dealing with market pressures. And the best way to do that is using technology.According to IDC, global spending on DTX should grow 10,4%, reaching $1.3 trillion. This is a bright light on the technology spending habits of companies that suffer from dramatic reductions overall. Digital Transformation means something particular for each company. As Jim Swanson, CIO of Johnson & Johnson, says, “digital is a loaded word that means many things to many people”. All areas were affected by DX (Digital Transformation), maybe the most affected was Healthcare.Healthcare Digital Transformation was essential during the pandemic. “We know that virtual healthcare works,” says Ron Moody, M.D., and chief medical officer at Accenture Federal Services. “Now we need to take what we’ve learned during the current crisis and transform healthcare into a virtual-first system.”

DTC Ecommerce

DTC is the short term for Direct To Consumer - also known as Business To Consumer (B2C). This means that, by using DTC, the company will be selling and dealing directly with the clients through ecommerce.  Without a retailer or a middleman in charge, this means that the business will have to start gathering information on its public to maintain good customer relations. And how is that possible? Tech can be an ally in different ways, such as producing personalized content, sending emails on important dates, following trends, applying customer experience research, and even computing and analyzing information such documents.

Direct to Consumer, Why?

In 2018, research from Diffusion showed that 81% of customers plan to buy from brands that sell directly to them. Even though there are still no new studies, it is known that this process was more crucial to clients than ever. Going DTC means that the company will have to think about more than just its products: they will have to focus on its mission too. This means that brand identity will be created - which will, in turn, build a loyal public for the business. And we all know how important a loyal audience is for a company, right?Going direct also means that you will be fueling innovation in your company. Since you will have direct access to clients’ feedback, you will be able to experiment with new strategies and see whether they work or not for your public. Digital Transformation, as the term suggests, is able to turn a company from head to bottom. This will bring many improvements for commerce, but it also means challenging some ideas that already run deep in the company mentality. With the right skills and leadership, implementing Business Digital Transformation Strategies will help your business to grow and succeed in the market.

Translation and Localization are the missing part

All-time invested in Digital Transformation will be worthless if the final message does not get to your clients in their own language. Regrettably, this is something that has been overlooked by many companies.When dealing directly with clients, it’s important that the company is giving the public personalized attention. That’s why it is crucial for a business to translate and adapt your content and products to the demographic you aim to have an impact on.

“For instance, in retail, providing a frictionless direct-to-consumer commerce experience is a key imperative”, says Nitish Mittal, vice-president at Everest Group.

As the executive words suggest, Digital Transformation involves all kinds of content, such as Web Content, Video, eLearning, and Multimedia. With that in mind, once again technology can be an ally in this battle. That’s because by using Software Localization, your users will access your content from anywhere. The best part about it: the content will be personalized for them. But attention: this means that the company should not only translate its content, but also do research and have a specialized team to deal with each targeted group. Hence, you should be aware of concepts such as Localization and Localized Content in order to achieve your goals on an efficient Digital Transformation Strategy.

How to start a Digital Transformation

Some ideas on how to implement:

1- Understand what is your goal

No business should start a Digital Transformation without knowing its main goals. That is why understanding the reasons behind such decisions is the first step towards creating an efficient strategy. Start by asking yourself: what problems can you solve using technology? What areas of your business can be improved? “Today, with a vast portion of the workforce now remote, employee experience of digital technology has gone from ‘nice to have’ to ‘the only way work gets done’. Consequently, it's getting the problem-solving focus it likely long deserved”, says Melissa Ferry, US Transformation Leader of Korn Ferry’s Swift. With that being said, it is important to understand that, as much as technology is needed, it is only a means to achieve a goal. Without that in mind, it will not really matter which new technologies you use.

2- Get buy-in for your ideas

Digital Transformation is something that affects many parts of a company. How can you make it work if the entire team is not on the same page?You have to sell your ideas to your colleagues. That is the only way a company can successfully implement significant and efficient changes. Attention: this is not “just” sharing your ideas! Getting buy-in for your Digital Transformation requires strong leadership skills - one that makes it possible to get heads-up effects on all the company's key players.

3- Do your homework

You will probably not start your Digital Transformation from scratch. Therefore, it is important to study other companies’ success cases and, most importantly, understand which resources you already have in your own company. After that, you will be able to make decisions on what you can use to implement and what you can let go.This is the smart way to make the business work! Be aware that research will be required even after the implementation of a DX strategy. "When determining how well Digital Transformation investments are performing, it's best to take a portfolio view and not a project level view," says Cecilia Edwards, a partner for DX and research at the Everest Group.

4- Create your own guide

After you have cleared your goals and resources, it is time to make things happen! Make a visual map of where you are now and where you want to be. Afterward, you will be able to understand what you have to do in order to get there.

5- Be Patient!

And remember big changes do not happen overnight! If this is your first experience with Digital Transformation, be patient. Besides implementing the technology, you have to give enough time for your team to be trained and adjust to the new systems.