Can your business survive offline in 2020? Maybe.
Can it remain offline in 2025? Much more questionable.
Nowadays, many companies consider moving towards a digital business model.
Below you can find the top digitalization trends and tips on how to create a digitalization strategy.
First Things First: What Is Digitalization?
Digitalization is converting information into a digital, computer-friendly format. In other words, going digital means that your business is becoming available online.
Why Offline Companies go Digital
Lots of experts claim that digitalization is an inevitable step of development nowadays and is only a question of time.
Let’s look at the Top 3 Benefits of Company Digitalization
Digitalization Makes Business Comfortable for Customers
Today people prefer searching for information on the Internet. It is fast and easy. All customers have to do is have devices capable of accessing the Internet. It is far simpler to open a website or an app than to go somewhere and make a purchase or order a service.
If your business is e-commerce-related, going online and creating a shop will provide your customers with detailed product descriptions and online consultation chats. Everything customers need is just a click away and very descriptive.
Digitalization Increases Competitiveness
This point flows naturally from the preceding one. By going online, you are leaving all your offline competitors behind.
Surely, any company has to analyze their target audience, such as where it hangs out and how it prefers to use alike services. In some cases it is worth moving to online business slowly or by moving only parts of the business at a time.
Digitalization Establishes Trust
And it helps in showing the customers how good the product is.
Didn’t you notice how weird it is to Google something and not find it on the Internet?
For example, a company’s web-site, social network page and even youtube channel help to establish customers.
Top 6 Digitalization Trends to Keep an Eye On
2020 digitalization trends are about high technologies and business personalization. To make your business successful and avoid common digital marketing mistakes, you should provide your customers with valid information, easy navigation, and a friendly interface.
Trend 1: Personalization
No matter if your product is unique or not, you should have it personalized to stand out from competitors.
It is definitely common knowledge that personalization helps to capture customer interest. The more personalized your product is, the more sales you get. However, in 2020, your customers’ behaviors and demographics are not enough. Your product should be relevant to people and fit in the context of their lives.
In other words, you need to determine who your clients are and what their needs are. After you determine the first two, create a strategy adapted to this audience and their problems.
Trend 2: Seeking Investments
You need an online platform where customers can “meet” your business. First, you need to create it and then you need to promote it to your audience. Publish more about your business and focus on your market needs. By doing so, you can increase customer trust and position yourself as a professional.
Lots of startups heavily invest in creating products and then are left without any marketing budget. This is particularly common in startups that are bootstrapping, which is developing the project without the help of outside capital. While sometimes it might be a wise choice, projects that find out how to find investments for their online platforms tend to be more successful.
Trend 3: Progressive Web Apps
Traditional websites are good. They are stable and representative. But at some point they may seem a little old school. Add interactivity to your web page using progressive web apps.
The difference between this type of app and a web site lies in cross-platform. You don’t need to develop a mobile version of your website or create a mobile version of it. Your progressive web app will work both on desktop and mobile.
Therefore, such a web application guarantees that your customers are able to view your product no matter what device they are using.
Trend 4: The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology that helps to connect devices to the Internet or any other device. IoT is a system of correlating or digital devices that are able to transfer data via the Internet.
IoT allows you to receive better data, not only from customer clicks on your website but from their physical devices as well. This information enables you to provide a richer, broader and more personalized customer experience and better determine the vectors for your future business development.
Trend 5: Apply High Technologies
Augmented reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning or NLP are all no longer the stuff of sci-fi movies. It is a reality now. You can also use these tools to provide customers with support, personalized service and increased productivity.
Virtual customer assistants (aka chatbots), personalized search and product suggestions are only a part of how you can improve your service and make it closer to your real customers.
Trend 6: Use live videos
Live videos stream something that is happening right now. Unlike polished text messages and professional company videos, with live streaming your potential customers can see your team and what is currently happening in your workplace which makes them trust your business even more.
Such videos are interactive and attract customer attention to your business. Depending on your product and target audience, you can use platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Periscope to stream your real-time video content.
Consider using these 2020 digitalization strategies to improve your business plan next year.
What should you do to move your business online successfully?
Well, as Winston Churchill once famously declared, however beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
