Digital transformation isn’t about making incremental improvements on the status quo but using emerging technology to be a leader.
It’s tough on the high street, but some brands maintain margins and deliver surging profits. From understanding the core customer to keeping up with the latest trends, what are they doing right?
Creating meaningful competitive advantages using technology requires business leaders to think big and differently. The current technological landscape has created a unique opportunity that virtually any business can latch onto if they genuinely believe in its potential impact. Suppose current trends accurately show that the norm is to take a cautious approach toward digital transformation (DX). In that case, you may want to consider the potential rewards of “going all-in seriously.”
Following technology adoption trends of other like-minded businesses can be a legitimate strategy from time to time. Yet, playing follow the leader will get you nowhere when seeking to create a competitive advantage through digital transformation. Your goal should be to blaze a trail that gives you a unique and difficult-to-mimic advantage over the competition. In many cases, that is not happening. A recent Masergy Digital Transformation Market Trends Report highlights where businesses follow each other like lemmings. Let’s look at what current DX trends show — and how a minority of companies are bucking the trend.
At a time when top tech companies of the world, Meta, Google & YouTube, and Snap, are reporting a slower growth rate globally in terms of ad sales, their buck arms have managed to buck the trend with good growth numbers. However, while the big tech companies continue to grow their ad sales in the country, the UK online marketing industry is witnessing a churn with advertisers reviewing their digital media ad spends with a fresh outlook.
Amid the squeezed margins, closing stores, and boardroom upsets, a select group of companies are bucking the trend by growing sales during the worst Christmas for retail in a decade.
Rather than the department stores or high street stalwarts, sales and profits are coming from different directions, powered by brands with a clear sense of identity, a commitment to serving their core customer, and the agility to keep pace with new trends.
Is Bucking the Trend Key to Digital Transformation?
Misunderstanding and Vendor Messaging
Why most business leaders only seek digital transformation to modernize the status quo is no mystery. It boils down to a lack of understanding of what can be accomplished with today’s technologies. Much of the problem resides with technology vendors that aren’t correctly communicating what their platforms can do. Customers still view big data and deep analytics platforms as expensive, risky, and challenging. Yet, this is because they lack the necessary guidance on how these tools can be applied to business goals in the real world.
Shifting Perspectives of Digital Transformation
Alternatively, only 25% of respondents want to use DX primarily to increase revenue (15%) or to create new products/services (10%). While taking on a riskier proposition, these businesses are the ones that truly understand the gift that DX can provide. That is any business that’s willing to go after it. These businesses have leadership ready to use technology to create real advantages. A good portion of them are also the ones that likely will be seen as market leaders post-digital transformation shakeout.
Leveraging Emerging Technologies
Businesses looking to buck current digital transformation trends are turning to emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and big data in ways that can pay significant dividends in the future. Is it a risk? Sure. But taking chances is part of any business’s success. These same companies willing to take on genuinely transformative digitization projects are enlisting the help of external consultants with well-established relationships with the business.
In most cases, an enterprise organization won’t have the necessary in-house resources to take on many of these new DX projects. Thus, it’s vital to seek supplemental outside resources. Additionally, the consultants should deeply understand the business and their goals. With the combination of proper technical skills — and an accurate vision of business goals — a DX project is far more likely to be successful.
Why Does Bucking the Trends Often Lead to Success?
It’s common for entrepreneurs–especially tech entrepreneurs–to rush to enter markets amid a boom, usually presaged by a spectacular event such as a billion-dollar IPO. Entrepreneurs reasonably assume the risk of failure is lower when entering then, and that’s why high-profile successes can trigger an explosion of interest in a particular area.
In the world of digital changes, doing things differently than everyone else often brings success. Here’s why:
1. Being Creative
When businesses do things differently, they can come up with new ideas. This helps them create unique products, services, or working methods that make them stand out and do better than others.
2. Trying New Tech Early
Instead of following what everyone else is doing, some businesses try out new technologies early on. Before many others, they used smart devices, software, or big data. Doing this makes them leaders in their industry.
3. Being Good at Handling Changes
Being successful means being good at dealing with changes. Businesses that can handle and embrace changes do well in constantly moving and changing markets.
4. Taking Smart Risks
Doing well in business often means taking careful risks. Some companies are brave enough to try new things, like using new technology or developing new business methods. When these risks pay off, it can bring them big rewards.
5. Leading the Market After Changes
If a business doesn’t just follow what everyone else is doing, it can become a leader in the market. This means they get to decide how things work in the business world after all the changes.
6. Focusing on Customers
Doing things differently often means understanding customers better. Businesses that care a lot about what customers want build solid and lasting relationships with their customers instead of just doing what everyone else does.
7. Being Flexible with Plans
Sometimes, plans can be too strict. Businesses that can quickly change their plans to fit new situations are likelier to do well, especially when uncertain.
8. Thinking About the Long Term
Doing things differently usually means thinking about what will happen in the future. Businesses focusing on long-term goals rather than just short-term gains are more likely to handle the challenges of doing things differently.
9. Learning from Mistakes
Not everything will work perfectly, and that’s okay. Businesses that are okay with making mistakes and learning from them can improve and find better ways to do things in the future.
10. Collaborating with Others
Success doesn’t always happen alone. Businesses that work with others, like partners or companies, can combine strengths and ideas, making them even more successful in the changing business world.
In short, Doing things differently helps businesses find new opportunities, stand out from the rest, and be successful for a long time in the changing world of digital transformation.
Bucking the Trends: Maximizing the Potential of the Mighty Buck
There is an absolute comfort in doing what everyone else did. It is safe. It is homey and straightforward. But what if I told you that going against the grain, bucking trends, and doing things differently is good? Though not the easiest way, it can result in great success, personal development, and fulfillment.
Standing Out from the Crowd
- Going against the grain makes you stand out.
- Tesla’s focus on electric cars amid gas-powered vehicles showcases this.
- Daring to be different makes a business memorable and positions it as an industry leader.
Self-Discovery through Non-Conformity
- Going against the grain is a journey of self-discovery.
- K. Rowling’s departure from the publishing industry, opting for a boy wizard, exemplifies this.
- Divergence leads to insights into creativity, storytelling abilities, and determination to succeed.
How Do You Buck the Trend?
If standing out from the crowd seems complicated, that’s because it is. Trends exist because people are lazy, boring, and unoriginal. If you habitually dress the same way, eat at the same places, hang around with identical friends, and take vacations in precisely one spot, it is almost impossible to conceive what else might be possible. We have not encountered enough people, places, and things to approach a new problem project or opportunity with a unique perspective.
So, how do you buck the trend? Expand your horizons, try new things, create new networks of friends, ideas, and things. Try a new sport, eat fresh food, listen to new music, or take up a hobby you would never have considered. You can keep tabs on the trends but should look elsewhere for ideas and inspiration. Once you find and weave together those random, disparate threads you’ve been oblivious to, you can see, think, and work in new ways.
The people whose ideas we remember—Steve Jobs, Serena Williams, JK Rowlings, and Andy Warhol—all did things differently despite the trends. They have become a new trend. They look at what everyone else is doing and then find a better way to make a computer, play a sport, tell a story, or express themselves.
History has set this precedent time and time again. Don’t believe me? Back in the 15th century, when everyone else was trying to spread Christianity by hand-copying Bibles one at a time with a quill and ink, one young man bucked the trend and decided to do things differently. The now-famous printing press came to be only because Johannes Gutenberg tried to solve a problem—how to sell more bibles—in a new way. As luck had it, he was familiar with both moveable type and the large screw presses used for making wine. He could have just done what everyone else was doing, but instead, he tried something new and changed history.
How Buckinghamshire Businesses Navigated Digital Success?
Business Marketing Services
Buckinghamshire’s success in digital transformation extends beyond digital marketing services for the stores to encompass a broader spectrum of business marketing services. Collaborative efforts among local businesses have resulted in shared marketing initiatives, fostering a sense of community and mutual support.
Joint marketing campaigns, partnerships, and networking events have become integral to Buckinghamshire. The tradeoff here is the need for practical cooperation and coordination among diverse businesses with different goals and target markets. Achieving a harmonious balance is crucial for maximizing the collective impact of business marketing services.
Internet Marketing Services
In the digital age, the internet is the marketplace. Buckinghamshire’s businesses in the digital age have recognized the potential of Internet marketing services to extend their reach beyond local boundaries. These services include online advertising, content marketing, and influencer collaborations.
However, the problem is that although there are various means of profiting from online opportunities, they can be vast and have high competition. The trade-off includes identifying the optimal combination of platforms and channels that meet an organization’s goals while resonating with its audience.
E-commerce Websites for Online Stores
The linchpin of Buckinghamshire’s digital success is adopting an eCommerce website. Local businesses began to switch to digital marketing services for the storefronts due to the convenience of online shopping becoming number one and allowing customers to search through products from their homes.
Though the advantages of e-commerce are clear, cybersecurity lenses in terms of logistics and user experience are seamless. Balancing the benefits of online shopping and addressing these challenges thus calls for a strategic approach to develop an effective e-commerce ecosystem.
Considering the impact on the community is a crucial aspect of Buckinghamshire’s digital success. Businesses that contribute positively to the local economy prioritize sustainability and engage in community initiatives have garnered widespread support. The interconnectedness between digital success and community impact underscores the significance of ethical and socially responsible business practices.
Wrapping Up
The success stories from Buckinghamshire highlight the power of doing things differently in the digital world. Businesses like Tesla and Apple showcase the benefits of standing out, being creative, and embracing new technologies.
The blog emphasizes the advantages of going against the norm, including creativity, early tech adoption, adaptability to change, and strategic risk-taking. It also stresses the importance of leading the market, understanding customers, and thinking about the long term.
Buckinghamshire’s businesses have followed trends and created unique paths, learning from mistakes and collaborating with others. The blog also touches on collaborative marketing, internet marketing services, and the role of e-commerce in the region’s digital success.
Lastly, it highlights the impact of ethical business practices on the community. Overall, the stories shared here offer insights and inspiration for businesses navigating their paths to success in the ever-changing digital landscape.