How Strategy – Not Technology – Is the Real Driver for Digital Transformation

Business owners and executives today know the power of social media, mobile technology, cloud computing, and analytics. If you pay attention, however, you will notice that truly mature and successful digital businesses do not jump at every new technological tool or platform.

While they do not sit and wait for months or years to create social media pages or to take advantage of new analytical services, they do approach every piece of technology that they use with a solid strategy. Why? Marketing, production, and brand management require concrete planning to be effective and coherent. Implementing new technology without a set strategy is a recipe for failure – or, at the very least, for ineffective use of an otherwise powerful tool.

The Importance of Digital Strategy and Vision

To make the most use out of the technologies and tools available to your business today, you must have a coherent and cohesive digital strategy. Companies that have good digital strategies are said to be “digitally mature” and are more likely to embrace the most strategic technologies as they are developed, rather than casting about, trying everything, and failing to use most of it to their advantage.

A good digital strategy is born out of a vision for the company. Savvy leaders will understand that they must first envision the form they want their business to take, the presence they want it to have online and in the physical world, and the brand tone and voice they will use to engage with customers across all media. This is the basis for a strong strategy that will carry you through software and hardware updates, new tools, social media platforms, and much more.

Technology Gives You Analytics – Strategy Shows You How to Use Them

Now, we are not saying that technology is unimportant. In fact, without data streams and analytics, you would have a much more difficult time collecting the information you need on your customers, website traffic, and the market in general. Without analytical tools like these, you would have a much harder time finding the data to make your next strategic move.

How Strategy – Not Technology – Is the Real Driver for Digital Transformation

However, you might think of your analytics and data streams as the tools to fix your car and your strategy as your mechanic’s knowledge and experience. You could have all of the tools necessary to change the struts on your wheels, replace the alternator, or do anything else to repair your car, but those tools will do nothing for you if you don’t have the knowledge and experience necessary to perform those jobs.

With a solid strategy, you’ll have a guide for how to use the tools that technology gives you. You’ll see how your business can embrace these tools and platforms, how it will change and evolve, and how to continue to use them in the future as they become a part of your business. Without strategy, you might get lucky and choose the right platform, the right analytics tools, and the right interpretations of the data in front of you…but it’s highly unlikely.

Businesses that put strategy before technology and then use that strategy to embrace and fully utilize that technology show a digital maturity that will drive them into the future and help them to maintain sustainable growth and success.

Have you implemented a digital strategy for your business? What’s changed since you’ve embraced your strategy, and what are your recommendations for strategy and data-driven technology for business owners and executives like yourself?

Let us know what you think and how you’ve used your digital strategy to set your business apart from the competition.

Read more

• Why Strategy, Not Technology, Drives Digital Transformation?
• 4  Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before You Implement Any Big Data Strategy

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