Nowadays, everybody and their dog will tell you digitalisation is no longer a luxury for brands. It is a must! And, rightfully so. As our world increasingly adopts technology to enhance efficiency, many traditional approaches are no longer practical.
Consumers now engage with their favourite brands through unimaginable channels just a decade ago. With the help of digital tools, businesses can deliver results more quickly and reach a broader audience beyond their physical locations. For modern brands, digitalisation is essential.
The message is clear: adapt or risk obsolescence!
Tapping into the value of digitalisation
While many brands have successfully embraced digitalisation and continue to lead the way, others find the idea of going digital daunting.They often grapple with questions about how to assess the value of digitalisation, how to measure the anticipated impact on their brand, and where to focus their efforts during the digital adoption journey.
These concerns are legitimate, which is why this article has been created. We will explore key value points and potential ways to measure success for brands considering digitalisation to achieve growth and scale.
Establishing Credibility
In the past, establishing a brand’s credibility often required a physical office space. However, today, even the most reputable brands recognise that they shouldn’t limit themselves to a single location.
Brand consumers and their audiences are no longer confined to one area. Globalisation allows people to interact with most brands from anywhere, provided they have internet access. Even more intriguing is that users now leverage digital technology to search for and form perceptions about the brands they wish to engage with.
To thrive in this environment, brands must leverage digital channels to create impressions that match their stature. This can be achieved by transforming brand identity into high-quality digital representations, developing user-friendly and mobile-responsive websites or apps, effectively communicating their narratives, and building trust through social proof and reputable interactions.
Some Metrics to Measure Digital Credibility:
- Search engine ranking for brand keywords
- Website traffic and engagement statistics
- Social media mentions and follower growth
- External references to your brand on trusted platforms
Extending Reach
With digitalisation, a brand’s potential audience can be extensive. Even if some individuals are not yet ready to purchase, they can be nurtured into future consumers. Moreover, the stakeholder ecosystem has become broader than ever.
A brand’s influence extends beyond its core consumers, including industry analysts, thought leaders, and social commentators. While consumers directly impact revenue, other stakeholders can indirectly influence a brand’s growth.
Given digitalisation’s broad reach, brands must deliberately position and utilise digital technology to create value and achieve results.
Some Metrics to Measure a Brand's Reach:
- Number of users or customers from non-core markets
- Engagement from non-consumer stakeholders, such as industry analysts or aggregators
- Inbound leads from digital campaigns
- Clicks, downloads, or sign-ups on your platforms
Gaining a Competitive Edge
Digitalisation’s power can give brands a competitive edge in their respective markets.
By integrating simple workflows, such as online form completions, or more sophisticated automation, like developing AI agents to manage specific parts of a process, digitalisation can offer significant value in helping brands stand out.
With a variety of digital technologies designed to help brands accelerate their growth, companies must carefully consider their core offerings and positioning and the areas where they can effectively leverage digitalisation.
For example, Pamtech Autoland, a Nigerian brand specialising in car repairs and servicing, has successfully used social media. By creating humorous yet informative content, they have built a large following and engaged audience.
This strategy has transformed the perception of car repairs, establishing them as preferred vendors and keeping them at the forefront of consumers’ and prospects’ minds.
Some Metrics to Measure Competitive Edge:
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
- Customer feedback and online reviews
- Net promoter score (NPS)
- Customer retention rates and lifetime value (CLV)
Simplifying Transactions with Online Payments
One beauty of digitalisation is how it has simplified transactions for brands. As consumers become more digitally savvy and technology continues to improve in terms of security, online transactions are rapidly becoming the norm.
With internet access now widely available in many rural communities and mobile usage steadily increasing in developing markets, online transactions are set to play a significant role in how consumers purchase from their favourite brands.
Thanks to the convenience they offer consumers and the precise, organised entries they provide in vendors’ revenue dashboards, brands that effectively integrate online payment into their user experience can find tremendous value when adequately implemented.
Some Metrics to Measure Online Payment Impact:
- Number of products added to carts and completed purchases
- Conversion rates for online transactions
- Positive reviews related to the checkout process
- Reduction in return rates or transaction cancellations
Driving Operational Excellence
Running efficiently enables brands to leverage the significant benefits that digitalisation can bring to various aspects of their operations. One advantage of digitalisation is that it extends beyond just a brand’s customer-facing elements.
Digitalisation is crucial in how brands establish their internal processes, the tools that enable their employees to work effectively, and how they implement corporate governance.
From project management and internal communication to team training, resource libraries, sales strategies, and customer success initiatives, digitalisation can be instrumental in ensuring that a brand’s operations run smoothly and effectively.
Some Metrics to Measure Operational Excellence:
- Cleanliness and accuracy of CRM data
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) adherence rates
- Accuracy of revenue attribution
- Employee productivity and satisfaction scores
Accessing Global Talent
Digitalisation has revealed an untapped value for brands that rely on a diverse range of talent. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies to adopt remote work, which helped maintain operations and enabled access to talent outside local markets.
Digital job boards, such as LinkedIn, have made it easier for talent to connect with employers, allowing brands to share their open positions with a broader audience. Additionally, platforms like Glassdoor allow employees and job seekers to share their experiences and perspectives regarding a brand.
Over time, these perceptions can enhance a brand’s value and influence its attractiveness to potential employees. Metrics like “Best Place to Work” are now standard and help attract talent to prospective employers.
Moreover, virtual workspaces, meeting platforms, digital libraries, and cloud-based tools facilitate collaboration from anywhere. Brands can hire talent and leverage remote work to align these individuals with their objectives.
Some Metrics to Measure Talent Attraction and Retention:
- The geographic diversity of applicants for remote roles
- Employee ratings and reviews on platforms like Glassdoor
- Internal referrals and
- Employee retention rate
Conclusion
By embracing digitalisation, brands can enhance their operational effectiveness and fully engage with their audiences, ensuring long-term success.
