There will be roadblocks, barriers, and growing pains every time we look to change the status quo. But the challenge will pay off immensely when it comes to aligning internal companies in marketing and sales, and customer service). But without looking at how it can be achieved most efficiently and effectively, no company and no leadership can look to make these improvements and reform internal processes, which is a no-brainer. This is why digital transformation is essential for effective coordination of marketing and revenues, but it should be a primary priority so that the alignment would be more comfortable.
Digital transformation means better insights from customers.
Harry Miching, Senior Director at Ambetter, walked us through “Redefining the Future with Digital Transformation” at the Adobe Experience Maker’s Live virtual event last month. He taught us how they adapt through emerging digital technology and techniques in his presentation and other Adobe customers.
“In his first point, he demonstrated how digital transformation enables a “deeper understanding of the consumer,” discussing that we can identify “individual customers and audience groups, understand behavior and predict behaviors in doing so.” This, in turn, lets us use data to produce actionable insights and maximize customer performance.
But what does this signify in times of coordination in marketing and sales? For instance, we can track client journeys from (MQLs) to SQLs to SALs better. This helps us see trends and then make predictions that can help us perform more aligned activities, from how we construct website/digital sales funnels and email marketing strategies to how we can more reliably classify the activities that lead to conversions at all stages of the journey.
This makes the handoff between marketing and sales of a prospect seamless. We will more effectively serve them and distribute resources and time from the appropriate department in ways that do not bring our teams into the market if we have the means to estimate what our prospects and customers are performing, what they may need, and what their intentions are. Instead, as we work together towards mutual objectives in conversions, real-time digital touchpoints and consumer feedback will cultivate a more substantial relationship.
Digital transformation means the precise distribution of content.
Another theme was material in the Experience Maker’s Live case. Now, content is at the core (more than ever) of how you serve prospects and consumers, highlight your business’s experience and insights, and inspire deeper relationships and confidence with customers.
But only creating content is not enough. You may have a theory of what your customers may want and need. Still, digital transformation, most significantly, allows you not only to know for sure what your customers are looking for, but it helps you to offer the content precisely when they need it.
He addressed “Agile Communications” for modern companies in Chris’ second point, which illustrates the necessity to “grow proactive, personalized and timely communications aligned to the context of customers and employees” based on category, need, and place, to name a few. Outcomes? “Increase employee engagement and retention of clients.”
Digital transformation; creating new ways of working.
You have probably used the word “unprecedented times” so often lately that it makes you sick. But it is one of the better ways of explaining what we are going through collectively: a widespread paradigm changes not just in how we do business but also in how we operate. Most of us learn as we go, adapting on the fly and figuring out what works and what does not through speedy trial and error. And while we are busy seeking the new standard in our own working lives, the same is faced by our clients. The businesses that embrace digital transformation are the ones that keep on succeeding.
He described the new ways of working n another point, in which we have to “leverage remote collaboration, workflows, and meeting platforms.” He also said we need to use standard tools to democratize data, publish content, and leverage AI for scale. This becomes sorely clear when it comes to marketing and sales alignment. Collaboration is vital for success, and gatekeeping will not stand as long as it might have happened before. If the regular in-person, informal networks are inaccessible, organizations that can quickly transfer their activities online can see a rise in contact channels. But this is a positive thing, maybe. We can see how a more tightly operated ship is allowed by digital marketing and sales alignment transformation: fewer data falls through the cracks, transparency is harder to run from, and cohesive processes and software ensure everybody is on the same page.
Though digital transformation is nothing new, many of us have been driven by our present time to rush up adoption in ways we could never have expected. But rather than worry about the change, or struggle to adapt, we should look to how it enables us to achieve critical internal milestones, particularly when it comes to marketing and sales alignment.