8 Tips For Staying Ahead In The Digital Economy
The pandemic accelerated the global embracing of technology-inspired solutions, thereby bolstering the digital economy’s popularity. We observed how lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic were some major drivers behind the adoption of several modern-day norms such as telecommuting, distance learning, and online grocery shopping. For instance, statistics indicate that 2.14 billion customers bought products digitally in 2021. Also, more than 80% of consumers conduct online research before purchasing something. One can argue that since 6.6 billion human beings now possess smartphones, the rise of the digital economy can’t be neglected anymore. But how can you stay ahead in this economy?
First, managers should realize the prevalence of e-commerce in the world today. It’s estimated that over a billion credit-card transactions occur daily across the planet. Also referred to as the internet economy, this economy’s dependent upon commercial activities caused by internet-based transactions. Managers must now realize how understanding this internet economy may assist the survival of their organization in the post-COVID business environment. Embracing this transformation can give you an advantage over your competitors in today’s rapidly-changing economy. Now, how do managers make digitization easy? We’ll explain some strategies here for managers to make their organizations more tech-savvy in the industry:
- Organizational leadership
Companies cannot thrive in today’s internet economy without organizational leadership. How can modern-day managers implement digital transformations successfully today? We suggest managers pursue a digital transformation short course for staying ahead in this digital economy. These educational opportunities are created for managers who are willing to prioritize digital transformation and seek methods to influence the organizational design and mindset for long-lasting changes.
- Embrace the change
Organizational transformations aren’t possible without managers being open-minded about changes in how their companies are structured. The question of survival in this digital economy forces people to consider the “hard side” of change management in the business industry. Stakeholders often reject a petition for change by claiming, “It can never work” or “We’ve tried that already.” You can’t keep up with the regularly evolving internet economy without embracing change and adapting to new ideas and methods.
- Employee inclusion
Organizational transformations during this internet-driven economy depend on including employees at every stage. Remember that these changes affect employees from all departments, and nobody must be left behind while managers are revamping a company’s structure and strategies. From shareholders to low-level employees, everybody should be involved in creating and implementing your firm’s internet-inspired campaigns. A manager mustn’t forget that employee inclusion will create the digital culture much-needed for your organization’s productivity. Listen to the employees and include them in the decision-making process.
- Cultural changes
Why has fostering a digital culture become important for business survival today? Surveys show that over 50% of the companies on the Fortune 500 list since 2000 have become outdated because they couldn’t adapt to digital evolution. That’s why managers should foster digital literacy by eliminating cultural limitations hard-wired into our brains. Introduce certain cultural changes that influence your workforce’s attitudes and behaviors, thereby encouraging them to become more tech-savvy. This could include anything from providing them with short training sessions on the latest tech in the market to encouraging/sponsoring them to pursue higher education qualifications.
- Customer expectations
Are you well-prepared to meet the expectations of digitally-empowered consumers? Customers have become more independent today, and the digital economy has compelled companies to take their opinions into account when developing products/services. Today’s customers don’t just expect convenience, but they’re also looking for proactive experiences. And companies must retrieve data for honing customer experiences. That’s why we’ll suggest later how organizations must structure themselves digitally in the future.
- Outsource operations
Outsourcing has become imperative for organizations to achieve a competitive advantage in today’s digital economy. So, managers should restructure their companies to enable the inclusion of more part-time employees by outsourcing certain business operations. Even before the pandemic, almost 68% of American consumer product companies were outsourcing business functions. We suggest you outsource certain aspects of your organization’s digital transformation to limit risks. Outsourcing enables an organization to scale up/down cost-effectively as they have access to quality experts for crucial tasks that require more focus.
- Data-driven decisions
Organizations require data-driven decision-making (DDDM) for surviving the onslaught of the digital economy today. The foundations of modern-day marketing strategies rely on obtaining useful data from customers and manipulating it to create better products and services. We suggest managers leverage tech tools to use this data more smartly to improve their marketing campaigns and day-to-day business operations. Data guides marketers’ and decision-makers’ next moves in today’s economy and protects them from making potentially devastating decisions.
- Find new KPIs
Thriving in this new economy requires managers to determine the company’s progress digitally. How can you measure your evolution in the business industry today? We suggest managers establish digital-inspired metrics to track the success of their marketing strategies. Create an infrastructure to monitor your growth by identifying new KPIs and finding better tech tools for that purpose. In other words, constantly measuring your success allows you to know how to adapt to change successfully in 2022 and the future.
Conclusion
We’ve established how the digital economy has overwhelmed our business industry today. Moreover, the pandemic accelerated these internet-based economic transactions since customers are becoming more tech-savvy. Statistics indicate that 75% of online buyers purchase something every month. As digitization normalizes, managers must embrace these transformations to match up to or stay ahead of their competitors. How can you stay ahead in this digital economy? We’ve described some strategies managers should follow.
Experts believe that the internet economy accounted for 8% of America’s GDP in 2021. We reached this milestone because tech-savvy companies invested in data-driven decision-making while manufacturing a digital-friendly culture. They improved organizational leadership and included the workforce to make an internet-based economy more adequate. Outsourcing operations and managing customer expectations can also help you stay ahead in this digital economy. Don’t forget to embrace any changes realistically.