Why Digital Transformation (DX) is crucial for your Bottom Line

There’s a lot of buzz around the concept of “Digital Transformation” (DX), but what does it actually mean for you and your business?

Digital transformation is the process of shifting your organisation from a legacy approach to new ways of working and thinking

What pops into your mind when you hear the words, Digital Transformation? Most people think of information technology, automation, and selling products and services online. This is true but few people know about the factors needed to support and ultimately guarantee the success of this technology.

In order for your business to be in perfect balance, you need the Yin of technology and the Yang of a new way of thinking.

An MIT and Capgemini study titled “The Digital Advantage: How Digital leaders outperform their peers in every industry” found that there are two major spheres that businesses must tackle in order to reap the financial rewards of Digital Transformation:

The First is: Digital sophistication of technology

There is no getting around it. You need good tech! For a business to keep up in the current climate it needs greater automation, customer engagement, and efficiencies. This means investing in things like location-based marketing, connected products, mobile sales, social media communities, and optimised pricing.

Luxury fashion brand Burberry, for example, increased profits by improving its in-store customer experience and operational efficiencies using a range of retail-appropriate digital technologies.

The second is: A paradigm shift

This part of the Digital Transformation equation is often ignored to the detriment of the business. Leadership needs to adopt a new way of thinking. They need to be on board and inspire all other departments to embrace cross-silo coordination, an evolved company culture, IT-business relationships, and skills development.

Leading car brand Volvo is noted for the vision and governance competencies it produced prior to rolling out new digital services in its vehicles. These features set them apart from competitors and drove sales.

The above-mentioned study of over 400 organisations from a wide range of industries found that when a company addresses both of these spheres (companies the study calls the “Digirati”), they beat their competitors in terms of profit by up to 50%.

Interestingly, businesses that focused just on digital sophistication (dubbed “Fashionistas”) did not reach the profitability of those who invested mostly in developing management competencies (dubbed “Conservatives”). Companies who had invested little into either arena, “Digital Beginners”, were the least profitable.

For Digital Transformation to occur, someone needs to take the reins and lead the enterprise forward. While it's debatable as to where in the organisation this push should come from, studies have shown that effective change only happens when IT leaders expand the scope of their role to become business technology managers.

Digital Transformation experts Xuviate argue that this concept of Business Technology Management (BTM) is so vital that it should replace the more static concept of IT.

The worth of investing in BTM can be championed to business leaders by mapping the value propositions that digital transformation brings to the organisation.

Primarily, BTM aids in finding and implementing the most appropriate, cost-effective platforms to advance businesses' objectives.

Secondly, using technology as value-driver ensures that business processes are optimised, which leads to cost-saving efficiencies.

Thirdly, when used intelligently, IT can help differentiate a business from its competitors in the market.

Finally, the fundamental transformation of the business toward the smart adoption of the right technologies aids the survival of companies as the marketplace moves increasingly toward digital.

Effective change can transpire when IT leaders expand the scope of their role to become business technology managers.

It can be difficult to determine the first step or even the next step for your business's journey toward digital maturity. It all starts with a digital transformation strategy that establishes the scope and objectives for your digital transformation.

It's important not to focus too heavily on the operational side of your business at first, and rather consider more strongly the ways in which your business can benefit from growing into relevant digital spheres. Then you can identify the skill gaps that need to be filled for your vision to be realised.

Once the vision is established and the strategy to achieve it is in place, you need all the members of your organization to buy into the idea.

An MIT Sloan study showed that employees across all age groups want to work for a business that is committed to digital advancement. Once a digital culture is fostered, leaders can guide the business to invest in the right digital opportunities.

As you progress, keep in mind the two-pronged approach of the Digirati. This profit-driving approach ensures that your company is creating value for customers along with digital transformation, rather than just keeping up with trends.

The Xuviate DX Maturity Model for the Mid-Market. The 5 distinct maturity stages on the DX journey. Brian Solis from the Altimeter Group has done some great work developing and validating a Digital Transformation Maturity Model that delivers on each of these expectations. Unfortunately, however, all efforts to date on developing DX maturity models have been focused on large organisations and there remains a need for much more specific guidance tailor-made for mid-sized business.

It's important to remember that different organisations take different paths to digital maturity. Every business will have a unique digital journey that is aligned with the needs of the business and its customers.

V5 Digital, a leading digital marketing agency based in Windhoek, Namibia begins the process of digital transformation by helping you develop your unique digital business model.

Whether that involves using digital to sell your products or services online, or connecting with your customers on social media, V5 Digital specialises in crafting fine-tuned, clear, agile, digital transformation strategies to help your business succeed.

Don’t hesitate to contact V5 Digital for a free assessment or to help you decide whether investing in digital transformation is the right next step for your business.

Are you interested in the State of Digital Transformation?

Download the comprehensive research report from our collaboration partner Altimeter, a Prophet Company.

V5 Africa: Why Digital Transformation (DX) is more than just a Fad

To learn more about this topic listen to V5 Africa: Why Digital Transformation (DX) is more than just a Fad

Download it here: https://www.v5.digital/africa

V5 Digital and Acacia Energy partner up to make the World a Greener Place

Acacia Energy is an international company with a powerful vision for the future: to help restore the Namibian Savannah while assisting businesses to shift away from fossil fuels. The way they will achieve this is by using the biomass from encroaching non-indigenous bush to harvest energy, which simultaneously helps restore the Savannah lands to their natural state. To realise this vision, Acacia Energy understood that they will need to attract customers for the green energy they produce as well as investors. But how would they attract their ideal target market of environmentally-minded European investors and business people?

Acacia Energy approached V5 Digital to build them a compelling online brand home, complete with a fresh logo to communicate their values.

This is where leading Namibian agency V5 Digital entered the scene. Acacia Energy approached the Windhoek-based innovators to build them a compelling online brand home, complete with a fresh logo to communicate their values.

This resulted in a win-win partnership, with V5 Digital landing its first major international client, and Acacia Energy landing a digital partner who understands how to craft superior digital experiences.

V5 Digital began the process by conducting a global audit of competitor and peer sites, to compile best practices for site functionality as well as look and feel. Next, the site map was constructed with the user experience in mind, ensuring that site visitors can navigate to exactly what they’re looking for in as few clicks as possible. The site was built with a highly functional content management system (CMS) so much so that news and updates can be published quickly and easily.

Acacia Energy’s new website was constructed to best convey their purpose: to highlight the critical issue of saving the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa and Namibia.

Acacia Energy’s new website was constructed to best convey their purpose, namely to highlight the critical issue of saving the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa and Namibia, and simultaneously providing a greener alternative to fossil fuels. This is conveyed through the messaging throughout the site, as well as through the immersive photo and video libraries that help visitors in other countries understand the issue on a visceral level - Acacia Energy´s ethos was distilled succinctly in the logo that V5 Digital conceptualized with them, conveying their green energy mission in a dynamic and memorable icon-style logo.

Google Analytics was installed, ensuring that Acacia Energy has a full view of users’ behaviour on the site (which pages they are most interested in, for example), as well as which channels are most effective at driving traffic to the site (such as Facebook and Google). Most critically, since we know that over 80% of internet users view websites on their phones, the new Acacia Energy brand home was constructed to be mobile-first, so that the mobile experience is prioritized and is as seamless and responsive as possible.

Best practice in technical SEO guided the build, so that the site is highly discoverable for search engines. In addition, a blog section on the site means that new articles can constantly be added, helping reveal Acacia Energy’s thought leadership in the green energy space. This fresh content not only keeps the site alive, giving visitors a reason to return, it also provides new keywords and phrases to Google that benefit SEO, fueling organic (unpaid) site traffic.

It is worthwhile to invest in this green energy and environmentally-minded initiative

Potential customers and investors were top-of-mind throughout the site build. This then resulted in the easy-to-use concertina-style FAQ page, where visitors can quickly find out what they need to know. For those interested in Acacia Energy’s updates and developments, a simple newsletter sign-up function allows them to stay in touch after they leave the website. Prospective customers and investors can find out exactly what the benefits of buying energy from Acacia Energy are, as well as why it is worthwhile to invest in this green energy and environmentally-minded initiative. Interested parties can then complete a brief form on the site expressing their interest so that Acacia Energy can get back to them swiftly. V5 Digital ensured that any customer data that is collected is compliant with GDPR.

A patch of savanna that has been cleared of invasive bush species on the Otjiwa Safari Lodge with the Omatako Mountains located in the background - Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia

Does your company need a brand home that can connect with your ideal customers, no matter where they are around the world?

V5 Digital is your ideal digital partner to help you strategically in the online space. Get in touch for your free, no-obligations consultation to discover the best solution to your business problem.

For further queries or a consultation, contact V5 Digital.

Game-changing Namibian NGO hits the digital refresh button - courtesy of V5 Digital

Successful graduates from the Commercial Advancement Training Scheme (CATS).

The Commercial Advancement Training Scheme (CATS) is an NGO that serves a critical role in Namibia: connecting school-leavers with employers who can provide them with on-the-job training over the course of two years. Students work four days a week while the remainder of their time is dedicated to theoretical training, which they receive via Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). The training guarantees that students rotate through different departments of the business under the guidance of a CATS mentor and supervisor.

While this exceptional program helps to up-skill Namibia’s school-leaving population, making them more employable and providing companies with new talent, the NGO needed a digital refresh in order to attract the next generation of students and companies. CATS enlisted Windhoek-based agency V5 Digital for this very purpose. With so many options in the digital space, where would V5 Digital begin?

V5 Digital assisted the NGO with a needed digital refresh in order to attract the next generation of students.

The first step was conducting an audit to understand the digital lay-of-the-land. V5 Digital did a deep dive into the digital assets of competitor and peer programs globally, to understand the landscape and draw inspiration. Best practice findings were then collated to form the basis for the digital brand strategy for CATS. The major thrust of the strategy was to draft a clear plan for CATS' presence on social media, in conjunction with overhauling the website to make it a highly functional online home for the brand.

First, V5 Digital ensured that CATS' visual branding was refined in order to show up as professionally as possible across social media. Social media branding was developed so that CATS always puts its best foot forward, and that its look and feel was consistent to build consumer trust and recognition.

Next, a content strategy was put in place to guarantee that all posts generate interest and engagement. Content pillars were clearly established so that CATS’ posts highlight the benefits of the program to all potential trainees and companies.

Since we know social media is largely a pay-for-play environment, a paid media strategy was developed to assist CATS reaching its objectives online. Promotion of posts was laid out to cleverly unlock each platform’s targeting tools so that not only would more people would be reached, but also the content would reach the right people, through geographical and demographic targeting.

To reach companies who would be interested in signing up to participate in CATS, V5 Digital established a LinkedIn business page for the NGO, since LinkedIn is the ideal platform for business-to-business engagement. CATS' new business page was then optimized to ensure maximum reach and discoverability. When people discover CATS on Facebook, V5 Digital wanted to empower the social audience to have their FAQs answered quickly. To do so, the Facebook Messenger Response Assistant was programmed to effectively reply to a preordained list of common questions.

Signing up to the Commercial Advancement Training Scheme (CATS) newsletter is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

For the new CATS website, V5 Digital wanted to build the site with best practice user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) principles in mind. V5 Digital always keeps in mind a clear conversion funnel when building websites, which guarantees that the site plays its role in serving the businesses objectives. On the CATS website, key objectives include driving newsletter sign-ups, so much so that the NGO can keep in contact with interested parties as well as making it easy for companies and school-leavers to apply.

Creating a page with good page speed was paramount, as this is often the reason why most people drop off. Basic search engine optimization (SEO) was implemented site-wide to ensure discoverability and a constant stream of organic traffic. Google Analytics was installed so that V5 Digital and CATS can view site statistics on a regular basis to track factors such as the quality and quantity of traffic to the site.

We refreshed the imagery in the UI sphere to be relevant and appealing to the intended ideal target market. Two distinct customer personas were kept in mind since the site needs to serve both students and decision-makers at companies. And last but not least a simple clean navigation bar was introduced so that every type of site visitor can easily find exactly what he/she is looking for.

Is it time for your company to hit the refresh on your social media presence or website? Don’t hesitate to contact V5 Digital for your free, no-obligation demo/appointment so our digital experts can guide you to the right options for your business.

View the new CATS website for yourself, and check out their social media presence.