They achieve 3 times the revenue, Here are the common characteristics of successful digital leaders

Senior business leaders are well aware that we are in a new era of digital consumption, and the past few years have shown us that companies must be prepared to move quickly to stay ahead of the pace of change. This fact encouraged marketing teams to embrace digital transformation.

In their report , published by the American magazine "Fast Company", authors Karali Klose and Hrishi Hrishikesh said that since 2018, they have partnered with Google to explore digital transformation that has evolved from a relatively nascent concept to a commercial necessity. More recently, we've come together to better understand why some companies are better able to generate more digital solutions, and why so many others are still lagging behind.

The authors stated that they studied the digital efficiency and maturity of two thousand global companies and found that the value that companies obtain from their digital solutions is closely related to their ability to scale those solutions quickly, and that achieving the appropriate progress is what transforms digital pilot programs from interesting experiences into drivers of value big. They also find that companies that can do this faster have a significant advantage over the rest of the market.

The authors stated that the research showed that digital leaders achieve 3 times higher revenue growth and have the ability to reach the market at a faster rate compared to companies that are unable to reap value from digital services.

Below are 3 key factors that have allowed digital leaders to successfully scale their digital solutions.

1- Executives embrace digitization

Businesses succeed when digital transformation is not the responsibility of just one executive, but when the entire executive level aligns with a common strategy and roadmap.

According to the research, 72% of digital leaders say consistent collaboration at the executive level is essential, and 82% see it aligned across the executive group in terms of digital vision, investment, and other resources to move the agenda forward together.

To do this successfully, leaders must adopt flexible ways of working. They cannot work in isolation if they plan to pursue strategies and objectives back and forth all the way to local business units. Flexible planning and budgeting processes are critical, and the entire executive level must be more involved in technology, data privacy, and analytics to pursue a successful digital roadmap.

2- Capacity Building

Digital leaders invest in doing whatever helps their businesses gain value from digital services. In order to effectively understand this question, companies need to make use of first-party data, i.e. from their customers and themselves.

Gathering insights from data requires access to the same high-quality data across the organization. More than 90% of digital leaders have gained the ability to connect digital solutions to their technologies using APIs and microservices.

In fact, focusing on appropriate data governance procedures paves the way for a continuous supply of high-quality data that teams use appropriately and consistently.

Additionally, digital leaders focus on creating flexible work environments backed by productivity applications and AI analytics, which attract high-performing employees and help with recruitment. Fostering an efficient workforce and a more inclusive and diverse workspace enables digital leaders to build more resilient business models over the long term.

3- Adopt digitalization permanently

Rather than viewing digital transformation as a passing project, digital leaders guide the team with an ever-adaptive mindset to improve and scale pioneer projects as the landscape changes and ROI is proven. As technology, markets, and consumer behavior constantly evolve, so will your approach to digital transformation.

Digital leaders are constantly tested and learning, invest in agile planning, and develop cross-functional teams. The research also shows that digital leaders have integrated these behaviors into the company's culture.

This adaptive mindset also increases companies' ability to reimagine customer experiences. By working across functions, digital leaders are better able to identify customer-centric opportunities to scale quickly, as well as any unsuccessful or slow-moving initiatives to cut through.

It is clear that digital transformation offers great value to digital leaders. All companies can expect to achieve similar value if they are willing to commit to change. By adopting the necessary success factors, any organization can become a digital leader.

Source : Fast Company