Every marketer strives to improve the client experience. It’s what may make or break a business since a prospect or customer’s experience is crucial to generating not only conversions and money but also customer loyalty and advocacy.
According to a study from “The Marketing Evolution: Leadership, Transformation, Skills, Challenges & the Future,” 71% of senior marketers and 61% of mid-level marketers are in charge of digital transformation in their firms.
However, ‘The 2021 State of Digital Transformation’ revealed that just 23% of CMOs co-own digital transformation, with IT more frequently taking the lead.
The greatest people to participate in change are marketing executives and their teams, thus this shouldn’t be the case.
Why are marketing leaders best placed to lead?
A marketing team’s job is to educate, persuade, and convert. That calls for certain abilities and a set of insights into how a company operates and how its customers think.
Marketing executives can step back and view the broad picture when developing a digital transformation plan; they can see where the firm is now and where it needs to be.
This applies to all areas of the organization and its services, not simply marketing, as the whole customer lifetime must be taken into consideration during the digital transformation process, not just specific phases of that lifecycle.
Know the customer
Being aware of emerging trends and changes is a crucial component of a marketer’s work. Along with technology, client demands and habits are also considered in this. In terms of scenario planning and future-proofing, this is essential for every firm.
The significance of the client experience cannot be understated. Customers are becoming more picky and look for an omnichannel strategy where every point of contact with a business is easy and consistent.
As a result, if a consumer clicks on a social media post to learn more about a new product, make sure the next point of contact is relevant to that product (such as a bespoke landing page) and consistent with your brand; otherwise, you risk losing the client’s interest right away.
Understand your data
Leaders in marketing rely on data. This enables them to make wiser choices regarding the effectiveness of a paid advertisement or close rates from lead to sale.
Despite having a lot of data, finding insights that are useful for your organization requires talent. Your company needs data that motivates performance, leads, and sales, and marketing teams can assist.
Creating a digital transformation plan requires knowledge of the larger ecosystem in addition to understanding your company data. Are you aware of what your rivals are doing? What major developments are you expecting to see in your sector during the next 12 months?
A CMO’s duties may include forecasting and market research. It involves assessing the external world and comprehending how an organization fits within it. This aids in making adjustments where they are needed and focuses attention on any areas of a firm that may lack resources or development.
Soft skills
In the modern workplace, technical expertise is crucial, especially in marketing. But that doesn’t provide the whole story. The importance of soft skills, often referred to as power skills, which include behaviors, personality traits, and work habits, cannot be overstated. Additionally, they contribute to the establishment of diverse, agile teams, which are essential to any process of digital transformation.
According to “The Future of Work: 2022 Global Report,” employers ranked dependability, adaptability, problem-solving, and teamwork/collaboration as the top soft skills in demand. Creativity, invention, curiosity, and persuasion are further soft talents.
What marketers need to own: An agile strategy
Digital transformation requires agility at all times. It enables businesses to adapt to both internal and external changes. By cultivating productive and engaged workers, this capacity to swiftly pivot will assist maintain or increase customer engagement and foster harmony in a workforce.
This is the reason why marketing executives and their teams need to use an agile approach. What does that signify, though?
Enterprise agility is about the structure, operation, and behavior of your organization, not only the supply of products or software. It involves building strong relationships, taking an accepting stance, and having operational flexibility.
This should emphasize both being customer-centric and the skills you already have on staff. It’s about maximizing knowledge and skills via continuous learning and simple upskilling with integrated agile thinking.
In the end, it’s a comprehensive and integrated perspective of your complete company environment, with everyone striving toward a single objective and ready to change as circumstances demand.
How do you make transformation happen?
Taking the reins and embracing change might be challenging. In today’s quick-paced environment, however, there is no other option. The pandemic demonstrated how rapidly and unexpectedly the external world may change, and how you respond will determine your success.
According to former Fortune 500 leadership consultant and current Non-Profit Director Jacob Espinoza, some of the most typical issues for leadership in implementing change include:
Inadequate follow-up
– Paralysis of judgment
– Ambiguous objectives
– Making choices in an enclosed space
– Making too many changes at once
What is the answer to all of these problems?
There are only 5 easy steps in the leadership flywheel.
Listen: This focuses on hearing out your staff and consumers. Engage customers in surveys or focus groups, and show attention in their comments or phone calls. Create a feedback environment for your staff and arrange frequent meetings to gather information.
Consider your business objectives and your KPIs while you evaluate. Next, determine where the largest change might be made with the data you now have. Don’t wait for additional information; let marketers use what they already know to guide your choices.
Implementation: Inform and have your staff ready for the shift. Every team member should be aware of what is upcoming, when it will happen, and what is required of them to accomplish it. This can entail offering training if necessary and being ready to talk about the “why” to advance it.
Execute: How you carry out the decision and follow up with your team is the subject of this step. At this point, identify early adopters and acknowledge them while coaching and developing any gaps.
Reiterate: Be devoted to the adjustments you are making, and include your teams in the process. Repeat these instructions for any further modifications once you’ve made one. Although difficult, change is ultimately worthwhile.
