Digitization is no more an option; thanks to COVID!
Whether you like to accept it or not, it doesn’t change the fact that COVID-19 has changed the world. Things will never be the same again. Businesses and brands are now forced to embrace digitization much more than ever; thanks to COVID. More businesses are embracing remote working. More businesses are leveraging internet technology to keep their business going.
Exponential technologies like AI (artificial intelligence), VR (virtual reality), robotics, drone technology, cloud computing, 3D printing, etc., are gaining more grounds gradually and will become more mainstream in this decade. In Post-Covid world, we will see the acceleration of these technologies.
How are you riding this wave?
My question for you is: how are you riding this wave? What are you doing to restructure your business to better leverage digitization?
In the following paragraphs, I like to give you some clues on what you should be doing if you haven’t started already. Here are the areas you should consider in embracing digitization post-COVID.
It doesn’t matter the industry you are, there’s an aspect of your operations that can be digitized. It could be your delivery or distribution process, or your customer acquisition system, etc.
Dematerialization
By dematerialization, we mean moving from physical to digital means. For example, a camera used to be a big, expensive device. Now, you have an app on your smartphone that does the job quite perfectly. That’s dematerialization. Digitization most times is dematerialization.
You can dematerialize products and services. Online courses, online meetings, ebooks, apps are examples of the dematerialization of products and services. You can dematerialize entire businesses and even industries.
Google dematerialized libraries; today you can access information from anywhere in the world at the click of a button. Amazon, Alibaba and the rest of them dematerialized supermarkets and stores; now everyone shops online. Uber dematerialized car-hailing and taxi services. I can go on and on, but I’m sure you already get the idea.
The question for you is, what part of my business can I dematerialize? What can you move from physical to its digital equivalent? The key is to find a way to achieve the same objective with less physical materials and more digitally.
It doesn’t matter the industry you are, there’s an aspect of your operations that can be digitized. It could be your delivery or distribution process, or your customer acquisition system, etc. In fact, you really don’t have much choice about this. You had better start thinking in that direction.
Automation
Another way to adopt digitization post-COVID is to think ‘automation’. What can you automate and how can you leverage technology to handle the automation process? You can automate routine tasks so you can focus on much more creative and productive tasks. Machine Learning algorithms and Artificial Intelligence machines (robots) are already being developed to handle such tasks. How is your business going to leverage those technologies?
A very simple area you should be looking at automating, at least to a significant extent, is your customer acquisition process. Do you have a sales funnel? Are you leveraging the power of email marketing?
Mobile
More people will connect with your business through their mobile devices than through desktop computers. How can you position your business to leverage the power of mobile technology? Does your business lend itself to easy access and use on mobile?
I understand that not all business will lend itself easily to mobile, and digital adoption. Nonetheless, there’s an aspect of what you do that can leverage those technologies. You just need to think through and think creatively.
I will wrap it up here. I believe this is enough to get you started.
If you need further clarity and consultancy on how to reposition your business to leverage digitization post-COVID, reach out to us and let’s discuss.
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