6 Simple Steps To Create a Winning Digital Transformation Roadmap

The future is digital. So it’s no surprise that digital transformation is at the top of the agenda for CEOs and executives all over the world.

In the latest EY 2022 CEO Outlook Survey, 47% of CEOs surveyed reported relying on information technology more than any other strategy to compete in the current economy.

Digital technology is key to growth. But how can you ensure that your digital transformation strategy is successful?

The answer is a digital transformation roadmap. You need a vision of where you want to be and a plan to help you get there.  

This digital transformation guide will explore what goes into a successful digital strategy. You’ll learn the digital transformation steps you need to take to outpace competitors and create new value for consumers.  

Let’s get started.

What Is a Digital Transformation Roadmap?

A digital transformation roadmap is a formalized plan that details how you will transform your enterprise into a digitally mature organization. It provides a structure to help guide the integration of new technologies and tools. An agile digital transformation roadmap should define the vision, people, and processes that will make the initiative a success.   

You can think of the roadmap as a plan of action. It outlines how you will get from point A to point B.  

What Are the Steps of a Digital Transformation?

A successful digital transformation roadmap provides a framework to lead an enterprise through change.

But what does it actually include?

Let’s look at the six steps that every business digital transformation needs to succeed.

1. Analyse Your Business

Before you can start to make changes, you need to assess your starting point. The first step is to analyze your current operations and business model.

You need to know what is working and where you struggle to meet consumer demand.

During this stage, data collection and research are essential. The goal is to better understand the people, processes, and technology your enterprise is currently using.

Your digital transformation team should have comprehensive knowledge of your current strategy and plans. They should also be able to access internal metrics and any documentation on your existing processes.

Interviewing stakeholders can also reveal insights into weaknesses and strengths. You should consult the executive team, department leaders, and other key personnel.

It’s also important to comprehend the environment around your organization. For example, what are your competitors doing? How are they meeting consumer demand with digital technologies?

The insights you gather during this initial stage will help guide decision-making and goals in the next steps.

2. Establish Your Digital Strategy

Next, you need to outline the vision of where you want the company to be. What is it that you want to achieve by undergoing a digital transformation? 

This vision will be the guiding star for your business digital transformation. It outlines the goals you intend to accomplish and the initiatives to help you achieve those goals.  

With a destination in mind, you can work backward to discover the steps you need to take. This will help you establish measurable short-term goals to gauge the success of your agile digital transformation roadmap.  

Even if they seem far from your current capabilities, establishing goals will help you plot out the steps you need to take. You can look to successful examples of digital transformation for inspiration.  

It’s also important to be flexible to change. The business and consumer landscape are in a constant state of evolution. You need to be agile and open to change.  

The destination of your digital transformation roadmap should be consistent. But the steps you take to get there should move with consumer trends and technology. 

3. Transform Your Business Model

Today’s consumer landscape is moving faster than ever before. In this environment, it’s vital to have a business model that can meet changing consumer demands.   

Small changes and tweaks aren’t enough to protect a legacy organization from disruption. Instead, enterprises need to take bold steps and embrace new business models to stay viable.  

According to a recent study by McKinsey, 89% of business leaders believe that they need to change or have already changed the business model at their company to remain economically viable by 2023.  

 

To gain a competitive advantage, companies need to be agents of change in their industry. Innovation is key to growth in the digital age. In a recent survey in the UK, 73% of CEOs agreed that they are trying to actively disrupt the industry they operate in.

Changing your business model is a big step. But it’s necessary to provide value to consumers now and in the future. Gaining a deep understanding of your customers and what drives purchasing decisions can reveal new opportunities for value creation and new products and services.

4. Identify Gaps in Customer Experience

The customer should be at the heart of your digital transformation roadmap. Your choice of technologies, process upgrades, and marketing decisions should all be rooted in the drive to improve the customer experience at your enterprise.

Consumers have more choices and access to more information than ever before. There’s also more competition for consumer attention. To keep up with consumer speed, companies need to define the experience they want to offer to their customers.

It’s important to note that your business is not just competing with other companies in your sector. For example, consumers compare the experience of buying from your company to the experience of shopping with Amazon or the personalization offered by Netflix.

Adopting a digital model can help you meet consumer demand and close the customer experience gap. According to a recent survey, 35% of executives state that digital transformation helps them to better meet changing customer expectations.

First, you need to plot out the buyer’s journey for your customer segments. Then, you can identify opportunities to enhance the customer experience.

The right tools and technologies can help you be present in the all-important micro-moments with the right content and messaging.

5. Create a Data Infrastructure

Data is the fuel that powers a successful digital transformation. How you gather, store, and process data is key to gaining a competitive advantage. 

Many legacy organizations are yet to break down data silos. Flattening these silos and democratizing insights across the company is one of the most important steps of digital transformation.

This stage is about creating a digital ecosystem within your organization. It includes technology and tools but also a mindset change across the organization.

Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing officer at MasterCard, describes this need for mindset transformation as part of quantum marketing. Growth in the digital economy comes from using data and technology to establish a true connection with your target audience. The data mindset is integral to the growth and business development.

One of the challenges that companies need to overcome to become data-driven is establishing an open and ethical data environment. Consumers are willing to share data if it’s used ethically and improves their experience of dealing with your company.

6. Choose the Right Technology and Tools

Digital transformation is about people and processes, but it’s also about technology. The right tools and technology will help you enhance the customer experience, become more agile to change, and deliver more value to your customers and employees.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to choosing the technology to power your business digital transformation. Instead, you’ll need to determine the technology you need to achieve the steps to becoming a digitally mature organization.

However, marketing is where new technology can often make the fastest impact. For example, a customer data platform (CDP) can help you understand your customers’ needs, meet expectations, and empower your automation initiatives. You can develop data-driven buyer personas that allow for the personalization that modern consumers demand.

A competitive intelligence tool like Scoretize can help you measure digital marketing performance. You can see how your initiatives affect your market share and how well you are competing in your category.

As with all business investments, any new tool or technology should serve a use case. When you’re evaluating solutions, ask yourself, “how will this tool help to move the company forward and get us closer to achieving our digital transformation objectives?”.

Every tool in your technology stack should contribute to the wider business goals. There needs to be cohesion between tools so that you can maximize the value from your technology investment.

Creating a Digital Transformation Roadmap For Your Company

A successful digital transformation doesn’t happen without leadership and planning. That’s why a digital transformation roadmap is so important.

It provides the visualization of what success looks like and how to get there. Then, when you have a defined vision, you can outline the steps your enterprise needs to take.

Executives need to take ownership and move quickly to strengthen their marketing and technology stack. With the right tools and plan, you can accelerate your digital strategy and become more robust to change.