It’s a phrase that means something different to everyone. For some businesses, it means just having a website; for others, e-commerce. Some businesses only exist digitally with no storefront at all, and still, others take advantage of just the marketing aspects.
The details of how you interact with digitalization will be to be unique to your business. However, it’s essential to realize that today’s version of digitalization requires a holistic approach: it’s not enough to engage with one or two aspects of it in isolation. It’s necessary to consolidate everything, from targeted marketing to e-commerce to mobile apps, so that you have complete control of the digital experience you bring to your customers.
The “billboard” approach versus the “storefront” approach
In the early days of Internet advertising, websites were seen as revenue-generating tools in much the same way as a newspaper ad or a roadside billboard - static, informative, and eye-catching. If you happened to be passing by, a nice billboard might catch your interest, but it wouldn’t help you make a sale. It wasn’t the same as actually visiting the store or business and purchasing a product or service.
Now, of course, all of that can be done online. You can shop, get product advice, talk with salespeople and experts, and set up recurring purchases and bulk orders in myriad ways that would never have been dreamed of a few decades ago. More than ever, a website is a storefront unto itself, an entirely distinct location that generates its own business, customers, and buying habits.
Yet so many businesses, even today, are stuck in the past when it comes to viewing their site as anything but an online billboard, a simplistic advertising tool designed to do well in search results but offering little interactivity or incentive to engage with it. It’s the difference between a drive-by billboard and a drive-thru window - the customer is getting to both in the same way, but how they interact with them is entirely different.
A good website is designed not to be just an extended advertisement, but a complete sales tool. That means marketing automation, interactivity, big data analysis, point-of-sale purchasing, global app presence, dynamic content, up-to-date information, sales, discounts, and demographic-based results. In short, digitalization requires a complete revamp of what many businesses believe about the online landscape.
Where do I start?
There are so many tools that deal with online businesses that it’s challenging to know what to prioritize. That’s why we’ve spent many years creating an all-in-one system that combines six fundamental verticals: marketing, web CMS, booking, e-commerce, mobile app and, most important, Big Data. We believe all of these elements are necessary to succeed online, and they all reinforce each other to create an ecosystem of increasing profits.
Our system makes it easy for businesses of all experience levels, from novice to expert, to increase their online presence and sales by consolidating all the necessary tools into one easy-to-use platform. Have a look at our list of satisfied customers who were able to grow their users and sales:
https://dg1.com/showcase
Tags: marketing, e-commerce, drive-by billboard, drive-thru billboard, digitalization
