Digital Transformation, Making Your Company Hyper-Competitive In The Fourth Industrial Revolution

There are notable differences between companies that implement a social media strategy and those that are building a “Social Enterprise” applying one of the various Digital Transformation frameworks offered in the global market.

Digital Transformation is the evolution in the term of what in Silicon Valley we used to call Social Enterprise or Social Business back in 2013 and consisted of applying the tacit rules of openness, transparency, spontaneity, and agility that were lived in social networks towards the inside, making them parts integral and strategic components of the operation of the most agile and innovative companies, particularly Unicorns and Startups. But it was not just about the integration of technologies, these were the digital enablers of a profound revolution in the corporate culture of these hyper-innovative companies, and hyper-challengers of the status quo.Thus, at the time of writing this article and working on the subject for a decade, I think we can summarize the term Digital Transformation in its simplest form:

“Digital Transformation is the creation of corporate hyper-cultures enabled by the digital”.

Of course, the details that we know are a classic part of Digital Transformation and that you can review in several of my previous articles.

Social media

A social media strategy, on the other hand, establishes the channels, platforms, and tactics to support a company’s posting, listening, and engagement with its various external stakeholders.

A Digital Transformation strategy, therefore, is one that:

It establishes the channels, platforms, and tactics to support the publication, listening, and commitment of a company with its internal stakeholders, that is, its collaborators (FTEs: Full-Time Employees) building corporate hyper-cultures.

We define a social enterprise strategy (Social Enterprise) as The deep integration of social networks and social methodologies in the organization to drive a profound business transformation consistent with the times of profound change in which we live, in particular, reaping the enormous benefits and challenging the enormous challenges that the Fourth Industrial Revolution brings with it, in which humanity has been immersed since January 23, 2016, when it was announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

A successful Social-Business strategy (i.e. a Digital Transformation strategy) requires perfect alignment with the strategic objectives of the organization and organizational alignment and support at the highest level to enable the proactive execution of said strategy.

Global surveys indicate that only 50% of senior executives are usually “informed, committed and aligned with the Digital Transformation strategy of their companies. So, as the company grows in its social media efforts, external (Digital Marketing) and internal (Corporate Social Media) it is often run by leaders with few skills and even fewer visions of the inescapable and unquestionable digital revolution the world is undergoing. immersed. This situation is even more worrying when these executives tend to lose their strategic focus absorbed by the overwhelming and dizzying daily work and personal tasks.

The creation of a successful Social Media Strategy:

1. Social media initiatives must be aligned with the strategic goals of the organization.

2. These companies must invest seriously, not only financially, but also, relying on experts and proven Digital Marketing methodologies, which are oriented towards the strategic alignment of the entire company and seek to achieve organizational support not only from the highest level (CEO and Board of Directors) but in addition to the entire management team.

The creation of a coherent Digital Transformation Strategy:

How to develop a successful Digital Transformation strategy that is useful, continuous, innovative, inclusive, participatory, collaborative, that gives employees a sense of belonging, reduces costs, and implants an exciting corporate culture that encourages the continuous improvement of people and empowers them to innovate?

“The key to an engaged workforce is designing and implementing communications solutions that empower and empower employees to innovate.” – Gartner

A completely formed, coherent, and integrated social-business strategy (or as it is often called today, Digital Transformation) does not appear overnight: It is methodically and disciplined developed and evolves, with the transformation of its leaders, of the corporate culture itself, and all its personnel in a process of constant innovation, of courageous defiance of the status quo, of in-depth investigation, of trial and error, of interdisciplinary team participation, of collaboration and, above all, of alignment perfect strategic led by a Social CEO not only knowledgeable but digitally consistent with these deeply digital times.

As with any strategy, its objectives will change, responding and adapting to various internal and external dynamics; the very vision of what we hoped to achieve under a digital transformation process will be reformed, and that is the idea: Having a Digital Transformation strategy designed to be dynamic and flexible, evolving at the pace of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (the greatest revolution of Humanity. WEF, 2016) and the roadmap and detailed implementation plans will be adjusted accordingly.

Digital Transformation is not a destination… it is a journey. Enjoy the ride!