The 4 Steps to a Successful Digital Transformation - Iterable
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The 4 Steps to a Successful Digital Transformation
Contents
The 4 Steps to a Successful Digital Transformation 3
The Importance of a Digital-First Mindset 4
The 4 Phases of a Digital Transformation 5
Initiation 5
Uncertainty 7
Transformation 8
Routinization 9
The 3 Questions to Ask When Initiating a Digital
Transformation 10
Now, a Recap 14
About Iterable 15The 4 Steps to a
Successful Digital
Transformation
There’s no question about it: A post-pandemic world has
encouraged, if not forced, companies to reconsider how 3
customers experience their products and services.
But a brand can’t implement In other words, brands who are In this guide, we’ll cover:
curbside pickup policies or willing to explore innovative
The importance of a digital-first
launch a mobile app without ways of serving their customers
mindset
understanding the difference instead of making minor tactical
between deep change and changes are the ones that will The four phases of successful
incremental change. According grow in 2021 and beyond. digital transformation
to organizational development But how can marketers influ-
Three questions to ask when evalu-
expert Robert E. Quinn: ence such large and sweeping ating your digital goals
initiatives?
“Deep change differs from Let’s get started.
incremental change in that it That’s why we want to explore
requires new ways of thinking the digital transformation al-
and behaving. It is change that tering the customer experience
is major in scope, discontinuous and how you can navigate the
with the past and generally irre- change successfully within your
versible. The deep change effort organization.
distorts existing patterns of
action and involves taking risks.
Deep change means surrender-
ing control.”The Importance of a
Digital-First Mindset
According to Top Down Systems, a digital-first mindset is:
A philosophy of content creation that calls for optimizing the design of
communications for delivery via responsive digital channels (i.e., web,
mobile, etc.) over the page-oriented print channel; it does not preclude
print as a potential delivery channel.
4
It may sound obvious, but it ing a piece of technology that
wasn’t always this way—espe- marketers can use to drive high
cially when media companies conversion rates without burden-
were struggling to transition ing their engineering teams.
from print to online. And the
trend has only continued a de- Despite the numerous benefits
cade later, with people spend- of upgrading digital platforms, it
ing more than 6.5 hours a day can often be difficult to convince
online. There’s no denying it decision makers to support the
any longer: a huge opportuni- change and encourage individ-
ty—or need, depending on the ual contributors to modify their
industry—exists for companies processes and martech stack.
to distribute their products and Change can be hard.
services via digital means.
So not only is it important to get
But based on what we’ve your organization on board with a
seen helping brands move digital-first mindset, it’s also crucial
from email-only marketing to to understand the four phases
cross-channel customer experi- of what a digital transformation
ences, a massive point of con- can look like for your brand.
tention in organizations is find-The 4 Phases of a
Digital Transformation
Thanks to Robert E. Quinn’s work helping
individuals making positive change, we know that
transformations occur in four different phases: 5
1. Initiation However, the initiation phase Instead of continuing to work in
2. Uncertainty can bring up a host of emotions departmental silos, the compa-
3. Transformation for the people who develop ny’s leadership team reimagined
4. Routinization a vision for transformation, how they wanted to position the
including skepticism from key company for growth. Accord-
Let’s break each of these prin- stakeholders, lack of support ing to Director of Engagement
ciples down, one by one. from individual contributors and Adam Knight:
a dismissive attitude about the
need to change in general. “We were given the opportunity to
1. Initiation define what value we could un-
But all positive results start with lock, what we believed the future
the desire to do something dif- of the property market looks like,
According to Quinn, the begin-
ferent than before. This period and what expertise we needed
ning of a transformation cycle
of initiation is best illustrated to bring into the business to do
always starts with a phase of
by what Zoopla, a U.K.-based that. It evolved to where we were
initiation, which begins when:
property marketplace, experi- working towards the same goals
“An individual or group desires
enced when they were acquired and understanding each other’s
to change and improve...devel-
by a private equity firm in 2018. needs, requirements and moti-
ops a vision, and then begins to
vations, and even language and
take risks.”
ways of working.”The Transformation Cycle
Source: Deep Change by Robert E. Quinn
Transformation Uncertainty
Phase Phase
Insight P
Ex
an
ion pe
ic
at ri
m
m
r
en
nfi
ta
Co
tio
n
Exhaustion
Synergy
Illusion
Vision
i re
M
st
es
er D
a
e
lu r
ai
fF
Ro u ti n i za ti o n a ro
Fe
Stagnation
6
Routinization Initiation
Phase Phase
As a result of this initiation, essential to the future growth of
Zoopla’s marketing and product their business and subsequently
teams found themselves working launched an education pro-
cross-functionally as they tried gram designed for this audi-
to integrate customer informa- ence.
tion in their email service pro-
vider with the data across their If you’re a brand who’s looking
martech stack. The work wasn’t to start a digital transformation,
easy: Chris Frost, Zoopla’s remember that it always starts
Senior Product Manager, notes with the first phase of initiation.
that it took 12-18 months for the You have to have the willingness,
teams to truly understand each or desire, to believe that the or-
other. ganization can grow beyond just
But the work has paid off, be- meeting quarterly goals—though
cause it helped them realize that a successful digital transforma-
first-time home buyers were tion won’t hurt for these too.2. Uncertainty
The next phase of transforma- tine guidelines. By experiment-
tion is uncertainty, which is when ing with digital communications,
“participants engage in intense, they discovered a new way to
intuitive experimentation.” Quinn keep customers informed about
suggests that there are two out- business updates.
comes for these experiments:
“If [they] continuously fail, the
process could divert the individ-
ual or group from the cycle
and into a state of panic. But By operating as a nimble cross-functional team,
if, instead, the participants are we are able to quickly respond and optimize
able to tolerate the resulting our communication processes and increase
productivity by creating a seamless end-to-end
discomfort and frustration and
experience for our moviegoers.
continue to experiment, they
may be able to gain a creative Emily Yeh
insight that guides them to the Senior DIrector, Customer Experience
and Communications, CINEMARK
next phase.”
In other words, it’s going to
feel really uncomfortable until Think of the uncertainty phase 7
it doesn’t. as taking baby steps instead of
funneling all of your efforts into
Sometimes, the phase of uncer- a one-off event. Your first few
tainty comes quicker than you experiments are not the de-
expect and can be prompted by ciding factor. Iterations beget
recent current events. For exam- learnings. Before real trans-
ple, movie theater chain Cine- formation occurs, the orga-
mark faced a dilemma when nization needs to slowly gain
the coronavirus pandemic hit confidence that the vision they
and forced theaters to close in came up with in the initiation
compliance with social quarant phase is worth pursuing.3. Transformation
If an organization continues to By switching to a cross-chan-
experiment in spite of the fear nel platform like Iterable, they
of failure, they may achieve the have transformed the customer
creative insight needed to move experience to be more person-
towards the phase of Trans- alized than ever, whether they’re
formation, which Quinn de- connected to a digital amplifier,
scribes as “the essence of deep buying something or watching a
change...having a new para- video on their Fender Play app.
digm integrates the previously Schmidt further states:
contradictory elements of the
system and results in synergy.” “Centralizing in-app messag-
ing, push messaging, and email
The best example of a suc- on one platform, with a unified
cessful transformation is in the customer profile view, enabled
research and development us to seamlessly engage across
Fender did to transition from a our digital and physical uni-
guitar manufacturer to a “men- verse. With all our data in one
tor that provided customers with place, we can strategically drive
the education, information, and lifetime value.”
support they needed to pursue
8
their passion for music.” Note that it took months for
Fender to ascend towards the
Thanks to months of customer transformation phase, so don’t
research and lifecycle mapping be discouraged if it takes months
led by Brian Schmidt, former of uncertainty for your organiza-
director of CRM and Retention, tion to move forward. The most
they discovered their old email important thing is to continue
service provider didn’t integrate experimenting, without getting
with their data layer, nor did distracted by other organiza-
their in-app messaging connect tional priorities. Rounding that
with their website or the other corner into this phase will feel
Fender apps. that much more rewarding.Becoming a successful digital first
company requires companies to
embrace change, work differently
and focus on what makes them
great as an organization. To get
started, it’s important to embrace
a few concepts:
1. Recognize Space for Opportunities:
4. Routinization You must agree that change is need-
ed.
At the start of their experimenta- 2. Think Like a Start-up: Using princi-
Transformation is the goal, but
ples from start-ups to help prioritize
Quinn notes it’s just as import- tion journey, HipCamp relied on
leads to more successful execution.
ant to move towards a phase spreadsheets and reminders to
3. Embrace Your Entrepreneurs: Every
of routinization, which is where check the results, manually pull
company has them and many times
“the new vision, with resulting the data and spend a lot of time the best ideas come from unexpected
understanding...moves to a more analyzing it, without understand- places.
stable equilibrium or the task is ing how their hypotheses worked
fully mastered.” Otherwise, the together. But since implementing Many times, your organization has
organization can fall back into digital platforms like Iterable and the resources to make the trans-
stagnation if they don’t take the Amplitude to supplement their formation possible; it just takes a
time to understand how its current martech stack and limit the need bit of a perspective shift. 9
structure can sustain the change. to utilize product or engineering
resources, the amount of exper- Chris Duncan
Though online marketplace Hip- iments performed within their President, Inte Q
Camp is a digitally native brand, company has increased by 4.5x.
we believe there’s much to learn
from their routinization of running HipCamp is a prime example of
experiments as a way to learn, how organizations don’t achieve
iterate and grow the business grandiose visions overnight. As
without putting a huge strain on Tran mentions in her Activate
their small and nimble team. Ac- Live21 talk, the experiments
cording to Operations Manager started out as simple A/B tests
Christina Tran: on button sizes and colors in their
emails. All impactful changes
“We turned to experimentation within an organization start with
incorporating small tasks into a
because it allowed us to break
team’s daily routine.
down a lot of the larger goals
we had into smaller little bits
The routinization phase is a good
of progress. [We believed if]
reminder to any organization that
we got better at running really
it’s not enough to make a par-
short snappy experiments, we
adigm shift. The goal is not just
could start making a little bit of
to transform, but to sustain the
progress every day towards our
momentum by making it second
bigger goals.”
nature to the organization.The 3 Questions to Ask 10 When Initiating a Digital Transformation Now that we’ve discussed the four phases of a digital transformation, you may be wondering how to start the initiation process at your own brand. Based on our experience help- 1. Who’s involved? ing brands evolve during the 2. How is it done? COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve 3. What tools are necessary? discovered that marketers must answer three important ques- Let’s dive in. tions before moving forward:
1. Who’s involved?
For a successful digital transfor- to Patterson, Granny, McMillan,
mation, your brand’s team needs and Switzler, organizational per-
to be aligned with one guiding formance experts at VitalSmarts:
North Star across the organiza-
tion. Unfortunately this can be “People who are skilled at
more difficult than it sounds—For- dialogue do their best to make
rester reports that 43% of firms it safe for everyone to add their
with a mature digital strategy meaning to the shared pool—
see competing departments as even ideas that at first glance
a barrier to change. appear controversial, wrong, or
at odds with their own beliefs.”
So what does it take to move
forward? It starts with identifying In other words, what you believe
key stakeholders, particularly in is right for the organization is not
the executive suite. For fans of Jim enough to initiate change—it’s
Collins, this is also known as “get- equally important to make space
ting the right people on the bus,” for opinions that are different
because “great vision without from your own in order to move
great people is irrelevant.” forward.
But the work doesn’t end there. The dialogue has to include 11
everyone—top to bottom, bottom
Now a dialogue has to start to top. If you’re not sure where to
about how to implement change start these conversations, ask your
across the organization. Starting team for their ideal situation. And
these conversations can be risky, if you’re in the position to iden-
controversial and emotional. But tify technology or process gaps
as difficult as it can be to get buy- from within, look to the executive
in and execute a shared vision team for guidance and start the
for the organization, it is essential initiation phase. Without their
to master this skill to successfully support, it will be difficult to initiate
convince people that a shift—in digital transformation across your
this case towards a digital-first organization.
mindset—is necessary. According2. How is it done?
The next part of a successful If you’re not sure which processes
digital transformation involves to audit, start with how projects
rethinking how your organiza- are executed and completed
tion currently operates to serve across your organization. Instead
your customers. This includes of relying on the linear static think-
prioritizing how to anticipate the ing reminiscent of a traditional
changing needs of the customer, waterfall project management
market and industry instead of methodology, consider whether
getting caught up in the whirlwind something like agile marketing
of everyday tasks, as well as the can work. According to blogger
ability of the organization to react Jim Ewel, the guiding principle of
quickly to said market changes. agile marketing is to:
The easiest place to start is to “Satisfy the customer through
take inventory of the current early and continuous delivery of
processes and procedures that marketing that solves problems
12
run your business and consider and creates value. We wel-
whether automation can improve come and plan for change. We
the speed and efficiency of your believe that our ability to quickly
products and services getting respond to change is a source
into the hands of your customers. of competitive advantage.”
According to author and entre-
preneur Sam Carpenter: The change towards a more
agile approach doesn’t have to
“Leadership must focus on be all at once, just like HipCamp
improving processes, not on discovered when starting their
performing the work or on re- experimentation journey. Start
peatedly snuffing out brushfires. with simple tweaks, like running a
Quality products or services, a daily standup or using a Kan-
stable staff, and profitability are Ban board and then build up
the result of the quality systems from there.
that underlie them, not the
reverse.”3. What tools do you need?
Last but not least, a successful she knows to be true. As a result, Does our current marketing
digital transformation includes as- innovation requires a combi- automation platform connect
seamlessly with the other
sessing the digital platforms that nation of knowledge, skill, and
platforms in our stack?
power your technology stack. But courage.”
too often, marketers get caught Does our current marketing
in the trap of using tools that no For example, your team may be automation platform utilize
longer meet the hyper-person- consolidated customer data to
importing and exporting relevant
individualize across the channels
alized expectations of customers customer data using manual relevant to our customers?
and in turn, implement processes SQL queries, meaning that all of
and procedures that work around the marketing campaigns you Of course, every digital transfor-
the technology. send out are based off of when mation looks different for each
you last pulled the data. Ideally, brand. But if you believe your
Breaking out of this trap involves your technology stack would be company needs a martech up-
understanding what customers able to take this data and craft a grade to execute on the vision you
want, as well as imagining the seamless customer experience for came up with, we recommend
best case scenario, instead of your customers across all relevant evaluating platforms based on
what’s currently possible. Accord- channels. three critical martech lenses: Flex-
ing to technology entrepreneur
ibility, Usability, and Productivity.
Ben Horowitz: Digitally-minded organizations You can learn more about this in
ask themselves three questions:
our accompanying guide.
“The innovator can take into ac-
Does our current marketing
count everything that’s possible,
automation platform allow
but often must go against what empathic communication?
When undertaking a digital transformation you will only get the an-
swers you need to succeed if you ask the right questions in the first
place. What are your users looking for, what goals should you set and
how can the right marketing automation tool help you get there?
Having a tech stack in place that is tailored to your business needs, now
and for the immediate future, will provide you with a much more da-
ta-driven approach, allow for an in-depth understanding of your users
and future proof your growth. This will all help you to build a more
personalized relationship with your users and even adapt to your users’
behaviors if necessary—all while significantly increasing your chances
of success!
Mike Rigby
CEO at Yodel MobileNow, a Recap
Before your brand can undertake its own digital transformation
journey, it’s important for your team—from the executives to the
broader team—to understand, anticipate and persist in spite of 14
setbacks through the four phases, as defined by Robert E. Quinn:
1. Initiation Understanding these concepts
2. Uncertainty when trying to incorporate a
3. Transformation digital-first mindset into your
4. Routinization existing customer experience
is key to making sure that the
And if you’re an executive look- change is deep, lasting and
ing to kickstart the transforma- successful, as opposed to incre-
tion, or a marketer helping your mental and fleeting.
brand through this transition, you
can jumpstart the initiation pro- Now that you have an under-
cess by asking three important standing of what it takes to initi-
questions: ate change, how are you going
to jumpstart your brand’s digital
transformation journey?
1. Who’s involved?
2. How is it done?
3. What tools are necessary?About Iterable
Iterable is a cross-channel platform that powers unified customer experiences and
empowers marketers to create, optimize, and measure relevant interactions and
experiences customers love. Leading brands, like Zillow, DoorDash, Calm, Madison
Reed, and Box, choose Iterable to power world-class customer experiences throughout
the entire lifecycle. Visit iterable.com for more information.
Your data when you need it. Where you need it. Trusted By:
Integrate all your data silos with Iterable to orchestrate seamless
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Understand your customers as the individuals they are.
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Take away the busywork. Unleash your creativity.
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