With all of the time, money, attention, and general hoopla around digital transformation, are you concerned that some of the “basics” are not being addressed? That there is so much happening at 30,000 feet, but maybe very little attention focused on some of the more practical aspects of the initiatives?

If so, you’re not alone. Here are 13 reality-check questions that should form part of any digital transformation initiative.

1. Do you use an old-style email blast service, such as Constant Contact or Mailchimp? If so, then they will be subscribed to a “list.” A more strategic approach is to use a more sophisticated marketing automation system (such as Keap, Active Campaign, or Zoho), where the member is in the center, and the member is tagged with a number of attributes, including newsletter subscriber. (They may also be tagged with a host of other attributes, including ReferralSource, AttendedEventABC, KeyClient, HolidayCard, etc, and these tags might trigger additional actions.)
2. Are emails captured in multiple databases? These databases might be attached to your accounting system, CRM system, online event registration systems, old-style email blast services, personal contact lists, excel spreadsheets, etc. If so, how do you ensure that the lists are synchronized? Or that your organization is always GDPR/CCPA/CASL-compliant? (GDPR is for Europe, CCPA is California, and CASL is for Canada: at the time of writing, these three are the most stringent regulations regarding online privacy.)
3. Is your social media strategy divided into sections called Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, etc? Or, is it divided into sections such as engagement, events, media, partnerships, etc?
4. One of the key boxes in our digital transformation model is “Community”. Does this term hold the same priority in your strategy? Or, is community just naturally “assumed”, without assigning accountability or budget? (And how are you defining the term…)
5. Every digital initiative needs to pull its weight: how many of the initiatives that you are currently investing in do not have achievement targets attached to them? And what makes you think that this will change after a digital transformation is mostly complete? (Hint: Digital Transformation also provides an opportunity for management to recalibrate its expectations; transparency can improve accountability dramatically.)
6. Are you using marketing automation already, and how will this change after digital transformation is complete?
7. Is journey mapping at the core of your digital transformation effort – or is the initiative being driven by the desire to implement new software?
8. Are all touchpoints and data being captured (and are they being captured in one place)?
9. Does your organization have a plan on how data can be used strategically to enhance both the prospect/client experience, and therefore your perceived value?
10. Does your board and management both use the same vocabulary to describe – and understand the impact of – digital transformation? Or are they still thinking website/social media/mobile?
11. Has your last digital investment actually delivered on the “promise”? How do you know?
12. Have any of your digital projects in the past involved a wrong turn? What was the cost of the wrong turn in time and dollars? (It’s so tempting to forget the past… but doing so means that it is impossible to learn from it.)
13. How do you know if your advisor/partner/agency is taking inappropriate shortcuts, or is using you as their guinea pig? (Hint: we have a whitepaper listing the many ways digital “experts” cut corners inappropriately, and how to guard against it. Ask for it at request@randallcraig.com.)

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