Why Data-Driven Approaches to Digital Growth Matter

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on approaches to digital transformation is set to be significant. As Forrester Research’s 30 Predictions Report points out: “2021 will be the year that every company — not just the 15% of firms that were already digitally savvy — doubles down on technology-fueled experiences, operations, products and ecosystems.” 

While digital transformation has been a buzz-term for some time now, many companies still struggle to enact this transformation within their organizations effectively. The speed and rate of change is such that companies may feel overwhelmed and look to partners to help shape their digital growth strategies and translate them into concrete actions.

A Matter of Method

There are a number of methodologies that can be used to support this transformation, from Sean Ellis’ growth hacking to product-led growth (PLG).  However, a Growth-Driven Design (GDD) approach can yield significant benefits, particularly in the context of shortening delivery time and emphasizing a focus on the greatest impact on the customer. Growth-driven design strategy is useful for many segments such as e-commerce, companies that need signatures, telecom, finance, and more. Uniting the technology, business, and marketing components in the digital product approach means that companies can set a series of small deliveries once the minimum viable product (MVP) has been developed. 

After defining business goals, the priority must be on using data meaningfully

The approach is experimental, and every step is designed as part of an experiment, enabling companies to create and test in small packages and therefore leverage a product from a feature that is in production or from a feature that is still in the backlog. 

After defining the business goals for such a strategy, the priority must be on using data meaningfully to inform the direction of the strategy and the use of the methodology. Developing that data-driven culture with a Nearshore partner is about more than just refining KPIs and ensuring access to dashboards; it is also about a cultural shift that is supported by the right technological tools to turn data into knowledge that can be used to shape the strategy.

Real Results Real Fast

Rather than just looking to throw technology at the problem, the focus needs to be on a considered approach that uses data to inform choices that make a real difference to the business experience. For example, in the case of a digital streaming service, data on when and how people lost interest in the content at particular points in the stream enabled our customer to then introduce a recommendation system to guide users to content that may appeal to them, thus minimizing drop-out rates. The system is driven by machine learning and the impact was such that the number of users that continued using the service increased by 10.

An approach that accelerates digital business growth in short cycles enables companies to reap significant gains in a short amount of time

With another customer who sought reduce both headcount costs and customer service contact rates, the growth strategy looked to AI to interpret auto-chat messages, complaints from the website, and input from customer services. Doing so resulted in a 90% headcount reduction on service monitoring and a saving of 4% on customer service operational costs.

An approach that accelerates digital business growth in short cycles enables companies to reap significant gains in a short amount of time – all supported with meaningful data that can drive decision-making. This makes scaling up much easier. 

It also means being positioned to leverage multiple sources and types of data in different ways, from user behavior data to service data, support data, and market data. Such agility is vital in the context of increasing digital customer service interactions, which Forrester says are likely to rise by 40%.