Does your company’s growth strategy seem to be stalling? Maybe you know you need to breathe new life into your approach but aren’t sure where to start. It’s similar to having what seems like a fantastic recipe, tasting the result, and knowing there’s a key ingredient missing.
But in the fast-paced business world, you don’t always have the resources to start from scratch. You need to correctly identify what’s missing from your growth strategy and implement it as quickly as possible. What if what’s lacking is the right combination of tech tools to elevate your approach to the next level? Here’s why technology is so essential to well-executed growth.
Develops a Competitive Advantage
Expanding your business involves acquiring additional market share. You can gain share through new customers and existing ones. But you can’t win them over if your competitors are.
Well-executed and thought-out growth strategies don’t just outline who the competition is. These plans assess what each competitor brings to the table and anticipate their next move. Pulling this off is difficult without good information, which is what technology can gather. Take online content as an example. Creating pieces without a competitive content analysis is like walking in the dark without a flashlight.
You can barely see what’s two steps ahead, let alone what’s around you. Now, you could attempt to manually gather the information you need to navigate the competitive content landscape. Or, you could use a tool to automate the process, efficiently revealing competing brands’ strengths and gaps. You’ll assess topic coverage and ranking ability quickly enough to take impactful action.
Builds Bridges Through Seamless Communication
On paper, a strategy is nothing but a roadmap. It takes execution to make it happen. And behind the scenes, it’s groups of people who are responsible for carrying out each step. Teamwork, whether it’s between internal or external stakeholders, relies on communication. At a bare minimum, everyone needs to understand shared expectations and common objectives.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that a lack of cohesive communication is one of the barriers to teamwork. Unclear expectations and uncertainty about individual responsibilities often put people on the road to nowhere. They either implement in ways that don’t benefit the group or hold back. It’s similar to what happens at an intersection when the traffic lights go out.
Everyone’s confused about how to proceed. Some people keep their foot on the brakes while others take huge risks. Collaboration tools enable cohesive communication in a world where teams are often scattered across locations. Technology also helps establish a single source of truth. Examples include project management software and all-in-one platforms with cloud-based file sharing, instant messaging, video calls, and interactive brainstorming features.
Streamlines Costs
Growth strategies are usually equated with expanding a company’s territory. In the majority of cases, your strategy will include this crucial maneuver. However, you can also achieve growth by increasing cost efficiency. Simultaneously boosting market share and streamlining expenses turns into a two-pronged approach, which can yield greater results.
An analogy is improving your personal financial position by increasing your income at the same time you trim your spending. At the end of the month, you’ll have more left to invest or put toward your immediate needs. Incorporating AI-driven technologies is an effective way to execute a dual approach because you’ll realize gains and cost savings.
McKinsey Global Institute’s research estimates generative AI can create value between $2.6 and $4.4 trillion annually for 16 business functions. Four of those functions make up 75% of this potential value. Marketing/sales, R&D, customer operations, and software engineering are the four functions driving the most growth from AI. The technology heightens productivity, enhances the customer experience, reduces process inefficiencies, and unlocks powerful insights.
Reaches Additional Markets
Your growth strategy could include venturing into markets outside your home base. These areas might be across the country or the world. Without an array of tech tools, it’ll be challenging to gain access to those markets. Keep in mind you may need to hire talent in new areas on a remote basis.
Digital marketing and talent management platforms provide the necessary access to expansion opportunities. Supply chain software also gives you the ability to tap into global vendor networks. These tools allow you to target audiences in various jurisdictions, hire international employees or contractors, and scale product distribution.
Say your strategy is to go from a regional company to a national one. The marketing messages you currently leverage may not resonate in different areas. Customer relationship management software makes segmentation and personalization a snap. You can automate messages based on regional differences while creating individualized customer experiences. Tech tools like these stimulate revenue growth in new markets so you won’t become too dependent on a single area.
Integrating Tech Tools Into Growth Strategies
Planning to conquer new territories is something most business leaders do. Growth strategies keep the company financially sustainable and drive innovation. When plans don’t work out as intended, it’s natural to wonder if there was a flaw in the ideas. However, sometimes it’s not the merits of the strategies that are to blame.
It could be the execution, including the incorporation of tech tools. Leaders can see technology as a backbone of essential business processes, but not think about how various tools fuel growth. Your decisions about which platforms to use are instrumental to the success of your strategies. By shaping your plans around your tech tool selections, you can increase your chances of getting the results you want.
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