What if? Digital and your strategy
“We are in the throes of a transition where every publication has to think of their digital strategy.”
Imagine you could start your business again. What if you could start with a blank piece of paper and design your business to take advantage of the internet?
All of our businesses are filled with legacy processes that were appropriate for the time when we introduced them. Everything from using paper forms and sending these from customer to department for approval and archiving. Yet, on an iPhone or an iPad, we can receive and annotate and sign pdf’s.
On a recent trip to China, I read about an insurance joint venture. In an evolving Chinese insurance market, the joint venture between the largest US life insurer, MetLife and Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd was using the internet to grow their business. How big is the market? Well foreign life insurers were earning about A$1 billion in premiums in 2014. So big!
Traditionally, insurance was sold through banks and agents. The first joint venture in China was set up in 2004 and so even in China they have legacy too. However, they are moving from outbound marketing (adverts and direct calls) to inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is getting customers’ attention through social media and mobile apps. What grabbed my attention was a quote from an executive who said the conversion rate for inbound marketing had risen from 20% to 50%.
When we think about digital strategy, one other legacy is we often assume people need access to a PC, where they are: occasionally connected. The interesting thing in China is most people skipped the step of owning a PC and went straight to mobile which means they are: always connected. Add to this the number of mobile phones: 1,364 million. So, you have a huge laboratory to try different things with different customers.
The subheading of the article was: Digital Strategy assists insurer’s transformation to meet growing demand of its products.
A powerful question to ask yourself:
How can I use a digital strategy to transform my organisation to grow profits faster?
- To reduce costs: Whether it’s as simple as using pdf forms or creating low cost channels to customers.
- To increase sales: Whether it’s as simple as creating a new channel to access customers on their mobile devices or giving your employees mobile processes to take orders digitally.
Let Gordian help you think differently about your strategy.