It’s a buzzword you’ve probably heard a lot lately: digital product innovation. But as is often the case with buzzwords, it may not be clear what that term means.
We’ve talked about the importance of a customer-centric strategy. In the age of digital transformation, executing that strategy will likely involve digital product innovation.
Here, we’re covering what digital product design is and how you can use it to set your business up for success in 2023.
What is digital product innovation?
Let’s start with the basics: What is a digital product?
When it comes to digital product marketing, we’re talking about a digital tool or asset. A digital product offers an interactive experience, delivers value to its user, and can generate revenue for its creator. It is different from a physical product or a digital good (like music, video content, or an ebook).
Digital product innovation involves creating digital tools to solve business problems and improve the user experience. When put into practice, this could look like building a reservation portal to serve customers better, or offering order management that gives customers full visibility. It could be a mobile or web-based app, digital dashboard, or other code-based asset.
The process of creating digital tools is called digital product design or digital product development. Companies who offer customer-centric digital products will ultimately see the value as they deepen customer relationships and grow revenue.
What’s the value of digital product innovation?
Digital product innovation is a key part of a business’s digital transformation. It really takes digital transformation a step further beyond simply “being digital.” It challenges companies to leverage digital to be innovative with their digital user experience.
Beyond contributing to digital transformation, the value of digital product innovation lies in creating a better customer experience. For companies that are committed to being customer-centric, innovative digital products allow them to provide better customer service. These products can act as an “always-on” activity for customers so they have self-service access and don’t always have to rely on contacting a representative to get information or make a purchase.
Reliable self-service promotes efficiency. According to our 2022 B2B Buyer Report, that’s what customers want: B2B buyers’ top priority for the next 12 months is increasing efficiency in their processes.
When customers receive value in the form of a better user experience — they’re able to find exactly what they need, easily make a purchase, get quick answers to questions, and have visibility into the process — they’ll keep coming back for more.
And as a digital product encourages customer loyalty and repeat purchases, the company that created the digital product also receives value — not only in the form of more revenue, but also in less tangible ways like internal process efficiencies and new customer data insights.
Digital products can also serve as a competitive advantage. In a time when 97% of online buyers experience some sort of pain point during the eCommerce purchasing process as a result of suppliers’ tech solutions, a great user experience goes a very long way.
What are the principles of great digital product design?
At the root of great product design is customer centricity. This approach puts the customer at the center of your business. Creating a digital product isn’t just about innovation for innovation’s sake; it has to provide value. To do that, it has to help your customer, address their needs, and meet (or exceed) their expectations.
Along with considering your customer, it’s crucial to understand your current business resources: your people, processes, and technology. Where do these resources stand now? How can they be optimized, integrated, or updated? How would they play a role in digital product development?
Digital product design can also take time. It’s a process that not only requires planning and execution, but also evaluation and optimization. It involves strategic, data-driven decisions that will further your digital transformation — ultimately evolving your capabilities in an impactful way, successfully meeting your customers’ needs, and building long-term customer relationships that drive revenue.
Case Study: Freedom Boat Club
Our work with Freedom Boat Club (FBC), a Brunswick brand, is a fantastic example of digital product innovation. Using the sharing economy business model, FBC offers boaters the benefits and fun of having a boat, without the negative aspects of storage fees and maintenance.
Challenge:
After acquiring FBC in 2019, Brunswick knew the brand’s digital presence had gone adrift and needed to be transformed to meet the demands and ease of purchase customers demanded. Brunswick had invested in Adobe Experience Manager across its enterprise ecosystem, and the company also wanted to ensure FBC customers were experiencing the same industry-leading digital innovations in their reservation portal while maintaining a seamless cross-brand experience.
Solution:
Brunswick decided to double down on its AEM investment and make waves with an up-leveled digital reservations system for FBC. FBC had to build two distinct and unique paths: one for members and one for staff. Additionally, FBC had to create nine distinct tiered membership experiences on the website for members due to FBC’s new membership model.
Results:
The outcome was positive on both sides: All FBC members engage with the reservation portal on AEM to make, update and manage their reservations. The staff members also use AEM to manage the relationship with the members on the dock and will move into kiosk and self check-in/check-out. With the new experiences underway, FBC is also using Adobe Analytics and Adobe Target to pull data and extract insights from customer behaviors to continually optimize their reservation portals and change course when needed.
With the help of Adobe, FBC is now able to match the high-quality service they provide on the docks with the service they provide online. Now, FBC has the ability to serve hundreds of thousands of reservations each year — and the ability to scale for future business growth down the line.
Here’s what we know: Like FBC, your organization can use digital product innovation to better serve your customers and scale your business. To realize the value of digital product development, stay in touch with your customers’ needs and continually assess how you’re using your resources — your people, process, and technology. Using digital products to solve business problems will bring value to your customers and your business.
Interested in improving your digital product innovation? Contact a digital transformation team member, or download our “How To Prioritize Customer-Centric Digital Transformation” white paper.
