The modern world is constantly evolving under the influence of steadily progressing digitalization and rapid technological development. The most characteristic element of this transformation are digital platforms – business supporting technologies that have become fundamental structures organizing various aspects of our lives. Digital platforms, also called web platforms or online platforms, are virtual spaces that enable interactions, information exchange and transactions between users, suppliers and other ecosystem participants. By introducing new business models, ways of communicating and interacting, these platforms have a huge impact on the economy, society and culture.
This article will discuss in detail digital platforms and their impact on the functioning of the business. How do digital platforms influence business development, growth and increased competitiveness?
Using digital platforms as a growth tool for your business
Digital platforms are a powerful tool that has a huge impact on business development and achieving set goals. In the face of constantly increasing competition and changing customer expectations, the use of digital platforms as a growth tool is becoming not only an option, but even a necessity for many enterprises.
Currently, modern business tools constitute the basis for the functioning of an organization, so it is extremely important to become interested in digital platforms.
What are digitial platforms and why are they so important for the business?
Digital platforms are virtual infrastructures or online spaces that allow for convenient interaction, exchange of information and transactions between various participants of the entire ecosystem which includes, among others, users, supplies, producers or sellers. They are characterized by a very dynamic operating model that is based on connecting and facilitating interactions between various parties in order to create valuable relationships. Digital platforms can take many forms, such as web portals, mobile apps, online marketplaces and social networks.
The presence of digital platforms in business is crucial for many reasons. The most important of them include:
–Global reach – Digital platforms allow you to reach customers from all over the world without the need for physical representation in a given region. Thanks to digital platforms, effective digital transformation of companies is possible.
–Cost effectiveness – Building, implementing and maintaining a digital platform is often more cost-effective than physical presence in a given region.
–Precise targeting – Digital platforms are highly digitized solutions that allow you to precisely define the audience and reach them based on demographic data, behavior and preferences.
–Innovation – In today’s world, ingenuity and individuality count. Digital platforms enable businesses to test new solutions, bring products to market quickly and adapt to changing conditions.
–Digitization of business processes – Digital platforms facilitate digital transformation, which increases efficiency, saves time and resources, and improves the operation of processes inside and outside the organization.
These factors have made digital platforms an indispensable tool in business, enabling companies to achieve greater reach, effectiveness and innovation in a dynamic digital transformation environment.
The most popular digital platforms supporting company growth
Over recent years, many digital platforms that support business in various aspects have appeared on the market – from providing appropriate infrastructure, through communication and marketing, as well as CRM and CMS tools, to tools for creative work. Currently, the most popular digital platforms that support the development of companies include:
–Microsoft 365 – The vast majority of organizations are based on the Microsoft office services package. The giant from Redmond provides a popular office suite with Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications, which are the basis for the functioning of today’s business. The whole thing is perfectly integrated with the OneDrive network drive, SharePoint data sharing tool and e-mail based on the Exchange protocol.
–Facebook for Business – Meta develops one of the largest social media platforms for business, providing a wide range of marketing services that allow the promotion of companies, products and services in popular social media. Facebook for Business allows you to create company websites, run advertising campaigns, interact with customers and analyze results.
–LinkedIn – The most popular social networking site for maintaining business relationships is LinkedIn. The medium, owned by Microsoft, is also a large digital platform that allows you to build a brand image, recruit employees and establish relationships with business partners.
–WordPress – A free content management system (CMS) allows you to create responsive websites and blogs. It is flexible, easy to use and offers many plugins to expand functionality. WordPress is eagerly used by the small and medium-sized enterprise sector.
–HubSpot – One of the most popular marketing and sales platforms comprehensively supporting customer service activities. It offers tools for managing marketing campaigns, generating leads, automating activities and analyzing data.
–Amazon Web Services – Cloud services are increasingly becoming the basis for business operations. AWS is a solution provided by Amazon that enables companies to host applications, store data and analyze it, and many other IT services.
–Adobe Creative Cloud – Adobe has been a leader in the creative work solutions market for years. Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of tools for creators, including programs for graphic design, video editing, multimedia content creation and other creative activities. It includes popular applications such as Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro and Illustrator.
Only selected digital platforms are listed above. There are however plenty of solutions on the market that support modern businesses in their everyday functioning. The choice of platform depends on the specific needs and goals of a given enterprise. It is important to adapt the choice to the specificity of the industry, the size of the company and its development strategy.
How to choose the right digitial platform for your business?
Digital platforms are the basis for the functioning of many businesses, and migration between them can be troublesome. Therefore, it is worth ensuring the careful selection of digital platforms consistent with the specific nature of the business. To this end, it is worth taking appropriate steps:
- Defining the goal – you should define the goal that the company wants to achieve using the digital platform. This may be increasing sales, brand recognition or improving the quality of communication with customers.
- Determining the target group – There are digital platforms on the market that better reach individual or business customers.
- Setting a budget – Digital platforms are most often settled in the form of subscriptions. It is important to determine the budget for implementing and maintaining the digital platform.
- Comparing available options – There are many digital platforms on the market that offer similar functionalities. It is worth examining carefully each of them and choosing the option that best suits your business type.
- Checking security policies – If the digital platform will process sensitive data, make sure that it complies with legal regulations and has appropriate security mechanisms.
Success cases: companies that achieved success with digital platforms
There are many companies on the market that have achieved success by implementing digital platforms or basing their business operations on this type of tool. The most popular of them include the following brands:
–Tesla – The automotive giant relies on the ability to remotely update software, customize functions and collect data, which is redefining the entire industry and bringing additional profits to the manufacturer.
–Alibaba – Thanks to the implementation of a global online store based on B2C and B2B trade, the Chinese e-commerce giant quickly became one of the largest players on the global market.
–Slack – A small startup offering a tool for communication within organizations quickly grew into a powerful technology company that based its business on the development and offering of a digital platform that was created in response to customer requirements.
–Amazon – world’s largest online store is also a gigantic digital platform that provides the opportunity to sell products and services to many entities from around the world. Additionally, Amazon also offers other services such as: Amazon Web Services cloud solutions, Amazon Kindle e-book readers, Amazon Fire home devices and the Amazon Alexa voice assistant.
The use of digital platforms in marketing and sales
Digital platforms are very good in marketing and sales as they support businesses in efficient and modern communication between the company and its customers, suppliers and cooperators.
In marketing activities, digital platforms are used for activities in social media, providing content for content marketing, sending newsletters, influence marketing and comprehensive provision of SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (paid online search) activities.
Sales departments use digital platforms to build their own e-commerce systems or introduce products to popular e-commerce platforms, build marketplaces, support chatbots, target customers and analyze data obtained from the sales process of products and services.
Data security on digital platforms: how to protect your business?
Data security on digital platforms is extremely important to protect your business from information loss, customer privacy breaches, and potential cyber threats. For these reasons, it is extremely important to conduct a security audit of the digital platform before its implementation into the organization. To properly ensure data security on digital platforms, you should:
– Check compliance with legal regulations in force in the given country
– Enable 2FA/MFA multi-factor verification
– Regularly check for updates and security features on the digital platform
– Conduct cybersecurity training for employees and users of digital platforms
– Implement appropriate data encryption
– Make sure your data is stored within the EEA
– Implement an appropriate security policy
– Designate people responsible for incident response
– Back up your data regularly
Digital platform integration with other business tools
Integrating digital platforms with other business tools is crucial to ensure smooth operations and effective use of technology in the company. This opens the door to process automation, successful data exchange and improved internal and customer communication. Modern digital platforms have extensive integration possibilities with other services. They also provide API programming tools that allow you to create your own connectors between services.
The most common integrations of digital platforms with other business tools include:
– Integration of CRM systems with e-commerce tools
– Integration of instant messengers with calendars
– Integration of e-commerce and marketplace systems with tools supporitng online payments
– Integration of CRM apps with customer support tools
FAQs:
Can small businesses also profit from the benefits of digital platforms?
Yes – small businesses can profit from the benefits of digital platforms. For small businesses, these tools can be particularly valuable support, allowing them to achieve greater visibility, efficiency and innovation without large financial outlays or the need to expand their team. There are many scalable digital platforms on the market that can be implemented in organizations of just a few or several hundred people.
What are the costs of implementing and maintaining a digital platform in business?
The costs of implementing and maintaining a digital platform in business depend on the type of platform, scope of functionality, complexity of the project and the size of the organization. The vast majority of digital platforms are billed monthly, quarterly or annually for implementation in a given organization or for a given user. Sometimes implementation costs must be incurred to adapt the digital platform to the needs of a given business. You should also remember about possible changes to the digital platform after its implementation in order to adapt it to the current needs of the business.
Does using digital platforms require advanced knowledge?
Using digital platforms in the vast majority of cases does not require specialized knowledge. Many platforms are designed to be intuitive and easy to use, allowing even people without advanced technical knowledge to use them. It may happen that the implementation and configuration of a digital platform will require a certain amount of specialist knowledge, especially when it comes to advanced functions or configurations. These needs are solved by IT departments of organizations implementing digital platforms in enterprises.
