10 TIPS for riding the digital wave

“We are not here by chance. We are here because we have decided to act, and we do not underestimate the risk of waiting while everything moves around us.”

Roberto Ruggeri – Partner and CEO of SMDAYIT

This is why we decided to participate in the 2019 Digital Innovation Days: the largest Italian event dedicated to digital marketing, social media marketing and total innovation. From 17 to 19 October there were three days of continuous sessions, pitches, interviews, demos and workshops in the dynamic setting of Talent Garden Calabiana, where communication agencies, companies, start-ups, freelancers and professionals in the industry came together to update or deepen their knowledge of digital marketing, of the main tools of social media marketing and of the latest trends in technological innovation and entrepreneurship.

As part of our usual aim to contribute to the world through dissemination of substantial content, we want to share 10 useful business tips with you, taken from speeches by leading experts over the course of the event.

1. “Digital transformation is an opportunity for positive and enabling change”: “Digital transformation supports us in the transition period that we are undergoing: It is essential to embark on a path of digital transformation in order to remain competitive.”

Danilo Schipani – CMO of Copernico
Fabio Salvatore Leonardi – Digital Innovation Manager of Enel

So let’s say goodbye to fears, laziness and reluctance to change and seize the immense opportunities offered by the digital age, partly because it is now impossible to escape the digital tsunami.

2. “We can no longer communicate without engaging, and above all, we can no longer communicate outside digital.”

Paola Maffezzoni – Head of Marketing & Communications at GroupM

A direct consequence of point 1: It is impossible to overlook that whole area of digital marketing, such as social media, which is still sometimes considered “unsuitable for one’s business”. Whether B2C or B2B, no company can overlook their digital presence.

3. “Today, successful brands dialogue, are smart and fast, and work together: with customers, as well as competitors. And they have to consider the era in which we live”

Giuseppe Mayer – CDO of Armando Testa

Original dynamics and approaches, made possible by the digital world, which has completely revolutionized communication. A fact that companies cannot afford to ignore. Digital has overturned the paradigm of advertising and has placed the emphasis on customers and their needs.

4. “Gone are the days of selling snake oil: We need to think about solving real needs” and “stop interrupting users with invasive advertising and become what they are interested in, what they are looking for themselves.”

Giorgio Soffiato – CEO of Marketing Arena Spa
Veronica Gentili – Co-Founder and Facebook Marketing Expert at Glisco Marketing

The context in which we do business is that of a customer-centric experience economy in which consumers are aware that they direct market supply upstream of the process.

5. “Data is the key to unlocking a world of information.”

Matteo Flora, Founder of The Fool

Data is the answer we are looking for. To satisfy customers’ needs, we need to know what they are — both the customers and the needs — and to offer, based on this knowledge, intelligent, creative products and services, in an intelligent, creative way.

6. “It is time to break away from daily operations to study something new, study others and replicate them, since this is the only way to improve.”

Luca La Mesa – President of SingularityU Roma

Creativity is necessary, but should not be taken for granted. Learning to unlearn, leaving the comfort zone and the lure of habit, the “that’s how we have always done it” mentality, and above all copying, or rather taking inspiration from others, enables creativity and innovation.

7. “Technology is our superpower. With great power comes great responsibility.”

Pier Mattia Avesani  – CEO and Co-founder of Uquido

Human creativity is the key ingredient of innovation, and technology is the tool to achieve it. However, it must be used correctly, referring to the specific context in which it is applied, otherwise there is a risk that the product will flop.

8. “AI will significantly change marketing in the coming years: The future of marketing is the perfect combination between humans and machines.”

Ilaria Zampori – General Manager of Quantcast Italia

When we talk about technology, we are clearly referring to the most advanced frontier: artificial intelligence. Once again, we have to overcome our fears. We need to forget about films with robots that conquer the Earth to surpass the human race and focus on reality instead. AI has phenomenal potential, just like the human mind: We have to help it to evolve and let it help us because this collaboration is the future, not only of marketing, but of work and our life in general.

9. “There will be more changes over the next 10 years than we have experienced in the last 50. You must be your companies’ innovation!”

Francesco Gabrielli – Digital Marketing & E-commerce Manager of Barilla

Let’s face it. Change is already underway, it’s fast, and we have to keep up with it if we want to survive. Each of us has the duty and honour to innovate because we all have the tools to do so. So “disrupt yourself, before change disrupts you!”

For us at Way2Global innovation is a fundamental part of our identity, both in digital marketing, which we consider to be a fundamental part of our work, and above all for our business: the business of translation and the language industry, which we are aiming to develop into a 4.0 model.

The valuable advice and motivation of DIDays make us even more fervent and determined in our role as innovators: within our company, within our sector and also within the economy at large, since, as a Benefit Corporation, we have great intentions to transform and improve the economic system and the future of the world.

And this is why we want to give you the tenth and last tip:

10. “Innovate to ensure a better future for everyone. Because planning to innovate without being sustainable at the same time is like deceiving yourself that you can lose weight without a healthy diet: useless and counterproductive.”

Laura Gori – Founder and CEO of Way2Global Srl SB