Digital adoption is the process of learning how to use new technology so you can take advantage of its full potential. In a business setting, this is when a company facilitates widespread use of new technology by its employees or customers.
Companies typically undergo digital adoption in order to increase efficiency, reduce costs, or solve other business problems. For example, a bank might implement automated form-generation software to save valuable time. However, the software can only benefit the company if employees take full advantage of it. Digital adoption occurs when the company has fully embraced the new technology and can therefore reap all the benefits of implementing it.
Digital adoption ensures that you are getting the most out of your technology investments. If customers are using only part of your product, they are not seeing its full value. Similarly, if employees use only bits and pieces of the software you purchase, your company will not see the improvements you intended.
One of the most significant benefits of driving digital adoption for your employees or customers is maximising ROI for new technology. The specific advantages your company gains from the process will depend on the technology you’re implementing. For example, adopting an automation technology will increase efficiency and free up employees for more important tasks.
Here are a few common benefits of digital adoption:
You can increase digital adoption among your employees and customers by implementing a few key digital adoption strategies. It is particularly vital to have a strategy in place for onboarding. This is when employees or customers will interact with the technology for the first time and form initial opinions about it. A positive and thorough onboarding experience is essential to successful and widespread digital adoption.
Here are six ways to increase digital adoption in your organisation:
A digital adoption platform (DAP) is software designed to guide your employee or customer as they navigate through a new application. It walks the user step-by-step through different sections of the application. Leveraging a DAP helps ensure a smooth and complete training process.
In addition, digital adoption platforms have self-help features that allow users to find answers to their questions quickly, without having to call customer support. This saves time both for them and for your support team.
Common features of a digital adoption platform include:
Digital adoption solutions (DAS), officially recognized as a new category of software in a 2019 Gartner report, are another way to improve end-user adoption rates. DAS work within enterprise applications to help train employees or customers. DAS can be used across multiple products to provide a consistent user experience, making it easier for your team to adjust to newly implemented technology.
One particularly useful feature of digital adoption solutions is they are contextual. DAS offer different steps, guidance, and self-help suggestions, depending on where the user is within the application. Guidance also differs depending on the user’s role and their level of training and experience.
A DAP is one type of digital adoption solution. Implement a DAP or other solution as soon as you acquire new technology. That way, your team can effectively and efficiently learn to use the new application right from the start.
A digital adoption manager is responsible for making sure people in the company are using new technology to its full potential. One goal managers have is to ensure buy-in from employees by educating them about the potential benefits of the new software.
Managers also organise training, both for new hires and existing employees. They monitor usage analytics and watch for problems. When they see issues in the training process, they can address them right away and get employees back on track for complete digital adoption.
Essentially, a digital adoption manager acts as a single source of truth for the company’s digital adoption strategy. They are committed to maximising adoption and ensuring the process goes as smoothly as possible.
Digital adoption has far-reaching benefits that span multiple use cases for companies across industries. Below, we put together examples of successful digital adoption by top companies.
| Company | Industry | Digital Adoption Use Case | Brief Description |
| Corrigo | SaaS | Customer Onboarding | Corrigo customers were having trouble making full use of the company’s facilities management platform. Corrigo increased digital adoption by using Whatfix to facilitate onboarding and alert customers to new features. |
| Vanquis Bank | Finance | Customer communication | Vanquis Bank adopted an automated system of calls and texts so they could remind customers of payments due. The bank’s digital adoption resulted in increased customer contact, with 60% less direct input from agents. |
| Dimensions UK | Nonprofit, Housing | Cross-team patient support | Dimensions UK adopted a system called Iplanit so that patient preferences, needs, and medications could be documented in a central location easily accessible by all members of the patient’s care and support teams. |
| The Home Depot | Retail | Employee training | Home Depot’s training system was outdated, and it needed a way for employees to learn while on the sales floor. To solve this, the company worked with Udemy and adopted a knowledge application that enabled employees to train while working. |
| Experian | Data and analytics | Sales | Experian adopted Salesforce for its global sales team and heavily customized the app to suit Experian’s business needs. The customisation led to some adoption challenges, but Experian implemented Whatfix to drive digital adoption across sales teams. |
| Maxwell Health | HR | Product updates and documentation | Maxwell Health adopted Whatfix to keep its product documentation continually up to date as new features were released, which reduced the administrative workload for employees. |
| Mayo Clinic | Health care | Data storage and analytics | Mayo Clinic partnered with Google to host its data and analytics in the cloud. This has enabled Mayo Clinic to store, organise, and access patient data from a single secure location. |
| Partners HealthCare | Health care | Patient pre-screening | Partners HealthCare created a chatbot to screen potential patients. The bot asks a series of questions and then recommends that a patient be tested for COVID-19 or suggests next steps they should take. The bot reduces the number of people waiting for COVID-19 screening and lowers the workload for hospital staff. |
Read more about the Top Features to Consider While Choosing a Digital Adoption Platform.
