So far, digital transformation is largely led by the chief marketing officer. That’s borne out in a new study of 528 digital executives and “transformation strategists” by Altimeter, a Prophet Company, which finds more than one-third of executives (34%) say their CMOs are leading the digital charge. For 27%, the digital impetus comes right from the top — saying the CEO is in charge of digital.

Each platform uses different engagement metrics to drive their agenda. Which is why “engagement numbers are controversial at best,” Solis said.

In their book, The Evolution of Social Business: Six Stages of Social Business Transformation, Charlene Li and Brian Solis surveyed 700 social media professionals and executives. They discovered that 34% of businesses surveyed felt that their social strategy was connected to business outcomes.

“Digital transformation is as much a technology story as it is one about how people lead change inside and outside the company. The human factor is pervasive in each of our reports on the subject. It’s really the driving force behind evolution and revolution in business,” said Solis.

De toekomst van zaken doen draait om het ontwerpen van betekenisvolle ervaringen. Met die heldere boodschap van Brian Solis gaat iedereen naar huis na een lange eDay. Rond 12.00 uur mag de ‘principal analyst’ van de Altimeter Group, auteur en keynote speaker de volle zaal alles vertellen over Ervaringen. Niet voor niets, want zijn nieuwe boek ‘X: The Experience Where Business Meets Design’ gaat over het ontwerpen van de perfecte totaalervaring.

Brian Solis is a key influencer on the mobile scene. A digital marketing analytics expert, Brian is a recognized speaker and author of the recently published X: The Experience When Business Meets Design. He’s also behind various reports and research studies which examine mobile experiences. One of his recent studies is The Inevitability of a Mobile-Only Customer Experience where he examines how companies should think mobile-first and mobile-only.

Solis researched and interviewed 500 digital transformation strategists, executives, and change agents, and Vala Afshar, a thought leader on the topic of digital transformation, delivers a concise break-down of the key findings in Huffington Post. Among the insights, “The No. 1 challenge facing executives (71 percent) is understanding behavior or impact of the new customer,” yet, “55 percent of those responsible for digital transformation cite ‘evolving customer behaviors and preferences’ as the primary catalyst for change.”

Although digital transformation is a tech-reliant process, CMOs are more likely than CIOs to lead this journey, indicates new research from the Altimeter Group.