Digital Innovation That Doesn’t Drive New Business Results

As digital innovation continues to grow, businesses are using new tools to boost their performance—but the results often fall short of expectations. There’s a strong push to be faster and better than the competition in order to stand out, yet many companies fail to deliver anything truly different. As a result, even with new technologies, they achieve the same (or even worse) outcomes, because they’re not offering anything genuinely new to the customer. In the end, they’re just doing what everyone else is doing.

This has made the digital space feel dull—users notice the changes, but don’t find real variety. It’s like every site looks the same and every company offers the same deals and follows the same strategies. Of course, some standards are necessary for usability and organization, but the choice of tools and methods should vary.

Digital Innovation Is Not a Differentiator

If you’ve implemented a new technology in your business and are using strategies that were once reserved for large corporations—congratulations! You’re probably a step ahead of your competitors. But at what cost—and for how long? As soon as that innovation becomes widespread, your business will likely fade into the background, just one among many who followed the same path.

So, should we avoid digital innovation altogether? Quite the opposite—technology exists to support us, and every digital innovation is welcome! However, any major change should be carefully evaluated in terms of cost and benefit. We actually talk more about this in our article on new technologies and trends.

More importantly, simply implementing a digital innovation doesn’t guarantee success or market differentiation. If what you’re doing has already been done, then it may be more accurate to consider your “innovation” a necessary update to remain competitive.

But if your goal is to be different and use new technologies in unique ways, you’ll need to go beyond the obvious, explore less common tools, and be willing to manage risk.

Creating Differentiation Requires Dedication and Courage

We’re talking about two distinct scenarios here:
The first is the replication of strategies and adoption of existing innovations (the classic competitor copy). The second is the creation of alternatives by combining resources in new ways—seeking out unique solutions. In the first case, the risk is low because someone else has already tested it—but the results are also limited, due to heavy competition. In the second, the risk is high and outcomes uncertain—but the potential for success is much greater.

Because of the uncertainty and risk, the second path isn’t for everyone. Doing things differently means stepping off the beaten path, which requires energy, time, money, research, and a lot of hard work. But every successful company has, at some point, taken risks and faced uncertainty. They’ve dealt with failures and setbacks along the way—because that’s part of growth, alongside perseverance and resilience.

The truth is, only those with courage and grit to do what no one else is doing will stand out in the market—until their “different” becomes their “differentiator.” How do you do that? By using the digital innovations available to amplify the best your team and business have to offer. In this way, the technology and tools you use won’t be the innovation itself, but the enablers of your unique ideas and projects—the true source of innovation.

By Joana Kerr