What’s cooking in 2017 for #digitaltransformation? Not sure, but here’s what caught people’s attention on Twitter for the last month. This might show where things are heading in 2017.

Method

We examined the most retweeted (English language) tweets for the last 30 days, and then divided the number of retweets per tweet by the originator’s number of followers. This gives an engagement ratio. Then we weeded out the pure promotional tweets and also those more IT-oriented Thus the result is a both quantitative and qualitative Top 3 selection with a focus on the customer end.

IoT, Blockchain, Big Data and Analytics are at the forefront

Our top-ranked post was from @JamesClarkePWC, Senior Manager Data Intelligence at PWC in London.

The linked post declares IoT to the be linchpin of a more agile and enhanced customer experience. It also rates both Ireland and Germany to be frontrunners in the future development of IoT-based services. This is because of their “large industrial bases, forward-thinking business conditions, and technologies“.

What does it mean for 2017? It means that your digital infrastructure needs to be stretched to accommodate new sources of data – lots of it – new integrations and new analytics which can unleash the potential of knowing more about the needs of your customers.

Your customer’s experience matters most

@brian_buntz ranked second on our list with an expalantory post which again referenced IoT and the power it offers to continually improve the customer experience.

“Companies using Internet of Things technology have unique capabilities to understand their customers, but a common pitfall is to fall in love with technology at the expense of customer experience.”

The key recommendation is to ensure that you can match the incoming IoT data with the customer journey.

What does this mean for 2017? Having more data can be useful, but it can also be distracting. Ensure that you know the answer to the First Big Question of Big Data before investing in collection and analytics – that is, What Question Do We Want To Answer (and are we capable of using the data to do this)?

Digital Transformation largely led by the CMO

In the 3rd most engaging post @stevernlee links to the Brian Solis post on his Alimeter “State of Digital Transformation” webcast, which describes six stages. The post answers some post-webcast questions, with references to other material.

“According to our survey, digital transformation is largely led by the CMO (34%). Not far behind, though, is a digitally savvy generation of CEOs who, at 27%.”

Solis also declares that many companies have confused innovation with “iteration” and that only true innovation can lead to disruption.

What does it mean for 2017? Establishing a realistic audit of where in the digital transformation process a firm sits, and the journey ahead and the required investment in innovation will become more routine in 2017. As against just creating various digital “shiny objects” which merely perpetuate the me-too digital status.

Summary

There is no doubt that IoT and other measurement technologies will make much more data available for customer profiling and action. The keys will be to have a firm grip on the digital transformation journey and a firm grip on how more data and technology will improve the customer journey and the customer experience.