Digital Transformation Needs Failure – Because That’s How We Learn

In recent weeks, I’ve heard many success stories in conversations with our clients. But I’ve also heard the message a few times: "We’re trying a lot of things." And along the way, we’ve had to cope with setbacks.

The wonderful thing is that these setbacks were not seen as mistakes, not demotivating, nor a sign of heading in the wrong direction. Many in the industry now understand that the temporary decline of important metrics during optimization processes is not collateral damage, but rather a necessary part of a testing culture.

The path to digital transformation is complex: it involves technology, organization, product quality, target audiences, and business models.

Our experience at Upscore is that the necessary technology to test and optimize is not a major hurdle. Using our analytics, or our paywall, or our content recommendations, doesn’t require a degree in rocket science – after all, we focus on making it as easy as possible during development, without the need for coding or involving the IT department.

Testing & Optimization as a Cultural Technique

From my perspective, what matters is a culture of testing and optimization that feels natural. Change is not a project, but an ongoing task. From data-driven content planning to optimizing the paywall. Anyone starting this journey needs to be clear: there will be setbacks, but that’s material for learning! Trying something new is never a mistake. Even if it costs resources and money that don’t immediately pay off on the revenue side. It will work out!

What’s harmful is questioning optimization processes when something isn’t perfect right away. In the 2000s, the term “Constant Beta” was used to describe the idea that digital products are always in flux and never really finished. I still find that term modern. From my point of view, the only thing that needs to consistently rise is the amount of knowledge required to be successful both journalistically and economically.

Andreas Demuth is Founder and CEO of Upscore.