Digital has multiplied opportunities—but also complexity.
Today, the real risk isn’t being absent. It’s being everywhere, without direction.
Every company now claims to be digital. Or so it seems. They have a website—maybe two. A monthly newsletter. A semi-functional CRM. A LinkedIn profile, some Google ads. Data is being collected. Tools are in place. At first glance, everything looks fine. But in reality, it’s often a collection of disconnected islands: platforms that don’t talk to each other, duplicated processes, inconsistent messaging. Marketing doesn’t know what sales is doing. The website tells one story, social media tells another. And the data? It’s there—but it doesn’t drive direction.
In recent years, digital has become radically more accessible. Tools for every task. No-code platforms. AI-generated content at scale. It all feels simple. But that simplicity is misleading.
Turning tools on is not the same as running a system. And when systems don’t connect, the cost is hidden: decisions made on perception instead of insight. Lost leads. Funnels breaking down. Campaigns stalling. And no one noticing. This isn’t inefficiency. It’s lack of awareness.
There’s a paradox no one talks about. Digital is the only environment where everything is measurable. Every interaction leaves a trace. Every asset produces data. And yet, this is precisely where most organizations fall short. They build digital properties—websites, CRMs, newsletters—but fail to connect them. They don’t measure. They don’t analyze. They don’t interpret. Digital is still seen as a way to do more, faster, at lower cost. But its real value lies elsewhere: in measurability. And that value only emerges when a clear question is asked up front: what do we want to achieve—and how will we know when we’re there?
Managing a digital ecosystem requires distributed expertise: writing, design, development, strategy, data. The digital all-rounder doesn’t exist. And pretending otherwise is dangerous. Not because talent is scarce—but because very few companies can attract, coordinate, and align all these capabilities internally. That’s exactly where external partners make the difference: structured teams that have already integrated diverse skill sets and can operate with strategic alignment.
You need clearly defined objectives. Readable metrics. Connected systems. You need a shared dashboard—a single source of truth that helps leadership identify bottlenecks, spot optimization opportunities, and act where it matters. Without that level of orchestration, each team runs on its own metrics. And the company loses coherence.
Platforms like HubSpot, for example, make it possible to consolidate the entire commercial and marketing funnel—from first click to closed deal—into a single, integrated environment. This doesn’t just streamline governance. It delivers strategic clarity. That’s when digital starts creating value: when it becomes legible.
No one would hand over their investments to an amateur. No one would trust a self-taught surgeon with an operation. And yet, every day, companies let their digital foundations—the very infrastructure that connects them to their market—be run without vision, method, or control.
Digital is not an experiment. It’s infrastructure. And it should be treated as such.
Because today, true digital expertise isn’t knowing everything. It’s knowing how to make everything work—together.
This article was first published in the July 2025 issue of Ticino Management, within the “Eureka, Digital” section
