2023: the take-off year for no-code?

The growing demand for digital skills is a major challenge for companies that often face a technical glass ceiling. Development teams (technical - coding) often lack versatility and availability, thus slowing down innovation and the "Time to Market" of companies.

However, an increasingly popular solution offers a new creative perspective to companies: no-code development.

Tools such as Webflow, Zapier, Airtable, Bubble or Notion break the technical barrier by allowing profiles with business expertise (marketing, sales, management) to develop without the need to know coding. This promising solution opens new horizons for companies in search of productivity and innovation.

1. Reasons for the success of no-code

The use of no-code tools, such as Webflow, Notion, Zapier, Figma and Bubble, is becoming more and more widespread. But what explains this growing popularity? Beyond the (great!) marketing of these tools, they also have many technical advantages that encourage their adoption. The first of them is...

1.1 Making creation accessible

The promise is beautiful, anyone can learn to create and develop their solution without having to learn a single line of code, thanks to accessible and intuitive tools. Here are some examples:

• Automation and data flow exchange: Zapier, Make
• Application creation : Bubble
• Website creation : Webflow
• E-commerce website creation : Shopify

At first glance, it seems simple to design with these tools. In reality, some tools are easier to learn than others, and once you learn the tool, there are different levels of expertise for each tool. A bit like Excel!

But in general, it allows any professional (marketing, sales, management) to benefit from the advantages of being able to develop a business solution quickly.

1.2 Tools that allow a "Multi-expertise" application

Say hello to the "super power" of multi-expertise!

Take the example of a craftsman who can now develop a management application specific to his industry, thanks to his knowledge and deep understanding of his customers' needs. But also to the marketing team, which can develop its own web strategy by mastering web development, without depending on developers.

No-code tools can give you the power to develop unique products and services by combining your business expertise with that of a developer.

The result? Enabling companies to develop more targeted, innovative products and services that are more in line with the real needs of their target market.

1.3 Business impact for companies

The business impacts for companies are numerous and affect all aspects of the company: data management, knowledge sharing, collaboration, cross marketing and sales actions.

The no-code allows to accelerate the processes during the project and to reduce the time to market of a new product.

2. How to intelligently integrate no-code into your business strategy?

To intelligently integrate no-code into your business strategy, it is important to choose the right no-code tools based on your technical needs, your team's internal skills and your budget. It is also important to train your employees to use the no-code tools effectively to achieve a successful transformation.

2.1 Choosing the right no-code tools

There are thousands of tools, for each market. Let's take the example of website creation. How to choose between Wix, Wordpress, Shopify, Webflow (to mention only them from the long list of CMS tools)?

You will need to consider:

1. Your technical needs (you can't do the same thing with a WIX site vs a Webflow site)
2. Your team's internal skills (it is easier to use a tool like WIX vs Webflow)
3. Your budget (a technical stack of several tools can quickly become expensive!)

Read one of our comparative studies on the 3 tools to create a site in 2023

There are many comparative studies on the different no-code tools on the market. But it is also important to look at the free content and community activity of the tool when you want to integrate it into your business. These resources will be invaluable in helping to make the integration of these tools into your business "easy" and successful.

2.2 Train employees to use no-code tools

A technology tool is only a means to a successful transformation. It is not the integration of a tool that revolutionizes the performance of your company. Its proper use does.

It is therefore essential that your employees master these tools. For this you have several options:

1. Training programs (paid online courses or face-to-face bootcamp formats)
2. Many Youtube channels with online tutorials and guides (free and qualitative)
3. Blogs and discussion forums to exchange with other users and experts on nocode
4. Live webinars and workshops

Finally, it is important to remember that training is not only about the use of no-code tools themselves. The methods and practices that accompany them are also important.

If we take the example of a web strategy managed by your marketing team, it can be useful, for example, to train your collaborators on the best practices of development or UX/UI design, to improve the results of the development of landing page on your website.

Discover the free training of the Digidop Academy on Webdesign

And of course, tech is a fast-moving industry. So it's vital to keep up with trends and integrate new technologies, like recently, Chat-GPT's AI, into your tools strategy.

3. What future for no-code?

3.1 Impact on the labour market

- Digital transformation -

Digital technology is already having a strong impact on the job market. "49% of retailers say they recruit a young person because he or she has mastered digital tools and this promotes the digital transformation of their business."

Source of the figures: blogdumodérateur

- Job demand - A buoyant market -

+66% increase in digital job offers in 4 years(OECD study)

In volume, the demand is growing!

- Multi-expertise - A considerable advantage! -

Mastering no-code tools is a transferable skill that offers a definite competitive advantage during a job interview!

3.2 Impact on the development of new "Business Solutions

By giving the power to create and develop to professions in daily contact with the customer or the operational problems of a company, we can expect in the coming years a development of new "software" or "applications" developed for specific business needs, thanks to no-code and low-code tools.

Thanks to their many advantages:

• Flexibility, speed,
• cost reduction
• inter-business collaboration,

No-code and low-code tools are revolutionizing the way companies develop and integrate new business tools and we can easily imagine the development - for example - of a specialized management application for artisans, developed by an artisan.

3.3 Creation of a new job: no-code developer

No-code development has led to the emergence of new jobs, including that of no-code developer. Job offers for positions such as "Webflow Developer" are constantly growing. This new job market is to be followed closely.

Conclusion on the no-code market

In short, the no-code and low-code trend is transforming the way companies create, develop and integrate business tools.

We are very optimistic about the development and global acceptance of no-code tools in 2023. As we have been predicting since 2021. It is now clear that no-code tools are a true technological revolution, which opens up many opportunities for innovation and competitiveness for companies that master them for the next 5 to 10 years.