How to build an effective digital strategy - Top 4 steps!

How to build an effective digital strategy - Top 4 steps!

 Digital is becoming a major challenge for all companies. Chance has no place here, a real digital communication strategy must be put in place to make the most of this new trend.

 What is a digital strategy?

 Digital transformation consists of completely rethinking your internet strategy to adapt to digital. It is a reflection on the form as well as the content, a change in the way of understanding your marketing communication, and the tools used.

 Many possibilities are available to you:

• rethink the marketing model for your products and services,

• set up an omnichannel CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution,

• work on your online presence via social networks

 Regardless of the solution(s), you are going to put in place, here we are talking about establishing a good digital strategy: it must therefore be thought out upstream to be as effective as possible and its results must be able to be measured. 

 More importantly, it must be consistent with your business strategy. 

 1 - Do an analysis of your situation in the market

 Before you even build your digital strategy, start with a bit of introspection about your business and think about the current state of the market. 

Define your strengths and weaknesses but also the market opportunities and external threats to take into account.

 Ask yourself the following questions:

• How is your business doing in terms of sales?

• How does it compare to competitors (market share, positioning, etc.)?

• What is your image to the public? Good, bad, non-existent? 

• Does your offer meet a public need? Does she meet her expectations?

 The better you understand the situation as a whole, the more easily you will be able to establish a relevant and effective digital strategy.

 2 - Define the objectives of your digital strategy

 Your digital strategy must focus on SMART objectives and indicators. 

 Definition of the SMART method 

 The SMART method consists of five indicators:

• Specific

  A specific objective must be directly related to the work to be carried out: it must be personalized. This goal should be unique to your business. It must be clear, precise, and understandable by all.

• Measurable

  A measurable objective must be quantified or qualified. 

• Reachable

 An achievable goal is one that is challenging to achieve and big enough and ambitious enough to be motivating. 

• Realistic

 A realistic goal is able to anticipate the obstacles you will encounter and avoid abandonment. 

• Temporally defined

 A time-bound goal is clearly bounded in time, to a specific date.

 These indicators are all variables allowing the achievement of your objectives for your digital strategy.

 3 - Analyze the digital strategy of your competitors

 Your competitors have the same goals as you. It is therefore interesting and instructive to see what methods they use to build their digital strategy.

This can allow you to identify what works or not, inspire you, and even more so to differentiate yourself and do better. 

 For example, in a market like that of B2B SaaS solutions, which is highly competitive, being able to stand out from what competitors are offering becomes vital in order to exist and not blend in with the crowd.

• Who are these competitors?

• What are their strengths and weaknesses?

• How do they communicate with your target?

• On what media? 

 The answers to these questions are all avenues to follow in developing your own e-marketing strategy.

 4 - Define the target of your digital strategy

 Implementing a digital marketing strategy without clearly defining the target to be reached is irrelevant.

 This could lead you straight to a resounding failure.

 To help you, you can create a buyer persona, i.e. a typical profile of the consumer you want to target: 

• Who is he? Age, place of residence, job, hobbies, income...

• What are his needs?

• What are his motives?

• How does he use the Internet? How many times a day and when? More mobile or desktop?

• What social networks does he use? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn...

 Accurately draw up his profile. You will know how to communicate with him, on any media, and at what times.