If your business has yet to create a digital strategy, now is the time!
Why is scalability important? Because as your business grows, you’ll want your digital strategy to be able to grow with it. A scalable digital strategy will help you save time and money while effectively reaching your target audience. In this article, we’ll tell you how to create a scalable digital business strategy and explain exactly what such a strategy might look like.
If you’re interested in learning more about the potential of digital strategies for business, consider registering for the Digital Business Strategy online short course from the MIT Sloan School of Management. This six-week, self-paced course will cover topics relating to “the rebalancing of three key relationships: human minds and machines; physical products and digital platforms; and the core (centralized knowledge) and the crowd (decentralized knowledge)” and much more.
What is a Digital Business Strategy?
Before we explore how to create a digital business strategy, we’ll begin by discussing what such a strategy actually involves. A digital business strategy relates to how your business will choose to use digital tools to improve business operations. Depending on your goals and the nature of your business, the specifics of your digital strategy will vary.
That said, all digital business strategies should aim to do two things: improve customer experience and help the business run more efficiently. The most effective digital business strategies will find a way to do both of these things simultaneously.
With those goals in mind, a digital business strategy typically contains four key components:
- A vision for how digital technologies can help the organization achieve its goals
- A set of priorities for where to focus those efforts
- An implementation plan detailing how the vision will be executed
- Metrics for success, so that progress can be tracked and measured
Creating a Scalable Digital Business Strategy
A digital business strategy should be tailored to your specific business and its goals. It should also be flexible enough to change as your business grows and changes over time. Remember, a digital strategy that is not scalable will quickly become outdated and ineffective.
Now that we’ve answered the question “what is a digital business strategy?” let’s take a look at how you can create one for your business.
There are five steps you’ll need to take:
- Assess your current situation
- Define your goals
- Identify your target market
- Research your competition
- Create your strategy
Let’s take a closer look at each of these steps.
1. Assessing Your Current Situation
The first step to creating a digital business strategy is assessing your current situation. This means taking a close look at where your business is currently, both in terms of its digital presence and overall goals.
You’ll want to ask yourself questions like:
- Do we have a website? Is it mobile-friendly? Does it effectively reflect our brand?
- Do we have a strong social media presence? Which platforms are we active on?
- Do we have any existing digital marketing campaigns? Are they effective?
- Do we use any digital tools to improve customer experience or business efficiency? If so, which ones? What do our customers say about us online?
- Are there any areas of our business that could be improved with digital solutions?
By taking the time to assess your current situation, you’ll be able to understand better what changes need to be made in order for your business to reach its goals.
2. Defining Your Goals
The second step is to define your goals. What does your business hope to achieve by implementing a digital business strategy? Some common goals include:
- Generating more leads
- Improving customer retention
- Increasing sales
- Building brand awareness
- Improving customer satisfaction
- Reducing costs
- Streamlining operations
It’s helpful to be specific when setting goals for your digital strategy. Trying to accomplish too many things at once will only lead to confusion and frustration. Instead, it’s better to focus on a few key objectives and develop a plan for how you’ll achieve them.
Once you’ve defined your goals, you can move on to step three: identifying your target market.
3. Identifying Your Target Market
This step is about understanding your target market and what they want. To do this, you’ll need to consider things like:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Income level
- Occupation
- Interests
- Hobbies
- Values
Once you understand your target market, you’ll be able to develop marketing campaigns and content that resonates with them. You’ll also be able to choose the right digital channels to reach them where they’re already spending their time.
4. Researching Your Competition
The fourth step in creating a digital business strategy is to research your competition. What are they doing well? Where are they falling short? How can you differentiate your business in the market?
There are many ways to conduct this research. You can start by doing a simple Google search for businesses like yours. Then, take a look at their websites and social media profiles. See what kind of content they share and how they interact with their audience.
You can also use tools like Alexa’s Competitive Analysis and SimilarWeb to get detailed insights into your competition’s digital marketing efforts. This information can be precious when it’s time to create your own strategy.
5. Creating Your Digital Business Strategy
The final step is putting all this information together and creating your digital business strategy. Again, remember to keep your goals front and center as you develop your plan.
To recap, your strategy should include the following:
- A clear vision for how digital solutions can help your business achieve its goals
- Specific objectives and target milestones
- A detailed plan for how you’ll implement your strategy
- A budget for your digital marketing initiatives
- An analysis of your competition and how you’ll differentiate your business in the market
In Closing
These are just a few of the things you’ll need to consider as you develop your digital business strategy. By taking the time to create a comprehensive plan, you’ll be well-positioned for success in this digital age.
