The digital strategy for your business creates a map for how you’ll succeed in the digital world. It’s the path you’ll take to get your company where you want it to be in the online realm. A digital strategy is made up of several parts: - Brand identity and values - Digital strategy - Digital marketing - Strategies for the channels where your target audience spends time online - Outreach plan - Financial Plan Digital strategy isn’t something you do once and then check “done” off your to-do list. It’s an ongoing process that requires you to check in on your goals, brand identity and digital presence and make adjustments as needed.

Defining your brand’s voice and tone

The first step of creating a digital strategy for your business is to define your brand’s voice and tone. Your brand’s voice is the way you speak to your customers—what words you use, how you use them and how you convey information to your audience. Your brand’s tone is how you sound when you speak. A brand’s voice and tone are the two main elements that will let customers know if your brand is right for them. The first thing you need to do is research your industry. How do other brands in your field speak to their customers? What words do they use? What tone do they take? Take notes so that you can use that information to inform your own brand’s voice and tone.

Establishing a digital presence

Once you’ve established your brand’s voice and tone, it’s time to focus on your digital presence. A digital presence is any type of digital content that represents your brand. This includes your website or blog, your social media pages, your email marketing, any ads you run, etc. A digital presence will differ from brand to brand, depending on each brand’s voice and tone. Your digital presence might include a blog where you publish a variety of content—from product reviews to how-to tutorials to industry-related news. Or, it might be a social media feed where you post daily content such as photos, videos, quotes and other visual content.

Defining your target audience

After you’ve determined your brand’s voice and tone and have created a digital presence for your business, the next step in creating a digital strategy for your business is to determine your target audience. Your target audience is the group of people (or person) who you want to buy from your business. It’s essential that you know who your target audience is, because everything you do—from the type of content you publish to the language you use in branding and marketing—will be tailored to this specific group. Once you know who your target audience is, you can tailor your digital strategy to meet that audience’s needs and desires. You can fine-tune your digital presence and make sure that everything you do online is appealing to the right people.

Determining your business goals

Before you can start implementing a digital strategy, you need to determine your business goals. What do you want your business to achieve? What do you want your brand to stand for? What do you want your customers to feel after interacting with your brand? What do you want to achieve with your digital strategy? These goals should reflect your business goals as well as your brand goals. They should be specific and measurable. Once you’ve determined your goals, you can use them to help shape your digital strategy. For example, one of your goals could be to increase brand awareness by 10% within the next six months. You can use this goal to target the right audiences, publish the right content, and follow up with customers in the right ways.

Digital marketing strategies

Once you’ve established your brand’s identity, created a digital presence and have determined your goals, it’s time to start implementing your digital strategy. This is where you start putting your plan into action. A digital marketing strategy can include a variety of tactics and strategies, including: - SEO - Social media marketing - Paid advertising - Email marketing - Content marketing While these digital marketing strategies will differ depending on your business, your brand’s voice and tone and your target audience, they are essential to helping your business succeed in the digital world.

Wrapping up

As you can see, digital strategy isn’t something you can create over a weekend or knock out in a day or two. It takes time to develop and implement, but the end result is worth it. When you create a digital strategy for your business, you’re mapping out the best possible path for your business to thrive online. When people are looking for products or services, they often start their search online. They’re turning to their computers, smartphones and other devices to find what they need. If your business isn’t present in their online searches, you’re missing out on potential customers. Creating a digital strategy for your business is the first step toward making sure you’re present in those searches.