Digital strategy: what is it and why do you need one?

The importance of a digital strategy can’t be overstated. A good strategy will help you grow your business, increase profits, and stay relevant in today’s fast-paced world.

The goal of the digital strategy is to develop a cohesive approach that balances the needs of the business with those of your audience. The objective is to create a comprehensive set of integrated tactics that leverage technology in order to drive growth and profit.

What is a digital strategy?

A digital strategy is a plan that establishes how your business will use digital technologies to achieve its objectives. It is not just about marketing or customer service; it encompasses the technological aspects of the business and can help it grow and evolve in the digital age.

Your digital strategy will be made up of a series of goals, tactics, and metrics to help you achieve your business objectives. It will help your business use digital channels to achieve business goals, including customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.

Creating a digital strategy is imperative in this increasingly digital world. A recent study reported that 98% of businesses stated they consider digital strategy to be important to their overall digital transformation and business future.

Digital strategy vs IT strategy

Digital strategy and IT strategy are two different things. An IT strategy is about choosing the right types of technology for your organisation – for example, whether your company should go for cloud computing, or what kind of technology is suitable for your industry.

A digital strategy is different from IT strategy because it is about how you are going to use digital channels to achieve your business goals. It’s a plan that outlines how you will use digital tools, platforms, and technologies to achieve your business goals.

Benefits of a business digital strategy

Reduce costs

A digital strategy will help you reduce your risk exposure and mitigate the risks that are inevitable in this fast-paced digital world. Mitigating risks will help to reduce the costs your business would incur from cyber-attacks or data leaks.

The right digital strategy would further reduce costs for your business by providing greater cyber resilience through the implementation of best digital practises.

Improve customer service

A digital strategy is the key to improving customer service and experience. It will help you understand your customers better and make your services more personalised.

Your digital strategy can help you improve your customer service by giving you access to the right IT infrastructure and tools. It also helps you reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve your company’s performance.

Boost productivity

A good digital strategy will help you boost productivity and build a cohesive brand. It will also help you achieve your goals by driving engagement, conversion, and retention.

The ability to work remotely, for example, has been a boon for the digital industry. With platforms like the Microsoft 365 productivity suite, remote collaboration has become easier than ever.

A well-thought-out digital strategy can help you achieve more in less time. It is important to have a clear understanding of what the business objectives are and how they can be achieved with the right digital technology.

Creating a digital strategy for your business

Define your business goals: You need to understand your company’s business goals before you can create a digital strategy. Make sure these goals are specific, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.

Define your business challenges: Once you understand your company’s goals, it’s time to identify its challenges. Challenges can be related to your brand, products, services, sales, and marketing efforts. Once you have identified your challenges, you can brainstorm for potential solutions.

Define your business objectives: After you have defined your challenges and searched for potential solutions, it’s time to move on to define your objectives. Your objectives should be related to your challenges, relate back to potential solutions, and clear the way for business growth.

Align your digital strategy: Once you have defined your business goals, challenges, and objectives, it’s time to align your digital strategy. You can do this by answering a few questions:

What are your business’ strengths and weaknesses?
What are your competitors doing? What are the current market trends?
How can you take advantage of these trends?
How can you incorporate your challenges and objectives into your digital strategy?

We can help you with your digital strategy

A digital strategy will help your business achieve its strategic goals, focus its efforts, and direct its resources toward profitable initiatives. It will help you choose the right digital channels for your business, understand the benefits of each channel, and decide what investment is required for these strategies.

The digital strategists at NetworkIQ will help you develop, create, and implement a digital strategy tailored to the needs and future growth of your business with the right digital tech and IT support.