Digital Consultancy and Digital Strategy
Posted on 02 May 2009
... hot off the press, check out our planning and creating a digital strategy whitepaper...
This year aligned to expected interest the main theme of our Internet World presentations and literature was Social Engagement, just one of the areas that Red Ant consults in. Whilst more can be read about Social Engagement in Pauls blog post on Social Engagement on talking to people at the stand the theme inevitably turned towards the wider digital consultancy and digital strategy that Red Ant performs for our clients, sometimes even along the theme of what digital consultancy consists of. Through the remainder of this post I will attempt to cover areas of digital consultancy and areas that I believe marketing departments should be considering for their digital strategy.
Digital Consultancy
Digital Consultancy in short is about finding the best way of achieving goals, normally promoting a brand or service, through electronic connected media. This could be online on the web, through specialist Internet applications or through mobile phones (both network and Bluetooth connections). Digital consultancy also can tie into traditional media outlets either as traditional first bringing an audience into a digital campaign or traditional last by using an existing digital audience as content generators. As is the case all consultancy Red Ants approach to digital consultancy and building digital strategies is tailors to each of our clients, however there are some key requirements and steps that cross over all campaigns.
- Know the aim
- Know the brand / client
- Know the audience
- Know the tools and be clear in their limitations
- Plan how to measure return (KPIs), and expected return
- Plan how you will support your strategy
- Deliver, measure and repeat
All of these are simple, but necessary steps to delivering a well constructed campaign.
Digital Strategy Aims
Discussing aims with clients are often the first barrier we come across. The part that we find clients normally find the hardest is knowing what is achievable and in defining initial digital strategy aims they are normally either very generic e.g. we want to do something social, or they are detailed to the point of being limited by the initial vision. Aims on any digital strategy should be first and foremost business goals and limitations. Goals normally include increased awareness, building an audience and / or educating that audience, increasing reputation, but ultimately making the sale. Limitations generally consist of conflict of interest with existing business practices and / or outlets, initial perception (both audience and reputation), and budget. Working with these goals and limitations digital consultants can start to build clear strategies to meet these aims.
Understanding brand
Before any meaningful digital strategy can be put in plan the brand must be understood inside and out. Misplaced brand identity within a digital campaign will at best lead to a misfiring digital campaign, at worst it can lead to long term damage for the brand in question. The message for any digital campaign must be on brand or at least on brand aspirations as defined in the aims of the strategy. Whilst a subjective viewpoint is all well and good, living and breathing the brand will open up ideas for digital strategy that will take the brand to the next level.
Understanding the audience
Along with the brand the audience is a key factor in any digital strategy. It is particularly noticeable in brand reinvention that when the new brand message is not attuned to the audience the reinvented brand does not stay reinvented for long. Digital campaigns that have a message that is not aligned with the audience are weak, of limited value and like incorrect brand messages potentially damaging.
Understand what is capable
At Red Ant we encourage all of our Ants to take the time to learn new products, ideas and technologies. Only when they understand what is capable and are able to share the knowledge can we deliver digital strategies that are truly optimised and have that creative sparkle that stands out. We find that knowledge plus imagination delivers a plethora of ideas, invariably including those that are not on brand (but through education rarely those that aren’t on audience), but for every 99 ideas that do not make it passed initial brainstorm one is an absolute gem. However being ignorant of what can be done is an immediate limitation on what is possible and what will be delivered for the digital campaign.
KPIs and ROI
KPIs and ROI are discussed in detail in Richards blog post about an ROI and performance framework, but they are a key component in any digital strategy. Gone are the days that money can just be thrown at a project without proof of return, and without proof there can be no success.
Digital Campaign Support
An area that is often overlooked in digital consultancy until it is too late and to the detriment of the digital strategy is supporting the digital campaign. It is odd to be cautious of success, but planning for the success of a digital campaign is an essential element of ensuring the success of the digital campaign. If sales increase tenfold is the stock available, or easily acquirable, can the fulfilment be managed? If engagement with your consumer base has rapid uptake do you have the staff available to engage and potentially police areas of engagement? If your goal is to drive traffic to a website can that website handle large upswings in traffic? If you cannot meet the conversion of goals then the digital strategy will have failed and as per other areas this may have an adverse effect on brand, audience and future digital efforts.
Delivery
Red Ant has a team that delivers, but this falls outside of the remit of digital consultancy. What is important to remember is that no digital campaign should be treated in isolation. The measurement of existing digital campaigns is the yardstick and starting point for future digital strategy.
This blog post was written by Dan Mortimer.
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