Digital strategy: A five-part template to get results online

The 5 parts of a digital strategy

1. Goals

What are your business goals?

2. Audience

Who do you aim to reach?

3. Brand

How do you want people to feel about you?

4. Competition

Who are your competitors?

5. Implement

What practical steps must be taken to implement this strategy?

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

Part 1: Goals

Are you clear on your business goals?

Your goals are at the heart of all the decisions that you make for your business. Your strategy should focus what you want to achieve.

Be sure to download the Digital Strategy Template to complete this exercise on paper.

===

12-month business goals

  • What do I want to accomplish by this time next year?
  • What steps will I need to achieve this goal?
    (Don’t be afraid to be really obvious here! eg: More emails from prospective clients, more subscribers, to be more consistent with visibility campaigns.)
  • How will I measure the success or failure of this goal? What tools will I use to track my progress?
  • What role will my website play in achieving this goal?
  • What is the biggest challenge with this goal?
  • Do I need additional help to achieve this?

===

Long term business goal

  • How does my 12-month goal line up with my long term vision for the business?
  • Is this goal the most important and pressing matter right now?

===

Deadline

  • How long will it take to accomplish this goal?
  • When is the deadline for this goal?

Part 2: Audience

Who do you aim to reach?

Your digital strategy is designed to connect with your audience. So who are you hoping to reach online?

Who do I want to reach?

If you don’t know who your audience is, you’ll never know what they need. So figure out who you’re trying to reach. Try to be really specific when you think of them. If possible, think of your best past clients.

Do I know this person?

If you can, reach out to this person in real life and ask them a few questions:

  • What do you need/expect from a product or service like mine?
  • What aspects of your need is not tailored to by anybody else?
  • How can I better tailor my product/service to this need?
  • Where do you spend time online?
  • What would you ‘Google’ if you were looking for a product or service like mine?

(If you feel a bit shy about asking these questions in person, you can use a survey. Check out these free services for online surveys: Survey Monkey, Google Forms and Type Form.)

[mailerlite_form form_id=7]

Part 3: Brand

We’re obviously not going to define a whole brand as part of this exercise. Branding is important project on its own. But here, I’d like you to consider, how you want people to perceive you and your position in the market. 

“Your Brand Is Not What You Say It Is. It’s What They Say It Is.”
— Marty Neumeier 

Brand is all about emotions. So this section has just one question…

  • How do you want to make your audience feel?

Part 4. Competition

Who are your competitors and how can you show that you’re different from them?

  • Who are your direct and indirect competitors?
  • Why should your ideal customer care about you rather than a competitor?
  • What makes you different from your competitors?

Time for a bit of snoopin’

Pick 3 companies, they don’t actually have to be your direct competitors.

Check out their websites and social media profiles.

  • What feeling do you get from their brand?
  • What is their “Call to action” (what are they asking the site visitors to do? Get in touch? Join the mailing list? Buy this product before the sale ends?)
  • What key words and phrases do they use?
  • Do you notice similarities or patterns when you compare competitors?
  • How would you differentiate from them?

When we look at competitors, we’re not trying to copy what they’re doing. We’re stepping into the shoes of your ideal customer to see what other experiences are available to them.

Part 5. Implement

What practical steps must be taken to implement this strategy?

Whew! If you’ve gone through parts 1 to 4, and done the work, bravo, well done. Have a lolly! So far we’ve been researching, brainstorming and thinking globally. The next step is to create a list of tasks to implement so that you know exactly what you need to do to reach your goal. I’ve added some sample strategies below to help you. Your list will entirely depend on what you’re working towards and what you’re already working with. The sample lists below are here to give you an idea of how the goal, unfolds into a practical list.

Be sure to print out this page of the Digital Strategy Template and keep it visible throughout the year so that you can cross things off as you achieve them.

This list should relate directly to your goal and your deadline. 

  • Write our your goal again detailing the deadline.
  • Write out the path the you need to create to achieve this.
  • Break down the specific tasks that need to be completed with mini-deadlines for each.

Sample implementation list for a course launch

Goal:

By July 15th, I will have a mailing list of 5,000 subscribers. Engagement of this list needs to be high so that I can launch my online course and hit a 10K launch.

Path:

To achieve this, I need to create an opt-in freebie relevant to my course and drive traffic to it. And I need to keep my list engaged with relevant content so that they know, like and trust me.

Tasks: 

  • Brainstorm opt-in freebie
  • Draft content
  • Design the layout
  • Create signup form that links to the freebie
  • Add the signup form to my website
  • Add a popup form to my site
  • Create an automated sequence to nurture subscribers
  • Include links in the nurture sequence to resources and articles on my website
  • Distribute the link on social media regularly
  • Invite influencers to share this freebie
  • Run social media ad to increase subscribers
  • Create email launch sequence
  • Create course landing page on my website
  • Create cart for my course
  • Draft course content
  • Record promotion videos
  • Plan social media content to raise awareness of my launch
  • Create a countdown to close of cart.

Sample implementation list for services

Goal:

By September 10th, I will have consistent 10K monthly income based on 10 clients at 1K each recurring.

Path:

To achieve this, I need become visible to my ideal client who spends a lot of time on Instagram. I’ll create a consistent schedule of instagram content with weekly live stream Q&A sessions. Each live stream should have 100+ attendees and the CTA will be to invite them to become 1:1 clients via my site. I’ll also need to create an offer to retain existing clients.

Tasks:

  • Craft content plan for instagram
  • Gather testimonials from past clients
  • Create a brand script so that my message is consistent and clear in all content
  • Create instagram brand kit so that I can create great-looking posts quickly and from my phone
  • Set up appointment booking on my site
  • Set up a more meaningful ‘About’ and ‘Services’ pages to help site visitors understand my offering
  • Refresh website look and feel to inspire trust with people who visit from instagram.
  • Ensure site looks great on mobile as instagram users are primarily using their smart phones.
  • Set up invoicing for repeat payments 
  • Set up payment gateway to receive payments 

YOU MADE IT!

How did you do? Did you get through it? If you haven’t done so already, you can use the free Digital Strategy template to complete this exercise on paper.

Good luck. And let me know how you get on!