Recipe for a Killer Digital Strategy

Alright, it’s time to step into the kitchen, as today I’m about to share the recipe to the most delicious treat of all… a killer digital strategy. Before I tell you the ingredients, it’s important to know all the nutritional facts about this little beauty. First of all, we need to work out if you’re digital strategy deficient. So answer me this, do you have a website? Do you have social media? Have you ever run an online ad? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then the following recipe is exactly what you need for your digital diet! A digital strategy is like a roadmap to success, and like any good recipe, it’ll take some time (and a little practice) to get right.

So what are the ingredients I hear you screaming? Well just hold on, we’re not quite there yet. Firstly, we need to understand our kitchen. How big is our bench? What tools do we have? Who are the other cooks? So to cut the cooking metaphors for a second, what is the landscape surrounding your business (think pestle – political, economic, sociological, technological, and environmental factors). Have you looked at your competitors? Map out how they are tracking with their digital presence. Look for things like; their social media following, whether they are actively engaged in their online community, have they posted thumb-stopping content, have they utilised the Facebook Pixel, and is their website user-friendly. This way you’ll have a greater understanding of where you sit in the kitchen. Are you the head chef? Or are you the apprentice?

Now it’s time to look at ourselves, the cook. What previous recipes have we used that have worked well? What has captured great engagement on your socials, and what’s been overcooked… From this, we can conduct a short SWOT to highlight our strengths and see where the key opportunities lie.

The next step and this is critical, who are we cooking for? You could cook the perfect piece of steak, paired with the most delicious red wine jus but if your guest is a vegetarian it’s not going to go down well. So it’s critical that we know who’s dining with us; what do they like to do? How old are they? How do they use the digital space? What pain points might they have? Finally, once we have all this information about our kitchen, our guests, and the chef (us!), then (and only then) should we start the cooking.

Ingredient 1: A Human Touch

Now, this might be obvious, but it is often missed. People buy off people, so the more we can make our target audience feel like they’re a part of the family the more success we’ll have online. It can be hard sometimes to put your face and personality out on show online, it takes a bit of courage – but trust me, it’s worth it!

Ingredient 2: Patience

The perfect digital strategy won’t happen overnight. In most cases, you won’t see instant results but please keep at it! Future you will thank you! A digital strategy is a marathon, not a sprint so building an online presence will take time.

Ingredient 3: A Bit of Spice

Nobody likes a flavourless meal, just like no one wants to see bland online content – because trust me, they’ll just scroll straight past. You need to make people stop in their tracks. How you do that is up to you! Is it amazing copy that you just can’t ignore? The most visually stunning imagery that you have ever laid eyes on? Or a cheeky joke? Take the time to think about what you are going to do to stand out online. Lately, Loz & I have been swept up on the Instagram Reel train, so why not try that!

Ingredient 4: Consistency

This is SO important. A digital strategy will never be a ‘one and done’. It will be about making a consistent effort throughout. As Loz likes to say, “if you go to the gym once a fortnight are you really going to see any results?” Or to stay more on topic, if you only go grocery shopping once a month, how will you cook?

Ingredient 5: Something Unique

Ok in real life, I probably wouldn’t recommend adding something unique to you cooking – no bad flavour combos please. But in a digital strategy, you need to show a point of difference! And there is no one that will know your unique selling point better than you. So make sure you showcase this online! Why do people choose you over your competitors!

Ok, we’re nearly finished I promise – you’ll be eating sweet digital marketing pie in no time!

The Method:

So now that we know what ingredients to use, we need to determine how to apply them. This is where you get to choose which platforms to execute your killer ideas on. Here are the key channels to think about:

• Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, TikTok etc)

• Email Marketing (my personal favourite – there’s so much opportunity!)

• Paid Media (We’re talking Facebook Ads & Google Ads)

• Website (Time to dust the cobwebs off this bad boy!)

• Google My Business (Yep, it’s a thing, google it!)

Finally, DO THE DISHES! This is always the worst part, but it’s SO important. If you don’t give yourself time to reflect on the strategy, how will you know what worked and what didn’t? You want to make sure your dishes are squeaky clean so that your next cooking experience is even better!

Alright, that’s it. We’ve cooked a killer digital marketing strategy. Watch the customers start rolling in! And as always, if you think you need a sous-chef don’t be afraid to reach out, we like to think of ourselves as Michelin Star.