The importance of formulating an effective digital strategy

Have you been looking for help to improve your company's growth strategies without even knowing where you're falling short?

Many times, businesses don't clearly understand the challenges they face and fail to see how much they are losing because of them. Not recognizing their own needs makes it difficult for them to accept and adopt effective strategies. This is where a 360-degree diagnosis makes a difference.

It's like when a patient visits a doctor's office to find out what problem they have before receiving treatment. However, there are also cases where the patient believes they already know what’s wrong and arrives at the office saying they need medication X or Y. In both situations, the first step to solving everything is conducting a proper diagnosis.

Only after the doctor provides a diagnosis and explains what can be done to improve the situation does the patient decide whether to follow the treatment. Otherwise, they will likely look for another doctor.

What is a digital strategy diagnosis?

A digital diagnosis is a comprehensive evaluation of a business's current situation in terms of marketing, sales, communication, and digital technology. It helps identify potential problems while uncovering latent opportunities where a digital agency can act effectively. This makes it essential for businesses and agencies to align and work towards the same objectives.

It is necessary to identify weak points that need improvement and strong points that may not be fully leveraged. Externally, recognizing threats and opportunities helps in planning short-, medium-, and long-term actions, as well as in the client’s decision-making process.

Essential elements for a good digital strategy diagnosis

Every company has its own diagnostic model, covering the areas in which the agency specializes and what it can contribute to the business’s development and growth.

At Next Level Strategy, we conduct a 360-degree business diagnosis to deeply and accurately assess the current situation of a business. Based on this, we design strategies tailored to areas with opportunities for improvement.

What is a digital strategy diagnosis?

A digital diagnosis is a comprehensive evaluation of a business's current situation in terms of marketing, sales, communication, and digital technology. It helps identify potential problems while uncovering latent opportunities where a digital agency can act effectively. This makes it essential for businesses and agencies to align and work towards the same objectives.

It is necessary to identify weak points that need improvement and strong points that may not be fully leveraged. Externally, recognizing threats and opportunities helps in planning short-, medium-, and long-term actions, as well as in the client’s decision-making process.

Essential elements for a good digital strategy diagnosis

Every company has its own diagnostic model, covering the areas in which the agency specializes and what it can contribute to the business’s development and growth.

At Next Level Strategy, we conduct a 360-degree business diagnosis to deeply and accurately assess the current situation of a business. Based on this, we design strategies tailored to areas with opportunities for improvement.

1. Business model and value proposition: Both are fundamental to shaping a strategy, as they must be clearly communicated and represented throughout the digital strategy. Understanding your service or product is the first step in knowing your business. It is important that you share how your business model works so we can understand where you want to go. We seek visible opportunities to innovate in your business model in the short term with a high impact, along with the following questions:

   
   

   - Are there opportunities for new channels, customer segments, relationship formats, or new revenue sources?

   - Is the value proposition clear? Is it properly communicated through all channels and by representatives?

   - Are there new pain points, new gains, new pain relievers, or new profit generators?

   
   

2. Buyer persona: Defining an ideal buyer persona is fundamental for businesses, yet many do not have a clear definition. We ensure you fully understand your ideal buyer’s needs, interests, and fears, allowing us to create targeted strategies that increase sales opportunities. Some questions we consider:

   
   

   - Is there clarity on the buyer persona? How many different ones exist? Do they buy collectively or follow a process?

   - Are their interests, fears, desires, pain points, opportunities, and positive and negative trends clearly defined?

   - Are the social media platforms or search engines where they can be found clearly identified?

   
   

3. Buying journey and moments of truth: The buying journey represents the experience a customer goes through when purchasing a company’s products or services. The moments of truth are key points where customers will either be satisfied or disappointed with their purchasing experience. These moments are where you should aim to make a difference through assertive communication, valuable content, and proactive service.

   
   

   - Is there clarity on the buying journey? What are its stages for this industry and business model?

   - Are the moments of truth that influence decisions in the buying journey clearly identified?

   - Are there clear initiatives to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these moments?

   
   

4. Business touchpoints throughout the buying journey: Touchpoints are opportunities to interact, inform, and engage with the buyer. The more visible and accessible you are, making it easier for customers to communicate with you and provide feedback, the better prepared you will be to influence their purchasing decision.

   
   

   - Are the business and brand touchpoints throughout the buying journey clearly defined?

   - Are there obvious gaps where a touchpoint between the brand and buyer is missing?

   - How many of the existing touchpoints could be improved in quality, efficiency, or effectiveness?

   
   

5. Content to influence buyers during their journey: Content strategies are essential. It’s not just about providing technical descriptions of products or services but creating content based on the buyer’s information needs and pain points. Your product should be positioned as the solution. Some key questions include:

   
   

   - Does the business have the right content properly implemented to influence buyers?

   - Are there obvious content gaps where new content should be created?

   - Which existing content pieces need improvement in quality, efficiency, or effectiveness?

   
   

6. Communication style: Every brand needs a defined and consistent communication style. Our job is to validate whether this is being executed correctly. It’s also crucial that employees can convey this information clearly and consistently.

   
   

   - Does the business effectively communicate a well-identified and differentiated personal or corporate brand?

   - Are the business and its representatives using an appropriate communication style for their business model?

   - Is there consistency in branding and communication style across all platforms?

   - Does the brand use storytelling to enhance communication with its buyers?

   
   

7. Purpose mix for content: Few companies understand and successfully implement this. Those that do usually create a mix of viral content, value-driven content, and sales content, which allows them to grow their audience quickly. This is a crucial digital strategy for business growth.

   
   

   - Does the business generate a minimum volume of content for its audience each month?

   - Is there a reasonable proportion between value content and sales content?

   - Does the business create at least one piece of viral content per month?

   
   

8. Building a brand tribe or community: A brand tribe consists of people who collectively identify with a product and share similar views about it. At Next Level Strategy, we emphasize subscription-based content, which helps build a database of prospects that can be strategically engaged based on their stage in the sales funnel.

   
   

   - Does the business have a social media following or a contact database that is actively engaged?

   - Does the business nurture its database with content, updates, and offers?

   - Could the business generate a community or attract potential customers via WhatsApp marketing?

   
   

9. Digital presence: Digital presence refers to how a brand appears online across various channels such as websites, blogs, social media, emails, and search engines.

   
   

   - Does the business have an appropriate digital presence for its model?

   - Does it have a website?

   - Does it have a blog?

   - Is it present in search engines via SEO?

   - Does it have a local business presence on Google My Business, Yelp, etc.?

   - Is it listed in directories?

   - Does it have customer reviews?

   - Is it active on social media?

   
   

10. Demand generation: One of the most critical skills for a business is the ability to generate demand. This means the business can attract potential buyers at the desired volume.

    
    

    - Can the business generate demand through social media platforms?

    - Does it know the cost per lead on social media?

    - Can it generate demand through search engines?

    - Does it know the cost per lead via search engines?

    - Does the business have certified talent managing these platforms for optimization?

    
    

11. Digital sales funnel: Having the right technology and integrations is crucial for influencing the buying journey, publishing content, capturing leads, sending messages, tracking interactions, and monitoring marketing and sales processes to optimize conversions.

    
    

    - Does the business have metrics on traffic, site visits, leads, and sales?

    - Is there a centralized and secure database tracking opportunities by stage and salesperson?

    - Is there clarity on traffic sources generating the best sales conversions?

    - Are there projections for funnel growth, including average ticket size, close rates, and transaction volume?

    - Has the funnel structure been documented with blueprints or mockups?

    
    

12. Strategic decision-making cascade: Winning in business is a result of a series of decisions that collectively define a clear strategy. A business should have a clear vision, well-defined KPIs, and a culture of continuous measurement and optimization.

    
    

    - Does the organization have a structured vision or a critically important goal related to its sales funnel?

    - Does the business have the necessary talent (internal or external) to accelerate funnel growth?

    - Are KPIs, OKRs, and software management systems in place to achieve objectives?

    - Are strategic decisions well-defined and aligned for success?

    - Does the business have a culture of measurement, result tracking, and accountability to achieve key goals?

    
    

After analyzing these 12 attributes, you will gain a clear understanding of your business’s strengths and weaknesses in digital strategy.

This foundation will help you set priorities for marketing and sales projects, ensuring maximum strategic impact with effective digital strategies to take your business to the next level.