DIGITAL RIGHT STUFF To Create & Execute A Strategy? Take the Company 2 minute Test.

Sometimes companies get so excited about going digital that they end up making the common mistake of focusing on immediate execution and forgetting about the original concept or strategy. Sometimes ready, fire, aim works but your company’s resources can be consumed by digital execution without a plan. Sometimes the bigger issue is that companies don’t have the right resources. Here is what I see most often when a company realizes that digital is going to be an important part of their go-forward strategy.

• Senior management either does some hiring and sets up a separate department for digital or they throw this responsibility on their marketing or I.T. department even though the look on their face says, “I have no idea how to do that.”
• Management explains their goals but don’t lay out a plan, and then tells the new hires to get to work.
• Three months later everyone is wondering why the plan has failed even though there wasn’t a plan or the resources to execute it.

Sound familiar?

On a smaller scale, this is not much different than what I see marketing departments doing.

• Someone in marketing is tasked with setting up digital marketing for the company even though they don’t have the expertise.
• They usually open an adwords or facebook account, create an ad or two and fund it with valuable marketing budget
• The initiative either generates very little business or doesn’t generate any business. Marketing comes back to senior management and tells them that digital doesn’t work for their company.

Sound painfully familiar?

Digital Strategy 101

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Think of it this way-- Just because we know a little bit of math doesn’t mean we know about advanced calculus. In turn, just because we visit websites doesn’t mean we know anything about digital. This is a profession and a discipline and it is not to be taken lightly or it will drain your company’s resources. You need THE RIGHT STUFF to create and execute a digital strategy successfully so take a 2 minute test and ask yourself:

• Do we have a comprehensive digital strategy?
• If not, do we have the resources to create a comprehensive digital strategy?
• Do we have the right resources to execute on that digital strategy?
  • Expertise for functionality, digital hooks, messaging, conversion, and sales events.
  • Writing content
• Digital Marketing
  • Expertise in Adwords, Display, RTB, Facebook, YouTube, etc…
  • Content, banners, and landing pages
  • Content, banners, and landing pages
• Expertise in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc… and the staff to execute consistently
• Content creation
• Other sources like podcasting
• Leadership Casting
  • Content
  • PR
  • Article Submission

This is the essence of a digital strategy and if you don’t have the expertise to create it, you most likely don’t have the expertise to execute it. Don’t waste your time and money until you can put a name beside each and every one of the above headings. Even if you have to outsource, there should still be a name next to each heading. In addition, don’t let anyone talk you into spending money on execution until you have a complete digital strategy. Understand what it is going to cost you to get from beginning to end and then make the decision whether or not your company is prepared to make the spend. Once you have this done, you now have THE RIGHT STUFF and your chances of digital success just went up exponentially.

Do You Need The Digital Right Stuff?