How to master digital strategy: 9 key questions answered
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As proud digital partners of Manchester Young Professionals, Embryo was delighted to contribute to this year’s Breakfast Club series — a key part of our ongoing partnership with MYP.
This year’s session was delivered by me, Sophie Coleman, Head of Strategy at Embryo, where I spoke at one of this month’s near sell-out events on the topic: “How to Build an Effective Digital Strategy That Delivers.” Given that digital strategy can cover everything from channel deployment and attribution to AI and measurement, I was keen to shape the session to be both accessible and insightful, relevant not only to marketers but to professionals from a wide range of industries across the MYP community.
Throughout the morning, we covered themes including the evolving role of AI, the importance of strategic clarity, and how to manage expectations when balancing short-term performance with long-term impact. The conversation was enhanced by fantastic questions from the room, which led to an honest view of the realities of delivering digital success today.
As always with MYP, the atmosphere was warm, friendly and energising, with brilliant opportunities to connect before, during, and after the session.
In case you weren’t at the event or maybe you were (if so, thanks for coming!), but would like a recap, here is what we discussed:
1. What are the first steps in building a digital strategy for a business?
The first step is understanding your business objectives. Ask yourself, “What do we want to achieve with this strategy?” Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, improving customer experience, or boosting leads/sales, you need clarity.
Then, assess your current digital presence and capabilities—your website, social media, email marketing, and analytics tools. From there, define your target audience and choose the right digital channels that will allow you to meet your goals.
This is the step in the process that a lot of clients we speak to are focused on, without considering the other steps. Many spend a lot of time trying to establish which marketing channels to use and how to use them, without allowing the business objectives to dictate this for them.
9 times out of 10, if you’re clear on your business objectives, the channels you need to use, and often a top-level view of how to use them, too, will be clear. So don’t skip the early steps – doing so will help you in the long run.
Lastly, set measurable KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to track progress and success.
2. How can businesses ensure their digital strategy aligns with overall business goals?
To align a digital strategy with business goals, start by understanding what the business aims to achieve in the long term.
For instance, if the goal is to increase customer retention, then the digital strategy could focus on improving user experience and engagement through personalised content or better customer service tools.
Collaboration between departments—marketing, sales, IT, etc.—is critical to ensure the digital initiatives complement and support broader business objectives.
It’s about understanding which parts of your digital shopfront relate to each business objective. And once you have that clear, tying in your marketing objectives will be simple.
3. What role does data play in building an effective digital strategy?
Data is essential in building a digital strategy that delivers. Especially within performance marketing that we specialise in, at Embryo.
It provides insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and pain points, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions.
Tools like Google Analytics, social media platform data, and customer feedback are key to gathering relevant data, which can then help you identify trends, monitor performance, and fine-tune your strategy over time, ensuring it’s always aligned with customer needs and market demands.
4. How do you measure the success of a digital strategy?
Success can be measured through the KPIs set at the beginning of the strategy, which we spoke about earlier. Common metrics include website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, email open rates, and subsequent conversion and sales figures. It’s also important to look at customer satisfaction and loyalty metrics, such as Net Promoter Scores (NPS), reviews or customer feedback, where possible.
Regularly reviewing and analysing these metrics allows you to adjust your strategy as needed.
5. How do you keep a digital strategy adaptable in such a fast-changing digital landscape?
The digital world evolves quickly, so adaptability is key. Not to suggest that every time your social post doesn’t go viral, you switch strategies, but you need to be able to read data well and know when the right time to adapt your approach is. Lean on your team for this.
Especially at the beginning of your journey into strategic marketing, it can be daunting to be the person to make the call that means you change your approach. Make your decisions together – you’ll feel better for it.
One way to stay flexible is to continuously monitor trends and consumer behaviour. Make use of agile methodologies like A/B testing, which allow for constant iteration and feedback loops.
Regularly update your tools, platforms, and tactics to ensure you’re staying ahead of the curve.
Another reason to involve your team in the process is to keep fresh ideas flowing, to ensure your strategy is evolving with new technologies and trends, as well as hitting the KPIs it needs to.
6. How can AI be integrated into a digital strategy to enhance customer experience?
AI can significantly enhance customer experience through personalisation, chatbots, and predictive analytics.
By analysing customer behaviour, AI can help businesses deliver tailored content, offers, and recommendations. AI-powered chatbots can provide instant support and assistance, improving response times and satisfaction.
Predictive analytics can anticipate customer needs or buying behaviours, enabling businesses to proactively engage with customers and provide the right solutions at the right time.
And that’s not to mention the many, many ways you can incorporate AI into your way of working, especially when it comes to deep research and market analysis ahead of your strategy conception. But if we were to touch on that, we’d need another breakfast morning. See the AI whitepaper we (Embryo) released recently, for more information (shameless plug, I know).
7. How can small businesses compete in a digital space that seems dominated by large companies with more resources?
Small businesses have unique advantages in the digital space, such as agility and the ability to connect with customers on a personal level. Focus on niches or underserved markets, and leverage social media platforms to create authentic, engaging content that resonates with your audience. Tala, as an example, were a one-man band with no brand affinity at one stage. But they did exactly this, and now look at them.
Emphasising personalised customer service and using cost-effective tools like automation and data analytics to maximise efficiency is all small businesses need to focus on. Partnerships are often key, too. We often recommend that clients of ours with small businesses partner with influencers or collaborate with other local businesses to increase their digital reach.
Social media is an essential part of any digital strategy. It provides an opportunity to engage directly with your audience, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your website or other digital channels.
To use it effectively, businesses should focus on creating consistent, valuable content that speaks to their target audience’s needs and interests.
Social listening tools can help you monitor what people are saying about your brand and competitors, while paid social ads can help you target specific demographics to drive conversions.
9. What are some common mistakes businesses make when developing a digital strategy, and how can they be avoided?
One common mistake is not setting clear, measurable goals or trying to do everything at once. It’s important to prioritise key goals and focus on executing them well.
In my experience, sometimes within agencies, we can overpromise and subsequently minimise our ability to do anything the client wants us to do, well, never mind do everything well. It’s a much better strategy to pick 1 of 5 objectives (for example) and hone in on that one with all resources available, then spread yourself too thin and achieve nothing.
Another mistake is neglecting customer experience. Ensure that the digital strategy is customer-centric by considering their needs, pain points, and preferences. Even as performance marketers, we can be prone to forgetting this, sometimes. We have a constant battle, for example, between the necessity for a sleek, clean website for user-experience purposes and enough content to rank for organic performance. When battling with which is the right thing to do, put yourself in the shoes of the customer (or in this case, site-user), and you’ll soon know what to do.
Lastly, not investing enough in the right tools and technology can hinder a strategy’s effectiveness, so choosing the right platforms is crucial. Avoid these pitfalls by maintaining a clear focus, involving the right stakeholders, and continuously evaluating your strategy.
Ready to master your digital strategy?
Digital strategy can be overwhelming, but the truth is, it’s about asking the right questions and getting actionable answers. In this blog, I’ve outlined the key questions I answered at the recent MYP Digital strategy event; I hope they are helpful. The landscape is evolving fast, and having a trusted partner can make all the difference. At Embryo, we help businesses build, refine, and execute smart digital strategies that drive real results. Ready to take your digital strategy to the next level? Contact us today.
