DIGITAL STRATEGIC PLANNING: POST 2

PART TWO: WHY YOU NEED A SPECIAL STRATEGIC PROCESS FOR DIGITAL MEDIA

Digital strategy should not be created in a vacuum. You want to dovetail your digital marketing closely with your overall objectives and strategies. But digital is such a different beast that it truly necessitates its own specific strategic efforts. Those should be a subset of your overall planning processes, but digital should also be managed as a separate project within that planning process.

We have seen companies try to develop a digital roadmap without this sort of comprehensive approach, and the consequence has ALWAYS been a need to stop midway through the “abbreviated” process and go back to perform the omitted steps.
A special process is necessary because:

1. Most marketers have some knowledge of the digital behaviors of their consumers, but do not know their consumers at a “mastery” level. Ensuring a complete planning process including a consumer insights phase places the focus of digital marketing on the consumer rather than on “what’s hot”.
2. Consumer digital behaviors change very rapidly. The adoption rates for specific vehicles and platforms are ever shorter. Many platforms are reaching 50% penetration in just 2 years. Some even faster. Thisrapid pace of change requires that we develop a comprehensive picture of digital consumer behavior AT LEAST annually, preferably QUARTERLY.
3. The “best practices” of broadcast media do NOT work in digital. Effective digital planning requires an entirely different kind of thinking, and building that foundation of thought requires the focus of a dedicated planning process.
4. There are over 40 digital platforms with household penetration of >1%, whether device- or contentbased, with solid consumer acceptance. It’s essential to consider ALL of the vehicles when evaluating alternatives and developing an optimized plan. We cannot merely consider those that are top of mind.

Further, a special process helps address the very real problem in most organizations of educating ALL decision makers on the digital environment and how it relates to their targets. Often, while the people in charge of digital are experts, those higher up in the “food chain” are novices, and a comprehensive planning process provides the insights and rigor necessary for selling in a comprehensive investment in the space.