Digital moves fast, but guess what? You can keep up. The secret is having a strategy that doesn’t just work for now – it grows with you. Whether it’s changing trends, new tech, or market shifts, a smart strategy keeps you prepared. Let’s explore how to build one that strengthens your business and simplifies your approach.

The benefits of a scalable digital strategy

• Stay relevant as the digital landscape evolves. The world changes fast. A scalable strategy keeps you relevant, no matter what.
• Boost customer engagement. When you’re agile, it makes it easier to adjust your approach to better meet the changing needs and behaviours of your customers.
• Ensure consistent growth. A scalable approach allows for better resource allocation, and improved ROI.

6 steps to build your strategy

Here’s our cheat sheet to building a strategy that’s smart, simple, and scalable.

Step 1: Define where you want to go

Where is your business heading in 6 months? In a year? Think of this step as setting your GPS. Use the SMART framework (an oldie but a goodie) to help keep your strategy and ROI on track.

SMART	Question to ask:	Prompts:
Specific	What do you want to achieve?	e.g. Increase leads, boost sales, or improve organic impressions.
Measurable	How will you track progress?	Do you have the steps in place to measure your goals?
Achievable	Are your goals realistic?	Consider your resources, budget and current environment.
Relevant	Do your goals align with your overall business strategy?	e.g. focusing on increasing customer sentiment.
Time-bound	What is your timeline for achieving these goals?	Do you have timelines for these activities?

Step 2: Understand your audience

Knowing who you’re speaking to is the cornerstone of an effective strategy. To create targeted content that resonates, gather data on:

• Demographics: Age, gender, income, location, job title
• Psychographics: Values, interests, motivations, pain points
• Behavioural data: Previous purchases, browsing habits, content interactions

From this data you can create detailed personas to help craft messaging tailored to your customers’ needs. Just be mindful of their data – handle it with care, anonymise it after collection, and always prioritise privacy.

Step 3: Identify the right digital channels

It’s better to excel on a few key platforms than to spread your efforts too thin. Start by understanding where your audience hangs out, where your competitors are, and what resources you have to work with. When choosing digital channels, think about how to maximise their potential:

• Website: Ensure your website is SEO-optimised, user-friendly, and is up-to-date.
• Social media: Align your content frequency with each platform’s needs, you can optimise content performance.
• Ads and remarketing: Convert warm leads by strategically using ads and remarketing across multiple platforms.

Step 4: Develop an attainable content strategy

At the core of any digital marketing strategy is content. Quality content builds trust, engages customers, and shows your expertise. When planning, think about your goals and resources. Here’s how to begin:

• Plan out content types: Choose formats that resonate with your audience (blogs, videos, infographics, etc.) and match them to the right channels (social media, email, website, etc.).
• Consider user-generated content: Can you tap into your audience to fuel your content? Let your customers share their experiences, reviews, and creative takes to build authentic content that resonates with others.
• Create a content calendar: Plan your content to ensure consistency. A well-organised calendar helps you stay ahead of posting schedules.

Step 5: Leverage the right tools

Creating your strategy, especially from scratch, can be overwhelming. But you aren’t on your own! There’s a range of tools you can bring on deck, such as:

• Analytics tools: Google Analytics or HubSpot can help track website traffic, engagement metrics, and conversion rates in real time (great for setting SMART goals).
• Social media insights: Platforms have extensive audience behaviour and demographic data you can access and use.
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): SEO is your long game. Nail it, and Google becomes your best helper. Make sure your content not only speaks to your audience’s needs but also ranks well on search engines.

Step 6: Regular evaluation and adaptation

Seeking long-term digital success? It all starts with diving into your data.

Forbes says companies who use their data right are 23 times more likely to beat competitors in customer acquisition. So, take the time to review your data regularly by:

• Tracking KPIs: Keep an eye on the key metrics that matter most to your business – like website traffic, lead generation, and social media engagement.
• Analysing campaign performance: To see which campaigns are rocking it and which ones might need a tweak.

A successful strategy also means taking an agile approach, by:

• Seeking feedback: Ask your audience for their thoughts on your content and services – surveys, DMs, or even a casual chat.
• Staying updated: Be quick to adjust to meaningful market trends, new tech, and shifts in consumer behaviour. Being adaptable keeps you ahead of the game.

The Higher Ranking advantage

Whether you’re building your digital strategy from the ground up or optimising an existing one, we’ve got the expertise to help you level up.

The future of your business is digital – let’s create a strategy that thrives. Book a call today.