When I first starting writing about digital strategy at the beginning of the ‘twenty-tens’ the field was interpreted in many ways and was lacking definition. To define, not just what digital strategy meant, but also how it might be approached I wrote: “Planning and Managing a Digital Strategy”, revisiting this topic it appears little has changed, it needs to.
Technology is a continual process which must not stand still otherwise it will become obsolete. Theory does not live in a such an ephemeral bubble, but that should not mean that it remains unaffected by the tides of time. Finessing, evolution or even revolution of theory are the goals that experts in any field should strive toward, for digital strategy this is doubly so.
Coming back to these topics again a decade later time has breathed life back into the question: what is digital strategy?
the basics
“digital [strategy] is about finding the best way of achieving goals… through electronic connected media…” – Me, 2010.
Or
“Digital Strategy is a plan that uses digital resources to achieve one or more objectives” – Wikipedia, 2020
As open-ended as my initial definition was, the Wikipedia entry is just as fuzzy. Attempts to define from multiple companies around the globe do not give any further structure. The prevalence of material on digital strategy certainly suggests it is still relevant, the woolly nature of the definition leaves it unclear as to what it means.
Even in its fuzzy state it is an improvement from not having a digital strategy. Too often digital marketing
strategy has been thrown out the window in favour of wild west approaches such as: let’s put up a microsite
or the later I need an app
; getting something done supersedes the reason for doing it in the first place.
Substitute in your platform of choice or even dress it up by suffixing with the word campaign;
it does not detract that to try and run without a clear plan and set of objectives is foolhardy.
In isolation the definition alone does not adequately differentiate between those cowboy fantasies of success
and a structured approach. It allows: bash together X because I want to achieve Y
which has no room for
measurement or thought; and it certainly does not discourage the post hoc fallacy of
Y happened, so it must be because of X
. Any good definition cannot stop at the procedure and must
embrace the qualitative.
expanding the definition
The difficulty in expanding the definition is the temptation to immediately narrow to a definition by example. With natural bias in a commercial setting this rapidly becomes a subversion, from what it is, to what is being sold. Suddenly the vehicle of digital strategy becomes tainted by all things to all people. Nowhere is this more commonplace than in the field of digital marketing strategy; the word marketing will be dropped, but marketing suddenly becomes all-encompassing when discussing digital strategy. Where this leaves the example of process redefinition and streamlining, a perfectly acceptable challenge for digital strategy, is ignored.
If not by example, then how? Before circling back to a formalised definition there are certainly two routes that, without introducing undue bias, can position digital strategy:
- digital by difference
- digital by disruption
Each complements the other, but each has its set role.
digital by difference
Take technology out of the various existing definitions of digital strategy and it leaves little more than the Oxford English definition for strategy:
“A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.”
Few respectable members of the field would argue that the digital strategy is as simple as:
just throw some technology at it!
Digital is different, and that difference must be appreciated:
- digital is easily measurable, therefore it must be measured
- digital is easily amendable, therefore it must evolve
- digital is easily extendable, therefore it must grow
As true as cogito, ergo sum
, for a digital strategy to be it must embrace digital and all relevant facets thereof.
digital by disruption
Digital disruption is the child of difference and possibility. Far from any impingement to the goals it offers the opportunity to re-evaluate how we get there by two simple questions:
- what is now different?
- what is now possible?
The questions are simple, being able to provide effective answers is not so simple. Disruption of the status quo for improvement is the raison d'être of a digital strategy, what can be achieved and how that benefit can be applied requires in-depth knowledge at the outset; not to be peripheral, and certainly not an after-thought.
definition
Trying to condense digital strategy into a simple catchphrase whilst retaining the nuances and qualitative checks is perhaps too tricky; digital strategy must:
- have objectives that are measurable and therefore provable
- be flexible to meet changing needs through growth and evolution
- use appropriate technology to achieve these objectives
or perhaps it is possible to give it a go:
“Digital Strategy is the science of attaining one or more objectives through the appropriate use of technology.”
definition isn’t done
Simply defining what is digital strategy does not clarify what makes a good one. The core will always be in achievement of goals, aims and ultimately ambition. To reach these requires, at a minimum, the same qualities as a good story:
- a beginning: the scene is set
- a destination: there is an aim
- a journey: the steps to get there
- a device: the tools to get the job done
- the cast: those people that will help the strategy along its way