“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.”
What is the difference between digital strategy consulting and management consulting?
Digital strategy consulting has a specific playing field, and the success metrics are from digital outcomes such as impact on brand online, digital marketing KPIs, online and indirect sales impact and the ability to reduce costs in the traditional marketing bucket while being impactful.
Management consulting touches all functions in almost all departments in an organisation: planning, staffing, organising, overarching business strategy and various change management plans across the organisation.
Both need subject matter experts with industry-specific knowledge to engage meaningfully with the stakeholders.
While management consulting is a broad approach towards achieving organisational excellence, digital strategy consulting is all about planning and execution to lead from the digital front.
How does an effective digital strategy impact a business's ROI?
We'll need coffee — a lot of it.
An effective digital strategy can be a long game to success.
It impacts businesses at different levels, starting with brand and goodwill, growing it digitally with the platforms available.
An excellent digital strategy marries thought process and execution. The strategy is according to industry benchmarks and localised understanding of the consumer or is tailored according to specific organisational objectives or both in various degrees.
Last, but not least, successful digital strategies and business profitability have a direct correlation, so if one is looking to build an organisation that continues to be relevant even a decade from now, a holistic digital strategy is imperative.
One that you can keep sharpening as with change. Just like a fresh pot of coffee.
So, what's the difference between digital strategy and tactics?
Think of a road trip.
One would plan. Distance, route, stops, resources with some contingencies and unplanned stops too. Digital journeys are akin to road trips. The planning part is developing the ‘strategy' while the logistics are ‘tactics'.
A detailed plan of action is formulated to meet specific objectives = strategy
Actions requires to fulfil objectives= tactics
Often tactics take over discussions and teams tend to get caught up with the actions which may or may not align with the overall plan. It's important to remember and regularly realign to execution tactics based on the strategic foundation established.
A few wrong turns, and we're re-navigating at the expense of fuel while delaying arrival time. Stick to the map.
We already have an in-house marketing team. What difference would an external consultant/strategist make?
Have you read The Godfather?
As external consultants, we act as your consigliere, i.e. the point of liaison between the internal marketing team, business leaders and agencies. We ensure that the organisation's digital strategy cascades to every person, be it a CMO or account executive, optimising budgets and building accountability all the while.
We bring fresh perspectives and innovation to the table, and with us, the headache of managing execution hurdles goes away. All this, while saving and optimising budgets and upskilling teams.
We're your Tom Hagen.
(Avoiding the Frank Underwood/Kevin Spacey reference because of the allegations)
What is a 360-degree integrated marketing strategy?
A 360-degree strategy is like a marketing unicorn, aimed at integrating brand communication across different marketing channels.
It's a fascinating theory, commonly found on the first slide of a CMO's power-point at the beginning of the financial year. However, soon after, it's lost amongst all the tactical implementations that follow — apologies for the realism.
It is a roadmap that all brands need, especially when chalking out omni channel campaigns. Approximately 95% of marketers understand the importance of multi-channel marketing in the age of the digital consumer, but less than 15% work on integrated campaigns.