5 Digital Strategy Tips: Putting your business objectives first.

Before building a digital blueprint, new applications, or new websites and digital tools for growing your business-to-business impact, first consider the following.

1. Understand the ways different technologies are used by your customers. And understand your target audience and your buyer profile and processes. Can YouTube, Vimeo, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram and the like better help your buyers make the decisions you want them to make? First understand and come to know how those buyers use technologies — and how they make purchase decisions in the first place.

2. What objectives are you trying to achieve? Increased brand awareness? Better understanding of distinct features or benefits? New product trials? Regular use or expanded use? Loyalty? First clearly define your business needs and objectives before spending budgets on programming and development.

3. Know your market, your product position, and your offer as compared to others in the space. Who are your customers, what do you sell and what do they buy, how do your products and services address what needs those customers have, against what other offers, and how are you different? In short, what’s in it for your target audience?

4. Define your strategic and tactical framework. Have you developed business nomenclature, a brand voice, a communication and messaging frame, relevant information for sales staffs, improvements to your distribution channels, useful new vehicles for pitching your stories, and new media touch-points that can extend your reach into new markets?

5. Assume nothing. Never expect your idea, product, service or brand will sell itself. Even the most ingenious solutions and most developed brands, massively or smartly distributed around the globe, must be pro-actively and creatively sold.

• You have to gain the attention and awareness of the customer
• You have to establish the interest of the customer
• You must convince customers that they desire the product / service and that it will satisfy their needs
• You need to lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.