THE DIGITAL MEDIA STRATEGIST

In our modern commercial worlds, digital balance is key.

By Eric Doyle

When we look to develop digital commercial solutions for our clients, we look to create ‘Digital Balance’.

Let's look at how 2 companies of a similar size, in the same sector might approach their digital commercial presence and activity.

Company 1:

YEARS

5 Years Ago - $80.09

The price 5 years ago was also on the rise, hitting $80 for the first time since 2014, as geopolitical fears caused concerns to rise over potential disruption to supplies. Donald Trump’s decision to exit a nuclear deal with Iran, cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, political and economical crises in Venezuela, and the global economy were all factors in the rising prices.

YEARS AGO 10

10 Years ago - $103.83

Following the banking crisis, there were worries that the oil price would be the next major threat, with worries that prices would rise to a level in which weakened regions could be priced out. Arguments were made that OPEC would drive the supply, leaving the euro zone facing an energy supply problem.

This company has a website. They designed it many years ago, its shows what they do and not much more. It has a cluttered layout, an invisible navigation menu, it’s not visually stimulating, the design is non-responsive, and it has inconsistent typefaces. The main issue with their website design is the lack of user-centricity.

They have a LinkedIn company page with a few followers. It says what they do in the way their website does. Marketing occasionally post some brochure style content and ask the team to share it.

They believe they are digital but, in terms of ‘digital balance’, it's flat and barely functioning.

When asked ‘how this contributes to their bottom line’ they don’t know. When asked ‘why they do this’, the answer is ‘it's good for visibility’…but they can't measure what visibility means for them.

Company 2:

This company has taken their digital balance seriously.

They started with a digital strategy and mapped out all of their activity, campaigns and programmes in line with what needs to be delivered against their plan.

They developed a tone of voice that speaks directly to the heart of their clients’ issues – they put this to work across channels.

They developed a website that works for them and hits all the right notes in 2023. It is clear on their purpose, it has excellent navigation and flow, it has high quality imagery (pictures, graphics and video), it has fast page speeds (working for visitors and for search), it is optimised for mobile devices (they know that 91% of internet users use Smartphones to access the internet). They have focussed on the user experience, and their tone of voice is designed to show their personality and starts the ‘trust’ ball rolling.

This company understands the concept of influence in their sectors.

They have trained their team in Digital Influence to position them as the leading technical and commercial Digital Influencers in their sector. They have dynamic and active profiles across multiple social media channels and regularly post content that helps them position themselves as thought leaders in their sector.

They understand that their content is key and its all in context, harmonising with their website messaging.

They run programmed digital advertising campaigns focussed on specific sectors and geography – they know this helps the reach of their messaging and allows them to promote their value and new products and services – all working in harmony with their team’s Digital Influence work and their website.

People are now seeing them as the digital centre of their sector.

Most important of all…they measure everything, and they understand how to move all of this to commercial interaction.

They work a 70, 20, 10 model: 70% of what they do on digital channels is proven and they know it delivers, 20% is development of ‘the known’ and 10% is experimentation. They realise that keeping ahead of this is important.

They have a solid digital foundation that allows them to absorb and experiment with the latest digital advances like AI and VR. They understand that understanding how these developments can help them is important and could be a differentiator in their sectors.

Whenever anyone new comes into their digital world whether via their website or their social media channels…everything works, it fits together and makes sense.

Everything they do on digital channels is working in harmony, in balance to contribute to their revenue, profit and ebitda and, it keeps them at the leading edge in their sector.

This balance of humans interfacing with technology is the key to modern commercial growth, regardless of sector.

As our B2B commercial lives move further to digital, it’s important we get the balance right. If we don’t get the mindset and basics right now, we can’t expect to flourish in our digital commercial sectors.

Take some time today to look at how your organisation is presenting on digital channels –is it all in balance or a lop sided?

As an organisation, are you walking into the digital twin of your sector ready and optimised..?

More to the point…are you there at all?