Decoding Digital Week 1: Developing a digital strategy

Decoding Digital

Week One: Developing a digital strategy

1www.symphony3.com

Introduction

Ryan Smith

Digital Consultant

Symphony3

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Fergal Coleman

Director

Symphony3

Andrea Halliday

Stakeholder & Marketing Coordinator

Business Victoria Online

About Decoding Digital

• The Decoding Digital program has been designed to help participants develop, implement and measure a digital strategy for their business.

• The aim is to provide you with the skills and tools so that you can start developing the digital capacity of your business. The program will run over four weeks which you’ll see shortly.

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How to engage with us by webinar

We want you to get the most out of the program by asking questions, giving your feedback, telling us your stories and participating in opinion polls.

• Chat box

– How to communicate with the chat box

• Polls

– How to participate with polls

• Twitter

– We will be answering questions during the session on Twitter. Contact us directly at

@Symphony3Think and/or use the hashtag #DigitalVic

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Get involved

• We are running a LinkedIn Group for the Decoding Digital program which is your changes to stay in touch, receive updates throughout the week, share your experiences and connect with other participants.

Join here:

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Decoding-Digital-Business-Victoria-6923565

• Do your homework! – this is important in week one especially

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https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Decoding-Digital-Business-Victoria-6923565

About Decoding Digital

Week 1: Developing a digital strategy (Tuesday 3rd Feb)

Hangout: LinkedIn (Thursday 5th)

Week 2: Design & implementation (Tuesday 10th Feb)

Hangout: Facebook (Thursday 12th Feb)

Week 3: Launching and marketing the business (Tuesday 17th Feb)

Hangout: Twitter (Thursday 19th Feb)

Week 4: Evaluation and continuous improvement (Tuesday 24th Feb)

Hangout: Google Analytics (Thursday 26th Feb)

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The Result

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• A digital strategy that can grow the business

• A digital business platform (website)

• A digital marketing plan

• Social media channels

• Content marketing

• Continuous improvement plan (by measuring what’s working)

Today’s Session: Developing a digital strategy

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Week one is about thinking about your business, the overall strategy and how to bring that online.

1. Digital Leadership

2. Our case study: Oz Crafters

3. Digital Diagnostic (finding the gaps)

4. Business Model Canvas

5. SWOT Analysis

6. Customer personas

7. Customer journey

8. Creating a plan

What is a digital leader?

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Digital Leadership

Beginner: You know you need to do something, but you’re not sure where to start

Technology Led: You’re using digital tools for your business but you’re not sure how they contribute to your overall strategy

Change Ready: You have a clear vision of where your business is going but need assistance with the digital technologies to get you there

Digital Leader: You’re successfully using digital technologies as part of a well-documented strategy and generating profits 25% greater than your competitors

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The Digital Diagnostic – Your Results


Understanding of future customer needs 5.72

Understanding of what the business needs to look like in the future (Vision and strategy)

5.68

Business model and process 5.86

Our People 5.56

IT Infrastructure 5.52

Data 5.17

Business Case Study: Oz Crafters

• Oz Crafters are boutique woodworkers based in

Ballarat, founded in 1981

• The business was started by Frank Jones, who left his

job as an accountant to pursue his love for woodwork

• Starting out alone, Frank handmade wood crafts from

children’s toys through to custom-built furniture from

locally and ethically sourced timber

• Oz Crafters sell a range of pre-made toys, home

products and furniture from their shopfront in Ballarat,

and the workshop is open for viewing to the public on

Saturdays to see the team at work

• There are 7 retail partners who sell Oz Crafters’

products in other metropolitan hubs in Victoria,

however the company has not branched out interstate.

2 retail partners have recently gone out of business.

• Frank has 3 employed woodworkers and 3 shop

assistants. His wife, Angela also helps with the

management of the store and business admin


The Future Vision

• Frank & Angela’s son, James (29 years old), has been living and working in Europe for the past 5 years and is returning home to re-join the family business

• At 61, Frank is beginning to think about retirement and would love to see his son carry on the business into the future

• James sees huge potential in using digital to grow the customer base of Oz Crafters, and wants to set a target to grow revenues by 30% in 2 years and 50% in 3 years. Current turnover is $1m.

• By utilising digital, James believes Oz Crafters will be able to sell more products within Victoria, but also build a strong customer base in other states both with partners (B2B) and directly to consumers (B2C).

• While mass furniture and homeware producers like IKEA continue to grow their market share, James believes there is still a great opportunity to provide a niche product that is high quality, hand made and ethically sourced and that customers will be willing to pay a premium for those characteristics.

OzCrafters are currently CHANGE READYwww.symphony3.com 13

The Business Model Canvas

http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/


OzCrafters Business Model Canvas

• Key Activities

– Crafting

beautiful

products

– Marketing online

(close store

eventually)

• Key Resources

– Workshop

– Expertise of

craftsmen


• Key Partners

– Find a digital

partner

– Interior

designers

• Value Proposition

– Crafting

beautiful

personalised

products

– Ethically

sourced

materials

– Australian-made

– Last forever

• Customer Relationships

– Face to face

– Online support

– Social media

• Channels

– Online website

– Social media

– WOM

– Partners/ Interior

designers

• Customer Segments

- High Net worth individuals

- Corporates

• Cost Structure

– Reduce size of store or eliminate

– Reinvest savings in online

– Staff – high quality craftsmen

• Revenue streams

– Direct orders online

– Interior designers

– Once off high value corporate jobs

– Courses/workshops

More on business model canvas

• http://www.slideshare.net/esaife/business-model-canvas-101

• http://www.slideshare.net/oukearts/10-disruptive-business-models-thaesis-and-trendwatching

• http://www.slideshare.net/oukearts/10-new-business-models-for-this-decade


http://www.slideshare.net/oukearts/10-disruptive-business-models-thaesis-and-trendwatching

http://www.slideshare.net/oukearts/10-disruptive-business-models-thaesis-and-trendwatching

http://www.slideshare.net/oukearts/10-new-business-models-for-this-decade

Changing Business Models





www.shoesofprey.com


Nomi.com.au


The list goes onPeer to peer payments: societyone.com.auOnline Education: Coursera.org or even this webinar!Crowdfunding – Pozible.com.au

Market Research

• A key step in the development of your digital strategy is doing background research on your market, competitors, partners, and what is happening overseas.

• By comparing your offering to other members of the industry, you should aim to establish your Strategic Competitive Advantage (SCA) – what is it that separates you from your competition?

• Some suggested tools you may use to structure your research include:

– Porter’s Five Forces Model http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm

– Unique Selling Proposition (USP) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_11.htm


http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_11.htm

SWOT Analysis


STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

Australian/locally made Limited production capacity

Loyal customers in local area Customer base predominantly local (very little revenue growth)

Reliable material suppliers Limited marketing budget and reach

Relationship with metro retailers in Melbourne & Bendigo

No established long-term growth or marketing plan

Individual, custom, one-off products that cannot be replicated

No online presence or social media activity

OPPORTUNITIES

Ability to sell directly to customers outside Ballarat online (e-commerce)

Connect with existing customers online

Use online data to forecast demand/production

Take business processes and customer service online

Reach new customers outside Ballarat using digital

Undertake digital training and education (Decoding Digital)

Expand retail partner base using online and allow online retail orders

Save resources by moving processes online (e.g. retail orders)

Outsource digital tasks where required (website developer)

Recruit skilled employees using digital as the business grows

Correspond with customers about custom orders online

Get input and inclusion from all staff in digital strategy

Include customers in product design and production

Allow semi-custom products to be designed on website

THREATS

Competition from online retailers and mass producers

Focus on local made & high quality selling proposition in online marketing

Focus on direct marketing to loyal customers

Ability to increase output with business growth

Consider just-in-time inventory/production

Utilise social for low-budget marketing

Backlash from cutting out retailers

Offer online discounts to retail partners

Develop internal policies for digital management

Less control over online reputation and feedback

Monitor and address online reviews and feedback

Maintain focus on quality of production

Imitation products

Step 1:

• Develop four strengths (what’s great about you or what

you do well),

• Develop four weaknesses (areas of deficiency or in need

of improvement)

• Identify four opportunities (where and what are they?),

and

• Identify four threats (what could potentially get in your way

of success?)

Step 2:

• How can I use these strengths to maximise these

opportunities?

• How do I use these strengths to overcome these threats?

• What do I do to make sure that these weaknesses don’t

spoil these opportunities?

• What if these weaknesses combine with these threats,

what corrective action will I need to take?

Creating Customer Personas

• Creating ‘customer personas’ allows you to distinctly envision who it is you’re trying to market to and sell to

• Most businesses will have multiple personas based on different customer segments/selling propositions

• It often helps to base your customer persona on a real life customer

• Be detailed and be explicit – give them a name, age, income, location and even imagine and draw what they look like

• This will become the basis of who you design your online strategy for

• Consider what makes them tick, what motivates them and how they use online tools to find products/services like yours (or your competitors)


Get into the character!


Customer Personas


Google Customer Journey

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/customer-journey-to-online-purchase.html#!/australia/business-and-industrial/small/generic-paid-search


https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/collections/zero-moment-truth.html

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/customer-journey-to-online-purchase.html#!/australia/business-and-industrial/small/generic-paid-search

The Customer Journey


Developing a One Page Plan (OPP)


One Page Plan:Oz Crafters

adapted from Mindshop

Australia template

Now

No online presence

Predominantly local customer base

Offline business process procedures

Little marketing activities or business growth

Strategy Action Items Timing Estimated Duration Who

Use online freelancer to develop branding and colour

schemes Feb 1 week James & Frank

Research most appropriate CMS for Oz Crafters Feb 1 week James

Prepare a brief on functional requirements of website Feb 1 day James

Interview developers to undertake build of website Feb 1 month James & Frank

Undertake keyword research for OzCraftersMarch 1 Day

James

Review competitors' SEO strategies for guidanceMarch Half day

James

Develop ongoing content strategy and planMarch Ongoing

James

Conduct audit of site structure and meta dataMarch 2 Days

James

Research possible tools for accounting and customer

management April 2 Days James

Understand which tools customers wish to use for

customer service April 1 Day James

Receive training for Frank and Angela April 1 Day Frank and Angela

Move internal documents and processes to cloud April 1 Day James

Create internal process documents for employees April 1 Day James

Create social media accounts for relevant platforms (based

on customer personas and journeys) March 2 Days James

Share relevant content on social media networks March Ongoing James

Create small advertising budget for social media March Ongoing James

Respond to customer requests on social media March Ongoing James

Develop a fully functional e-commerce website

and online brand for Oz Crafters

Build search engine presence through SEO

activities

Take manual processes online to save time

and effort

Promote brand awareness with digital

marketing techniques

Where

How

From Feb 2015 to July 2015 Take business admin and accounting online via cloud

Fully functional website with built-in eCommerce for customers and

retailers

50% growth in interstate sales via online store

Grow brand awareness through SEO and social media marketing

Summary

• Setting the right foundations for a digital strategy is vital

• Don’t develop a website or engage in social media until you are clear on your digital strategy

• Assess your digital readiness with the digital diagnostic

• Work through your Business Model Canvas and SWOT Analysis

• Map out your customer personas

• Map out your customer journey

• Take the most important items from your journey and put them into a One Page Plan

• Send us your one page plan

• Next week…. Design, development and technology

Hangout this Thursday at 12.30pm – Hands on with LinkedIn!


Have your say

Discuss topics and stay up to date in the LinkedIn Group.

Tweet your questions with the hashtag: #DigitalVic

Tweet us at @Symphony3Think

Contact us at: https://www.facebook.com/Symphony3

Email us at: [email protected]


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