Creating a digital strategy

Overview

Following the launch of new web assets, a key clients digital strategy went into a review period whilst the impact of a variety of initiatives were assessed.

Braid was tasked with assessing this impact, identify opportunities and develop a customer journey plan. The review brought out a wide range of issues, not least how to put results in context to overall activity and a structure to identify new opportunities.

The digital audit which followed built a picture of the customer journey, and highlighted gaps and opportunities.  The process culminated in a model developed by Braid and referred to as Tapestry

The start

New marketing assets had been deployed including a website, call handling functionality, email marketing platform, advertising assets and a large user generated content campaign.

A comprehensive analysis of all digital traffic was undertaken. Benchmarks were established, as well as research of competitor data, general market data and best practice. Goal association, and the integrated relationship between influencing and final click attribution determined.

Web performance was also benchmarked to develop a response to the different stages that visitors had reached in their home buying journey. Improvements were based on engagement signals, interpretation of the appropriateness of content and device performance.

Communication performance needed reporting structures to relate third party platform data against the reality of final engagement. A campaign generating thousands of impressions, opens, dwells, form fills may be deemed a success by the agency, but if the resulting database consists of people who just wondered if it looks nice then the funds have not been spent appropriately!

Project approach

Braid’s approach was simple in one sense:

  1. Establish reporting structures
  2. Develop user knowledge
  3. Test, measure, assess current routes
  4. Identify gaps in the customer stream; from researchers to buyers
  5. Timeline development of assets and campaigns to maximise market intention

The planning of the process led to a linear format, with a cell of activity for a variety of topical areas. Such an approach also ensured there was no initial hierarchy; all aspects of the journey had an initial weight.

Project approach

Following the initial research, we developed a process to identify all touch points used, or potentially available, at each stage of the customer journey.

  • 1

    Stranger

  • 2

    Researcher

  • 3

    Consideration

  • 4

    Transaction

  • 5

    Advocate

At each stage in the journey we mapped all communication options. This included content mapping, contact options and recruitment drivers. Each step included a weighting, based on opportunity and worth.

Once the Tapestry skeleton was ready, all activity was mapped into the structure. The contribution and costs were overlaid. This highlighted gaps, as well as the relative influence of certain channels over others. Analysis also looked at the ROAS result based against lead, as well as deposit stages and final purchase.

The analysis identified a number of new learnings and led to adjustments in the focus of spend, as well as the development of new avenues of lead generation, and contact development.

A key element was the formation of a contact plan to nurture enquirers, ensuring the sales managers had more information, and focus on managing visitors and enquirers.

Tapestry extended

The Tapestry process has been used with a number of Braid clients to build a detailed picture of gaps in digital strategy, and the relative benefit of all elements of the strategy. The process has brought new learnings, better planning and strategic changes to those businesses.

The Tapestry process can be refreshed, and should be treated as a dynamic planning tool, evolving and raising opportunities each time the data is revisited.