Nerdspeak Explained: Part 1- Digital Strategy

By: Lisa Slagle

This is the first email in a series called NerdSpeak Explained.  It's a free email series for small business owners who want to learn more about design, branding, and making their website rock. 

(If you'd like to sign up for this free email series, enter your email at the bottom of this post. Once a week, you will receive an email with tips and tools for building a stronger brand for your business.)

Ready to geek out with me for a few minutes? Here we go:

Digital Strategy: Is that even a real thing?

Yes, friends, it's as real as the internet. Whatever that means.

Seriously though, digital strategy is a term we use frequently around here, and when you work with us, you'll start using it, too.

I define graphic design as "art that people use."  
It's art that can tell a story, sell a product, share an idea, or even help someone navigate a trail system without getting lost. Graphic design has the power of being useful. Otherwise it's fine art, which looks great on your office wall, but doesn't really help you grow your company.

To take it one step further, Digital Strategy is design with a plan.  

It's a plan to accomplish something with digital tools (like social media, search engine optimization, and eCommerce). Basically, digital strategy makes design so useful that it does work for you, even while you are sleeping or eating dinner with your family.

This is what we are good at over here. It took a lot of hard work, research, and practice, but at Wheelie Creative, we help you figure out how to use design to move your business forward. Through collaboration with you, we list your goals for right now and for the future. We figure out who you really, really want to work with as your dream customer. And best of all, we figure out how to reach those dream customers. We make a schedule, hit deadlines, and see what works. Adapt and evolve as necessary. Along the way, we teach you the following things, but here they are, simplified and for free:

1. Everything you post on your company's website and social media should work toward your goals. Everything. (Not just random pictures of kittens.) Before you post something, ask yourself, "What is the point of this, and how will it help me reach my short-term goal?" Long term?" If you can justify it, post away. Post your heart out. 

2. Think about your current customers' needs. Are you meeting them? Can you use digital tools to meet their needs in a better/more efficient/more authentic way?

3. Are you working with your dream customers? Are you currently reaching them, or do they not know about your company? Where can you find your dream customers? 

4. Do the words on your website appeal to your dream customers? Do they sound too technical and boring? Do they genuinely sound like something you and your employees would say? How can you explain your services and products in a way that your ideal customers will understand? 

Those are the basic elements of digital strategy-- defining goals and using technology to constantly move toward those goals. 

That wasn't too painfully nerdy, right?

If you'd like to sit down and talk to us about building and improving your company's digital strategy, we would love to geek out with you about it. Just fill out the form below:

THE NEXT NERDSPEAK TOPIC:
Brand Management 
(ie, one of Lisa's favorite things)