Digital strategy isn’t easy. There’s a lot to consider—strategy, strategic planning, policy, processes, practices, mission, vision, values, and everything in between. It’s not just about having a plan; it’s about making sure every part of your organisation is aligned and working towards the same goals.
When you start thinking about your digital strategy, it can feel like you’re trying to solve a complex puzzle with many moving pieces. Each piece—whether it’s your long-term vision, the day-to-day processes, or the values that guide your organisation—needs to fit together seamlessly. That’s a big task .
We want to make that more manageable but first, understanding the status quo, then picking an easy to understand destination, simplifying the process of making your digital strategy in to something that’s not just easy to understand, but also effective and actionable. So, let’s start by taking a closer look at how we talk about strategy at Yopla.
What is Digital Strategy?
A digital strategy is a plan that outlines how your organisation will use digital technologies to achieve its organisations goals. While a business strategy sets the overall direction of your company—covering areas like market positioning, product offerings, and financial objectives—a digital strategy focuses specifically on how technology will support and drive success.
In a digitally mature organisation, the digital strategy is not a stand alone plan; it’s tightly integrated with the business strategy. They work together in a cycle, each influencing and reinforcing the other. This interdependence is crucial because, in today’s world, digital transformation isn’t just an option—it’s a key driver of success.
One of the biggest challenges in developing a digital strategy is keeping it simple. It’s easy for things to get complicated, especially when you’re dealing with advanced technologies, competing interests and multiple stakeholders. However, a successful strategy should be straightforward and easy to communicate. It's got to be something everyone understands and can use to frame their day to day decision making.
Even though your technology might be complex, the principles guiding your choices should be simple and clear. A good digital strategy is one that everyone in your organisation can understand and rally behind. If your strategy is clear, it’s easier to ensure that all parts of your business are aligned and moving in the right direction.
At Yopla our digital strategy is THE strategy and it's interwoven with our mission, vision and values. You'll find some of that here at Who we are
Remember, simplicity doesn’t mean leaving out important details. It means focusing on what really matters and cutting through the noise. By keeping your strategy simple, you make it more actionable and easier to implement.
Challenge Yourself on Cyber Strategy Now
Use our online quiz, it takes about 15minutes, to challenge yourself on your digital ambitions and strategy. If you'd like to talk to someone in our amazing team, click here.
Finding the right digital strategy for your organisation takes some thought and a willingness to challenge the way things are, have been and what feels comfortable and familiar. Here are our top challenges, along with why each one is so important, just click to expand.
Have you identified the digital gaps in your strategy?
Digital gaps are the inevitable shortfalls when trying to make any piece of software do 100% of what you intend. No software can perfectly align with every aspect of your goals, and across an ecosystem of tools, there will be inconsistencies and limitations, especially in integrations. Understanding these gaps is essential for managing expectations and finding workarounds or supplementary tools that can help bridge these divides. By identifying these gaps early, you can ensure your strategy remains realistic and achievable.
Who’s responsible for the current state of your digital strategy, and are they accountable for its failures?
Accountability is key to making progress. If your current strategy isn’t delivering, it’s time to evaluate leadership and make the necessary adjustments to drive success.
Who loses their current responsibilities or roles if you succeed?
Digital transformation success requires change, and it’s important to plan for shifts in roles and responsibilities that will occur as a result of your digital strategy. This helps manage change effectively and ensures a smooth transition. But it's also important to acknowledge that it's likely that the more roles that are impacted, the more successful the transformation.
Who is your end user, and have you considered their needs as much as your clients’?
In digitally mature businesses, internal users such as employees are just as important as clients. However, their needs are often overlooked in favour of external clients. It’s crucial to understand that both groups should be treated with equal importance when designing your digital strategy. By considering the needs of internal users alongside those of your clients, you ensure that your strategy is comprehensive and effective.
Have you spent time shadowing your users to understand their roles, beyond just knowing the theory?
Intellectually understanding the theory behind a role is one thing, but shadowing someone in their role offers insights that theory alone cannot provide. This on-the-ground experience is invaluable, as users often rely on intrinsic knowledge and experience, and on shadow IT—informal and unauthorised tools—to complete their tasks. These tools are frequently missed in digital strategy design and technology implementation. By shadowing your users, you can uncover these hidden practices and better align your strategy with their real-world needs.
Do your users contribute to your tech strategy, and how is their feedback integrated?
User involvement in tech strategy is crucial for creating solutions that truly meet their needs. It’s important to ensure that both internal and external users have the opportunity to contribute feedback, whether through user groups, surveys, or other mechanisms. Integrating their input into the decision-making process leads to more user-centric and successful digital experiences, ensuring your strategy is both relevant and effective.
Why is onboarding for new employees different from bringing on a new client, and what opportunities are missed?
Onboarding for new employees is often treated differently from onboarding new clients, but this distinction is a missed opportunity. Aligning these processes offers significant benefits, from enhancing the experience for new hires to improving the global user experience. Consider why these processes diverge and how a more unified approach could improve outcomes for everyone involved, including employees, experience designers, IT teams, strategists, and clients.
Are you aware of shadow IT and digital sprawl in your organisation?
Shadow IT (unapproved technology usage) and digital sprawl (unchecked expansion of digital tools) are common in growing organisations. While they often pose security risks and create inefficiencies, they can also highlight where users are finding better ways to work—opportunities to learn and potentially improve your official systems. By being aware of and addressing these areas, you can reduce risks while harnessing valuable insights to enhance your digital strategy.
What does a digitally mature business look like, and what does that mean for yours?
Digital maturity isn’t just about having the latest technology; it’s about aligning people with people then, policies, processes, and practices with that technology to create a seamless, efficient system known as collective intelligence. This alignment drives consistent behaviours across your organisation, ensuring everyone is working toward the same goals and enriching your sources of truth. A digitally mature business uses technology in a way that fits its specific needs, whether that’s siloed within a regulatory environment, or creating custom software for disruptors. Knowing what digital maturity looks like helps you plan your strategy effectively and avoid distractions, ensuring your digital journey is purposeful and aligned with your business goals.
How big is, or will be, the gap between your software’s capabilities and your team’s ability to use it?
Understanding this gap is crucial because it tells you whether your technology is truly serving your team or if there’s a disconnect. Quantifying this gap helps you focus on where to invest in training, support, or even new tools.
Who is benefiting from your current and future technology?
If your technology isn’t delivering value to your customers, employees, and your bottom line, it’s time to reassess. A strong digital strategy ensures that your technology benefits all key stakeholders.
What experience are you trying to create for your clients and team?
Your digital strategy should be centred around your customers and team. If your technology is complicating their experience rather than enhancing it, you need to rethink your approach. In digital, think less is more.
Are things simple by default, or are they complicated and complex?
Complexity can slow down progress and create unnecessary barriers. Your strategy should aim to simplify processes, making it easier for your team to execute and for customers to engage. Complicated tech eco systems evolve over time, but they are rarely what was intended. It's worth considering where complication and preservation of the status quo intersect and the reasons for it.
Who does customer experience really well that you admire? Think outside your industry.
Benchmarking against the best in class can inspire your digital strategy and highlight areas where you can improve. Learning from others helps you set high standards for your own customer experience. It's key to look at experiences outside your industry, you will rarely find the digital experience you're looking for in competitors within the same or even similar industries.
Assuming you made use of every digital opportunity, what would that look like?
Visualising the full potential of your digital strategy helps you set ambitious goals and identify the steps needed to achieve them. It’s about dreaming big while planning realistically.
What’s the worst-case scenario if you don’t modernise your digital strategy?
Understanding the risks of inaction can be a powerful motivator for change. Recognising that failing to evolve can lead to lost market share, dissatisfied customers, and declining revenue is crucial.
Why haven’t you sought external help to fix these issues?
Sometimes, an external perspective is what’s needed to unlock new possibilities and solutions. Don’t hesitate to bring in experts who can help you navigate your digital transformation. Outsiders don't know why you made decisions, that's powerful when you're challenging the status quo.
Time To Reflect
All of these tips boil down to one key idea: self-reflection. Understanding the role you play in the current state of your organisation’s digital status quo is critical, failures and all. By challenging yourself and your assumptions, you uncover the best path forward. It’s about being honest about where you are, clear about where you want to go, and strategic about how you plan to get there.
A strong digital strategy doesn’t just happen by chance; it’s the result of careful planning, open-mindedness, and a commitment to continuous improvement. By focusing on simplicity, embracing change, and aligning with your overall business goals, you can create a digital strategy that not only drives success but also empowers your entire organisation.
By following these principles and asking the right questions, you’ll be well on your way to developing a digital strategy that is clear, effective, and positioned to drive real transformation within your organisation.
Get In Touch When You're Ready for More
At Yopla we created The journey to help our clients understand where they are, everything they do that brings them to that point and then consider what their digital future should look like, and crucially, how to close the gap between capability and ambition in order to bring that vision to life.
When you are ready to talk strategy, get in touch with the team@yopla.co.uk