Digital strategy for ebusiness

VDIS10026 Managing

Design and eBusinessSANGEETA JAIN

Digital Media

Strategy for e-

business

Digital media refers to audio, video,

and photo content that is encoded,

can be easily manipulated, distributed,

and rendered by computers, and

transmitted over computer networks.

Strategy is a plan to

achieve a desired

goal in the future.

An e-Business Strategy is a plan

consisting of short and long term

goals for the right digital technology

to deal with internal and external

factors in the business environment.

The Strategy

Strategy typically involves two major processes:

1. Formulation: analysing the situation and drawing a plan

What do we do?

2. Implementation: action taken to achieve the goal

How do we do it?

In a business related strategy there is also a third aspect

involved which basically refers to beating the

competition/competitors

How do we excel?

Strategy – Formulation

Strategy is a series of decisions and actions that are taken to

achieve stated aims and objectives. These decisions and actions

are based on analysis of key elements of the strategic process.

The analytical part of strategic process comprises internal (strengths

and weaknesses) and external analysis (opportunities and threats).

Combined, the internal and external analysis forms the basis for

SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).

It is from the SWOT analysis that the key strategic issues are

identified. The key strategic issues are the ones deemed most

important that require attention and are given a high priority rating.

Strategic Issues Examples

Summarise reasons/set goals for the need of a digital innovation.

Entering a new market

Introducing a new product/service

Finding efficiencies and cost savings

Retaining existing customers

Improving customer satisfaction

Increasing market share

Increasing customer base

Improving communication with customers and suppliers

Attracting quality staff

Strategy – Formulation

Once the strategic issues have been identified the next stage

is the evaluation of the options available and the selection of

strategy. Evaluation of each option is undertaken using the

criteria of:

Suitability deals with the overall rationale of the strategy.

Feasibility is concerned with whether or not the business has the

resources required to implement the strategy (capital, people,

time, market access, and expertise).

Acceptability is related to the expectations of stakeholders and

customers and expected financial and non-financial outcomes.

Digital Options Examples

Summarise reasons/set goals for the need of a digital innovation.

Email Marketing Campaign

Use of Social Media to diversify digital exposure

Opt for User Generated Content

Implement a Loyalty Program

Reach Out to Customers in Their Native Languages

Simplify Checkout Process

Think About Mobile Advertising

Make Your Delivery Options Better Than the Rest

Get Creative with the FAQs

Gain a competitive advantage: the option must result in superior

performance leading to a competitive advantage over rivals.

Read More:

50 Unbeatable Ecommerce Marketing Tips (March 2017)

https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/50-unbeatable-

ecommerce-marketing-tips

101 Different Types of Digital Content

https://www.zazzlemedia.co.uk/blog/digital-content-types/#gref

https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/50-unbeatable-ecommerce-marketing-tips

https://www.zazzlemedia.co.uk/blog/digital-content-types/#gref

Strategy – Implementation

The implementation of strategy involves the practical measures taken to

action the selected strategic option or options. For example, if you currently

show information on your website but do not take orders or encourage

customers to pay online, you might consider the following:

Speak with a web developer about adding an e-commerce to your website

Research companies in same/related industries that are selling online effectively

Form a sales and logistics strategy for the new sales channel

Define the marketing strategy for the launch/ongoing promotion of this channel.

Launch your new sales channel.

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/it/digital-strategy/creating-strategy

Digital Media is a blend of technology and

content, and implementing digital media

strategy requires diverse skills, including

technical skills, artistic skills, analytical and

production coordination skills.

Key Components of Digital Strategy

A digital strategy is made up of 9 key components. Depending on your

business type and industry, some of these will be more relevant to you

than others.

1. Online Presence

2. Digital Marketing

3. Selling Online

4. Customer Interaction

5. Online Security

6. Supplier Interaction

7. Mobile-based solutions

8. Efficiencies through technology

9. Cloud Computing


Read More:

Creating a digital strategy

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/it/digital-

strategy/creating-strategy


Website – Terminology

A website is the most basic digital media option that any eBusiness will need. So

before we move on to designing a website, let us understand some the language

of the web.

Information Architecture

Information architecture is the organization of information. This field studies how

to organize information most effectively to help people find and use it. It also

refers to the structure of a website, especially how pages link to one another.

Sitemap

This is an index to all the content on a website. It is normally accessible from at

least the front page of the site and is used for two purposes: to help people find

what they are looking for on the site and to help search engines find all your

links.


Navigation

Navigation refers to the system that allows visitors to a website to move around

that site. Navigation is most often thought of in terms of menus, but links within

pages, breadcrumbs, related links, pagination, and any other links that allow a

visitor to move from one page to another are included in navigation.

Global Navigation

Global navigation is the general menu choices that are repeated on all of the

pages contained in the site. It is sometimes called the main menu. Primary

navigation bars provide shortcuts to main sections on a website.

Local/Second Level Navigation

Local navigation is a type of navigation where choices lead to subtopics

defined by one of the main menu subjects.


HYPERTEXT

On the World Wide Web, the feature, built into HTML that allows a text area, to

become a "link" that retrieves another computer file (another Web page,

image, sound file, or other document) on the Internet is called the hypertext.

Labels

Labels are the names used to identify menu options and/or site categories

Link

The link element defines the relationship between two linked documents.

Status Indicator

Is an indicator of “You are here” on the websites. It may be indicated by color

and/or graphic.


Rollovers

A rollover is a mouse state or status, of which there are four: click, hover, move

and out. A link is a directional indicator, providing directions via the link to a

specific Web page or image or file.

Forms

A form on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for

processing. Forms resemble paper or database forms because web users fill out

the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons or text fields.

Wireframe

A wireframe is a skeleton version of a website that depicts navigational

concepts and page content. A wireframe often has only sketchy text content. It

doesn't take into account visual design or page layout.


User Centered Design (UCD)

The design process that places the user at the center of the design

rather than the object to be designed. It is a philosophy and process

rather than an end in itself.

Fold

The fold is a term carried over from newspaper design and

pagination (where the fold referred to the physical fold in the

paper). The fold in a website is the point on the webpage that rests

at the bottom of someone’s browser (in other words, to see anything

below the fold, they would have to scroll down).

Website – Domain Name

A domain name is a unique name that identifies a website. The

domain name should reflect the company’s brand, products or

services. The domain name (URL) is the pathway for a customer to

reach your eCommerce store. Domain names must be registered. To register your domain name, you will need to find an accredited

registrar and pay a fee.

Website – Hosting Company

Websites are hosted, or stored on special computers called servers.

Web hosting is a service that allows businesses and individuals to post a

website onto the Internet. They can also provide multiple email

addresses. Monthly fees for web hosting vary depending on how large

your website is and how many visits you get. When users want to view a

website, all they need to do is type the domain into their browser. Their

computer will then connect to your server and your webpages will be

delivered to them through the browser.

The next step is to ready the content. Think about what you want your

customers to be able to do via your website. This will help you work out

what sections or pages you want to include. Consider what information

or transactions your customers will want and make sure the site is

structured to make it easy for them to find and do the things they need.

Now, Build the Website! We will look at the details of this in our next lecture…