How to create a digital communication strategy
You've decided to grow your business by advertising with online ads but aren't sure where to start.
Learn how to develop a digital communication strategy that best aligns with your business's unique needs and goals so you can keep up with customers' changing preferences.
What is a digital communication strategy?
A digital communication strategy employs emails, social media posts, and targeted advertisements to communicate a message about a product. Creating these and other types of digital communication requires advanced public relations and marketing skills. A good strategy builds brand awareness, promotes a positive customer experience, and adapts to different customer needs.
A February 2025 Census Bureau report shows that online shopping makes up over 16% of U.S. retail purchases. In the last quarter of 2024 alone, U.S. consumers spent over $350 billion online. Figures like these demonstrate the need for an effective digital communication strategy to help drive sales in a competitive market.
Steps to create a digital communication strategy
Determine your business goals
- The number of impressions your business's website receives
- Your site's ranking on popular search engines
- The cost of online advertisements versus new customer growth
Identify target audience
Develop brand voice and message
Choose the right channels
Personalize brand message for different audience segments
Measure and analyze performance
Adjust the strategy based on customer feedback
Setting goals is important for any task, especially long-term business planning. For each goal you set, make sure you can link that goal with a key performance indicator (KPI). Digital communication strategy KPIs include:
No matter your business goals, you'll want to develop a digital communication strategy focusing on growth areas, such as improving your rankings or making more effective online advertisements.
Even if you have a great product or service, knowing your target audience can help drive business growth.
If you cannot afford traditional market surveys, consider using online databases like Statista, Mentel Academic, and WGSN to understand customer spending habits and preferences. Online databases can also help you identify new customers so you can adjust your communication strategy to reach them.
Knowing your target audience helps you develop an appropriate brand voice and message.
A brand voice can make your business relatable to potential customers, inspire trust, and build brand loyalty. Other benefits include creating a unique personality for your business that sets it apart from the competition.
Your brand voice should feature a consistent tone and message across your websites and digital advertisements. Consistency communicates that your business has a strong identity and values.
Once your business has developed a brand voice designed to reach your target audience, you can deliver ads to the right channels. The online databases you used to identify your target audience may also reveal which websites your potential customers visit the most. This knowledge lets you maximize each dollar you spend on advertising.
Study how your audiences engage with the content they consume. Influencer marketing may work best if your target audience primarily includes young people. Consider email marketing if your research tells you your target audience does not spend much time on social media.Study how your audiences engage with the content they consume. Influencer marketing may work best if your target audience primarily includes young people. Consider email marketing if your research tells you your target audience does not spend much time on social media.
Brand segments refer to divisions within your target audience. They may include a specific age group, gender, or income bracket. Geography also affects how your current and potential customers make purchasing decisions.
You can personalize your brand message for each group by using appropriate vocabulary and advertising channels. This can keep your current customers engaged and heighten brand loyalty, which may lead to higher conversion rates and lower customer acquisition costs.
Even if you develop a great digital communication strategy, you still need to measure its performance over time. The KPIs you previously identified can be a great place to start.
If you pair your KPIs with an attribution model that tracks the KPIs' progress, this can help you determine which marketing tactics contributed to the growth of each KPI. Then, you can identify the most effective parts of your digital communication strategy.
Reviewing your target audience and key audience segments can help you choose the right attribution model.
Customer feedback plays an essential role in digital communication strategies. You can track online reviews, interviews, and surveys to assess the success of your communication strategy and make adjustments as necessary.
A very low customer effort or satisfaction score shows that your strategy requires significant changes. A relatively high score suggests that your strategy requires few, if any, adjustments.