Digital Strategy Teamplate

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Can anyone point me in the right direction of a basic Digital Strategy template?

This is in the context of a healthcare product that we currently sell B2B via telesales but I am keen to try and harness online which currently accounts for less than 10% of our sales.

As an online numptie, want a plan to follow

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andy-xr said:

If I understand, you want to punt what you've got online as well as over the phone? You need a web application that's secure, can integrate into buying systems and be listed through the Healthcare buying process, be easy to use from a buyers perspective, have the info needed to make a purchase decision, and can deliver with minimal intervention?

You need a developer for the back end, one for the front, another for the user experience and an audit, together with a security assessment. Then start pushing people towards it using whatever means you want, could be that telesales direct people to the site for final purchase after doing the build up, could be that you use APIs to integrate it into another site

Half right

We currently sell via telesales & direct mail (B2B mainly)

We have 2 websites - basic shopify sites, 1 in the US & 1 in the UK, we've just had the front end of these refreshed (tactical / cheap refresh to keep us going for 9-12 months)

We have Brightpearl integrated into Shopify to link into the fulfilment warehouses (have stock based in US & UK)

We have a basic eBay shop & Amazon account which trickle orders through but we haven't really put any effort into them.

As an eComm numpty, I'm looking for help in how to leverage these resources by promoting them online, so looking for a Dummies guide to online strategy to cover things like:-

Google shopping / Google +
How to properly use eBay & Amazon
Google Adwords
SEO
Alternative search engines to Google
What else is there should be doing and how?

Thanks

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Foliage said:

I thought teamplate was gonna be a new management buzz word, thank god its a typo.

Sorry about that, was obviously keen to go grab a sandwich

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Frimley111R said:

Consider using an agency to do this. You'll not be able to do this effectively on your own without a shadow of a doubt. PPC, for example, is far far harder to get right than it seems and not getting it right will cost you considerably.

We probably will eventually, but I want to have a bash at it myself first, purely for fun and see how far I can take it.

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I've just knocked up some high level bullets to try and point myself in the right direction, so I can prioritise and then dig deeper into what actually needs to be done.

What else do I need to add at a very high level?

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Thanks and normally I'd agree, but I've just moved from a CEO role which I've done for the last 5 years for a £50 mill t/o business, and now I'm just enjoying myself back in start up mode, learning some new skills and having some 'fun'

It would be boring to just outsource it! I want to do it myself at least to start with, and I know PH has a lot of expertise in this area hence the Q.

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jonamv8 said:

In that case I would engage with an agency of some description to run your ideas past and also to provide you with the knowledge to know that the strategy you are implementing is in fact the correct one that will guarentee some ROI.

The implementation isn't often that difficult but having the correct intel to base your decisions on is.

Thanks, I have this afternoon (by pure chance!) sourced a lady that used to be Head of SEO / Online Marketing for a successful mid tier business who has agreed to mentor me in this area for a day rate.

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j80jpw said:

How competitive is you current online market?

Can you share your current product web site to give some context?

I can't post the web link as I value my anonymity on PH

The market is very competitive and we (obviously) claim to have a USP around the 5 or so products we sell, however the reality is that they are commoditised.

Our products are in the healthcare arena and are upper quartile in quality (important to buyers in this market) but we are able to offer it at bottom quartile price.

We have a global exclusivity with the factory, so it would be difficult for anyone else to enter with exactly the same product. But we don't have a brand.

We started the business as a side business a few years ago but haven't had time to spend on it, during that time we still managed to take 70% of the NHS business for 1 of the products from our nearest competitor, so that tells me it's got legs.

Now we have time on our hands (and money if required, although part of the fun is doing it on a tight budget) I want to leverage what we've done so far into the online world. I know the square route of fk all about online as I've previously run a face to face service based business with a static website.