How to revise your digital strategy

 

The 2021 Charity Digital Skills Report found that 60% of charities now have a digital strategy, with over two thirds of charities (67%) seeing digital as a top priority for their organisation. Defining and implementing a digital strategy are the important first steps to achieving your digital goals and objectives.

 

But the road is always changing. We are living in an age where technology is quickly evolving, providing us with new platforms, applications, and productivity tools that couldn’t have been conceived of 10 or 20 years ago. So digital strategies need to adapt, change, and shift with the times.

 

So, without further ado, here are our top tips on how (and when) to revise your digital strategy.

 

 

Conduct a digital audit

 

In much the same way as an internal audit, conducting an annual digital audit can be valuable way to examine the successes and shortcomings of your current strategy.

 

Define some parameters for your audit. You may not need to consider everything in this list, but it’s important to consider all elements of your strategy, including marketing, design, imagery, readability, user journeys, and basic user experience. Social media metrics are a great starting point if you are particularly concerned with return of investment of Social Media Marketing. 

 

Digital Checkup from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) offers charities the chance to assess ‘digital maturity’ and how that compares to other organisations through survey-style questions. The check-up covers a wide array of topics, from content and marketing, to cyber resilience and online threats.

 

The Digital Maturity Matrix from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is aimed at helping charities of all sizes assess their current strengths and weaknesses while understanding what they need to do next to improve.

 

 

Conduct your own research

 

The abovementioned 2021 Charity Digital Skills Report found that 83% of charities changed their services in response to the unprecedented demand of the pandemic. But up to 44% believed they are poor at conducting user research.

 

User research leads directly to user value. And user needs are always changing. Catalyst, a collective of organisations and individuals dedicated to helping charities respond to the changing needs and behaviours in their communities, says that the best digital services can only be made by charities who understand their users.

 

Catalyst claims that those services:

• Are easy and pleasurable to use
• Are directly relevant to users’ day-to-day lives
• Help users solve a problem or frustration they regularly experience

Online surveys present a quick and easy way to conduct user research. Platforms like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, or Google Forms have the ability to help you quickly and efficiently track responses.

 

Alternatively, if you want to assess or track the success of a specific goal (like getting users to sign up to your newsletter), consider using an A/B testing strategy.

 

A/B tests provide simple ways to test web page changes against the current design, allowing you to validate a change ahead of time. Online tools like Optimizely and Concurra simplify the A/B testing process, allowing you to split your web traffic and track how users respond to different copy, content, or layout.

 

 

Consider using a digital consultant

 

If your audit/research has revealed there is room for development in your digital strategy, a digital consultant will be able to map your existing processes and set a roadmap for change.

 

Before scouring the CharityComms Freelance and Supplier Directories, determine what you need from a digital consultant – someone with deep expertise in the charity sector might be useful for an overall assessment of your strategy, but a consultant who understands your particular niche/goal might have more relevant experience and expertise.

 

If you have already invested in a specialist or specific tech, but have not been achieving results, you might want to find someone with relevant experience in those technologies. Remember, a digital consultant should be considered an extension of your organisation. Ensure their values align with your own.

 

 

Keep ahead of the game

 

The current pace of digital transformation is a steepening trajectory. Previously, organisations had time to watch and track the success of new applications and technologies and evaluate whether or not to adopt them. But now, new platforms and systems are being rolled out faster every year.

 

Consequently, digital transformation is a journey from one technology to the next. Your digital strategy should reflect and accommodate for this ever-changing environment. Staying up-to-date with technological developments and trends will help to ensure your strategy is agile and optimised for the future.

 

Attend industry conferences and tech events, prioritise learning through social media or podcasts, and devote time to following tech news.

 

As technologies continue to evolve at an unprecedented rate, innovation and revision should be an ongoing discussion when it comes to your digital strategy.