The reason why every business needs a digital strategist

I have had a lot of people ask me what I do as a digital consultant.The technology industry has created a lot of opportunities with various career prospects and sometimes it becomes a little bit difficult to understand what a field does. I quite understand this difficulty very well.

My work as Tech and Automation Lead at VGC Group positions me as a Digital Consultant mainly due to the type of tasks and projects I work on daily.

Digital Strategy primarily focuses on efficiently implementing business strategies across digital platforms. A digital consultant can help you understand online advertising as well as integrate new software company-wide. Digital consultants play a vital role in business growth and have proven to be a vital asset in rolling out  a digital transformation culture in your company.

A digital consultant should possess the relevant skill set and support businesses deploy  their business strategy across different digital fields. They are required to assess the design assets and pick the right technological solutions for a particular  platform, as well as helping to build short- and long-term marketing strategies. 

They help you discover new ways for businesses to engage with existing customers as well as attract new ones by evaluating their current marketing strategy. Digital consultants must manage company branding by communicating with customers through social media, email, mobile, or local marketing campaigns.

Top Skills

Even though most digital consultants possess an array of digital skills, most of them possess specific sets of skills. That being said, some digital consultants might have a specific niche, while others might offer comprehensive consulting packages. My areas of focus include:

• Digital strategy (strategic business): This skill refers to improving a business with technology. As a digital consultant, I am able to take a look at your business and recommend digital strategies you need to help grow from one stage to the other. Digital strategy is the discipline of working with teams inside an agency and/or directly with the brand to solve complex business, brand, marketing, and technology problems. Digital strategists are the people that lead the problem solving charge, helping to connect the dots between the needs, wants, and desires of the customer and those often elusive business, brand, and marketing goals. 

• Technology Consulting: I wear two hats in my role: business analyst and technology consultant. This unique combination allows me to bridge the gap between what businesses need and the technological solutions available. My expertise lies in integrating different software systems within organizations. I’m like a data flow architect, ensuring everything works together smoothly and efficiently. But just getting the software in place isn’t enough. Understanding user behavior and existing business processes is crucial. That’s where my process audit experience comes in. By analyzing current workflows, I can identify areas for improvement and develop adoption strategies that encourage user buy-in for the newly integrated software. This comprehensive approach ensures that the technology delivers real value and aligns with the organization’s overall goals.

• Marketing: As a digital consultant, I have expertise in marketing strategy  specifically digital marketing and may do so through social media, email, SMS, or other content.

• Tech Stacking: I am also responsible for ensuring that our tech stack is set up properly, tested, and managed. I am able to critically assess and analyse the big picture and build for the long-term, anticipating future gaps/growth areas. I am able to  think through solutions thoroughly and methodically. I have a deep understanding in tech softwares and how to set them up correctly for your business success. Some of the tools I work with daily include emails softwares, sms, growth hack tools, website builders, analytics & reporting, creating SOPs, course creation platforms, learning management platforms, customer relations management platforms (CRM),etc. 

• Digital Analytics: Google Analytics, SEM Rush, General Software Analytics, Excel, Power BI, etc

• Social media: As a digital consultant, I have helped brands grow their audiences, build community and increase engagement  through organic and paid posts on various social media platforms.

• Project management: My job essentially is to oversee big-picture strategies and day-to-day projects. These projects mostly are digital projects like marketing campaigns, app design & developments, web design & development etc

• User interface and web design: I help boost website traffic by making it more user-friendly. I have experience in managing website projects like Magento, Wix, Wordpress, Squarespace etc

• Training and consulting: As a digital consultant, I am able to train non-tech founders on essential business strategies in order to build a sustainable brand through digitization. 

Importance of Digital Consultants

Digital consultants can be a game-changer for businesses. These days, 70% of the most impactful business marketing strategies are tied to the internet, such as websites or email marketing, at which digital consultants excel.

Next time when you are thinking of how to digitally position your business to engage customers online and do not know where to start from, you should think of a digital consultant.