Crafting Your Digital Strategy: Value, Persona, Presence

Posted on Mar 31, 2025 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

Define Your Strategy with SMART Objectives

Define objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). This provides guidance for the strategic questions you need to ask.

Strategic Framework: Define Your Offer and Reach

1. Value Proposition: What You Offer and to Whom

Ask yourself: “What am I offering and to whom?” Define what makes you useful or different. What makes you or your offer special, and who will benefit from it? What do you have that is different, useful, or interesting? Who would find this valuable? This is the heart of your strategy because everything else depends on it.

Use the PLOT approach:

  • People: Who might need or want what I offer?
  • Learning: What do I need to know about them? Who do they listen to or trust?
  • Opportunities: Where can I create real value or help?
  • Transformation: How will what I offer make a positive change?

2. Venue: Where You Share Your Offer

Ask yourself: “Where will I show or share my offer?” This is where people will find and engage with you, where your audience will interact with your offer. It’s not just a physical place – it could be:

  • A website, social media platform, or real-life event.
  • A certain industry, community, or market segment.
  • A mix of digital and physical spaces.

Don’t feel limited by your background or past studies – your value defines your space. The venue is where you show up to make your difference.

3. Vehicle: How You Deliver Your Offer

Ask yourself: “How will I deliver and communicate my offer?” This involves the tools and content you’ll use. It’s how you get your value to your audience. It includes:

  • Content formats (e.g., video, blogs, social media posts).
  • Partnerships.
  • Platforms and delivery tools.

Vehicles help both communicate and deliver your value. What will carry your message and ensure people actually see and experience what you’re offering?

4. Velocity: Pace and Schedule of Delivery

Ask yourself: “When and how fast will I deliver this?” This concerns your pace and schedule. Velocity is about timing and speed.

  • When will you start?
  • How fast can (or should) you go?
  • How often will you post, update, or deliver?

You might be limited by time, money, or skills—but if your audience expects fast delivery, you need to find creative ways to meet that need.

5. Victory: Measuring Your Success

Ask yourself: “How will I know I’m successful?” Define your goals and how you will measure success. What does success look like for you? Is it more followers? More sales? Positive feedback? Can you track or measure it? Make sure your goals are clear, realistic, and trackable.

Tips for Professional Networking

  • Have a professional photograph.
  • Keep your profile simple and clear.
  • Add a short summary statement.
  • Customize the URL to your public profile (e.g., on LinkedIn).
  • Add relevant skills and languages to your profile.
  • Start to grow your network: connect with people you’ve met at talks, events, and conferences.
  • Make use of professional groups online.
  • Use social media platforms to research career opportunities.

Designing Your Buyer Persona

Your buyer persona represents the ideal person you’re trying to reach. Your digital presence is the ‘mask’ you wear when you communicate with them. A persona should be based on research and heavily directed by your objectives and strategy. Understanding who you want to speak to helps optimize your efforts to match the needs and wants of your audience.

1. Start with Research

  • Look at your current or ideal audience online.
  • Use tools like LinkedIn, social media profiles, forums, or alumni networks.
  • Use Google to search how you (or people like you) appear online.

2. Define Key Details

Gather specific information. For example:

  • Name: Career-Seeking Chloe
  • Age/Job/Industry: 23, Recent Graduate, Marketing
  • Goals: Get a job, grow professional network, learn new skills
  • Pain Points: Feels invisible online, lacks professional connections
  • Preferred Platforms: LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
  • Personality Traits: Ambitious, creative, eager to grow, but unsure of how to build a digital strategy

Also consider: Background, motivations, frustrations, previous experience, skills, demographics, technology usage.

3. Understand Their Motivations

  • What do they want to hear from you?
  • What frustrates them?
  • What would delight or help them?

Use these answers to shape your voice and message.

4. Set SMART Objectives for Your Persona Strategy

Ensure your goals related to reaching this persona are:

  • Specific: e.g., “Connect with 20 marketing professionals in 1 month.”
  • Measurable: e.g., “Post 2 pieces of relevant content per week.”
  • Achievable
  • Relevant
  • Time-bound

Content Strategy Based on Your Persona

Match Your Content to Their Platform

Focus your efforts where your persona spends their time (e.g., LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube).

Use the Right Format (Vehicle)

Choose formats that resonate with your persona and platform:

  • Text Posts: Thought pieces, advice, experiences.
  • Images: Infographics, event photos, professional visuals.
  • Video: Explainers, storytelling, mini-documentaries.
  • Stories (e.g., Instagram/Facebook): Daily updates, personality, behind-the-scenes glimpses.

Be Consistent (Narrative and Presence)

Tell one clear, coherent story across all platforms. Your online presence should consistently support your personal or professional goals. Avoid posting content that distracts from or damages your desired image (e.g., overly negative comments, unprofessional photos).

Engage Actively

  • Respond to comments and messages promptly.
  • Join relevant groups or discussions.
  • Share or comment on content that aligns with your persona’s interests and your own expertise.

Review and Improve

  • Check your privacy settings regularly.
  • Google yourself periodically to see what others can find.
  • Clean up or archive old content that no longer supports your current goals or narrative.

The Value of an Online Presence

  1. It helps you show who you are and what you can offer. It’s often the first thing potential employers, clients, or connections see, making it your chance to create a strong first impression.
  2. It lets you share your skills, experience, and goals, build a professional network, and find opportunities. You can connect with the right people, stay visible in your field, and learn from others.
  3. It helps you tell your own story—rather than letting the internet or others define it for you.
  4. Your online presence effectively serves as your digital reputation.