What does it mean to be a digital strategist?

When people ask what I do, I usually give the reply "I am a Digital Strategist". 

(Although my 6 year old son says that "Daddy helps people with the Internet" - which is probably an even better response).

But explaining this role further really means you have to describe the current state of business and technology, which are now are merging closer than ever before. The digital and physical worlds are rapidly blurring, so that in many cases they are the same thing and nearly everything in business is now software). 

To keep pace this this change organisations are embarking upon transformation projects to help them stay relevant in a digital-first world and to be able to quickly adapt to constantly evolving customer needs and market demands. I therefore firmly believe it as the role of the digital strategist to help these companies onto and along this transformation journey.

So what does a digital strategist do day-to-day?

Consult:
This could mean you carry out market assessment, benchmark competitors, analyse existing business processes & capabilities (and provide suggestions for new ones) and help with the selection of other marketing and technology platforms & partners. In short, you provide senior level recommendations and clear actionable advice based upon real experience and first-hand knowledge of how digital can help businesses overcome their challenges, without creating new ones.

Bring about change:
From helping to provide the initial roadmap and requirements, facilitating the creation of more positive user experiences, through to actually delivering and managing the migration to new systems and ways-of-working, clients can need assistance at any point in the life-cycle of a change to more digital and customer-centric processes.

Have a passion for digital
Whether in your spare (spare??) time you attend tor get involved in technology meet-ups, build mobile apps, blog about the latest digital innovations or just read about online practices...  you tend to find that digital is not just a job or a role, but a way of life that you believe can make real improvements in a constantly changing landscape.

Digital Transformation Consultancy is Big Business

It seems that every consultancy is suddenly talking about digital business transformation or disruption. And just like the digital disruptors, who have been encroaching on the territory of traditional organisations with new and exciting business models that threaten to eat their lunch... the more traditional management consultants and strategy firms have all been getting in on the digital transformation consultancy game.

 From all the marketing information I've received over the last few months, it would see that you're not a modern consultancy unless you produce a white paper on the subject of Digital Transformation and the 'uberization' of business.

Are you owed money by Merchant Soul ?

As some readers of this blog and the wider Scottish business network will know, we are still owed a large amount of money by Stephen Halpin of Merchant Soul in Glasgow. This sum of £26,280 has now been completely outstanding for over 6 months, with some of it owed for over a year.

Earlier this year I sent an email to Stephen Halpin that concluded our working relationship and subsequently sent a Lawyer's Letter to Merchant Soul. But both of these communications received no response.We therefore assume that Merchant Soul has no intention whatsoever of paying us for the outstanding debt it owes our company.

It does however raise the question in my mind about whether this has happened before. Could it be the case that Stephen Halpin or his companies owe money to other individuals and organisations around Scotland or further afield?

Omnichannel? Please spare me the hype!

Hands up, who is getting really hacked off with the word Omnichannel? Me for one!

Used all over the place right now, but especially by marketing and consulting types (Yes, I know I’m both), the word is frequently mentioned to mean “More than multi-channel”.

But stop and think for a second…. What does “multi-channel” actually mean? Well my definition is the same one that most people in the online retail world have… several channels to market. These include: In-store sales, PC website, mobile website, mobile phone app, tablet app, etc.

So if “Multi” means many… then “Omni” must mean ‘all’ right? And by this extrapolation… “Omni channel” must mean all channels to sale. Which doesn’t make much sense if you think about it, since:

1.       Not every channel suits every product or customer (either for influence or transactions)

2.       Telephone is a sales channel that a lot of retailers tried, but now most have given up on

I think that the word "Omnichannel" has just been thrown into various conversations and white papers by solution providers looking to distinguish themselves from others in the market merely offering ‘multi-channel’… and that’s just hype for its own sake!

Still, it could be worse… I recently heard someone say “there is no channel”, which is either a Buddhist/Matrix reference or a way to further differentiate themselves from the growning Omnichannel mob.