The trend: digital strategy folded into business strategy
The big trend nowadays is to say that a digital strategy is no longer needed, that digital should be embedded in all strategies — it's mainstream, part of a global approach, and stand-alone digital strategies are no longer needed... that digital strategy is your business strategy.
I agree on most of these points: it no longer makes sense to build a stand-alone digital touchpoint strategy, digital media strategy, or digital product strategy in a silo, without considering non-digital touchpoints, channels, or products. We need to look at things globally — how they complement and feed each other, and how they correctly address customer needs and attention.
The exception: digital transformation still needs its own strategy
However, a digital strategy remains a major element to address in today's businesses. Not to build a business case for a new website, a mobile app, or marketing investments — that's mainstream, day-to-day business.
No: the main reason you still need a digital strategy is for your digital transformation.
Many businesses today are working heavily on their digital transformation — digitalising processes, bringing new products and services to market, investigating new AI-driven services or decision processes.
The evidence: most digital transformations fail
Yet, according to surveys, 90% of these transformations are said to be failing or not meeting expectations. Lack of customer knowledge, lack of culture, lack of prioritisation, lack of leadership, lack of data, lack of technology — all are claimed to be partly or totally responsible for these less-than-stellar performances.
And actually, all of that boils down to a lack of strategy.
What a strategy actually is
A strategy is the shortest route to attain an objective, taking into account your assets, means, company objectives, competitive landscape, and consumer needs. It contains a strategic plan detailing the route to get there — including the enablers you need to build along the way, whether those are new practices, processes, skills, working methods, organisation, technology, or products.
The questions a real strategy answers
- Why transform?
- What is the business case?
- What value are we creating for our business and for our customers?
- How fast can we go, and by which route?
- What capabilities do we need to build, and what culture do we need to create or sustain?
The cost of skipping it
Having a digital transformation program without a strategy or strategic plan — running headless test-and-learn approaches with teams aiming to test the waters and pick up new practices, or implementing new technologies without thinking in terms of business value — is costly, lengthy, demotivating, and fails to deliver. Too often, it ends up looking like a costly IT migration or a team-building exercise, with no real business opportunity or marketing value behind it.
Frequently asked questions
Do we still need a digital strategy if digital is already embedded everywhere in the business?
Yes — not as a stand-alone silo strategy, but specifically to guide digital transformation. Without it, transformation programs tend to default to costly, unfocused test-and-learn exercises.
Why do most digital transformations fail?
Industry surveys point to a mix of causes — lack of customer knowledge, culture, prioritisation, leadership, data, and technology — but these usually trace back to a single root cause: no real strategy behind the transformation.
What questions should a digital strategy actually answer?
Why you're transforming, what the business case is, what value is being created for the business and its customers, how fast you can move and by which route, and what capabilities and culture need to be built or sustained.
What happens if you skip the strategy step?
Transformation programs without a strategic plan tend to run as headless test-and-learn exercises or technology-first rollouts — costly, slow, demotivating, and unlikely to deliver real business value.
