The Head of Digital Strategy: Who, What and Why

Let me answer the question who is head of digital strategy? In this post, we will explore the “who, what, and why” of a digital strategist. We often hear people say that they are digital strategists—but no one ever asks them what their job is or what they do. This article explores those questions and provides insights for those who want to learn more about the head of digital strategy job.

Few numbers

According to statistics, there were only 20 (!!!) jobs of Head of Digital strategy in the world before 2010. In 2011, the amount of Head of Digital strategy jobs has quadripled. In 2014, there were already over 1150 digital strategy jobs. What it means for the job seeker – this job is one of the fastest-growing jobs in today’s market (and very popular). And we can partially credit to marketers and business owners who want their online presence to be as strong as possible to remain competitive.

Who is the head of digital strategy?

The Head of Digital strategy is the person in charge of creating and implementing the company’s digital strategy. Their in-depth knowledge in digital marketing and in-depth understanding of the online marketplace, allows them to develop a strong digital strategy that is tailored to the company’s goals and objectives. They work closely with other key members of the organization to implement their strategy.

The digital strategy officer is responsible for business process automation. This includes the identification of areas within the company where automation can be used to improve efficiency and productivity. They also work with other members of the company to implement this automation.

The Director of digital strategy is on the intersection of disciplines

According to Forbes, head of digital strategy often report directly to C-level executives (CEO, President or Vice President). They are responsible for planning out how their company will use technology in order to achieve its goals – whether that’s improving the customer experience, increasing sales, or making operations more efficient.

The Director of digital strategy is expected to be tech-savvy and detail-oriented at all times. They should also be able to think outside the box in order to come up with effective strategies that don’t already exist (or haven’t worked) for their company.

Director of digital strategy types

Generally, there are two digital strategy jobs with a different focus. An external and internal focus. Although there are two types of Director of digital strategy, they can be combined. These to types represent different parts of the digital business strategy. The type of focus a digital strategy manager has can depend on the company and their goals. Digital strategy manager is not strict, and he can change his focus as needed.

External focus

The Director of digital strategy is responsible for the customer-facing side of online marketing in their organizations. They come up with great ideas about how to improve company processes and make them more efficient by using technology. The head of digital strategist is responsible for the end-to-end process that ensures their company’s online presence (website, social media profiles) are up to date and engaging with users.

This director is responsible for managing and directing the digital marketing efforts of a company – including all online content, social media channels and advertising campaigns. The external Director of digital strategy also directs the creation of websites and mobile applications created by their team members (front-end developers). If you want to be this version of director of digital strategy, you should have a strong background in web development and design.

Faulty notion about external CDO’s

The first thing that comes to mind when every CEO is thinking about a digital strategy director is someone, who is capable of building a digital customer journey. That’s a great way of thinking, but there is one problem – the customer-focused digital strategy director job is often confused with the marketing director. In fact, they are not marketers, but they are great digital managers.

External digital strategy director salary

External director digital strategy is between $85k and goes up to six-figure numbers in total cash. However, many head of digital strategist prefer equity in the company they work for instead of a high base salary.

Internal focus

The head of digital strategy is responsible for the internal business processes and the digitalization of the company. They work with managers and directors to develop tools and software that will help them increase their productivity. They also handle marketing campaigns internally and decide which social media platforms the company should be on, for example Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc.

This Director is responsible for improving customer engagement by using technology internally – that means everything from making internal processes more efficient to implementing new technologies across the company that will increase employee productivity (think CRM or tools similar tools). If this is your career path, you should have a strong background in project and program management.

Internal director digital strategy salary

I’ve seen head of a digital strategist salaries range from $75k to about $120k per year, depending on the experience level and location. The higher they are in the company structure, the more expensive they become for companies. You can find the head of a digital strategist at any large corporation or startup that is looking to grow and scale.

Further reading: 12 Secrets of Head of Digital Strategy Salary

What duties are involved with Digital strategy expert?

The amount of time that Director of digital strategy spends at work varies from one person to another – but there’s always something going on because these jobs are extremely demanding. After all, you are basically managing a small company within your actual organization.

What involves a digital strategy job?

Building new strategies

Building new strategies that will help the business grow or get more efficient – this includes analyzing current market trends, understanding what competitors are doing and working with various teams across the company to develop ideas for improvement.

Communication

Communicate with everyone – from the C-level executives to developers, designers and writers. This requires a lot of effort on your part in order to get buy-in for new ideas or projects that you are proposing.

Solution implementation

Implementing technology solutions across the company . As head of digital strategy, this is one of your main responsibilities. For example, if you’re looking to improve your company’s customer service channels – that means finding the right tools for your employees to use in order to get better results (whether it be a chatbot or an innovative new customer support software).

Strategy execution

Executing digital marketing strategies . When developing these strategies, head of digital strategy should take into account what has worked for their competitors in the past.

Strategy planning

Creating new marketing strategies. This is one of the most rewarding parts about being director of digital strategy because it’s where you get to break free from convention and try something completely unique that no other company has ever tried before!

Hands-on approach

Overseeing digital marketing campaigns. Once you’ve decided on the strategies that your team will be using, it’s time to implement them. Depending on what your goals are for this campaign (and how much money is in the budget), the head of digital strategy might need to get involved with social media posts, email newsletters or any other strategy that you come up with.

Being a consultant

Helping the company grow and improve. When it comes to digital marketing, one of your main responsibilities as director of digital strategy is thinking about how this will affect various teams across your organization (and where there might be opportunities for growth). You should also consider what kinds of new technologies your company might need to adapt to in order for it to stay competitive.

Analyst

Evaluate digital marketing campaigns. Since you are overseeing so many different initiatives, the results of each campaign have a direct impact on how successful your future strategies will be – and that’s why the director of digital strategy needs to constantly monitor these metrics.

Hope this article helped and you’ve learned about the digital strategy manager job and what it has to offer.

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