Digital Strategy

A plan your marketing can actually be judged against.

Running ads is easy. Knowing which ads, on which channels, for which customers, at which budget, to hit which goal, is the hard bit. We build the strategy underneath the tactics, so every dollar you spend is moving one clearly defined number.

Book a free strategy call See how we work
10+ yrs
Strategy experience across ecom, B2B and lead-gen campaigns
4-6 wks
From kickoff to a signed-off 12 month digital roadmap
1 page
Every strategy distills down to one clear plan-on-a-page
100%
Australian team, no offshoring, no account handoffs
Why this matters

Tactics without strategy is just busy work.

Most SMBs we meet are running three or four channels, with three or four different goals, and no real way of knowing which one to double down on. The result: activity everywhere, momentum nowhere. Strategy is how that changes.

  • 01
    You are running every channel and mastering none

    Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, SEO and email are all ticking over at half-pace. None has enough budget or focus to actually scale.

  • 02
    The goals keep shifting month to month

    One month it is revenue, the next it is brand awareness, then back to leads. Your marketing team cannot optimise toward a target that keeps moving.

  • 03
    Nobody agrees on which customer you are really chasing

    Sales says one thing, marketing says another, the website says something else again. Without a shared picture of the customer, the messaging is always off.

  • 04
    Your budget is allocated on vibes

    Spend is split by what worked two years ago, what the last agency recommended, or what the competitor seems to be doing. Not by what the data actually says.

What strategy covers

Four workstreams that turn ambition into a plan.

Strategy is not a 200-slide PowerPoint that lives on a server. It is a small, ruthless set of decisions about who you are selling to, through which channels, with what budget, and against what number. We make those decisions in writing, and we stand by them.

01

Market and customer research

Where the plan starts. We work out who you really sell to, what they care about, and where they are spending their attention online.

  • Customer interviews and review mining
  • ICP and persona definition
  • Competitor positioning and gap analysis
  • Search and social demand research
02

Channel strategy and budget mix

Where the money should actually go. We build a channel-by-channel plan with target spend, expected returns, and a clear read on how each channel contributes.

  • Full funnel channel planning
  • Budget split across awareness, consideration, conversion
  • Target CAC, ROAS and payback modelling
  • Test and learn roadmap for new channels
03

Goals and measurement framework

The scoreboard. One primary north star, a handful of supporting metrics, and a reporting cadence so everyone knows whether the strategy is working.

  • North star metric and supporting KPIs
  • Quarterly targets and leading indicators
  • Reporting rhythm and dashboard spec
  • Clear definitions, so everyone measures the same way
04

Roadmap and prioritisation

The order of operations. Which initiatives go first, which go later, and which get cut. Every quarter has a clear focus and a clear reason for it.

  • 12 month digital roadmap
  • Quarterly themes and priorities
  • Effort versus impact scoring
  • Plan-on-a-page for your board or leadership team
Who we build for

Different stages need different strategies.

An early-stage brand trying to find its first 1,000 customers does not need the same plan as an established business trying to defend market share. We tailor the strategy to where you actually are, not where a generic framework says you should be.

Scale-ups and challengers

Find the channel that works, then pour fuel on it.

If you are under $5m in annual revenue, the game is focus. One or two channels done exceptionally well beats six channels done half-heartedly, every single time.

  • ✓
    Validating a single primary channel before diversifying
  • ✓
    Offer and positioning sharpening before spending more
  • ✓
    Unit economics that let you scale profitably, not just aggressively
  • ✓
    Content and SEO foundation so paid spend is not your only lever
  • ✓
    Clear path from $100k, to $500k, to $1m in monthly revenue
  • ✓
    Hiring plan for when to bring marketing in-house
Established businesses

Defend the core. Expand into the adjacent. Watch the edges.

If you are already scaling, the risk is complacency. Brand defence, expansion into new markets, and staying ahead of AI search and privacy changes all need explicit planning.

  • ✓
    Share of search and category defence strategy
  • ✓
    New market, new product or new audience expansion plans
  • ✓
    Brand versus performance spend split with a real rationale
  • ✓
    AI search, answer engine and LLM visibility planning
  • ✓
    Retention, loyalty and lifetime value as growth levers
  • ✓
    Vendor and agency review, so you stop paying for dead weight
What you walk away with

Plain documents, not slide theatre.

Every strategy engagement comes with the same core set of deliverables. Written clearly enough for your marketing lead, your CFO and your sales team to all read the same thing and agree on it.

Strategy on a page
One sheet. The whole plan, readable in five minutes.
Customer and market research
ICP, personas, buying triggers and objections in writing.
Channel mix model
Budget, target CAC and expected return for every channel.
Measurement framework
North star, KPIs, reporting cadence and dashboard spec.
12 month roadmap
Quarterly themes and the initiatives that sit under each.
Messaging and positioning brief
What you say, to whom, and why it lands harder than before.
Competitor teardown
Where rivals are strong, weak and worth learning from.
Board and leadership summary
A short pack your CFO can actually sign off on.

Every document is yours. You keep the working files, the spreadsheet models and the source research, whether we stay on with you or not.

How we work

A four-stage build. No black boxes.

You see the thinking as it forms. Every decision is argued for in writing, and you get the chance to push back before anything is finalised. No surprises, no 60-slide reveals.

01

Discover

Interviews with you, your team, your customers and a look at the data. We map what is really happening, not what you hope is happening.

02

Diagnose

A written diagnosis: what is working, what is wasted, where the biggest wins are hiding. You sign it off before we start designing the plan.

03

Design

The strategy gets drafted in a shared workspace. You review, challenge, and shape it with us. Final output is a plan everyone on your team can follow.

04

Deliver

Quarterly reviews, refresh sessions and optional execution. We either hand the plan to your team, or stay on to help run the tactics underneath it.

Our guarantees

Six promises we put in writing.

No lock-in contracts
Strategy work is fixed-scope. Ongoing retainers stay month-to-month.
Senior strategists only
The person running your project has 10+ years of hands-on experience.
Plain-English documents
Readable by your CFO, not just your marketing lead. No jargon, no fluff.
100% Australian team
Built in Adelaide. No offshoring, no shared inboxes, no account handoffs.
You own the output
Every deliverable, research file and spreadsheet model stays yours.
Execution optional
Hire us to build the strategy, then run it yourself, or have us deliver it.
Clients and results

Real strategies. Real numbers. Real businesses.

Each of these started with a fresh look at the strategy: who the customer is, which channels actually move the needle, and what to spend where. The numbers followed.

Leisures Shoe Boutique
+86%
Revenue lift after a full strategy overhaul and campaign rebuild.
Banksia Blue Studio
+104%
Website revenue growth once the channel mix was properly mapped.
Mr Flood
+289%
Conversion lift after a strategy reset and fresh campaign structure.
★★★★★

Stuart's deep understanding of the subtleties of the advertising landscape has been invaluable. His guidance in optimising our Shopify store and his clear communication have been integral to our business growth. His transparency is a refreshing change, and it sets him apart from other agencies.

Niena, B Free Australia
Google Review
★★★★★

Excellence in every way: Communication, Expertise, Responsiveness, Flexibility, Experienced. We have been working with Stuart and Anna for 4 years. They are masters of their domain and will add real value to any digital business.

Michael Newton-Brown
Google Review
★★★★★

What I particularly value about Stuart is his dedication to not just doing the work, but also educating us along the way. He doesn't just solve problems; he empowers us with knowledge. His remarkable skills, passion for his work, and positive attitude make him a standout.

Yael Carmeli, B Free
Google Review
FAQs

The questions most clients ask before starting.

Do we need a full strategy engagement, or can you just fix our ads?
Both are options. Some clients come to us for channel execution, others come for the strategy behind it. If you have a clear plan already and just need sharper tactics, we can slot in. If you are running flat out and no-one is sure whether the plan is right, strategy is usually the first thing to fix. We will tell you honestly which one we think you need.
How long does a strategy project take?
For a single-brand engagement, typically four to six weeks from kickoff to signed-off roadmap. Multi-brand or multi-market businesses take longer, usually six to eight weeks. We work in a shared document so you see the thinking land in real time, rather than waiting two months for a big reveal.
Will this work if we are still pre-revenue or very early stage?
Yes, but the shape of the plan is different. For early-stage brands, strategy is about picking one channel to validate, getting to a repeatable customer acquisition cost, and only then thinking about scaling. A full 12 month roadmap is less useful at that stage than a tight 90-day plan that answers one question: will this thing actually work.
How much does it cost?
A single-brand digital strategy engagement typically starts from around $7,500 and scales based on the number of markets, brands, or buyer types we need to plan for. You get a fixed quote after the discovery call, so there are no surprises. Ongoing strategy retainers for quarterly reviews and refreshes are separate and month-to-month.
Do you execute the strategy or just write it?
Either. Plenty of clients take the strategy in-house, or pass it to an existing agency and ad team to run. Others ask us to stay on and deliver the tactics underneath it, across Google, Meta, SEO, email and automation. We are not precious either way. The goal is the strategy gets executed well, not that we are the ones executing it.
Will you work with our existing marketing team?
Yes, and most of our strategy clients prefer it that way. We sit alongside your marketing lead, CMO or founder, run the workshops, write the plan, and leave your team better equipped to run it. We are happy to train your team on the framework and hand over the working documents at the end.

Stop spending money on tactics you cannot justify.

Book a free 45-minute strategy call. We will look at your current channels, goals and spend, tell you what we would change first, and send you a short written summary, whether you work with us or not.

Book a free strategy call See client results