The dynamic nature of emerging markets creates a challenging environment for developing digital strategies. Here are the five most common roadblocks, and the best ways to avoid them.

Emerging markets are characterised by very high growth rates and constant changes to the industry dynamics. This constant state of change and number of new participants to digital makes developing digital strategies in these markets challenging. It is easy to fall prey to some common mistakes, but these problems can be avoided by looking at how more evolved markets have managed them.

Problem 1: Clients do not want to pay for a digital strategy
Many clients will brief a number of agencies to pitch on their business. They will expect a strategy, a creative idea and a price to be presented at the end of this process. 

In most cases, the agency is not given enough time -- nor do they have access to the key stakeholders and customer insights -- to do the job properly. The focus at this stage should be on the skills of the agency rather than on generating a result. 

Do they have a strategic approach? Can they demonstrate this? What skills and experience do they bring to the table? Once you have found the right partner, pay them and give them the time to do the job properly.

Problem 2: Clients do not know what to expect from a digital strategy
Most clients see a digital strategy as "the plan of what they should do in digital"; however, what they frequently are expecting is a structure for their website. A digital strategy should be a holistic view of how a consumer will interact with the brand throughout all the digital channels on and off site. From there they should explain how these interactions translate to journeys that deliver the right consumer to the right location, with the right purchase intent in mind.

As the client and agency relationship matures, the ability to manage these expectations improves; however, in the early stages of a relationship it is critical to define:

• The objectives of the strategy, and how these map into the business objectives.
• What the strategy needs to achieve and what defines success.
• How you plan to measure success, and the tools you will use to achieve this.

Problem 3: Agencies lack a clear definition of digital strategies
Because digital is a relatively new concept for many agencies, qualified digital strategists are thin on the ground. As a result, many agencies perceive a digital strategy as either a digital version of what traditional planners do (applied to the internet), or as a creative strategy mapping creative ideas with little rational behind why they may or may not work.

Traditional broadcast advertising requires that the creative idea behind a marketing strategy be driven by audience insights and compelling execution to capture attention. The difference between the traditional marketing and the cluttered digital market is the requirement that a digital strategy focus on both generating buzz and motivating proactive interaction. This requires that your brand genuinely add value to the audience so that they "seek you out". This approach aligns itself to product development processes, rather than to traditional marketing.

At its most basic, a digital strategist should research their audience not only in generic, emotive terms, but also at a need-based level. These insights should then be merged with insights into digital usage patterns across multiple environments. 

Advanced digital strategies involve extensive customer analytics, a skill set more frequently found in consultancy firms and not creative agencies. These skill sets are not cheap, and can only be sustained if the agency knows their value and can actively sell these services to their clients.

Problem 4: Ad agencies do not want to be technology focused
This is the greatest area of disconnect in the application of digital. Technology is at the heart of developing a digital strategy.  It is the key to the solution, not an area to outsource after the creative idea is generated.

For example, the strategy might call for a content management system that integrates live data feeds, pumps them into an internal workflow, serves up some components to a registered customer audience and to a public audience through multiple sites segmented based on need state -- defining all of these capacities within parameters of the clients budgetary and staffing capabilities. Strong definition could be the difference between failure and success. Delivering this analysis takes your average advertising planner well out of their comfort zone.

To overcome this, it is important to include technology audits and planning during, not after, the strategic development phase.  You will need a technologist that is capable of thinking beyond syntax and can speak to the client needs in business terms.

Problem 5: There is no consistent format
A strategy is a plan -- a plan that focuses everyone on the same objective and a consistent path towards achieving success. This might take the form of a 150 page document, a five-slide presentation and everything in between.

There is a frequent disconnect between the expectations of the clients and agencies on what should be delivered. My favourite quote from a client is "don't you just have a template you can use and change the relevant details?

The answer to this is NO. The plan and how it is delivered will vary dependant on many factors including the complexity of the task, the audience to whom it is delivered and the purpose that the document needs to serve. A clear understanding of these factors should be developed in the discussions between agency and client before the project is even started. Do not be tempted to just go for the thud factor and pad your strategy with lots of irrelevant facts to demonstrate industry.

We will look at five more factors that influence success in the next issue, but the key takeaways from this top five are that clients and agencies in emerging markets can achieve better results through a more collaborative and structured approach to digital strategy. The most important thing is to make sure you have the right skill sets on board to deliver the result. Take the time to do the job properly and insure that you are all on the same page before you start.

Jenny Williams is the principal of Ideagarden Consulting.