Digital Strategy: From Business Objective to Measurable Plan
Digital strategy is where the CDMP exam separates candidates who can list channels from those who can justify them. This domain asks you to translate a business goal into a digital plan with defined audiences, channel roles and measurable outcomes, and to spot when a proposed tactic does not follow from the objective. Expect framework recall combined with scenario judgement.
Frameworks that carry marks
- SOSTAC - Situation, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Action, Control. Control is where analytics and optimisation sit, so a plan with no measurement stage is incomplete by definition.
- RACE - Reach, Act, Convert, Engage. Each stage owns different KPIs: reach → unique visitors, share of voice; act → leads, add-to-cart; convert → conversion rate, CPA; engage → retention, repeat purchase, advocacy.
- 5S - Sell, Serve, Speak, Save, Sizzle - used to show how digital supports business functions beyond marketing.
- STP and personas - segmentation, targeting, positioning, made operational through personas that record goals, barriers, triggers and channel preferences.
- SMART objectives - each with a baseline, a target and a named owner.
Analysis into plan
Situation analysis (SWOT, PESTLE, competitor and customer research) feeds objectives, which feed strategy, then tactics, budget and control. The distinction the exam tests: strategy is the choice of where to compete and how to win; the plan is the calendar, budget and measurement that deliver it. Make channel roles explicit - owned media for control and cost efficiency, paid media for reach and speed, earned media for credibility.
Worked example
A B2B software firm sets the objective: raise net revenue retention from 88% to 93% in 12 months. A weak answer proposes a LinkedIn awareness campaign, because awareness is not the constraint. Strong reasoning: the constraint is retention, so the Engage stage dominates - onboarding email sequences, in-product education, a customer community and quarterly business reviews. Reach activity appears only to support advocacy (case studies, referral programme). KPIs: 90-day activation rate, ticket deflection, referral-sourced pipeline. Control: a monthly cohort dashboard with a formal review gate at month three.
Traps
- Naming tactics (blog, TikTok, paid search) when the question asks for strategy.
- Selecting vanity metrics such as impressions where the objective is revenue or retention.
- Omitting the Control stage, or setting KPIs with no baseline.
- Treating RACE as strictly linear - Engage feeds Reach through advocacy and referral.