Digital Index
Are your digital communications bringing your story to life?
Your digital channels are a vital part of the communications mix, and are more important than ever in deepening engagement with your stakeholders. You can directly influence what investors think and their investment decisions; attract the best talent, and provide useful resources for the media.
Every year we conduct an in-depth analysis of corporate websites, exploring the latest trends, features and content to assess how well they are delivering to the needs of each stakeholder group. This year we have extended the analysis to include social media and the interconnectedness of your digital ecosystem.
The Digital Index gives us unique insights to help you understand how well your digital communications are bringing your story to life and how effectively they are deepening stakeholder engagement - and how well you stack up against your peers and best practice.
Are your digital communications bringing your story to life?
Your digital channels are a vital part of the communications mix, and are more important than ever in deepening engagement with your stakeholders. You can directly influence what investors think and their investment decisions; attract the best talent, and provide useful resources for the media.
Every year we conduct an in-depth analysis of corporate websites, exploring the latest trends, features and content to assess how well they are delivering to the needs of each stakeholder group. This year we have extended the analysis to include social media and the interconnectedness of your digital ecosystem.
The Digital Index gives us unique insights to help you understand how well your digital communications are bringing your story to life and how effectively they are deepening stakeholder engagement - and how well you stack up against your peers and best practice.
The three key ingredients
To give a complete view of your digital communications we examine three key pillars.
The first is the corporate website, which is at the heart of your 'owned' digital channels. The one place in which you can craft your value creation story, and THE digital destination for all of your stakeholder groups. Rooted in a deep understanding of your target stakeholders, we assess over 200 metrics across both content and the experience you deliver.
Second we explore social media, the way social media is used to reach and engage your stakeholder groups and the richness of the content you publish.
Thirdly, as your stakeholders can engage with you at any time across any of your communications channels, we examine how interconnected your digital ecosystem is and the consistency of your messaging and creative identity across these channels.
The three key ingredients
To give a complete view of your digital communications we examine three key pillars.
The first is the corporate website, which is at the heart of your 'owned' digital channels. The one place in which you can craft your value creation story, and THE digital destination for all of your stakeholder groups. Rooted in a deep understanding of your target stakeholders, we assess over 200 metrics across both content and the experience you deliver.
Second we explore social media, the way social media is used to reach and engage your stakeholder groups and the richness of the content you publish.
Thirdly, as your stakeholders can engage with you at any time across any of your communications channels, we examine how interconnected your digital ecosystem is and the consistency of your messaging and creative identity across these channels.
How do we benchmark websites?
An effective website requires two key ingredients. The first is quality, relevant and timely content. So we assess the completeness, consistency, and clarity of content and how well it meets the needs of different stakeholders. The second is the experience through which this content is delivered, and so we assess creativity and desirability, usability of the site and the findability of content. Across these two dimensions we look at approximately 200 different metrics.
We also use analytics to understand what stakeholders are looking for, and to help shape our assessment and prioritisation of the content. This places a 'real-world' overlay onto the analysis we do.
The resultant mix is a unique insight into corporate websites and how we can make them work even harder to serve your purpose.
How do we benchmark websites?
An effective website requires two key ingredients. The first is quality, relevant and timely content. So we assess the completeness, consistency, and clarity of content and how well it meets the needs of different stakeholders. The second is the experience through which this content is delivered, and so we assess creativity and desirability, usability of the site and the findability of content. Across these two dimensions we look at approximately 200 different metrics.
We also use analytics to understand what stakeholders are looking for, and to help shape our assessment and prioritisation of the content. This places a 'real-world' overlay onto the analysis we do.
The resultant mix is a unique insight into corporate websites and how we can make them work even harder to serve your purpose.
Assessing social media
We have reviewed social media use across the FTSE, which channels are used, for which type of content and how this is designed to engage different stakeholder groups.
There are of course marked differences between the different types of organisations and their communications priorities - such as those with a B2C brand. The results give fascinating insights into the growing use of social media at a corporate level and how it is driving more effective communications to reach and engage a broader stakeholder audience.
Reviewing the wider ecosystem
We have also reviewed how well companies are delivering a connected ecosystem. Stakeholders can engage with your across all of your digital channels, and consistency of messaging is key to successful communications. We have reviewed how well companies interconnect their channels, and whilst recognising that each channel and audience has different priorites, we have examined whether these channels communicate who they are and their unique difference consistently and coherently.
How do you stack up?
Your digital channels are vital in reaching, engaging and inspiring your stakeholders. If you want to find out how yours stacks up against best practice and what your peers are doing, why not ask us for an assessment?
We will analyse your digital channels - website, social media and your wider digital ecosystem, assessing the content and the experience you deliver, and we will provide specific recommendations on improvements you should make.
We can also provide an analysis against named peers.
