Digital Strategy Checklist for Australian Businesses

How to use this digital strategy checklist

This checklist is designed to be completed in order. Mark each item done, note gaps and convert the output into a simple 90‑day plan with owners, dates and budgets.

• Step 1 — Capture the business goals and constraints
• Step 2 — Validate audiences, demand and competitors
• Step 3 — Prioritise channels and offers for quick wins
• Step 4 — Lock measurement, dashboards and governance
• Step 5 — Build a 90‑day execution plan and review cadence

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Digital strategy checklist

1) Commercial foundations

• Document revenue targets, margin constraints and capacity by product/service
• Define primary goals and KPIs (e.g., qualified leads, CAC, pipeline, online sales)
• Clarify positioning, value proposition and proof (testimonials, case studies, reviews)
• List core offers and entry points (trial, audit, quote, starter package)
• Note sales cycle length, decision makers and common objections

2) Audience and demand

• Map ideal customer profiles and buying triggers/jobs‑to‑be‑done
• List top questions and comparison keywords prospects search for
• Identify high‑intent and research‑stage topics for content and ads
• Review competitors: positioning, offers, landing pages and ad messages
• Decide on geographic focus (national vs key cities) and local nuances

3) Website and conversion

• Ensure pages exist for each service, location and problem/solution
• Check UX basics: speed, mobile, accessibility, trust signals, contact methods
• Define primary and secondary CTAs per page (book, call, get pricing, download)
• Set up lead capture: forms, phone tracking, live chat and follow‑up
• Create at least one high‑intent landing page per paid campaign

4) Organic growth (SEO and content)

• Keyword plan split by intent: commercial, informational and local
• Content calendar: FAQs, guides, comparisons and case studies
• On‑page basics: headings, meta, internal links, schema and images
• Local SEO: Google Business Profile, NAP consistency and local pages
• Authority building: digital PR, partnerships and industry listings

5) Paid acquisition (search and social ads)

• Channel fit assessment: Google Ads, Performance Max, Meta, LinkedIn
• Offer/creative matrix for each audience segment
• Budget by campaign with CAC and payback targets
• Conversion tracking and offline sales import where applicable
• Weekly optimisation cadence and experiment log

6) Social and community

• Decide role: awareness, consideration, remarketing or lead gen
• Content pillars and posting rhythm aligned to funnel stages
• Remarketing audiences built from site visits, video views and email
• UGC and review strategy to build trust
• Social proof library: testimonials, before/after, case snippets

7) Email, CRM and nurture

• Lifecycle mapping: lead capture, welcome, nurture, sales, onboarding and win‑back
• Lead qualification rules and sales handover process
• Automations for key triggers (downloaded guide, abandoned cart, quote follow‑up)
• List hygiene, sender reputation and consent management
• Monthly value email: education, offers and case studies

8) Analytics, tracking and dashboards

• GA4 configured with conversions and enhanced measurement
• Ad platforms linked and conversions verified
• UTM standards and naming conventions documented
• Weekly dashboard: traffic, leads, CPL, CVR, ROAS/CAC and pipeline
• Monthly commercial report: revenue influence, payback and next actions

9) Governance, resourcing and budget

• Define owners for channels, content, creative and reporting
• Set meeting rhythm: weekly performance, monthly strategy, quarterly planning
• Budget split by Always‑On vs Experiments, with stop/go criteria
• Create a risk register and mitigation plans (e.g., tracking loss, supply, seasonality)
• Document processes: briefs, approvals, publishing and QA

10) Australia‑specific considerations

• Privacy Act and Notifiable Data Breaches: data handling and breach process
• Spam Act: consent and unsubscribe for email/SMS
• Australian Consumer Law: truthful claims, guarantees and pricing clarity
• Industry rules (e.g., AHPRA for health, financial services advertising guidance)
• Accessibility good practice for websites and documents

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Turn the checklist into a 30‑60‑90 day plan

• Days 1–30: fix tracking, tidy key pages, publish 2–4 high‑intent pages, launch tightly scoped campaigns
• Days 31–60: expand winning keywords and audiences, add remarketing, publish a flagship guide/case study
• Days 61–90: scale budgets with CAC control, introduce 1–2 new offers, automate top nurture paths

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Common strategy mistakes to avoid

• Vague goals and no commercial model (CAC, payback, margin)
• Channel first, audience last (tactics without demand insight)
• No conversion ownership (great traffic, weak follow‑up)
• Under‑investing in creative and proof
• No weekly dashboard, so issues surface late

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What a sensible next step looks like

Convert your notes into a short plan: goals, audiences, priority channels, first five projects, owners, dates and budgets. Set a weekly performance review and a monthly commercial summary to keep decisions tied to outcomes.

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