We are a digital communication strategy agency in Jakarta. Before anyone designs a key visual or books a shoot, we work out what your brand should say, to whom, where, and why they should care. Then the same team turns that into the concept and the assets that carry it. This page covers how we research, how we decide, what we make, and how we will know whether it worked.
What is a digital communication strategy?
A digital communication strategy (strategi komunikasi digital) is the plan that connects a business objective to what a brand says online. It defines the audience, the insight, the core message, the role of each channel, and the measures of success. A campaign is one expression of it, not a substitute for it.
It differs from a digital marketing strategy mainly in where it starts. Marketing strategy starts with the funnel and the budget. Communication strategy starts with meaning: what the brand stands for, what people already believe about it, and what we need them to believe next. Good work needs both, which is why we run them under one roof.
What this service covers
Three disciplines, run by one team rather than handed between vendors:
- Research and analytics, so ideation starts from your brand’s real needs rather than our favourite ideas.
- Ideation, which turns the research into the “what to say” and the concept that carries it.
- Production, which makes the assets, much of it shot in our Kebayoran studio.
Who it is for
Most briefs we see come from one of four situations:
- A launch. A new brand, product or market entry, where nobody yet knows what you stand for.
- A brand that says different things in different places. The website, the social accounts, the sales deck and the agency ads each tell their own story.
- Content that is busy but not working. Plenty is posted, engagement is flat, and nobody can say what the content is for.
- A new audience. Reaching Gen Z, a new region, or a business buyer who needs a different conversation from your existing customers.
If none of these fit, tell us what is not working. The diagnosis is part of the job.
We start with research, not a mood board
Ideas that last are usually built on something true. So the first stage is spent finding out what is true:
- Audience insight. Who buys, who influences, and what they are trying to get done. We build personas from your data, and from interviews where the budget allows, not from demographics alone.
- Social listening. What people already say about your brand, your category and your competitors, including sentiment and the language they use.
- Competitor and category review. Who owns which message, which messages nobody owns yet, and which conventions are worth breaking.
- Channel and content audit. What you have published, what performed, and which channels are doing a job versus simply existing.
- Small focus groups and surveys. Where the data raises a question only people can answer.
- Business context. Your objective, constraints, approvals process and what success has to look like for the people who sign off.
The output is a short research report, agreed before anyone starts writing headlines. If we disagree with the brief after the research, we will say so, with evidence.
From insight to idea
Research tells you what is true. Strategy decides what to do about it. This stage produces the “what to say”:
- The insight. One sentence about your audience that is both true and useful.
- Positioning and the messaging house. The core message, the supporting messages and the proof behind each, so every team and agency tells the same story.
- Tone of voice. How the brand sounds, with examples of what it would and would not say.
- The big idea. A campaign platform that can live for more than one quarter and flex across formats.
- Content pillars. A small number of themes that every post, video and article must belong to.
Only then do we move to the creative concept: key visuals, storylines, storyboards and first-draft copy, presented as a small number of routes with our recommendation and the reasons for it.
Every channel gets one job
A channel strategy is not a list of platforms. For each channel we decide its role in the customer journey (awareness, consideration, conversion or loyalty), the format it needs, the frequency it can sustain, and the measure that proves it is doing its job.
In Indonesia that usually means working across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn for business audiences, search, and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and creators. Content is written for Bahasa Indonesia first where the audience lives there, with English where the audience or the brand needs it. Whenever a campaign collects personal data, we plan for Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection (UU PDP) and work with your legal team on consent and retention.
When the plan calls for paid reach, it hands over directly to our media buying and measurement team. The people who wrote the strategy stay in the room.
What we make
Our production team works from the same documents the strategists wrote:
- Key visuals and ad layouts adapted per platform and placement, not resized.
- Social media editorials and a content calendar tied to the content pillars.
- Photo planning, direction and editing.
- Storyboards and video direction, from concept to post-production, with our own production team and a 100 m² studio in Kebayoran.
- Website and landing page design where the campaign needs a home.
- Ad copy in Bahasa Indonesia and English.
Production is planned against the channel plan, so one shoot day produces the cut-downs, stills and verticals each channel actually needs.
How we measure success
Before production starts, we agree the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the baseline, and how each will be reported. We usually track three levels:
- Attention: reach, frequency, video completion and share of voice against named competitors.
- Engagement and meaning: engagement rate, saves and shares, sentiment, and whether people repeat the message back, which we check through social listening and short brand-lift surveys where the budget allows.
- Business outcomes: traffic, leads, sign-ups or sales, tracked through the analytics and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools you already use, or through BIG CRM where post-purchase loyalty is part of the plan.
We report what moved, what did not, and what we will change. Strategy is revisited on a set rhythm, because audiences move faster than annual plans.
What you receive
- A research report with audience personas and the key insight
- A messaging house and tone of voice guide
- The campaign platform and creative concept routes
- A channel plan with the role, format and KPI for each channel
- Content pillars and a content calendar
- Production assets, delivered in the formats each platform needs
- A measurement framework and regular performance reports
What we will not promise
We will not promise virality, a follower count, or a sentiment shift by a fixed date. Those depend on things no agency controls. We will promise a plan grounded in research, work that follows it, and honest reporting on whether it is working, including when the answer is “not yet”.
If the research says the brief is wrong, we will say so before we spend your production budget. And if a message is not landing, we will change it rather than defend it.
How we work together
Most engagements start as a strategy project of a few weeks: research, strategy and creative concept, ending with a plan you own whether or not we produce it. Production and ongoing optimisation can then continue on a retainer. Approvals are agreed up front, with one decision-maker per stage, so the work does not stall between departments.
BIG In Digital began in 2011 as the digital marketing division of Erasys Group, and has since worked with banking, pharma, FMCG and hospitality brands. Strategy, creative and technology have always sat in the same building, which is why a plan written here does not get lost on its way to production. You can see campaigns we have shipped or read more about how we work.
Common questions
How is a digital communication strategy different from a campaign?
The strategy decides what the brand should say and why; a campaign is one time-bound execution of it. A good strategy should outlive several campaigns.
Do you also produce the content, or only write the strategy?
Both. Research, ideation and production sit in one team, with an in-house video and photo studio. You can also take the strategy to your own production partners.
How long does it take?
A strategy project typically takes a few weeks from kick-off to the final plan, depending on how much research is needed and how many people need to approve it. We agree the timeline before we start.
How is it priced?
Strategy is scoped as a fixed project. Production and ongoing management are usually a monthly retainer or priced per deliverable. We quote after we understand your objectives and constraints.
How is this different from Digital Performance?
Digital communication strategy decides what the brand says and makes the work. Digital Performance buys the media, runs search and proves the results. Most campaigns use both, run by the same team.
Which KPIs do you use?
It depends on the objective, but we always agree them in writing before production: attention measures, engagement and sentiment measures, and at least one business outcome.
Do you work with KOLs and creators?
Yes. Creators are planned as a channel with a defined job, a brief tied to the messaging house, and their own measures.
Which markets do you cover?
Indonesia primarily, from Jakarta and Yogyakarta, with a Singapore presence for regional work.
Start with strategy
Tell us the objective and the constraint. We will tell you what we would research, what we think the brand should say, and how we would prove it worked.
Start with strategy · sales@bigindigital.com