Introducing

Digital Marketing
Unit 34 – Level 5
Lecturer:
 TOPIC
OUTLINE
01 Definition of digital marketing

02 Introduction to digital marketing strategy

03 Introduction to digital marketing communications

 A strategic framework for
developing a digital marketing strategy
Digital Marketing
Framework for developing a digital marketing strategy

Figure 1.9
A generic digital marketing strategy
development process
Digital Marketing
Framework for developing a digital marketing strategy
A: Defining the online opportunity
Setting objectives to define the potential is the core of this phase of strategy development. Key activities
are:

1. Set digital marketing objectives

Companies need to set specific numerical objectives for their online channels and then resource to deliver these
objectives. These objectives should be informed by and influence the business objectives and also the following two
activities:

a - Evaluate digital marketing performance

Apply web analytics tools to measure the contribution of leads, sales and brand involvement currently delivered by online
communications such as search engine marketing, online advertising and email marketing in conjunction with the
website.

b - Assess online marketplace

Situation analysis review of:
• the micro-environment (customers, competitors, intermediaries, suppliers and internal capabilities and resources)
• the macro-environment which influences strategy, such as legal requirements and technology innovation.
Digital Marketing
Framework for developing a digital marketing strategy
B: Selecting the strategic approach

2 Define digital marketing strategy

Select appropriate strategies to achieve the objectives set at stage A1.

a - Define customer value proposition

• Define the value proposition available through the online channel and how it relates to the core proposition delivered
by the company.
• Review segmentation and targeting options.
• Review the marketing mix and brand values to evaluate how they can be improved online.

b - Define digital communications mix

• Select the offline and online communications tools to encourage usage of an organisation’s online services and to
generate leads and sales.
• Develop new outbound communications and event-triggered touch strategies to support customers through their
relationship with the company.
Digital Marketing
Framework for developing a digital marketing strategy
C: Delivering results online

3 Implement digital marketing plan

a - Implement customer experience
• Build the website and create the email marketing communications which form the online interactions customers make
with a company.
• Create online customer relationship management capabilities to understand customers’ characteristics, needs and
behaviours and to deliver targeted, personalised value

b - Execute digital communications

• Manage the continuous online marketing communications such as search engine marketing, partnership social media
marketing, sponsorships and affiliate arrangements, and campaign-based e-marketing communications such as
online advertising, email marketing and microsites to encourage usage of the online service and to support customer
acquisition and retention campaigns.
• Integrate the digital media channels with traditional marketing.

4 Customer profiling, monitoring and improving online activities and maintaining the online activities
• Capture profile and behavioural data on customer interactions with the company
• Summarise and disseminate reports
• Alerts about performance compared with objectives in order to drive performance improvement.
 Introduction to
Digital Marketing Communications
Digital Marketing
Key marketing communications concepts

Table 1.4
Key marketing communications
concepts
Digital Marketing
Key marketing communications concepts

Table 1.4
Key marketing communications concepts
Digital Marketing
In-class activity:
Digital media differences?

Purpose: To illustrate similarities and differences between digital and traditional media.
Activity:
• Make two columns.
• On the left, write down different digital media channels.
• On the right, the corresponding communications disciplines such as advertising, direct marketing or PR
which are most appropriate.
Digital Marketing
Using digital media channels to
support business objectives
Before explaining the different digital media channels, it is important to consider how they can support
business goals. RACE is a practical framework developed by Smart Insights (2010) to help marketers
manage and improve the commercial value that their organisations gain from digital marketing.

RACE consists of four steps designed to help engage prospects, customers and fans with brands
throughout the customer lifecycle.
 Step 1: Reach – Build awareness of a brand, its products and services on other sites and in offline
media and build traffic by driving visits to web and social media presences.
 Step 2: Interact – Engage audience with brand on its website or other online presence to encourage
them to act or interact with a company or other customers.
 Step 3: Convert – Achieve conversion to generate leads or sales on web presences and offline.
 Step 4: Engage – Build customer relationships through time to achieve retention goals.
Digital Marketing

Figure 1.10
RACE: Reach – Act (Interact) –
Convert – Engage

Source: Smart Insights (2010)

Digital Marketing
The key types of digital media channels
There are many online communications tools which marketers must review as part of their communications
strategy or as part of planning an online marketing campaign. To assist with planning, Chaffey and Smith (2012)
recommend that these online marketing tools are divided into the six main groups:

1. Search engine marketing.

Placing messages on a search engine to encourage click- through to a website when the user types a
specific keyword phrase.
Examples of some SEM platform:
Two key search marketing techniques are:
• paid placements or sponsored links using
pay-per-click (PPC)
• placements in the natural or organic
listings using search engine optimization
(SEO) where no charge is made for clicks
from the search engine.
Digital Marketing
The key types of digital media channels
Chaffey and Smith (2012) recommend that these online marketing tools are divided into the six main groups:

2. Online PR
Maximising favourable mentions of your company, brands, products or websites
on third-party websites such as:
• social networks
• blogs
• podcasts
• feeds that are likely to be visited by your target audience
• responding to negative mentions
• conducting public relations
Digital Marketing
The key types of digital media channels
Chaffey and Smith (2012) recommend that these online marketing tools are divided into the six main groups:

3. Online Partnerships
Creating and managing long-term arrangements to promote your online services on third-party websites
or through email communications.
Different forms of partnership include:
• link building
• affiliate marketing
• aggregators such as price comparison sites like Moneysupermarket (www.moneysupermarket.com)
• online sponsorship
• co-branding.
Digital Marketing
The key types of digital media channels
Chaffey and Smith (2012) recommend that these online marketing tools are divided into the six main groups:

4. Display advertising
Use of online ads such as banners and rich media
ads to achieve brand awareness and encourage
click-through to a target site.
Digital Marketing
The key types of digital media channels
Chaffey and Smith (2012) recommend that these online marketing tools are divided into the six main groups:

5. Opt-in email marketing

Renting email lists or placing ads in third-party e-newsletters or
the use of an in-house list for customer activation and retention.

Source: Moosend
Digital Marketing
The key types of digital media channels
Chaffey and Smith (2012) recommend that these online marketing tools are divided into the six main groups:

6. Social media marketing

• Companies participate and advertise within
social networks and communities to reach and
engage their audience.
• Viral marketing or online word- of-mouth
messages are closely related to this.
• Content is shared or messages are forwarded
to help achieve awareness and, in some
cases, drive response.
Digital Marketing

Six categories of e-communications tools or media channels

Source: Chaffey and Smith (2012)
Digital Marketing
Benefits of digital media
‘6 Is of the e-marketing mix’ - A useful summary of the differences between new media and traditional media
originally developed by McDonald and Wilson (1999)

1. Interactivity

Figure 1.13
Summary of communication models for:
(a) traditional media
(b) new media
Digital Marketing
Benefits of digital media
2. Intelligence

Digital media and technology can be used

as a relatively low-cost method of
collecting marketing research, particularly
about customer perceptions of products
and services, which reviews digital
analytics and market research.
Digital Marketing
Benefits of digital media
3. Individualisation

Another important feature of interactive

marketing communications is that they
can be tailored to the individual at
relatively low costs, unlike in traditional
media where the same message tends to
be broadcast to everyone.
This individualisation is based on the
intelligence collected about site visitors
and then stored in a database and
subsequently used to target and
personalise communications to customers
to achieve relevance in all media.
Digital Marketing
Benefits of digital media

4. Integration
The Internet provides further scope for
integrated marketing communications.
Figure 1.15 shows the role of the Internet in
multichannel marketing

Figure 1.15
Channels requiring integration as part of integrated e-marketing strategy
Digital Marketing
Benefits of digital media

4. Integration
Examples:
• The Internet can be used as a direct-
response tool, enabling customers to
respond to offers and promotions
publicised in other media.
• The website can have a direct response
or callback facility built into it.
• The Internet can be used to support the
buying decision even if the purchase
Figure 1.16 does not occur via the website through
The role of mixed-mode buying in Internet marketing
assisted selling via live chat or phone.
Digital Marketing
Benefits of digital media
5. Industry restructuring
Disintermediation:
The removal of intermediaries such as distributors or brokers that formerly linked a company to its
customers.

Reintermediation:
The creation of new intermediaries between customers and suppliers providing services such as supplier
search and product evaluation.

 Disintermediation and reintermediation are key concepts of industry restructuring that should be
considered by any company developing an e-marketing strategy.
Digital Marketing
Benefits of digital media

6. Independence of location

Electronic media also introduce the possibility of

increasing the reach of company communications
to the global market. This gives opportunities to
sell into international markets which may not
previously have been possible. The Internet makes
it possible to sell to a country without a local sales
or customer service force (although this may still
be necessary for some products).
Digital Marketing
Key challenges of digital communications

• Complexity
To enable the benefits we have mentioned above – such as personalisation, testing and dynamic variation
in ads through time – time has to go into configuring the campaign although the search engines provide
defaults to enable easy setup. This requires specialist expertise either in-house or at an agency to
manage the campaign.

• Responding to competitors
Since competitors can also change their approach readily, more resource has to be used to monitor
competitor activity. Automated tools known as bid management tools can assist with this – they will
automatically check amounts competitors are paying and then adjust them according to pre-defined rules.
Digital Marketing
Key challenges of digital communications
• Responding to changes in technology and marketing platforms
Google and the other ad-serving companies innovate to offer better capabilities for their customers. This
means that staff managing campaigns need training to keep up-to-date.

• Cost
Although costs can be readily controlled, in competitive categories the costs can be high, exceeding €10
per click.

• Attention
While online paid search ads are highly targeted and there is arguably little wastage, not everyone will
view paid adverts, indeed there is a phenomenon known as ‘banner blindness’ where web users ignore
online ads. Engaging with the audience with advertising is also a problem in social networks and other
publisher sites, which can lead to a very low rate of people clicking on ads.
Digital Marketing
Key communications concepts for digital marketing
In this section, we introduce three key concepts which underpin digital communications across the digital
media we have introduced in this chapter.

1. Customer engagement.
2. Permission marketing.
3. Content marketing.

The Content Marketing Hub

Source: Smart Insights (2015a)
Digital Marketing

Case study:
eBay thrives in a global marketplace

Image source: nbcnews, 2020

Case Question: Discuss how eBay has had to evolve its online brand proposition and communicate it to
achieve continued growth