INTRODUCING

DIGITAL
MARKETING
How have digital technologies transformed
marketing?
The Internet, the web, and digital media have transformed
marketing and business since the first website went live in 1991.

To succeed in the future, organizations will need marketers,

strategists, and agencies with up-to-date knowledge of how to
apply digital media.

The challenge for marketers is to assess which innovations are the

most relevant to their organization and to seek to gain advantage
by integrating digital marketing techniques with traditional
marketing communications.
Definitions - what are digital marketing
and multichannel marketing?
Digital media
Communications are facilitated through content and interactive services
delivered by different digital technology platforms including the internet,
web, mobile phone, interactive TV, and digital signage.

Digital marketing
The application of the Internet and related digital technologies in
conjunction with traditional communications to achieve marketing
objectives

Online company presence

Different forms of online media controlled by a company including their
website, blogs, email list, and social media presences.
Definitions - what are digital marketing
and multichannel marketing?
Electronic customer relationship
management (E-CRM)
Using digital communications technologies to maximize sales to existing
customers and encourage continued usage of online services through
techniques including database, personalized web messages, customer
services, email, and social media marketing

Multichannel marketing
Customer communications and product distribution are supported by a
combination of digital and traditional channels at different points in the
buying cycle.

Customer journeys
The sequence of online and offline touchpoints a customer takes during
a buying process or broader customer experience. Online, this may
include a range of digital platforms, communications media websites,
pages, and engagement devices.
 Paid, owned, and earned media

Paid media Owned media Earned media

Also known as bought
media, a direct payment
occurs to a site owner or an
ad network when they serve
an ad, a sponsorship or pay
for click, lead or sale
generated
Different forms of online
media controlled by a
company including their
website, blogs, email list,
and social media presence
Publicity generated through
PR invested in targeting
influencers to increase
awareness about a brand.
The audience is reached
through editorial, comments,
and sharing online.
The intersection of the three key online
media types
The growing range of digital marketing
platforms
Desktop, laptop, and notebook
platforms

Mobile phone and tablet

platforms

Other harware platforms

Software platforms for managing

marketing
Software platforms for managing
modern marketing
Marketing experiences
More specialized technologies that directly affect prospects and
customers across their lifecycle, such as advertising, email, social
media, search engine optimization, content marketing, A/B testing,
marketing apps - the ‘front-office’ of modern marketing.

Marketing operations
The tools and data for managing the ‘back-office’ of marketing, such as
analytics, Marketing Resource Management (MRM), Digital Asset
Management (DAM), and agile marketing management.

Marketing middleware
Data Management Platforms, tag management, cloud connectors, user
management, and API services
Software platforms for managing
modern marketing
Marketing backbone platforms
Customer relationship management, marketing automation, content
management, and e-commerce engines.

Infrastructure services
Databases, big data management, cloud computing, and software
development tools

Internet services
Facebook, Google, Instagram, X that underlie today’s marketing
environment
Introduction to digital marketing strategy
Positioning
Customers’ perception of the product and brand offering relative to
those of competitors.

Target marketing strategy

Evaluation and selection of appropriate customer segments and the
development of appropriate offers.

Online value proposition (OVP)

A statement of the benefits of online services that reinforces the core
proposition and differentiates from an organization’s offline offering and
those of competitors.
Key features of digital marketing strategy
The interaction and integration between Internet channels and traditional channels is a key part of
digital marketing strategy development.

Digital marketing strategy is essentially a channel marketing strategy and it needs to be integrated
with other channels as part of multichannel marketing.

Be aligned with business and marketing strategy, with more specific annual
business priorities and initiatives.
Use clear objectives for business and brand development, and the online
contribution of leads and sales for the Internet or other digital channels.
Be consistent with the types of customers who use and can effectively reached
through a digital channel.
Define a compelling, differential value proposition for the channel which must
be effectively communicated to customers.
Specify the mix of online and offline communication tools used to attract
visitors to the company website or interact with the brand through other digital
media such as email or mobile.
Support the customer journey through the buying process as they select and
purchase products using the digital channel in combination with other channels
Manage the online customer lifecycle through the stages of attracting visitors to
the website, converting them into customers and retention, and growth.
Sample applications of digital marketing in
the airline industry

Advertising medium
Display ads on publisher sites or social networks can be used to create awareness of
brands and demands for products and services.

Direct-response medium
Targeted search advertising enables companies to drive visits to a site when
consumers shows intent to purchase, such as searching for a flight or
destination

Platform for sales transactions

Online flight booking is now the most common method for
booking flights both for consumers and business travelers.
Sample applications of digital marketing in
the airline industry

Lead-generation method
For booking flights, tools can be provided which help identify and follow up corporate flight
purchases

Distribution channel
Such as for distributing digital products. Today, airlines sell more insurance
services than previously

Customer service mechanism

For example, customers may self-serve more cost effectively by reviewing FAQs

Relationship-building medium
A company can interact with its customers to better understand
needs and publicize relevant products and offers.
 Benefits of digital marketing

Identifying Anticipating Satisfying

The Internet can be used for
marketing research to find
out customers’ needs and
wants.
The Internet provides an
additional channel by which
customers can access
information and make
purchases
Is the site easy to use? Does
it perform adequately? What
is the standard of customer
service? How are physical
products dispatched?
The 5S of internet marketing
Alternative digital business models
Business and consumer business models
A basic aspect of the types of online business model is whether the proposition offered
appeals to consumers or business. So digital marketing opportunities are often described
in terms of extent to which an organization is transaction with consumers or other
businesses.
 What is the difference between e-commerce and e-
business?

Electronic commerce (e-commerce)

e-commerce refers to both financial and informational electronically
mediated transactions between an organization and any third party id
deals with. So e-commerce involves management not only of online
sales transactions, but also of non-financial transactions such as
inbound customer service enquiries and outbound email broadcasts, so
you can argue that e-commerce is open to all online organizations

It is subdivided into:

Sell-side e-commerce
E-commerce transactions between a supplier organization and its customers.

Buy-side e-commerce
E-commerce transactions between a purchasing organization and its suppliers
What is the difference between e-commerce and e-
business?
E-business or digital business
Is similar to e-commerce buy broader in scope and refers to using digital
technology to manage a range of business processes incorporating the sell-
side and buy-side ecommerce and also other key supporting business
processes including research and development, marketing, manufacturing,
and inbound and outbound logistics.
Different forms of online presence

Transactional e-commerce site

Enables purchase of products online. The main business contribution of the site is
through sale of products. The sites also support the business by providing
information for customers who prefer to purchase products offline.

Services-orientated relationship-building
Provides information to stimulate purchase and build relationships. Products are not
typically available for purchase online. Info is provided through the website and e-
newsletters to inform purchase decisions.

Brand-building site
The main focus us to support the brand by developing an online experience of the
brand. They are typical for low-value, high-volume fast-moving consumer goods
(FMCG) brands for consumers.
Different forms of online presence

Portal or media site

Portal refers to a gateway to information; it is not in common usage today. This is
information both on the site and through links to other sites. It has a diversity of
options for generating revenue including advertising, commission-based sales, sale
of customer data.

Social network or community site

These sites or parts of sites focus on enabling community interactions between
different consumers. Typical interactions include posting comments and replies to
comments, sending messages, rating content and tagging content in particular
categories. Well-known examples include Facebook, LinkedIn, X.
Challenges in developing and managing digital
marketing strategy (Smart Insights, 2014)

Planning
50% of businesses surveyed do not have a defined digital plan or strategy although they
are active in digital marketing, while nearly half also don’t have a defined marketing plan in
the business against which to align strategy.

Organizational capabilities
43% of businesses have a well-defined performance improvement process,
with 46% having adapted their structure. Many businesses either already have
or are planning to introduce a digital transformation program, although 37% of
businesses don’t think it’s relevant for them.

Integration of digital channels into marketing

Only 26% of companies were happy with their level of integration
of digital marketing and traditional communications.

ROI evaluation
39% see opportunities from digital marketing, but find ROI
measurement challenging.
A strategic framework for developing a digital
marketing strategy

A. Defining the online opportunity

1. Set digital marketing objectives - Companies need to set specific numerical
objectives for their online channels and then resource to deliver these
objectives
2. Evaluate digital marketing performance - Apply web analytics tools to
measure the contribution of leads, sales, and brand involvement currently
delivered by online communications.
3. Assess online marketplace - Situation analysis review of the micro-
environment (customers, competitors, intermediaries, suppliers, internal
capabilities, and resources) and the broader macro environment which
influences strategy.
A strategic framework for developing a digital
marketing strategy

B. Selecting the strategic approach

1. Define the digital marketing strategy - Select appropriate strategies to
achieve the objectives set at stage A.
2. 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.
3. Define digital communications mix - Select the offline and online
communications tools to encourage usage of an organization’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.
A strategic framework for developing a digital
marketing strategy

C. Delivering results online

1. Implement digital marketing plan - This details the implementation of the
strategy.
2. Implement customer experience - Build the website and create the email
marketing communications which form the online interactions customers
make with a company.
3. 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.
4. Customer profiling, monitoring, improving online activities, and maintaining
the online activities - Capture profile and behavioral data on customer
interactions with the company and summarize and disseminate reports and
alerts about performance compared with objectives in order to drive
performance improvement.
Introduction to digital marketing communications

Digital media channels

Online communications techniques used to achieve goals of brand
awareness, familiarity, favourability and to influence purchase intent by
encouraging users of digital media to visit a website to engage with the
brand or product, and ultimately to purchase online or offline through
traditional media channels such as by phone or in-store.
Using digital media channels to support business
objectives

RACE is a practical framework developed by Smart

Insights (2010) to help marketers manage and
improve the commercial value that their organizations
gain from digital marketing.

It is intended to help create a simplified approach to

reviewing the performance of online marketing and
taking actions to improve its effectiveness.

RACE consists of four steps designed to help engage

prospects, customers and fans with brands throughout
the customer lifecycle.
Using digital media channels to support business
objectives
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: Act
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.
The key types of digital media channels

Search engine marketing

Placing messages on a search engine to encourage clickthrough to a website when
the user types a specific keyword phrase. Two key search marketing techniques are
paid placements or sponsored links using pay-per-click, and placements in the
natural or organic listings using search engine optimization where no charge is
made for clicks from the search engine.

Online PR
Maximizing favourable mentions of your company, brands, products or websites on
third-party websites such as social networks, blogs, podcasts or feeds that are likely
to be visited by your target audience.

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,
online sponsorship and co-branding.
The key types of digital media channels

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.

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.

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. Here content is shared or messages are
forwarded to help achieve awareness and, in some cases, drive response.
The key types of digital media channels

Social media marketing

Social media marketing is an important category of digital marketing
which involves encouraging customer communications on a
company’s own site, or social presences such as Facebook or X or
in specialist publisher sites, blogs and forums.

To take advantage of the benefits of social media it is important to

start and participate in customer conversations. These can be
related to products, promotions or customer service and are aimed
at learning more about customers and providing support, thus
improving the way a company is perceived.
Different types of social media marketing tools

Social networks
The core social platforms in most countries where people interact
through social networks are Facebook for consumer audiences,
LinkedIn for business audiences.

Social publishing and news

Nearly all newspapers and magazines, whether broad or niche, now
have an online presence with the option to participate through
comments on articles, blogs or communities.

Social commenting in blogs

A company blog can form the hub of your social media strategy and
you can look at tapping into others’ blogs, whether company or
personal or through blog outreach.
Different types of social media marketing tools

Social niche communities

These are communities and forums independent of the main networks,
although these do support sub-groups. You can create your own
community this way.

Social customer service

Sites like GetSatisfaction, as well as companies’ own customer support
forums, are increasingly important for responding to customer
complaints.

Social knowledge

These are reference social networks like Yahoo! Answers, Quora and
similar, plus Wikipedia. They show how any businesses can engage
their audiences by solving their problems and subtly showing how their
products have helped others.
 Benefits of digital media

Interactivity Individualization Intelligence Integration

Key communication concepts for digital marketing

Customer engagement
Repeated interactions that strengthen the emotional, psychological or
physical investment a customer has in a brand.

Permission marketing
Customers agree (opt in) to be involved in an organisation’s marketing
activities, usually as a result of an incentive.

Content marketing

The management of text, rich media, audio and video content aimed at
engaging customers and prospects to meet business goals published
through print and digital media including web and mobile platforms
which is repurposed and syndicated to different forms of web presence
such as publisher sites, blogs, social media and comparison sites.
Elements of content management that need to be
planned and managed

Content engagement value

Which types of content will engage the audience – is it simple product or services
information, a guide to buying product, or a game to engage your audience?

Content media
Plain text, rich media such as Flash or Rich Internet applications or mobile
apps, audio (podcasts) and hosted and streamed video.

Content syndication
Content can be syndicated to different types of sites through feeds, APIs,
microformats or direct submission by email.

Content participation
Effective content today is not simply delivered for static consumption, it should
enable commenting, ratings and reviews.

Content participation
The different digital access platforms such as desktops and
laptops of different screen resolution and mobile devices.