Directorate of Open and Distance Learning

Guru Nanak Dev University

Seminar Report for Subject Code (OLMBA-205S)

1. Name of the student Kamal Jeet

2. Father’s name Sh. Rikhi Ram

3. Roll No. 26012155219

4. Class (Sem.) MBA (2nd Sem.)

5. Subject (course) Code OLMBA-205S

6. Subject (Course) name Seminar -II

7. Topic Digital Marketing

8. No. of Pages 57

9. Students Signature & Date Kamal Jeet; 11/06/22

 DECLARATION

This is to declare that the work which is being presented in the seminar, entitled “Digital

Marketing” has been submitted to Directorate of Open and Distance Learning, Guru Nanak

Dev University, in the partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of

Master in Business by Kamal Jeet (2021010078539), is bonafide work done by me and not

submitted at any other institution for any kind of degree.

Kamal Jeet

(Reg no.: 2021010078539)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all those who gave me the possibility

to complete this assignment. Special thanks to Directorate of Open and Distance Learning,

Guru Nanak Dev University, Whose initiatives helped, stimulate and encourage me in all time

of understanding the process and in writing this assignment. I also sincerely thanks to all for

the time spent proofreading and correcting my many mistakes.

Kamal Jeet

(Reg no.: 2021010078539)

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 LIST OF TABLE

S. No. Title of Table Page No.

1 1.1 Traditional Marketing versus Digital Marketing 18

2 1.2 Difference between Pull and Push Digital Marketing 20

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 LIST OF FIGURE

S. No. Title of Figure Page No.

1 Figure 1.1 Roadmap of digital marketing from launch to 6

advancement in content and social media establishment.

2 Figure 1.2: Digital Marketing History Graphic Guide 9

3 Figure: 1.3 Graphical abstract: representing the wonder of 14

digital marketing.

4 Figure 1.4: Graphical representation about coke. 19

5 Figure 1.5: Time spent on online vs traditional media, by 21

market.

6 Figure 1.6: Digital Marketing Strategy Building Process 30

7 Figure: 1.7: Soft drinks brand first launched CokeTV in 37

Germany back in 2014.

8 Figure 1.8: marketing persona template. 41

9 Figure 1.9: Graphical sample of a persona. 42

10 Figure 1.10: Segments for Digital Marketing strategies. 42

11 Figure 1.11: Display advertising for brand awareness & 45

direct response campaigns.

12 Figure 1.12: Search Advertising 45

13 Figure 1.13: Mobile Advertising 46

14 Figure 1.14: Social Advertising 47

15 Figure 1.15: Video Advertising 48

16 Figure 1.16: Cross-Channel Advertising. 48

17 Figure 1.17: Demand side platform. 49

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1. INTRODUCTION

The rise of digitalization has brought a new perspective to implement in their all walks of life

to ease up their day to day life with same expected efficiency. Different people use digital

marketing concept in different manner. With the evolution of internet and web marketing, it is

denoted and used with various jargons such as e-marketing, internet marketing, e-commerce,

e-business, etc. Although, these terms are inter-related, there is quite a difference in all these

terms. The term ‘Internet marketing’ means promotion of the goods and services on the internet

platform, in real time, live with the internet connection. The term ‘E-business’ can be

understood in a broader concept as it deals with the application of technology in the promotion

of business transaction and its internal processes with third party. This involves two processes

e-marketing which indicates its marketing side and e-commerce which represents its

commercial side. Electronic marketing or e-marketing utilizes the digital technologies and

internet to promote goods and services through media and electronic methods. According to

the Rowan (2002), e-marketing can be described as practicing and using the information

technology to complete the marketing process which involves various process such as

communication, creation and delivery of value to customer in order to maintain and manage

customer relationship. While the term ‘E-Commerce’ reflects the commercial side of the

business which involves selling and buying of goods and services using the internet platform

and promoting financial transaction using electronic media.

The ‘digital’ term can be expressed as electronic data transmission which is no variable and

finite in nature. These digital frequencies consist of analogue signals which interpret sound

waves into electrical signals for continuous data transmission technology. However, currently

the marketing action when relies over a digital medium in order to perform marketing function,

it becomes digital.

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Figure 1.1 Roadmap of digital marketing from launch to advancement in content and

social media establishment

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Digital marketing is a promotional tool to promote goods and services using various digital and

electronic media source. In the research study conducted by Techopedia the researchers

expressed the digital marketing propensity by implementing multiple methods and promotional

practices to access customers via various digital technological platforms. Bird (2007) also

explained digital marketing as a mode of communication which uses different media activities

of digital transmission that creates a direct link between the prospects or customer as an

individual and the company. The term medium within digital marketing refers to as

applications, channels, manners, instruments and devices which function on the basis of digital

codes. The various platforms are operated and channelized by the digital media such as social

networking sites, search engines, websites, online communities that are the content based

platforms which can be accessed by using internet technology on devices like digital TV,

mobile phones, digital outdoors etc. The digital marketing is different from the internet

marketing. Digital marketing is operated by real time internet connection with the use of emails,

blogs, social media and search engine optimization. It also includes other channels such as

business websites, business networking sites, paid advertisement, apps and online tools. On the

other hand internet marketing is basically built on web presence and responsible for increasing

sales through websites, pay-per click-ads, and search engine traffic. The digital marketing

includes short message service (SMS), multimedia message services (MMS), digital outdoors,

billboards, digital TVs, mobile applications, call back, e-books, that are run online or offline to

promote product and increase sales by generating traffic. Additionally, the rise of the new aged

technologies, such as augmented reality, is also pushing the boundaries of digital marketing

beyond internet marketing. This makes internet marketing a sub-category of digital marketing.

Digital marketing is often confused with online marketing. Digital marketing is the process of

promoting a brand, service or product on the internet. Put simply, Digital marketing differs

from traditional marketing in that it involves the use of online channels and methods that enable

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businesses and organizations to monitor the success of their marketing campaigns, often in real

time, to better understand what does and doesn’t work.

The 21st century has witnessed the developing a web presence in most companies. E-mail was

commonplace and there was technology allowing people to manage this fairly easily. Customer

relationship management (CRM) systems had been in place for some time to manage databases.

Some companies were placing banners on websites with a similar approach to press

advertising. Forward- thinking companies were working on their search engine strategy and

even working with some affiliates. All of this was online marketing and, in time, online

marketing teams and specialists would begin to appear.

The most common form of digital marketing is the website of the organization and the epicenter

of all its online activities. In order to drive qualified traffic to a website, orencourage repeat

visitors and sales, savvy marketers include a combination of email marketing, search engine

optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and social media in their strategy.

1.1 WHAT IS DIGITAL MARKETING?

The first approaches to digital marketing defined it as a projection of conventional marketing,

its tool and strategies, on Internet. Satya (2015) defined it as ‘online marketing’, ‘web

marketing’ or ‘internet marketing’. The term digital marketing became popular overtime,

especially in certain countries. In the USA online marketing is still prevalent, in Italy is referred

as web marketing but, in the UK, and worldwide, digital marketing has become the most

common term, especially after the year 2013.

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the marketing of products or services using digital

technologies, mostly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising and

any other digital terms.

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1.2 HOW HAS DIGITAL MARKETING EVOLVED?

Figure 1.2: Digital Marketing History Graphic Guide

So what has changed? The social media revolution has completely changed the internet and

consumer behavior. The penetration of board-band has increased speed, internet usage and user

expectation with over 40 per cent of the world now online and over 90 per cent in many

countries. Analytics has grown to the level where we can understand our consumers’

behavior in real time, including just not their usage statistics but also their demographics and

even interests. Mobile has gone smart and tablets have stormed onto the scene and both of these

changes have brought along apps. Touchscreen is becoming increasingly common across all

devices. Google has become an enormous organization and owns search globally. TVs have

gone smart and Bluetooth opens up another level of possibilities. With a naturally ageing

population there is now only a very small percentage who are technophobes simply due to age.

The marketing of products or services using digital channels to reach consumers. The key

objective is to promote brands through various forms of digital media. Digital marketing

extends beyond internet marketing to include channels that do not require the use of the

internet. It includes mobile phones (both SMS and MMS), social media marketing, display

advertising, search engine marketing, and any other form of digital media.

Most experts believe that 'digital' is not just yet another channel for marketing. It requires a

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new approach to marketing and a new understanding of customer behavior. For example, it

requires companies to analyze and quantify the value of downloads of apps on mobile devices,

tweets on Twitter, likes on Facebook and so on.

1.3 Example of a successful digital marketing campaign

One successful digital media campaign was by Pizza Hut, which created an app that allowed

customers to create their own pizza by dragging their chosen toppings onto a graphical pizza

base. The iPhone would then determine which of the chain's thousands of locations the

customer happened to be nearest. The company advertised the new app online, in print, and

on television - even winning a placement in Apple's own iPhone commercial.

Within two weeks, the Pizza Hut app was downloaded 100,000 times and within threemonths

iPhone users ordered $1m worth of pizza. The app now has millions of users across the iPhone,

iPad, and Android platforms.

1.4 DEFINITION OF DIGITAL MARKETING

Digital marketing is basically applying all marketing techniques to digital channels. Different

sources can be used to promote services and products like SMS, search engines, email,

websites, social media and mobile devices. The digital nature of this marketing method

makes it a cost-effective means of promoting one’s business.

The use of digital marketing depends on the organization’s marketing objective. It could be

that the organization wants to generate more leads, build their brands, increase sales or improve

brand engagement. Digital marketing means more than just having a website. The website

needs to be aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate, and also needs to have qualitycontent

to reflect the nature of the business.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important factor as well. Search engines need to read

and index the website properly. There are content and SEO specialists who can help

organizations to design websites which are responsive and accessed through all devices. Digital

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marketing also involves managing the organization’s social media presence and interacting

with fans as well as marketing the business across major social media channels.

2. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Due to a lack of communication and interaction, many customers switch to competitor

companies and the brands lose their loyal customers to rivals. The modern technologies such

as digital marketing provide enough opportunities to the marketers and brands to establish

communication with the consumers cost-effectively and provide higher customer satisfaction

levels. Digital marketing also allows the brands to establish direct interaction with the

consumers in the form of comments, chats, messages, feedback, emails, and websites so that

the issues that are faced by the customers are identified and resolved earnestly. Thus, by using

digital marketing means, the brands acquire affordable means to interact with the customers

and develop a strong customer base by providing the right product and company information.

The digital marketing tools are also used to update the customers about a new product launch,

season offers, and sales so that customer engagement is increased and the company is profited

from loyal customers. The current study examines the use of different digital marketing

channels for brand promotion and provides valuable information about the digital marketing

framework for brands to succeed. The study also provides a brief overview of the impact of

digital marketing communication on the consumer purchasing attitude and decision-making

process for products and services.

3. OBJECTIVE

The main aim is to learn about digital marketing. In addition to this, main objective is to explore

different digital marketing aspects and their significance and to describe the facts interpreted

form the collected secondary data.

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4. METHODOLOGY

The present study includes a descriptive study as it helps in exploring the facts associated with

the assignment topic following the objectives. The descriptive study will help to obtain

complete information using a systematic approach. It also provides information related to the

perception of people/respondents and develops data foundations on pre-arranged grounds. The

descriptive study provides data facts based on the state of events as they are and does not

modify the outcomes. The data collection method is one of the most crucial parts of the event

that helps in collecting data by using different tools and techniques. It includes the primary data

collection method and secondary data collection method. The technique that is to be applied

for the collection of data collection depends on the needs of the study and types of facts that

are to be collected by the researcher. Present study based on secondary data interpretation.

5. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL MARKETING

Digital marketing first appeared as a term in the 1990s but, as mentioned above, it was very

different world then; Web 1.0 was primarily static content with very little interaction and no

real communities. The first banner advertising started in 1993 and the first web crawler(called

WebCrawler) was created in 1994 – this was the beginning of search engine optimization

(SEO) as we know it.

Once Google started to grow at pace and Blogger was launched in 1999 the modern internet

age began. Blackberry, a brand not connected with innovation any more, launched mobile e-

mail and MySpace appeared. MySpace was the true beginning of social media as we define it

today, but it was not as successful as it could have been from a user experience perspective and

ultimately that is what led to its downfall.

Google’s introduction of Adwords was their real platform for growth and remains a key

revenue stream for them to this day. Their innovation, simple interface and accurate

algorithms continue to remain. Cookies have been a key development in delivering relevant

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comments and therefore personalizing user experience.

“One of the technologies which really brought information revolution in the society is Internet

Technology and is rightly regarded as the third wave of revolution after agricultural and

industrial revolution”.

The first search engine started in 1991 with a network protocol called Gopher for query and

search. In 1993, the first clickable banner went live, after which HotWired purchased a few

banners ads for their advertising. This marked the beginning of a new era, the digital era of

marketing. Because of this gradual shift, the year 1994 saw new technologies entering the

digital marketplace. The very same year, Yahoo was launched.

1998 saw the birth of Google. Microsoft launched the MSN search engine and Yahoo brought

to the market Yahoo web search. In 2000, the internet bubble burst and all the smaller search

engines were either left behind or wiped out leaving place for the giants. Then in 2006, digital

marketing world saw its first steep surge. At that time, search engine traffic already grown to

about 6.4 billion in a single month.

Soon, Google began to expand and along with this social networking sites began to emerge.

Myspace was the first social networking site followed by Facebook. With this, companies

realized that all these new sites are opening new doors of opportunity for them to market their

products and brands.

Products marketed digitally are now available to customers at all times. Statistics collected by

the Marketingtechblog for 2014 show that posting on social media is the top online activity in

the US. The average American spends 37 minutes a day on social media. 99% of digital

marketers use Facebook to market, 97% use Twitter, 70% use Google+, 69% use Pinterest and

59% use Instagram. 70% of B2C marketers have acquired customers through Facebook. 67%

of Twitter users are far more likely to buy from brands that they follow on Twitter. 83.8% of

luxury brands have a presence on Pinterest. The top three social networking sites used by

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marketers are LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Figure 1.2 illustrates the history and evolution

of Digital Marketing as a field of marketing

6. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRADITIONAL MARKETING AND DIGITAL

MARKETING

Many small businesses struggle with deciding which kind of marketing to do, because their

budget will only stretch to one or the other, not both. The decisions that must be made are not

easy: which method of marketing will give me the most amount of sales and profits? How do

I know if my marketing is working? Who should I trust with my marketing? Should I do it

myself? To clarify the terms, the use of print ads on newspapers and magazines is a simple

example of traditional marketing. Other examples include flyers that are put in mailboxes,

commercials both on TV and radio and billboards. On the other hand, when a business invests

on building a website, advertising the brand name through different social media such as

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, this kind strategy is called digital marketing.

Figure: 1.3 Graphical abstract: representing the wonder of digital marketing.

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 Benefits of Traditional Marketing

We can easily reach our target local audience. For example, a radio ad might play in one

location: our city or region. Or mailbox flyers will go to households in a select number of

suburbs.

The materials can be kept. The audience can have a hard copy of materials of which they

can read or browse through over and over again.

It's easy to understand. It can be easily understood by most people because they are already

exposed to this kind of strategy.

The Downside to Traditional Marketing

There is very little interaction between the medium used and the customers. It is more of

providing information to the public that the brand exists with the hope of these people

patronizing the brand.

Print or radio advertisements can be very costly. Printing materials can be expensive and

we need to hire people to distribute these.

Results on this marketing strategy cannot easily be measured. Was the campaign

successful?

Benefits of Digital Marketing

We can target a local audience, but also an international one. Further, we can tailor a

campaign to specific audience demographics, such as gender, location, age and interests. This

means our campaign will be more effective.

Our audience can choose how they want to receive content. While one person likes to read

a blog post, another person likes to watch a YouTube video. Traditional marketing doesn't give

the audience a choice. Most people hate receiving sales flyers in their mailbox or phone calls

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at inconvenient times on stuff that they have little interest in. Online people get the choice to

opt in or out of communications and often it is relevant because they were the ones searching

for it in the first place

Interaction with our audience is possible with the use of social media networks. In fact,

interaction is encouraged. Traditional marketing methods don't allow for audience interaction.

We can encourage our prospects, clients and followers to take action, visit website, read about

our products and services, rate them, buy them and provide feedback which is visible to our

market.

Digital marketing is cost-efficient. Though some invest on paid ads online; however, the cost

is still cheaper compared to traditional marketing.

Data and results are easily recorded. With Google Analytics and the insights tools offered

by most social media channels, we can check on our campaigns at any time. Unliketraditional

marketing methods, we can see in real time what is or is not working for our business online

and we can adapt very quickly to improve our results.

Level playing field: Any business can compete with any competitor regardless of size with a

solid digital marketing strategy. Traditionally a smaller retailer would struggle to match the

finesse of the fixtures and fittings of its larger competitors. Online, a crisp well thought out site

with a smooth customer journey and fantastic service is king – not size.

Real time results: we don’t have to wait weeks for a boost to our business like we would have

to waiting for a fax or form to be returned. We can see the numbers of visitors to our site and

its subscribers increase, peak trading times, conversion rates and much more at the touch of a

button.

Brand Development: A well maintained website with quality content targeting the needs and

adding value to our target audience can provide significant value and lead generation

opportunities. The same can be said for utilizing social media channels and personalized email

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marketing.

Viral: how often do our sales flyers get passed around instantly by our customers and

prospects? Online, using social media share buttons on website, email and social media

channels enables our message to be shared incredibly quickly. If we consider the average

Facebook user has 190 friends of which an average of 12% see their liked posts – one message

has actually been seen by 15 new prospects. Now imagine a number of them also like and

share message and their friends do the same? That's why high-quality content is so important.

So which kind of marketing is better?

It is recommended to use both traditional (physical) marketing and digital marketing materials

on the following grounds:

 Physical material is more “real” to the brain. It has a meaning, and a place. It is

betterconnected to memory because it engages with its spatial memory networks.

 Physical material involves more emotional processing, which is important for

memoryand brand associations.

 Physical materials produced more brain responses connected with internal feelings,

suggesting greater “internalization” of the ads.

How can organizations Use Both Digital & Traditional Marketing

The traditional marketing methods must support the organization’s digital marketing efforts.

The two do not operate in exclusion from each other. Only hard copy marketing materials can

be used to further strengthen a relationship with a contact, referral partner or client e.g

brochures to someone who is interested in the organization’s services.

Rather than taking an all or nothing approach, it appears that a multi-channel approach that

leverages the unique benefits of paper with the convenience and accessibility of digital will

perform best. Table 1.1 below outline the main differences between traditional marketing and

digital marketing.

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Table 1.1 Traditional marketing versus Digital marketing.

Traditional marketing Digital marketing

Communication is unidirectional. Meaning, Communication is bidirectional. The customer

a business communicates about its products can also ask questions or make suggestions about

or services with a group of people. the business products and services.

Medium of communication is generally Medium of communication is mainly through

phone calls, letters and emails. social media, chat, websites and emails.

Campaigning takes more time for There is always a fast way to develop an online

designing, preparing and launching. campaign and carry out changes along its

development. With digital tools, campaigning is

easier.

It is carried out for a specific audience The content is available for general public. It is

throughout from generating campaign then made to reach the specific audience by

ideas up to selling a product or a service. employing search engine techniques.

It is a conventional way of marketing; best It is best for reaching global audience.

for reaching local audience.

It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of It is easier to measure the effectiveness of a

a campaign. campaign through analytics.

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 Figure 1.4: Graphical representation about coke.

How Coca Cola became Digital Rockstars!!

Coca Cola have gripped the nation this summer with their simple but brilliant ‘share a coke’

campaign, offering consumers the chance to swap the coke brand name with their own and

share the experience with others.

This has arguably been one of the most revolutionary marketing campaigns ever delivered

and it demonstrates what can be achieved if digital is successfully integrated into the marketing

mix. Almost overnight, it's given digital marketers the world over a successful case study to

refer to in the budget battle against other traditional forms of marketing.

Coke Company has adapted their campaign to reflect how they consume their media since 2013

with complementary mix of on and offline media. What’s more, digital is at the heart of this

campaign because it makes their aim of delivering a ‘personalized brand experiences’ a reality,

and shows us what the future of marketing holds in store.

7. TYPES OF DIGITAL MARKETING APPROACHES-PULL AND PUSHDIGITAL

MARKETING

There are two types of digital marketing and one of these is pull digital marketing. It aims

to encourage consumers to come to us by visiting our business or making a call to action. Some

of the common examples of pull digital marketing are websites and other internet- based

mediums. Pull marketing is often called inbound marketing.

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Another type of digital marketing is push digital marketing. It pushes the marketing

information directly to customers. Common examples include SMS, email and RSS that target

the customer with a customized message. Push marketing can also be called outbound

marketing.

Table 1.2: Difference between Pull and Push Digital Marketing

PUSH PULL

“Taking the product to the customer” “Getting the customer to come to us”

TV, Radio, Print, PR, Email Blasts, Tradeshows, Search Marketing, Blogging,

Telemarketing Social/Communities, Articles, E-Books,

Whitepapers, Webinars

Pros: Good to raise awareness and build a brand Pros: Targeted, provides value,

(Especially if we are new in the “cloud space”) impactful (driving qualified leads) and

but shouldn’t expect to drive significant extremely cost effective.

leads/sales

Cons: Untargeted (very) expensive, provides Cons: Requires ongoing creation of

little/no value to business relevant content.

8. WHY IS DIGITAL MARKETING IMPORTANT?

Digital marketing offers the ability to reach and engage target audiences in ways which were

never before possible. A strong digital marketing strategy can deliver a far higher return on

investment (ROI) than traditional marketing methods.

People are consuming digital content at a never seen before rate. More than half of the planet

now has regular access to the internet, spending an average of 6 hours online per day, presenting

massive opportunities for brands and businesses. Such trend will not slow down, as the

number of internet-connected portable devices is on the rise. Gartner reported that smartphones

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surpassed the sales of feature phones for the first time in 2013, while the 2014 Q3 report from

Globalwebindex reports that consumers are now spending more time with online media than

they are with traditional forms of media.

Figure 1.5: Time spent on online vs traditional media, by market.

However, the particularities of the digital world and its appropriation for marketing have

fostered the development of channels, formats and languages that have led to tools and

strategies that are unthinkable offline.

Today, Digital Marketing has become a new phenomenon that brings together customization

and mass distribution to accomplish marketing goals. The development of Digital Marketing

strategies offer much potential for brands and organizations. Otero and Rolan (2016) put

forward some of them are:

 Branding: platform is a great opportunity to build a brand image on the Web due to

their scope, presence and constant updates.

 Completeness: the advantages of assembling information through links offer

customers the chance to approach the organization in a wider and customized way.

 Usability: simple and user-friendly platforms are available for all to improve user

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 experience and allow for their activities.

 Interactivity: internet offers the possibility of having a conversation and therefore

generating a positive experience with the brand.

 Visual communication: with digital marketing, marketers have different image and

video-based tools. This helps to reach audiences and get them involved in our activities.

 Community connection: internet offers the opportunity for business to connect with

their audience.

9. TYPES OF ONLINE PRESENCE

When assessing the relevance and potential of digital marketing for a business, remember that

different business types offer different opportunities and challenges. Chaffey and Ellis

Chadwick (2015) identify five main types of online presence or components possible as part of

as site:

1. Transactional e-commerce site. Online retailers, travel, financial services providers or

manufacturers make their products available for online purchase. The main business

contribution is through sale of these products. The sites also support the business by providing

information for customers who prefer to purchase products offline.

2. Services-oriented relationship building or lead-generation web site. Providesinformation

to stimulate purchase and build relationships. Products are not typically available for purchase

online. Information is provided through the web site, alongwith email marketing, to inform

purchasing decisions. The main business contribution is through encouraging offline sales and

generating enquiries or leads from potential customers. Such sites also help by adding value

for existing customers by providing them with information of interest.

Examples: B2B examples are management consultants such as PricewaterhouseCoopers

(www.pwc.com) and Accenture (www.accenture.com). Most car manufacturers’ sites may be

services-oriented rather than transactional.

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3. Brand-building site. Provides an experience to support the brand and current campaigns.

Products are not typically available for online purchase, although merchandise may be. The

main focus is to support the brand by developing an online experience of the brand through

content marketing integrated with social media outposts. They are typical for low-value, high-

volume, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG brands).

Examples: Lynx (www.lynxeffect.com) and Guinness (www.guinness.com).

4. Portal or media site. The main purpose of these types of intermediaries or publishers is to

provide information and content. The term portal refers to a gateway to information or a range

of services such as search engine, directories, news, blog content, shopping comparisons, etc.

This is information both on the site and via links through to other sites. Online publishers have

a diversity of options for generating revenue, including advertising, commission-based sales

(affiliate marketing) and selling access to content through subscription or pay-per-view.

Examples: Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com), the financial Times Online (www.ft.com) or

TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com).

5. Social network or community site. A site enabling community interactions between

different consumers (C2C model). Typical interactions including posting comments and replies

to comments, sending messages, rating content and tagging content in particular categories.

Well-known examples include Facebook and LinkedIn, but there are many less well-known

niche communities that may be important within a market. In addition to distinct social network

sites, social interactions can be integrated into other site types through plugins or application

programming interfaces (APIs). The Facebook APIs are very important in integrating

Facebook ‘Like’ buttons and content into sites through services such as the Facebook social

plug-in.

Remember that these are not clear-cut categories of web sites, since many businesses will have

sites which blend these elements, but with different emphasis depending on the marketin

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which they operate.

To engage their audience and so increase advertising revenue, social networking sites are also

looking to provide many of these services through social network company brand pages,

sometimes called ‘social outposts’ for short.

CASE STUDY 1

Digital Marketing Presence of Amazon.com

Based in the United States and originally started as an online bookstore back in 1994,Amazon

Inc. (www.amazon.com) has grown to become a market leader in electronic commerce,

diversifying into a number of areas including technology, software, music, film, apparel and

home-ware. Alongside being the world’s biggest provider of Cloud Infrastructure, more

recently they have become a prominent producer of consumer electronics including tablet and

smartphone technology.

As the world’s largest online retailer, it’s fair to say that Amazon has a clear and decisive grip

on the ins-and-outs of the Digital Marketplace, and that expert knowledge is perfectly evident

in their Social Media efforts. With a central branded account and verified accounts for each of

their separate products, including Amazon Music, Amazon Video and Amazon WebServices,

they utilize Social Media to its fullest potential as both a marketing and customer service tool.

Every successful Social Network is constantly evolving to meet the growing needs of

consumers, and Amazon are more than willing to take an active role in that evolution. Amazon

listens and responds to their customers, offering awesome content that providesvalue to

those who interact with it. Any big business that wants to seriously invest in their Digital

Marketing well should take a look at Amazon’s Social Media pages and its digital marketing

strategies.

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10 HOW DOES DIGITAL MARKETING FULFILL THE DEFINITION OF

MARKETING?

Now let’s consider how digital marketing can fulfill the definition of marketing, if properly

implemented. According to Chaffey and Smith (2017), Digital marketing can identify,

anticipate and satisfy customer needs efficiently.

Taking a web site as a major part of digital marketing, they discuss how it can fulfill the

definition of marketing (identify, anticipate and satisfy customer needs profitably). It can:

 Identify needs from customer comments, enquiries, requests and complaints solicited via

the web site’s email facility, bulletin boards, chat rooms and of course, sales patterns (seeing

what’s selling and what’s not), and by observing new customer groupings ide notified by

data mining through customer data, sales and interests.Don’t forget online surveys and

direct from customer online feedback tools such as those listed at http://bit.ly/smartfeedback,

assessing satisfaction and requesting suggestions for service or product improvements. Finally,

there is a proliferation of online secondary sources of research, many of which provide free in-

depth insights into customer needs.

 Anticipate customer needs by asking customer’s questions and engaging them in a dynamic

dialogue built on trust. And, of course, a little bit of what Amazon calls collaborative filtering

helps the company to identify and anticipate what customers might like, given that buyers of

similar books have similar interests. Customers often welcome suggested books from Amazon.

And today’s sophisticated and profiling techniques allow many companies to do their own data

mining to discover and anticipate buyers’ needs. This is old technology. More recent

sophisticated profiling technology allows some companies to analyze our interests without

even knowing our name – courtesy of the cookie – a bit of code sent to our access device when

we visit certain sites. So without knowing name, it knows our interests. It recognizes our device

and records which types of sites we visit. So when we visit a web site and an unusually relevant

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banner and drops down, that is no coincidence – cookies have anticipated our desires and needs.

 Satisfy needs with prompt responses, punctual deliveries, order status updates, helpful

reminders, after-sales services and added value services combined with the dynamic dialogue.

The dialogue maintains permission to continue communicating and then adds value by

delivering useful content in the right context (right time and right amount).

 Efficiently means in an automated way – an efficient, yet hopefully not impersonal, way

(i.e. it allows tailor-made technology to increase the marketer’s memory as the relationship

effectively blossoms during the customer’s life – increasing lifetime value). And if the web site

is integrated with CRM systems and mass customization then the relationship deepens and

needs are completely satisfied in a very efficient automated two-way process. This also, of

course, provides some protection from the inevitable onslaught of competition.

CASE STUDY 2

What Millennials Expect from Online Customer Service

Millennials are estimated to have a combined purchasing power of $2.45 trillion globally this

year. It is only fair that they expect retailers to try and understand what they want. Millennials

spend a great part of their time on the internet, not just to learn, communicate and organize

their social lives but to shop too. And for retailers, this means understanding more about how

to engage with this demographic and working out what they require from a shopping

experience.

It’s a myth that millennials have abandoned physical stores in favour of online shops. In fact

many millennials still prefer to visit a store. But the fact remains that ecommerce is growing

and more and more people are shopping directly from their mobile devices. The key then, we

would think, is to combine the two experiences.

Research from Accenture highlights that 68% of Millennials demand an integrated, seamless

experience regardless of the channel. So perhaps this one area where retailers can improve –

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by creating an online experience that is closer to the in-store experience. After all, everybody–

Millennials included – still values ‘old school’ shopping experiences where the seller-buyer

conversation is face-to-face. Accenture’s research also found that Millennials demand a

customer-centric shopping experience and like to be treated like valued customers.

Ongoing social engagement

If someone is in ecommerce, to attract Millennials, he must be active on all social media

platforms, especially those that are based on images, such as Instagram and Pinterest. How else

can he get people to view his products? Millennials use these social media sites with the intent

on viewing images and in essence, “window shopping” so this is where his products and

attractive imagery need to be.

Clear path to purchase

UK retailers, for example, are adjusting their customer service strategies to provide a better

customer experience for Millennials and other shopper demographics. It is pointless to invest

huge amounts of money in a series of digital marketing channels to attract shoppers to its

website, only to have customers take a couple of clicks around its site and then leave because

they couldn’t find what they were looking for or didn’t understand a specific product.

It is imperative that a website allows to engage with online customers and that these same

customers have a clear path to purchase and a smooth checkout process. Whether that comes

in an attractive, easy-to-navigate website, or real-time assistance, it should be easyfor shoppers

to, well shop!

Real time interaction

Another way to stay ahead of the game is to optimize the way in which we interact with

customers over their mobile devices. Not just Millennials, but most people these days spend an

increasing amount of time on their smartphones (mobile usage in the UK alone increasedto

68% in 2014 from 62% in 2013).

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Having a live assistance-whether that’s live video or live chat – that works well on mobileis

extremely beneficial. Live video is the perfect tool to make site more hospitable. It engages

customer by inviting them to talk to an assistant face-to-face, giving them a more personal

service and making them feel valued. Customers can actually see the person they’re talking

to, ask for help with form filling, seek advice, make inquiries and sharescreens to co-

browse the website and go through the check-out process. The communication between

consumer and retailer becomes a dialogue – much like a conversation we’d have in store.

Live video assistance is a huge growth area. If we haven’t seen it yet on a website, it is onlya

matter of time before we do.

Who’s already doing it?

There are a number of brands already catering to the demands of Millennials. Ikea and Sephora

certainly know how to dominate social media, and make excellent use of Pinterest and

Instagram. They consistently engage with followers by asking questions, running competitions

and posting attractive, interesting and entertaining photos and videos.

This is a major step forward from the customer service we receive via text – where the

customer service agent will be dealing with multiple conversations at one time.

Conclusion

We can’t ignore any shopper demographic, and Millennials are no exception – they are a

difficult group to bracket, but ultimately they want very similar things to other consumers and

can be exceptionally loyal customers provided they feel they’ve been treated well.

If we provide a smooth, personalised digital shopping experience that is easily accessible,

Millennials will ultimately be great ambassadors for our brand, which in turn means good

return on investment for our business.

11. WHO NEEDS DIGITAL MARKETING SERVICES?

Digital marketing is an important to any business regardless of its size. It can help the business

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achieve a substantial leap by designing digital marketing strategy to differentiate the

organization from its competitors. Without the right digital marketing strategy, organizations

may miss out opportunities for growth as more and more people are using digital technology

to find information, buy products and assess the services they use. If the organization’s

prospects are online and the business is not, then it will definitely miss so many opportunities

and be left behind by competitors and lose business in the process. Companies need to invest

skills and time in creating a digital marketing strategy to leverage the internet and understand

the latest marketing techniques to make more knowledgeable decisions in the future. There

are also digital marketing firms that can create a strategy to suit different business needs and

goals.

As illustrated in Figure 1.6, the digital Marketing strategy building process makes use of

various types of digital technologies to promote the organization’ business strategy. There are

many types of digital marketing strategies but it is very important for the organization to

understand what will work or will not work in regards to their digital marketing efforts.

Figure 1.6: Digital Marketing Strategy Building Process

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12. THE 4 PS OF MARKETING AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR DIGITAL

MARKETING

 Product

 Price

 Place

 Promotion

There have been quite a few variations on the Ps of marketing, including the 4 Ps and 7 Ps, but

for this section will focus on the core 4 Ps of marketing -often referred to as the marketing mix.

They are product, price, place and promotion. Studies led by Kingsnorth (2016) have analyzed

the applications of the marketing mix to digital marketing which are outlined below:

12.1. Product

This may be a physical product or a service proposition. The key here is that something is

developed that people actually want to buy. Some businesses begin with a product and then try

to force that on an audience. If there is no demand for our product and no one is interested then

we will not be able to create demand.

What Does this Mean for Digital Marketing?

The key considerations here from a digital perspective are around whether our product can/will

sell online. What channels are open for the organization’s product or proposition? Are there

opportunities to make it flexible to be more appropriate for the online or mobile audiences?

Does it provide real value for the consumer and is it differentiated from the company offerings?

Is it being updated, services, and maintained effectively to keep itstrong? Are there features

of it that can be added or should be excluded for the digital customer and is it fair to do this?

12.2. Price

Pricing is the second P and one that can be more of a science than an art. Understanding price

elasticity and competitive positioning are angles to consider but the key factor is whether the

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price reflects the amount that people are willing to pay. The ‘willing to pay’ element depends

on many factors such as brand value, online reviews, product quality and others but there are

also numerous pricing tactics and strategies that can be employed during the different phases

of the product life cycle.

What Does this Mean for Digital Marketing?

Discounts and offers are certainly not new to digital marketing but the concept of fast price

comparison and the introduction of cashback and voucher sites have certainly changed

consumer behaviors. Businesses can take advantage of this through affiliate marketing

programmes.

CASE STUDY 3

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is where a company may promote its products through a third- party

websites in exchange for paying a commission or fee to the website when an action is taken.

This is very common in the comparison, voucher and cashback space as it is very easy to

directly track sales and therefore attribute value to the relationship. Commissions are often paid

on sales but can be paid on click- through or other actions.

Can We Really Make Money with Affiliate Marketing?

The Truth about Affiliate Marketing

Can we make money with affiliate marketing? Affiliate programs can earn an extra moneyand

even a full-time income from home. Affiliate marketing is an ideal home business because

it doesn't require much money to get started, and we don't have produce, stock or ship product

inventory, or deliver a service.

We're essentially paid for referring new clients and customers to other businesses.

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Pros of Affiliate Marketing

As already mentioned, there are several aspects of affiliate marketing that make it a good

home business option including:

 Low cost to get started. Most affiliate programs are free to join, so our costs are

usually related to our referral/marketing methods.

 No need to create a product or service.

 Don't have to stock or ship products.

 Work anytime and from anywhere as long as we have Internet access.

 Passive income potential, depending on how we market our affiliates programs.

 Can be added on to current home business to create an additional income stream.

Cons of Affiliate Marketing

There are challenges to making money from affiliate marketing, such as:

 It can take time to generate the amount of traffic needed to result in income.

 Affiliate hijacking can occur in which we're not given credit for our referral. URL

masking can help.

 A bad affiliate can ruin our credibility. It's important that we choose qualitybusinesses

to work with to avoid this.

 No control over the businesses product, service, or how it does business.

 Some companies have been known not to pay, although there are ways to screen and

choose quality affiliate programs.

 High competition. When we find a great program, we can bet that many others are

promoting it as well.

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How to Become a Successful Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing isn't hard, but it does require knowledge, planning, and consistent effort

to make any significant income. Here are some things we can do to insure our venture into

affiliate marketing is successful.

 Start right by learning about affiliate marketing and the steps required to be a success.

 Choose only quality affiliate products and services. We'll be judged by the

product/services we promote, so don't just focus on the income, but also on the quality.

 Research the programs so we understand how and when we're paid, and otherimportant

money issues we need to know to ensure the program is a good fit.

 Choose affiliate items that match our niche or the content on our home business website

or blog. For example, if we write about figure skating, affiliate links to motorcycles or a

new set of saddlebags won't do well.

 Mix and match affiliate ads so we don't overwhelm our visitors. In-content affiliate links

usually have the best click through rates over image links.

 Always disclose our affiliate relationship. Most visitors will probably understand that

graphic ads will lead to us getting paid, but if we write a review or use an in- text link as

a recommendation, we want our readers to know that may lead to compensation as well.

 Market, market, market. Don't rely on social media alone to drive people to our website or

blog to take advantage of our affiliate recommendations. Understand who our target

market is, where we can find it, and how we can entice it to our site.

 Start an email list. The most successful affiliate marketers use email in their affiliate

marketing. Don't put this off. Email marketing can increase our affiliate profits

significantly.

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12.3. Place

Location, location, location. In the marketing mix, the process of moving products from the

producer to the intended user is called place. In other words, it is how our product is bought

and where it is bought. This movement could be through a combination of intermediariessuch

as distributors, wholesalers and retailers.

Building our shop in the wrong place decreases footfall and ultimately means fewer sales.

Having our shop in the right place but not having the stock in the shop is even worse.

What Does this Mean for Digital Marketing?

All of these apply to digital marketing. If the company does not have a physical shop but an

online shop, it must be easy to find through paid search and most other digital acquisition

channels. Once someone arrives is it easy to navigate and find the information and products

that they want?

The company must ensure that the items are in stock and that the site is working correctly to

dispatch them? Ultimately, if people cannot find what they are looking for, they will go

elsewhere as speed is much more of an expectation online.

12.4. Promotion

Promotion is what most people think of when they hear the word marketing and consists of TV

campaign, press advertising and display banners. This is often the first time that people will

have any relationship with the company’s brand and in below-the-line marketing; this can be

a personal relationship. To be successful in digital marketing, first impressions about the

company are very important and hence so getting the company’s promotion strategy right is

vital.

Above and below the line

Above-the-line and below-the-line marketing are terms used to differentiate between broadcast

and targeted marketing techniques.

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Above-the-line marketing refers to mass market advertising that is often used to push specific

promotional messages out to large audiences or to build our brand. Below-the-line is used to

tailor our communications to individuals or segments to ensure a more powerful message.

Through-the-line is a term often used and this simply refers to creating an integrated approach

by using an appropriate blend of above and below-the-line marketing. To help us further

understand the split, given below is a list of marketing channels that would fall into each

bracket:

 Above-the-line:

- TV;

- radio;

- press;

- display advertising;

- outdoor.

 Below-the-line

- SEO;

- direct mail;

- paid search;

- e-mail;

- direct selling.

These days promotion has moved far beyond simple advertising and into dialogue. Smart

marketing requires the right promotion strategy, including being single-minded, insight-driven,

integrated communicating the features and benefits, creating a clear call to action and many

others. All of these apply to the digital acquisition channels.

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CASE STUDY 4

Coca-Cola targets millennials with CokeTV YouTube channel

Coca-Cola has created popular YouTube channels in Europe, working with popular YouTube

vloggers to take its CokeTV channel to the UK, Germany, France and Spain as the FMCG

giant ramps up its content marketing strategy as a new way to engage teens with authentic

“eye-level” communication.

The soft drinks brand first launched CokeTV in Germany back in 2014 (Figure 1.7), where it

attracted over 268,000 subscribers and 29m views making it one of the most successful brand

channels in the country. The UK channel will be fronted by YouTube stars Manny and Dodie,

with each episode focusing on entertainment 'passions' such as gaming, sports and music. The

hosts will recruit other bloggers to take on challengers and the show will also get exclusive

access to events.

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Figure: 1.7: Soft drinks brand first launched CokeTV in Germany back in 2014.

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What Does this Mean for Digital Marketing?

One of the challenges with the digital space is that the company may have limited space or time

to communicate its product promotion. Where a TV advert or press advertisement may have

30 seconds to get a point across, digital will often have 100 characters or less than one second.

This therefore creates a real need for impact messaging and, more importantly than anything

else, a test-and-learn philosophy. It is not always possible to predict the consumers’ every

possible outcome and so being in a constant and evolving test cycle is vital to a culture of

continuous improvement-something that is a key value of effective marketing.

13. SEGMENTATION STRATEGIES FOR DIGITAL MARKETING

Personalization is the ultimate goal of tailored communications and is far more possible than

it was just 10 years ago. It is, however, still vitally important to understand segmentations

well. Consumers will always have similarities in their behaviors, demographics, buying

patterns and other factors that enable us to group them into segments. This enables smarter,

more appropriate targeting and messaging within our marketing communications. These

groups will have different users for products and varying perspectives on services. Their

lifestyles will be inherently different as will be their needs, aspirations, opinions and much

more.

Five common forms of segmentation – geographic, demographic, behavioral, benefit and

psychographic as identified by Kingsnorth (2016) – are listed below, including the advantages

and disadvantages of each alongside how businesses use these methods.

13.1. Geographic

For the geographic base of segmentation, the location of the individuals is analyzed. Businesses

that have regional retail outlets will have some focus on this but it can also provea useful tool

to understand where to target our marketing. That could be outdoor or press advertising but

from a digital perspective it may provide a geo-targeting approach or data selection for our

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strategy. The disadvantage is quite simply that this is very basic and does not provide specific

insights into the individuals themselves.

13.2. Demographic

A very common form of segmentation, demographics includes factors such as age, race,

gender, education, employment, income and economic status. It is therefore an area of

segmentation that gives a reflection of the characteristics of a group of people. Demographic

segmentation is used by governments and a very broad range of organizations as it can answer

questions such as ‘Who can afford to buy my product?’ and ‘Will this group of consumers be

of the right age range for my product?’

The disadvantage of this type of segmentation is that there is a large assumption that people

with similar characteristics will behave similarly, which is far from the truth. They will have

different passions, hobbies and much more. To understand this in more detail we need to

understand behavioral segmentation.

13.3. Behavioral

Behavioral segmentation provides insightful information about consumers a lot more,

especially those in the digital space. This method groups consumers by buying patterns and

usage behaviors. This is an excellent way of talking to individuals in a way that is highly likely

to resonate with them. It is useful when talking about specific products or use occasions.

Behavior can change with one’s lifestyle. Divorce, children and retirement are key examples

of when life changes could result in behavior changes. It is therefore vital to be working with

data that is up to date.

13.4. Benefit

This form of segmentation is based around consumer perceived benefit. Many businesses use

this to understand their consumer base and to inform product development and marketing

opportunities.

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A good example of this is the fashion industry. If we imagine retailers of coats and jackets:

some consumers will look for warm winter coats for their ski holidays, some for all-weather

jackets for their outdoor lifestyle, some for lightweight jackets they can wear whilst exercising,

some for smart coats for work and some purely for fashion. The perceived benefit of our coat

will appeal differently to each different segment, so perhaps need to change the perception of

our coat or bring out a new range to appeal to a new segment.

13.5. Psychographic

Psychographic segmentation provides an understanding of a consumer’s lifestyle. Thisincludes

studying activities, opinions, beliefs and interests. Understanding these elements can, similarly

to behavioral segmentation, result in messaging and products that truly resonate with the

individuals. Creating segments on this basis creates a more ‘real’ view of the individuals than

geographic or demographic segmentation ever could.

14. PULLING TOGETHER THE FIVE FORMS OF SEGMENTATION FOR

DIGITAL MARKETING -PERSONAS

By pulling together the above five forms of segmentation an organization can create personas,

as per the example shown below. These are effectively descriptions of segments. Most

businesses will create between five and ten of these, as too few results in large groups that are

too generic and too many can result in segments that are too small or overcomplicate the

targeting approach.

Many templates of personas include the same basic information- who the persons are, what are

their values and how best to speak to them. Here is a quick overview on what should be included

in a marketing persona template:

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 Figure 1.8: marketing persona template.

Name of the persona

Job title

 Key information about their company (size, type, etc.)

 Details about their role

Demographics

 Age

 Gender

 Salary / household income

 Location: urban / suburban / rural

 Education

 Family

Goals and challenges

 Primary goal

 Secondary goal

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  How we help achieve these goals

 Primary challenge

 Secondary challenge

 How we help solve these problems

Values / fears

 Primary values

 Common objections during sales process

An example of a persona

Figure 1.9: Graphical sample of a persona.

14.1. Segmentation in the Digital Age

How Digital Marketing is Redefining Customer Segmentation

According to Brondo (2015), the bases of segmentation as outlined above have to be redefined

in the age of digital marketing. In classic marketing, customers are segmented into groups with

like buying patterns. Marketers focus on trying to deliver the right message to that group of

customers and hope for the best.

In digital marketing, no two customers are exactly the same. That is the core and central theme

of personalized digital marketing. And just like how execution is the driver for classical

marketing, execution of personalized digital marketing is even more important. Emerging

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digital marketing companies are developing tools, platforms, and strategies that enable retailers

and brand leaders to reach their potential customers by using mobile technologies. Each

“touch” to a potential customer is customized and based on a unique set ofpreferences that can

be accelerated in the moment.

Brondo (2015) has developed a new way of thinking about customer segmentation in the

digital age and identified three bases of segmentation in digital marketing which is shown

below

Figure 1.10: Segments for Digital Marketing strategies.

The High Actual Customer Segmentation is a segment that wants to buy, has made a decision

to buy, but hasn’t decided which brand to buy from yet. Customized and personal digital

marketing is the perfect solution for this customer segment.

The Potential Customer Segmentation is a segment that has thought about buying, but hasn’t

had the full reason or desire to yet. Customized and personal digital marketing is a great tool

for this segment because some sort of additional value proposition like a coupon or one-time

discount can be the deciding factor that turns the potential customer into an actual customer.

Everyone Else is the segment we don’t waste our marketing dollars on. They are most likely

not going to buy our product and the cost to know who is not going to buy our product is a

much greater investment then the cost wasted on them trying to convince them tobuy a product

they are never going to buy.

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15. DIGITAL MARKETING PLATFORMS

15.1. Definition of Digital Marketing Platforms

An integrated digital marketing platform is a combination of integrated tools and technology

that allow marketers to manage big chunks of their digital marketing responsibilities. The world

of business just can’t do without digital media. From targeting new people to maintaining

relations with loyal customers, everything happens digitally. Also, all business sectors from

retail stores to manufacturing companies are present on the digital platforms and are thinking

of ways to develop online connection with their targets.

Digital marketing platforms expose key elements as standardized services via a programmatic

application programming interface for building custom applications and extensions and

integrations .So any platform in digital marketing needs to address requirements specific to a

limited number of neighborhoods or domains. In the era of digitization, organizations are

surrounded by digital ideas, concepts, and thought-processes. To make the most of the creative

digital ideas, Jenni (2017) has outlined the different types of digital marketing platforms where

organizations can place their brand communication and enjoy productive maximum

response.

15.2 DIFFERENT PLATFORMS FOR DIGITAL ADVERTISING

15.2.1. Display Advertising

Based on our audience profile and our products, select ad space in specific websites from

where we can get good traffic. Display ads can be anything from the banner ads to videos. In

the online world, it is considered as one of the most effective ways of digital branding. Instead

of developing text-based communication, create interesting videos or images that will speak

on behalf of our brand. Also, take time to follow our targets and wisely choose the

websites, which in turn are followed by our audience group.

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 Figure 1.11: Display advertising for brand awareness & direct response campaigns.

15.2.2. Search Advertising

While our visitors enter certain search keywords, specific to our brand and business; we

can take this opportunity and promote our ad through the search engines. To do so, we

have to coin down certain keywords, with which we shall sync our advertising message.

Figure 1.12: Search Advertising

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With this, our business or company might not have a good rank in the search engine pages,

yet we will expose our audience to our brand. Often, search engine ads can give us better

leads since people eye-witness a solution that they are just looking for. It also saves their

research time. We can also consult with any SEO Company for gettinggood position in

Search Advertising.

15.2.3. Mobile Advertising

Mobile-centric ads are the current trend. From the in-app messages to the videos, mobile

advertising is the most effective way to promote our brand. With the entire world going mobile,

developing short and crisp communication targeting the mobile users is the best practice. As

people carry their mobiles our brand communication stays in their mind, for a longer time.

Figure 1.13: Mobile Advertising

While developing mobile ads, ensure that it fits the screen sizes of all hand-held devices.

In this way, our message will be clear and we shall successfully position our brand name

in the minds of our targets.

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15.2.4. Social Advertising

Social media sites mostly Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and other similar platforms

provide lucrative opportunities to promote our brand. The best thing about social ads is that

we know our targets well and can propose our brand message.

Also, based on certain audience profile, we can personify our advertising and suit tothe

specific needs, interests and desires of our large target audience. If strategically done,

social ads can also bring leads which are sure to land into sales.

Figure 1.14: Social Advertising

15.2.5. Video Advertising

Contrary to texts which lack visual appeal, video ads serve as effective stimulant that influences

our audience to try us out. Video ads can be placed in any platforms- mobile, website,

social media sites. Just like television ads, online video ads quickly hit our targets and with

frequent exposure can enable them to purchase our product or avail our service.

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 Figure 1.15: Video Advertising

15.2.6. Cross-Channel Advertising

Another new-age form of digital advertising, cross-channel advertisement is an intelligent

way to follow our online visitors and track their interests and desires. With the help of

cross-channel ad software, we shall become aware about the digital journey of our target

audience.

Figure 1.16: Cross-Channel Advertising.

Accordingly, we can choose specific online platforms and promote our brand only in those

spaces and reach individual audience. It is the best way to develop personal communication

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and have better connect with our target group.

15.2.7. Demand-side Platforms

Figure 1.17: Demand side platform.

Last but not the least, DSP or Demand-side platforms allow us to manage multiple ad exchange

and various data exchange accounts, using only one interface. With DSPs, we can track

real-time bidding, optimize algorithms and get maximum value from each audience. In

milliseconds, the search engines try to determine the value of prospective impression and

places a bid accordingly. Using DSPs, we can also integrate ads with third-party vendors and

ensure more impressions from various sources.

With all the above digital advertising platforms, we must also realize that not all are required

for our business. Based on our communication objective, purpose of advertising, nature of

product, and target audience profile, we must choose the most suitable platforms that will

provide maximum reach and exposure to our brand. Suchdecisions are time-consuming, and

with adequate time and in-depth research and analysis; we can arrive at the right online

destinations.

16. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Limitations are the restrictions that are faced by the investigator while carrying out the research

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process. In the current work, the major issue faced was related to limited data as the limited

data does not represent the views of the large diversity of digital marketers, brands, and

consumers. The data which was collected from the internet and e-media which was limited and

seems not appropriate and could not represent the views of the large population. The other

limitation was related to the lack of time. Digital marketing is an emerging topic in which the

marketing processes keep on changing as per the new technological development and

advancements. As a result, the methods that have been used by digital marketers become

obsolete and they use new methods of marketing to attract the attention of customers towards

the brand. Thus, it became difficult to cover the entire digital marketing framework from origin

to a revolution in a short time.

17. FINDINGS

The evolution of digital marketing in recent times has changed the workings of the brand and

the modes adopted by them to promote products or attract customers to the organization.

Traditionally, different methods such as direct selling, door-to-door selling, pamphlet

advertisement, banner, newspaper advertisement, and magazine promotions were used to

promote products or reach customers. There were limited means of providing product

information or company information regarding the launch of new products. However, with the

advent of digital marketing and the use of the internet by the firms, the entire course of

marketing and promotion changed. In the current time, most innovative techniques such as

social media marketing (Face book, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube), website marketing, email

marketing, video marketing are used to reach large customers in a short duration. The

digitalization of the business has led to the origin of the e-business module through which large

amount customers can be communicated and interacted instantly. Thus, it can be said that

digital marketing has become a complete marketing process through which customer value can

be optimized and managed adequately.

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17.1 Practical Applications of the Digital marketing are:

 To create more opportunities for diversification and personalization of products and

services

 To achieve a higher degree of efficiency in the collection, processing, analysis and

interpretation of the data needed for the implementation of various business activities;

 To create greater transparency of business processes;

 To create new diversified tools for attracting and engaging customers in order to achieve a

higher level of customer loyalty;

 To improve customer service and, on that basis, to achieve a higher level of customer

satisfaction;

 To increase sales revenue and profits;

 To create new business models;

 To shorten the time to market for the new products and services;

 To create prerequisites for better planning and management of the businesses;

 To improve the quality of products and services;

 To control resources more effectively;

 To create cost optimization opportunities;

 To improve production processes;

 To create more innovation;

 To create an innovative culture and increase competitiveness.

It is also important to note that the Internet environment has certain characteristics that have a

very strong influence on marketing activity. Among them are:

 It provides unlimited communication space in time and space;

 Has clearly defined access channels;

 Provides high degree of market transparency and transparency in the actions of

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 competitors;

 Presents a wide variety of active users who are willing to bear some costs;

 Provides high efficiency for clients;

 Provides opportunities for extending functions and improving management systems.

17.2 Advantages of digital marketing

The application of digital marketing allows companies to be flexible and adaptable to changes

in the external environment, to build effective relationships with their customers, as well as to

be more responsive to their needs and understandings. All this is achieved by the following key

benefits of this type of marketing:

 High level of interactivity - creates an opportunity for interactive communication with

consumers, thus more responsive to their understanding and expectations for seeking and

receiving information. Interactive communication, in turn, creates opportunities to build a

dynamic environment, changing space, specific navigation, depending on the user's

preferences, dynamic design, and use of top-level special computer code, mobile

technologies and continuous innovation. Things vary with each visit, depending on his/her

skills, and accumulated information in the system and knowledge of his/her interests and

orientation. This in turn helps to use many non-standard and interesting ways to attract and

retain the attention of consumers.

 Overcoming geographical barriers and limitations in marketing activities- digital marketing

helps companies to successfully communicate with their customers, sell their products and

services and find new business partners in real time anywhere in the world.

 Provides opportunities to respond more quickly and flexibly to user needs and wants.

 High degree of measurability of the achieved marketing results - very often, when

conducting traditional advertising campaigns, the registered results are unclear and

inaccurate and do not give an indication of whether the funds are spent efficiently whereas

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 the results of digital campaigns are easily and accurately measurable (using modern

statistical tools) and are available in real time. They allow marketers to track and analyze

consumer behavior and build their profiles.

 Facilitates customer segmentation and targeting - thus achieving better targeting of

advertising messages and greater effectiveness of marketing activities.

 High degree of personalization of advertising messages - thanks to collected online

information for the consumers, individual offers can be created and thus adding value to

them and responding to their needs and desires as precisely as possible in order to increase

the consumer satisfaction.

 Creates more convenience for consumers - with the help of digital technologies, they can

receive much more and better information about products and services that interest them,

buy them from home and save time.

 Creates prerequisites and favorable conditions for successful development of virtual

Enterprises.

 Allows companies to reach more users through the use of social networks.

 Increases the traffic to the companies' websites - through the development of qualitative

online advertisements, Internet publications, related to the company's activity, etc. Thus

creating an engagement of the users with the thematic content provided for them. As a

result, the interest in the offered products/services increases and the sales go up too.

 Facilitates communication and interaction with users - thanks to various platforms such as

Social networks, web applications or websites, users can ask questions and receive the

information they need right away. Accordingly, companies can talk directly with their real

and potential customers, build trust and get feedback on the products and services they

offer.

 Facilitates the tracking and analysis of competitors' actions.

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 Increases the degree of control and correction in the processes of development and

implementation of various marketing activities.

 Potential for shortening the time needed to prepare and conduct marketing research.

 It requires less investment - the use of different digital tools for marketing activities requires

less investment than traditional channels, therefore digital marketing has higher

profitability.

 Suitable for start-ups, small and medium-sized companies - thanks to all the advantages

listed here, we can say that digital marketing is very suitable for new and small companies

as it provides a high degree of efficiency with small investments.

 Creates opportunities for developing new business models and strategies such as mass

customization, co-creation and more.

17.3 Disadvantages of digital marketing

In order to create working marketing strategies, on the basis of information and

communication techniques and technologies, we must be well aware not only of the

advantages they bring, but also of the disadvantages hiding in their application in practice.

The main disadvantages of digital marketing are:

 The use of digital marketing makes business organizations an "open book" for competitors-

this is probably one of the most serious disadvantages of digital marketing, as digital

marketing campaigns can be quickly and easily copied by their competitors. Trademarks

and logos, corporate identities, can be copied and used by them to mislead consumers in

order to gain market share. In addition, they can easily manipulate consumers through

inaccurate information about products, services or brands, which can seriously damage the

image of a company and lead to customer outflow.

 In digital marketing, we need to build relationships with a consumer who we do not see in

person- this requires specific knowledge of the psychology of online consumer behavior.

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 Very often, however, marketers do not take this into account and rely on traditional

consumer psychology when designing digital marketing campaigns. This, in turn, leads to

a lower efficiency since it does not take into account the particularities of consumer

behavior and the relationships that are created online.

 Digital marketing campaigns can be perceived by users as unserious, if not professionally

designed and properly targeted;

 The online reputation of companies can be destroyed by negative feedback – negative

comments and information about products and services, and trademarks are visible and

accessible to all users on the Internet, which can seriously damage the image of a company

and lead to customer outflow.

 Lack of consumer trust - the fact that digital marketing campaigns involve the use of

technologies that track and collect data from users on the Internet leads to privacy issues

including the security of their privacy. Thereby, people take a serious distrust of this type

of marketing and often refuse to participate in such events, which is one of the biggest

challenges facing the development of digital marketing. For this reason, the topic of online

trust and its impact on digital marketing strategies is becoming increasingly important and

has been the subject of much research in the field.

 Overloading the Internet space with online advertising messages - the excess of online

advertising messages in the form of banners, the continuous appearance of open and close

windows, interruption of video materials and etc. can lead to consumer irritation, which

will inevitably affect their attitude towards the companies.

 Digital marketing is not suitable for all types of products, services and companies - there

are a number of products and services whose target audience cannot be reached and

influenced by the tools offered by digital marketing. This is due to the fact that for one

reason or another, these users are not online or do not trust the information they can obtain

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 from the Internet.

 Digital marketing is highly dependent on technics and technology - this on the one hand

requires serious knowledge in the field and on the other hand can lead to a number of

technical errors as the information and communication tools offered by digital marketing

are not without fails. It is often the case that the chosen technical solution does not work

properly and results in incorrect outcomes, thereby causing the fail of the advertising

campaign. Examples include broken links, slow loading or non-loading promotional

messages or websites, paid advertising buttons that do not work, statistical analysis tools

that do not process information correctly, and many more.

 Use of inappropriate digital tools and applications - there is a wide variety of tools and

applications on the Internet and new ones are emerging every day. This makes it very

difficult for the marketing professionals to choose the ones that will be most effective for

the specific marketing events and will meet the needs and goals of the companies in the

best possible way.

 Lack of clear criteria for choosing digital tools in marketing campaigns.

 It is very difficult to keep up-to-date information in the digital world - thanks to the

dynamism that is changing the world of digital technologies, information there gets old

very quickly and have to be replaced very frequently with new ones. It became a serious

challenge for many companies as they do not have the necessary resources for that.

 Very often, digital marketing campaigns are developed and conducted on their own without

aligning with the overall marketing strategy of the company - this usually results in the

inability to achieve the intended results, lower efficiency, and misuse of funds.

 Emphasis on technical solutions at the expense of content - in the desire to be attractive and

fashionable to their clients, very often, companies overdo the technical appearance of

advertising messages, leaving the content in the background, which in the long run does

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 not lead to good and stable results.

18. RECOMMENDATIONS

Digital marketing is an innovative field in which improvements could be brought by

introducing new models and methodologies for the assessment of customer participation

concerning the efforts made by the digital marketers of the brands. Moreover, the brands must

concentrate on developing a concrete plan through which large audiences could be attracted to

the brand and sales and earnings of the firms could be enhanced. To increase the business and

commercial aspects of the brands, the organizations must adopt the following

recommendations:

• To succeed in the competitive market, the brands must adopt digital marketing strategies

in the form of content marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization,

video marketing, and email marketing.

• The use of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Programmatic

advertising, chat bots, conversational marketing, personalization, and influencer

marketing can be used to increase the interest of the customers towards brands.

• To increase the customer involvement with the brand and increase the success propensity

of the brands, the firms must include the latest digital technology applications such as

voice search, smarter chat, micro-moments, augmented and virtual reality marketing,

Live videos for promotion purposes. The use of such techniques provides real-time

information to the customers and they actively engage with the brand and products.

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