MODULE 1: Introduction to Digital Marketing

• SOSTAC® stands for:

  > Situation Analysis

  > Objectives

  > Strategy

  > Tactics

  > Actions

  > Control
• SOSTAC® Marketing Diagram => It is described in more detail in Smith (2016) and Smith and Taylor (2004) who note that each stage is not discrete, but there is some overlap during each stage of planning – previous stages may be revisited and refined, as indicated by the reverse arrow.
• Situation Analysis => means "Where are we now?" (In the context of this chapter, this includes definition of ‘digital strategy’ terms, growth in users and change in the marketplace, as well as examples of good and bad digital marketing.)
• Objectives => means "Where do we want to be?" What do we want to achieve through online channels and how they combine with physical channels, what are the benefits? We describe the ‘5Ss’ as the main objectives of, reasons for, or benefits of being online, which you should exploit.
• Strategy => means "How do we get there?" This summarizes how to fulfill the objectives. What online value propositions (OVPs) should we create, and what positioning should drive the overall marketing mix and the promotional mix, right down to the different contact strategies for different segments, and which digital media channels should beselected? Getting your digital strategy right is crucial. As Kenichi Ohmae says (1999), ‘There’s no point rowing harder if you’re rowing in the wrong direction’.
• Tactics => means "How exactly do we get there?" This reviews the tactical tools and the details of the marketing mix.
• Actions => means the details of the tactics. It refers to action plans and project management skills – essential skills which we won’t go into in this chapter.
• Control => means "How do we monitor performance?" It looks at how you know if your e-efforts are working, and what improvements can be made – again, we won’t delve in too deeply in this chapter.
• Business to Business (B2B) => the bulk of Internet transactions are between business and business or industrial and commercial markets.
• Business to Customer (B2C) => between business and consumer markets (like cars and cola).
• Customer to Customer (C2C) => have proved one of the most disruptive examples of online business technology. An early indication of the popularity of C2C was the growth of online consumer auctions at eBay and in niche communities focusing on interests such as sport, films or pastimes.
• Customer to Business (C2B) => models were touted in the ‘dot-com’ boom as playing a significant role in some B2B or B2C sectors. A potential buyer approaches a marketplace of sellers who then compete for the sale. This also involves customers developing their own content online, which is known as user-generated content (UGC), with businesses facilitating it.
• Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2015) identify five main types of online presence or components possible as part of a site.
• FIVE MAIN TYPES OF ONLINE PRESENCE OR COMPONENTS

  1. Transactional E-Commerce Site
  2. Services-oriented Relationship Building or Lead-generation Web Site
  3. Brand-building Site
  4. Portal or Media Site
  5. Social Network or Community Site
• 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 consumers who prefer to purchase products offline.
• Services-oriented Relationship Building or Lead-generation Web Site => Provides information to stimulate purchase and build relationships. Products are not typically available for purchase online. Information is provided through the web site, along with 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.
• 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).
• 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 a search engine, directories, news, blog content, shopping comparison, 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.
• Social Network or Community Site => A site enabling community interactions between different consumers (C2C model). Typical interactions include posting comments and replies to comments, sending messages, rating content and tagging content in particularcategories. Well-known examples include Facebook and LinkedIn, but there are many less well-known niche communities that may be important within a market.
• E-Commerce

  • Primarily about selling online or the ability to transact online.
  • This includes online retail, banking and travel.
  • Some suggest that e-commerce includes all online transactions such as responding to an enquiry or an online catalogue search.
  • itself does not include the marketing or the back office administration processes that are required to run a business.
• Digital business has a broader perspective involving the automation of all the business processes in the value chain – from procurement or purchasing of raw materials, to production, stock holding, distribution and logistics, sales and marketing, after sales, invoicing, debt collection and more.
• Digital Marketing

  • Formerly referred to as e-marketing or Internet marketing.
  • Heart of the digital business - getting closer to customers and understanding them better, adding value to products, widening distribution channels and boosting sales through running digital marketing campaigns using digital media channels such as search marketing, online advertising and affiliate marketing
  • It also includes using the web site to facilitate customer leads, sales and managing after-sales service.
• Key Digital Marketing Activities to Manage in all Organizations:

  1. Digital Experience Management
  2. Digital Marketing Strategy and Planning
  3. Content Marketing
  4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  5. Paid Search Marketing and other programmatic advertising
  6. Social Media Marketing
  7. Email Marketing and Marketing Automation
  8. Multichannel Analytics
• DIGITAL MARKETING INVOLVES IN:

  • Identify
  • Anticipate
  • Satisfy
  • Efficiency
• The 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 identified by data mining through customer data, sales and interests (recorded using web analytics which reveal insights into interests determined by pages visited).

  Identify
• Knowing the customer needs by asking customers questions and engaging them in a dynamic dialogue built on trust.

  Anticipate
• The needs with prompt responses, punctual deliveries, order status updates, helpful reminders, after-sales services and added value services combined with the dynamic dialogue.

  Satisfy
• The means in an automated way (or partially automated) – 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).

  Efficiency
• Organizations need to be clear about the objectives of digital marketing, so that the appropriate resources can be directed at achieving these objectives.

  Objectives
• The 5Ss under Objectives of Digital Marketing

  1. Sell
  2. Serve
  3. Speak
  4. Save
  5. Sizzle
• The clearest benefit of digital marketing is the capability to sell from an online presence. Although this may not be practical for all products, an online presence is still important in supporting the buying decision leading to sales through traditional channels. You should use your web analytics system to tag different types of value event web pages whichindicate that your goals are being achieved. An online presence also offers opportunities to sell into new markets and reach particular segments.

  Sell
• A web presence can be used to add value for customers at different stages of the buying process, whether pre-sales, during the sale or post-sales support.

  Serve
• One of the many benefits of digital marketing is getting close to customers again – speaking to them. You can explore the other benefits (selling, serving, saving and sizzling) now or later.

  Speak
• So digital marketing saves money in many different ways. Of all the benefits of digital marketing (selling, serving, speaking, saving and sizzling), saving is the one that will help to present any business case, as the financial fraternity relate to savings very quickly. The other benefits of digital marketing (selling, serving, speaking and sizzling) will strengthen your business case.

  Save
• Objectives should also consider how to enhance a brand by adding value online. This can include adding to the experience of the brand through interactive facilities. Protecting the brand through achieving trust about security and confidentiality is also important.

  Sizzle
• They are the details of strategy.

  Tactics
• These include the web site landing pages, opt-in email incentives for inbound marketing, digital media channels such as paid searchand programmatic advertising and sponsorship.

  Tactical Digital Tools
• RACE Planning Framework

  1. Plan
  2. Reach
  3. Act
  4. Convert
  5. Engage
• It’s all too easy to build a basic web site or a presence on a social network without a strategy, without thinking about how it will support your goals to build your brand.

  Plan
• It involves working through the tried and trusted marketing fundamentals of customer research, segmentation, positioning and development of value propositions.

  Planning