ND

USINES
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24 Digital
keting
 Contents
Unit 24 Digital Marketing...................................................................................................3
LO1. Demonstration and understanding of opportunities challenges and effects of
digital marketing............................................................................................................3
Task P1. Present an overview of digital marketing landscape and prepare online and
offline marketing affairs.............................................................................................3
Task P2 Determine and analyze the key consumer trends and insights that are
fueling the growth of digital marketing......................................................................9
M1 Evaluate the opportunities and challenges facing the digital marketing
landscape.................................................................................................................21
D1 Demonstrate critical analysis and evaluation of the digital marketing landscape
and the impact of the growth of e-commerce.........................................................26
LO2 Examine key digital tools, platforms and channels, comparing and contrasting
bricks and mortar and other physical channels............................................................28
P3. Assess the key digital tools and hardware that are available to marketers in
contrast to ‘bricks and mortar’ and other physical channels...................................28
P4 Examine the development of e-commerce and digital marketing platforms and
channels in comparison to physical channels..........................................................34
M2 Critically analyze the use of appropriate digital tools, both hardware and
software, to use in a specific organization context to meet their marketing
requirements............................................................................................................42
LO3 Determine how to organize digital marketing activities and build multichannel
capabilities in an organization......................................................................................44
P5 Develop a digital marketing plan and strategy to build multi-channel capabilities.
................................................................................................................................. 44
P6 Explain how Omni channel marketing has evolved.............................................45
M3 Apply the tools and techniques to plan an end-to-end Omni-channel marketing
campaign.................................................................................................................. 47
LO4 Evaluate methods of monitoring and measuring digital marketing effectively....52
P7 Determine and evaluate the measurement techniques and performance metrics
in digital marketing..................................................................................................52
P8 Present a set of actions to improve performance in digital marketing...............53
 M4 Critically evaluate application of key digital measurement techniques and
performance metrics used in digital marketing.......................................................57
D2. Develop a coherent and logical digital marketing strategy and determine its
implications. Generate an actionable measurement framework that can be applied
in an organizational context.....................................................................................69
Bibliography.....................................................................................................................70
 Unit 24 Digital Marketing

LO1. Demonstration and understanding of opportunities challenges and effects of digital

marketing.

Task P1. Present an overview of digital marketing landscape and prepare online and
offline marketing affairs.

Digital Marketing:

Digital marketing specifically refers to 'Achieving marketing objectives through applying

digital technologies and media.'
Digital technologies and media include:
 Company websites
 Mobile apps
 Social media company pages
 Search Engines
 Advertising
 Email and automation
 Digital Partnerships with other digital companies
Importance of Digital Marketing:

Following are some of the main reasons why a company should have a digital marketing
plan:

 You're directionless:

Companies without a digital strategy (and many that do) don't have a clear strategic
goal for what they want to achieve online in terms of gaining new customers or
building deeper relationships with existing ones. And if you don't have goals with
SMART digital marketing objectives you likely don't put enough resources to reach
the goals and you don't evaluate through analytics whether you're achieving those
goals.

 You won't know your online audience or market share:

Customer demand for online services may be underestimated if you haven’t

researched this. Perhaps, more importantly, you won't understand your online
 marketplace: the dynamics will be different from traditional channels with different
types of customer profile and behavior, competitors, propositions, and options for
marketing communications. There are great tools available from the main digital
platforms where we can find out the level of customer demand, we recommend
doing competitor analysis and using Google's Keyword planner to see how you are
tapping into the intent of searchers to attract them to your site, or see how many
people are interested in products or services or sector you could reach through
Facebook IQ.

 Existing and start-up competitors will gain market share:

If you're not devoting enough resources to digital platforms, or you're using an ad-
hoc approach with no clearly defined strategies, then your competitors will eat your
digital lunch!
 You don't have a powerful online value proposition:

A clearly defined digital value proposition tailored to your different target customer
personas will help you differentiate your online service encouraging existing and new
customers to engage initially and stay loyal. Developing a competitive content
marketing strategy is key to this for many organizations since the content is what
engages your audiences through different channels like search, social, email
marketing, and on your blog.
 You don't know your online customers well enough:

It's often said that digital is the "most measurable medium ever". But Google
Analytics and similar will only tell you volumes of visits, not the sentiment of visitors,
what they think. You need to use other forms of website user feedback tools to
identify your weak points and then address them.

 You're not integrated:

It's all too common for digital marketing activities to be completed in silos whether
that's a specialist digital marketer, sitting in IT, or a separate digital agency. It's easier
that way to package 'digital' into a convenient chunk. But of course, it's less effective.
Everyone agrees that digital media work best when integrated with traditional media
and response channels. We always recommend developing an integrated digital
marketing strategy and once Digital Transformation is complete, digital will be part
of your marketing plan and part of business as usual.
 Digital doesn't have enough people/budget given its importance:

Insufficient resources will be devoted to both planning and executing e-marketing

and there is likely to be a lack of specific specialist e-marketing skills which will make
it difficult to respond to competitive threats effectively.
 You're wasting money and time through duplication:

Even if you do have sufficient resource it may be wasted. This is particularly the case
in larger companies where you see different parts of the marketing organization
purchasing different tools or using different agencies for performing similar online
marketing tasks.

 You're not agile enough to catch up or stay ahead:

If you look at the top online brands like Amazon, Dell, Google, Tesco, Zappos, they're
all dynamic trialing new approaches to gain or keep their online audiences.

 You're not optimizing:

Every company with a website will have analytics, but many senior managers don't
ensure that their teams make or have the time to review and act on them. Once a
strategy enables you to get the basics right, then you can progress to the continuous
improvement of the key aspects like search marketing, site user experience, email,
and social media marketing.[ CITATION DrD101 \l 1033 ]

Landscape of digital marketing:

There are 8 sections in the Digital Marketing Landscape to consider as a part of your
strategy. While you’ll notice tools like AR/VR and AI aren’t listed separately, they are
typically incorporated into other tools.
Even now, with the buzz around innovative new technologies, executing the tried and
true marketing tools with excellence is the foundation of an organizations success.
Following are eight major components in landscape of digital marketing:
Social Media Marketing:

Social media isn’t going anywhere. Facebook is HUGE, Instagram is growing bigger and
LinkedIn is a powerhouse. Sites like Pinterest and Twitter can also drive ROI. Social
Media is definitely a paid media channel, but engaging with organic conversations,
customer service, research and activating fans are all still relevant business objectives
for social channels.

Digital Ads:

More money is now going towards digital advertising vs. traditional, and you can easily
use digital ads for any add objective. There are now a few platforms that have mass
reach: Search ads, Display Ads, Social Ads and Video Ads. Consider how each of these
may fit into your strategy and master one first before trying to do more. AI is making
digital ads even smarter, so be sure to use automation and pixels to get results.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization):

SEO continues to be a powerful source of hot leads and ready-to-buy customers. As

voice search and mobile take more share earning a top 3 position will be even more
important.
Websites:

Every business has a website, but the name of the game for sites that work now are
mobile and fast. Think about clear, clean and simple designs that load quickly.

Conversation Marketing:

While word-of-mouth is a top way that businesses grow, it is usually ignored in

marketing. Consider how to drive social media WOM. Also look at the rise of Influencer
marketing as a way to break-through the noise.

Email Marketing:

Email is still a powerful tool that converts. While social media and messaging are
growing, email isn’t going anywhere. Continue to incorporate it into your funnel and
marketing strategy.

CRM:

Data is the name of the game, and a CRM helps you learn more about your customers.
While some privacy laws are making CRM usage more challenging (and using CRM data
elsewhere) it is important to continue to learn about your customers and capture
information.

Mobile:

Mobile is becoming about messenger and chatbots. Obviously all of your marketing
(email, website, social, ads) must be optimized to work for mobile.[CITATION boo07 \l
1033 ]

Difference between Online marketing and Offline marketing in SEO:

Online Marketing:
Online marketing is the process of selling products or goods through online channels like
social media, ads, e-mail etc.

Advantages:

 Sell’s their products within few seconds of click at any time.

 We can easily offer content, audio and video clips on the internet for very low cost.
Disadvantages:

 Risk of click fraud.

 Difficulty products effective ads.

Offline Marketing:

Offline marketing is the process of selling products or goods through offline channels
like print ads, telemarketing etc.

Advantages:
 Order exactly what you need.
 Valuable for promoting loyalty scheme.

Disadvantages:
 It is time consuming.
 Limitation in audience reached and limited accessibility.

Difference between online marketing and offline marketing:

Online marketing:

 Online marketing are generally focus on content.

 Online marketing includes third party like media, web content, search e-mail,
social media.
 Online marketing communicates customers with e-mails, chat and social media.
 Target audience met at one place.
 It is cost effective.
 It helps in directly reaches out to the professionals of the industry and market.
 Prospective buyer cannot visible.
 Less people to manage.
Offline marketing:

 Offline marketing are generally focus on product.

 Offline marketing includes mass media, phone center and telephone.
 Offline marketing communicates with customer with their mobile number and
staff.
 Target audience is scattered.
 It is high marketing cost.
  It do not directly reaches out to the professionals due to some barriers.
 It directly visible to their prospective buyer.
 Large people to manage.
Task P2 Determine and analyze the key consumer trends and insights that are fueling
the growth of digital marketing.

Key trends in digital marketing industry:

So far, the digital marketing trends for 2021 seem to revolve around two distinct, but
almost contradictory concepts. First is a general humanization, addressing real issues
and tailoring content to suit the individual (as opposed to mass appeal) for more
personal engagement. Second is a much more mechanical and technical optimization,
fine-tuning the behind-the-scenes areas like SEO and how you structure campaigns, the
hard work that our satisfied customers don’t see.

 Inclusivity:

One look at the front page headlines shows the significance of inclusivity in our
current time-and-place in history. Greater numbers by the day, especially younger
audiences and marginalized groups, want to see a more optimistic depiction of
equality in the content they consume and the brands they purchase from. Or more
accurately, they don’t want to see the same homogeneous content we’re
accustomed to from previous decades.

In 2021, digital marketing includes media and subject matters that cover a variety of
races, sexualities, religions, etc., as well as representation for people with physical
disabilities and learning disabilities. This includes the content for your imagery and
videos, but also the topics you discuss in social media and blogs, or even the line of
products you offer.

According to Accenture, this cultural shift is already affecting purchasing behavior:

41% of shoppers “have shifted… their business away from a retailer that does not
reflect how important [identity and diversity] is to them.” The same study showed
that 29% of consumers are willing to switch brands completely if they don’t
showcase enough diversity—and that percentage just goes up for ethnic minorities
and the LGBTQ+ community.
 Featured snippets & no-click searches:

For many, many years, the goal of SEO has been to get your listing in the “position
number one” spot of search results. Now, going into 2021, the end-goal is continuing
to shift to more SEO visibility in “position zero.”

Position zero refers to Google’s “featured snippet”, and 2021 SEO marketing trends
are prioritizing it above all else. The featured snippet works differently than other
search results entries—for one thing, it’s separated by a small box and located at the
top. More importantly, it also displays extra, relevant information with the attempt
at answering the user’s question without them needed to click on it, prompting the
nickname “no-click search.”

Although it sounds counter-intuitive to forego someone clicking on your link, the

recognition you get as a thought-leader outweighs a single click/visit. Moreover,
featured snippets are sometimes read aloud with Google Assistant voice searches.

If you’re going to target a featured snippet yourself, there’s a few things to know.
For starters, featured snippets are mostly for long-tail keyword phrases like
questions (such as “how to design a logo”). They come in different forms, from step-
by-step lists to straight-up definitions to even videos and more, so match your
content with the appropriate format.

In the content itself, make sure you answer the keyword question clearly and
succinctly, preferably with bulleted lists or a table structure.

 Sustainability: loud and proud:

Just like the digital marketing trend of inclusivity, people in 2021 are similarly
passionate about environmentalism. They want to make sure the brands receiving
their money are just as concerned for planet earth as they are.

With 81% of consumers strongly feeling companies should help improve the
environment, what we’re seeing is a popularity boost for sustainable and eco-
friendly brands, especially for younger consumers. This goes well-beyond the market
for green products, every brand can benefit by broadcasting their sustainable
practices.

The key is communicating your sustainability through your branding and content to
make environmentalism part of your identity. There are plenty of different ways
 depending on your branding style, such as displaying a banner prominently on your
site, or discussing it repeatedly on social media. You can even opt for more subtle
methods, such as branded reusable tote bags or conveying green themes through
your brand’s visual identity.

 Ad-blockers:

The digital marketing trends of 2021 aren’t all about positivity and progress—it’s also
about overcoming obstacles like ad blockers. With 27% of internet users expected to
use ad blockers in 2021, many marketers are having their primary stream of traffic
automatically cut off at the source, including PPC campaigns.

First, you want to check how big of a problem it is for you. Your ad data and analytics
should tell you what you need to know. Depending on your target audience or where
you post ads, the damage might be negligible.
If your ads do fall victim to ad blockers, your best strategy is to adapt, don’t waste
time trying to convince potential customers to change their own preferences.
Readjust your advertising budget to suit other, more fruitful campaigns, like
influencer marketing or sponsored content. Younger audiences don’t respond well to
display ads anyway, but they do respond well to influencer marketing, so making the
switch is advisable in any situation.
 Image and video SEO for visual searches:

You already know you can search for images and videos by typing in keywords, but
did you know you can also submit existing images for a search, or even take original
photos and search for context? As more users discover these visual search
techniques, it changes the overall landscape of SEO in general.

To capitalize on the increased amount of visual searches, you want to make sure
your image and video SEO campaigns are in tip-top shape. For starters, apply the
basics:

 Always include alt text in your image descriptions

 Add images to your sitemap or create a dedicated image sitemap
 Include your target SEO keywords in the file name of your image
 Use top-quality images and videos, including HD
 Moreover, familiarize yourself with Google Lens, especially if you’re an ecommerce
brand. Handle your SEO techniques right, and you can take traffic away from
competitors when shoppers conduct picture searches for products or barcodes.
 Interactive content:

Here’s a trend that’s technically been around for a while, but it’s just now being
recognized as a best practice. Interactive content doesn’t just promote more
engagement, it also improves the user’s enjoyment.

Interactive content like quizzes, open-ended questions, surveys, contests, giveaways,

polls, calculator widgets, etc., can do wonders for your brand. At the very least, they
increase the length of time users engage with you, which helps your standing in
algorithm-based searches and feeds. But more importantly, people want to be
engaged, so interactive content almost always improves your user experience.
Interactive content is part of the greater trend towards personalization, by allowing
the users to answer for themselves or have their opinion heard, they feel a more
personal connection to the brand. Don’t forget it can also be used to collect data on
user preferences, such as for product or site improvements.
 Customer segmentation:

Another trend that’s not new but rather newly popular is customer segmentation.
The idea is simple: instead of a small number of large marketing campaigns targeting
general audiences, it’s better to have a large number of small marketing campaigns
targeting specific audiences.

Customer segmentation means grouping your target audience by certain traits or

behaviors, such as demographics or shopping habits. This allows you to more
accurately tailor your content to suit their preferences; for example, having two
separate email lists for big spenders and small spenders, and sending different
newsletters to each that feature different products.

This strategy works best for personalization and customer engagement, as your
followers receive content hand-picked for them. Beyond email lists, you can apply
customer segmentation to specialized ads on different sites, categories of blog
content and social media content for multiple communities.
 Local SEO:

Google frequently updates their local SEO algorithm, so if you’re a local business,
you should continuously update your business’ appearance in local results too. In a
way, local SEO is even more powerful than broad SEO, people searching for a specific
type of business with their geographic location have more intent to purchase, so it’s
easier to convert them.

For starters, you have to get verified by Google. You can do this by signing up for
Google My Business and either claiming your listing or creating a new one. This helps
you rank higher in Google SERPS, and also gives you the chance to offer additional
information about your company to online searchers.
Additionally, you want to incorporate local keywords prominently into your SEO
strategy. Obviously, prioritize the name of your city or town as a top keyword, but
you can go the extra mile by also incorporating related keywords. If your location has
a famous landmark or quirky claim-to-fame, mention it once or twice.
 Some old trends that are still helpful:

Not all of the best digital marketing trends of 2021 are from 2021. Plenty of
marketing trends from last year or the year before are still going strong, and will
continue to be game changers throughout the next year as well. And if you still
haven’t implemented them yet, there’s more urgency now than ever before.

In particular, these are some important ongoing digital marketing trends from 2020:
 Shopable Posts:

Social media posts that directly connect users to product checkout tend to
increase conversions by streamlining the payment process. See if you’re eligible
for Checkout on Instagram.

 Gen Z Marketing:

Last year saw the eldest of Gen Z turning 18 and entering the workforce. If you
want to infiltrate this young market, first understand the best practices for
marketing to Gen Z.
  Micro influencers:

As opposed to premier influencers, micro influencers are more like average

people who have a larger-than-average social media following. If you attract
enough of them, typically through social media contests and giveaways, you can
achieve the same numbers as of the top-level influencers at a fraction of the cost
and effort.

 Voice Search SEO:

Since voice assistants first hit market a few years ago, voice searches have been
an upending traditional SEO tactic—people don’t use the same keywords when
they talk as when they type! Try altering your SEO strategy to incorporate speech
keywords.[ CITATION Pat08 \l 1033 ]

Key consumer trends in digital marketing industry:

As shopping online has become the norm in the 21st Century, consumer demands for
convenience and speed continue to rise. Retailers are implementing new ways to
capture this new generation of shoppers while reinventing their brands to appeal to a
digital marketplace.
Following are some of the major consumer trends in digital marketing industry:
 Environmental awareness:

A larger group of consumers today is concerned about climate change, and they’re
looking for steps that they can take to reverse the process that is endangering the
ecosystem. Many consumers, especially younger generations, are largely comprised
of people with this sentiment, and this has led this group to place greater value on
experience over ownership.

There is a growing number of people who have ethical concerns about business
practices and look at avoidance of waste, and this places greater market value on
products that last longer and don’t end up in the trash right away. To take advantage
of this, businesses can launch subscription and reusable programs for their products
to improve their image for consumers who value ethical awareness.
Consumers are looking for reusable items that enable them to cut down on waste.
This trend has grown to the point where there is a buzzword in the industry called
the “reuse revolutionaries.” Businesses who are taking a firm stance on only offering
 reusable materials and packaging can earn this highly regarded status and gain a
strong, growing customer base.
 Products of the past making a comeback:

Social media has a way of putting a spotlight on popular culture from the past and
breathing new life into it. There is a growing trend of consumers looking for retro-
inspired products. One example is a resurgence in the interest for Polaroid-style
instant print cameras. Some companies can simply look at their past products to gain
new inspiration. Sometimes reissuing an old product can inspire a buzz, especially
when paired with a creative social media campaign.

 Consumers spend increasingly more time with mobile devices:

Every year, it seems like a new smartphone is one of the top items on people’s
holiday wish lists. This year is no different, and the trend just continues to grow more
prominent in the market. With the new arrival of 5G internet this year, there is even
more incentive for people to invest in smartphone upgrades. It has come to the
point that adults now spend more time interacting with their mobile devices than
watching television. For digital marketers, this represents an opportunity unlike any
before.

 Bargain hunting creeps into more sectors:

The online shopping experience is providing more ways for consumers to seek deals.
This has led to the rise of bargain-oriented platforms where shoppers can typically
get items for 60% less than they would pay in person at a department store. This
trend has even spread to luxury brands that include prestige beauty products that
had previously seemed immune to the need for discount prices.

It has come to the point where consumers often feel like they have failed if they paid
full price for anything. As businesses use promotional pricing to entice shoppers,
they have to learn how to do it responsibly to avoid damaging the market as a
whole.
 Growing demand for convenience:

The internet and speedy delivery have created a consumer base that demands
greater convenience. Now that millennials are grown to the point where they are
parents with busier lifestyles, efficient and convenient shopping experiences have
more value. Time-saving solutions are an important step for enticing today’s
 customers. Time saving also is appealing in items that consumers buy for the home.
More efficient, time-saving kitchen devices are a good example. This also enables
retailers to offer home installation and preparation services to improve the efficiency
of households and the buying experience.

 Rental and resale are in fashion:

Resale clothing is no longer relegated to those who are in financial hardship. Young
shoppers are frequently visiting online consignment stores and apparel rental
services. New generations of shoppers are challenging traditional ideas of
ownership, and many prominent retailers are beginning to integrate resale and
rental in order to entice this growing market. Although resale of goods can hinder
the sales of new products, this could also be viewed as a way to grow one’s
customer base and attract younger demographics.

 More shoppers are using BOPIS tactics:

“Buy online and pick up in-store,” abbreviated BOPIS, is a growing trend. This feature
is especially valuable for retailers who have numerous in-person shopping locations.
The United States market is currently behind the curve in offering this option to
consumers when compared to European countries.

The appeal to consumers for BOPIS is that it eliminates the shipping cost. In many
cases, this type of shipping can be carried out more quickly than delivering to the
home. The most popular items that consumers want to pick up at the store are
clothing, electronics, beauty items and groceries. The demographic that gravitates to
this the most is generation Z, which is people age 25 and younger.
 Consumers continue to demand personalization:

As the technology of web platforms continues to evolve, digital shopping has the
ability to offer more personalized experiences and products. Consumers are
interested in items that fit their interests, which can be researched with data such as
their previous purchases and listings they have visited.

Consumers can also receive direct communication about products they are watching.
This could take the form of an email that updates the shopper about changes in price
or availability. In order to implement a full personalization strategy, online marketers
will need to enable an Omni-channel strategy that utilizes social media, email, search
engine ads and more.
 With greater personalization comes more sharing of personal information. Although
people are expecting more personal attention from retailers, they are also more
aware of the need to protect their identity and payment information. This means
that digital marketers have to build the trust factor of their brand and deepen
relationships with customers. Creating outstanding products that inspire consumers
to share messages about them on social media also helps to lend more credibility to
a brand and build trust.
 Home life is becoming multifunctional:

Traditionally, the home is a place of relaxation, sleep and family meals. Today,
telecommuting and the gig economy have turned a large portion of homes into
multifunctional hubs for business, work, fitness and other activities. The evolution of
internet broadband and prevalence of computerized devices in people’s homes
enables ordinary people to carry out tasks that previously had to be done in
specialized locations.

Because of this rapidly evolving home life, consumers have different demands in
order to meet these new needs. Casual clothing that can be worn around the house
is more in demand, and people are looking for ways to have food delivered to the
home. People are spending more time in the house, and they’re shopping for
products that fit this new multi-purpose home lifestyle.
 Greater demand for health technology:

Consumers are looking for better technology-based solutions for their health issues.
They expect to be able to set online appointments to see health professionals, and
they want to have access to their medical information via internet platforms. In
these days that have been radically affected by the global pandemic, there is a
growing demand for conducting meetings with health care providers via remote
methods such as video meetings or voice calls. Customers also prefer to get
prescription refills online and to complete paperwork on a website prior to
healthcare appointments.

Being informed about statistics is important for understanding consumers. Here are
some essential facts that can be helpful in creating a marketing strategy for 2021:

 Nearly half of consumers performed shopping activities on their mobile phones

since August of 2020
  Only 9% of extracted materials in the global economy in recent years are being
recirculated, which means that 91% of materials are still going to waste
 According to recent studies, Adults in the United States spend an average of
nearly four hours daily using mobile devices
 Only 26 percent of digital marketers have taken steps to create a connected
multichannel strategy
 Half of consumers are more interested in personalized product offerings that are
based on their tastes
 Due to a larger number of business closings and economic pressure, 75 percent
of US consumers have recently tried new shopping behaviors
 Brand loyalty is on the decline with 36 percent of consumers having recently
sampled a different brand of product
 The pandemic has had an impact on shopping hygiene practices which has 79
percent of American consumers looking for self-checkout options
 Many consumers are intending to cut back on nonessential purchases, and about
40 percent of shoppers have reduced their overall spending budgets
 Products that offer value rather than luxury have seen a gain of two to five
percent in sales.

This year has been a game-changer like no other in recent memory, and marketers
are scrambling to keep up with dramatic shifts in consumer behavior. The pandemic
has sent people into their homes and created a temporary boom in e-commerce, but
it’s uncertain how long this will last. The pandemic is expected to subside next year,
so marketers should have a strategy for adjusting to current conditions while being
prepared for another dramatic shift in consumer behavior next year.[ CITATION
Tea13 \l 1033 ]
Best ways to analyze Digital Marketing Data:

As a marketer, analyzing digital marketing data is the best way to see whether or not
our digital marketing tactics are working and where we can improve.
Many efforts to analyze data are fruitless, so it's important that the data is analyzed
correctly. In order to properly analyze marketing data and get actionable results, seven
of the top ways to analyze digital marketing metrics are described with their importance
in context of a business's success.
 Sales revenue:

The first metric to analyze is sales revenue. This is kind of obvious, but believe it or not,
some of the smartest marketers overlook this metric. It's not easy to tie your sales
revenue to the actual marketing activities you're launching, but without it, you have no
idea if your digital marketing is paying off.

To measure your sales revenue correctly, utilize a software program that specializes in
measuring sales data and other key performance indicators (KPI). The goal is to see a
clear differentiation and year-to-year increase in your sales that can be associated with
your digital marketing initiatives.
 Customer retention rate:

We’ve discussed the elements of a good social media campaign before, along with how
digital marketing methods lead to new engagement and new customers through top-of-
mind awareness. However, we haven’t fully discussed how digital marketing can help
with client retention.
After all, current customers or clients are your most valuable assets, and retaining them
over time is important. Measuring your client retention rate is absolutely essential.
Fortunately, this metric is relatively easy to track, as long as you compile simple
information (for example, sales in a certain year by customer account or how many
return coupons are used in your system). By doing this, you can see if you are retaining
current clients and determine how to raise this rate over time through marketing efforts
such as retargeting campaigns.
 Social media engagement:

Many quality digital marketing campaigns begin and end with social media. Social media
engagement is one of the most important metrics to measure when looking at the
longevity of your brand and how people interact with your company over time.
To measure the engagement rates of your social media accounts, you may want to first
focus on putting your accounts into one highly-effective social media scheduling app
because many of them track engagement analytics for you.
One of the most important metrics to track is engagement rate. In order to calculate
engagement rate by post, record the number of likes, shares, and comments the post
gets. Divide this by your number of followers and multiply the result by 100 -- this gives
you that post's engagement rate (as a percentage). The benchmarks for social media
platforms differ. Instagram tends to have higher engagement overall, so the benchmark
is 3-6%, whereas Facebook and Twitter benchmarks are more like 0.5-1%.
 Cost per click (CPC):

Cost per click measures how efficiently you're reaching the people who are likely to click
on your ad. It's basically the amount of clicks you have had on a particular digital ad in
relation to the money you’ve spent promoting it. This is a terrific metric, as it allows you
to directly see if specific ads are performing to the best potential for the budget.

Measuring your CPC can be done for multiple types of digital advertising, including social
media, Google Ads, and link-building campaigns. Many platforms actually have the
ability to directly measure CPCs themselves. However, if yours does not, it’s as easy as
analyzing how many clicks you're getting and comparing that to the money you spent on
the ad campaign.
 Site traffic:

Another important group of metrics is your site traffic. You can analyze these through
Google Analytics with ease, and they are sure to provide a clear image of where your
company is headed and whether or not your marketing is truly helping you to expand
your brand.
To analyze site traffic, you can stick with Google Analytics, as well as incorporate site
traffic data plugins on your site. Using these will give you a clear image of your site
traffic and what digital marketing campaigns are doing the most for your company.
Furthermore, analyzing site traffic and choosing to collect the right data from your
website visitors can actually help you grow awareness, know who to target in the future,
and better hone your buyer personas over time.
 Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS):

Similar to an ROI metric, but specifically for advertisements, ROAS measures the amount
of money spent on advertisements in comparison to the amount of money made on
sales directly linked to advertisements. Essentially, you should be making more than you
spend on ads, and this is a great way to monitor whether or not your investment is
ringing the register.
To measure your ROAS, take the sales revenue data (use only the sales data that can be
linked to ads) and then compare this to the money spent on any and all advertisements.
By doing this, you can determine if your advertisements are actually leading to a return
on your investment and make adjustments accordingly. This will also let you analyze
which of your channel strategies is most effective, and help you to determine how and
where your money should be spent.
 Conversion rates:

Conversion rates indicate the percentage of visitors to your website who complete a
desired goal. High conversion rates mean that your marketing campaign and website are
proving to be successful - so it's a metric you really want to pay attention to.

Whether you're a B2B or B2C business, there is a standard equation to measure your
website conversion rates:
Conversion Rate = Total number of conversions / Total number of sessions
Find the number of sessions to your website, and your conversion metric, through
Google Analytics or your Content Management System (CMS). Next, find your
conversion metric. Your conversion metric is dependent on what your goal is, and an
example of a conversion metric could be number of orders, form submissions, CTA
clicks, number of downloads, or something else. Once you have these numbers, simply
place them into the formula.
Conversion rate is important because it gives you the insight into what works and what
doesn't work - ultimately showing you what people or companies want. This will help
you decide whether or not your strategy is working.[ CITATION Rei19 \l 1033 ]
M1 Evaluate the opportunities and challenges facing the digital marketing landscape.

Challenges and opportunities in digital marketing:

Inbound is quickly becoming the marketing method of choice for many businesses and
for good reason! Marketers love it because it brings good-fit prospects right to their
door. Consumers love it because it doesn’t rely on interrupting them. While many
marketers have found success with inbound, many others are still struggling.
Basically the challenges their self are opportunities if appropriately dealt with. If a
marketer overcomes these challenges ultimately they become opportunities and
contribute positively in the execution of marketing landscape and achieving set targets/
goals.
Following are some major challenges for marketers and a way around to make them an
opportunity:
 Generating Quality Traffic:

Solid lead generation is pivotal to inbound marketing success. Why? Because once
you’ve generated leads, inbound allows you to nurture them through the buyer’s
journey by providing helpful information and to guide them toward a purchase
decision.

Inbound marketing is about creating valuable content that answers your prospects’
questions. When people think you have something to offer them, they will be more
likely to provide you with their contact information. Now you have a lead that’s
definitely interested in what you have to offer. Your job is to nurture this lead by
providing helpful information until they’re ready to make a decision.
The problem here is that many businesses struggle with lead generation in the first
place. Without generating leads, it’s impossible to nurture them!
In HubSpot’s State of Inbound 2018, 61% of marketers reported that generating
traffic and leads is a top challenge. Without reaching new prospects and attracting
new customers, it can be difficult to sustain growth. After all, if no one is visiting your
website, your sales funnel will be empty.
To solve this problem, we can:

 Revisit our buyer personas:

The first question we should ask ourselves is: are we targeting the right people? Give
your buyer personas enough detail so you know exactly who you are targeting.
Ultimately, this will allow you to create content that truly speaks to them.

 Reconsider your content:

What type of content does your audience want? Some people like reading blogs,
while others prefer an entertaining video. Find the right medium for your prospects
and use it to create interesting and relevant content.
  Optimize:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the key to being found on search engines such as
Google, Bing, and Yahoo. More visibility on search engine pages means more
customers coming to your website.

 Invest in paid search:

SEO is the best way to up your organic search engine rankings, but paid search is a
fast and easy way to get noticed by your audience. It complements your SEO and fills
in any gaps by directing your prospects to the right landing pages.

 Bring visitors back to your site with retargeting:

Have you ever visited a website, only to see their ads all around the internet over the
next few days? That’s retargeting. These ads reintroduce your brand or products to
your prospects so you stay top-of-mind.

 Information Overload:

The popularity of inbound marketing means that there’s a lot of information already
out there in many industries. Google’s current count of indexed pages is approaching
fifty billion pages. It can be hard to break through the clutter and have your voice
heard if you don’t have something new to add.

To overcome this challenge, start by taking a deep look into the problems your
customers are having. What is getting in the way of their success and how can you
help? Even if there is already abundant content about common solutions, you may
be able to offer a different perspective, an easier explanation, or a fresh approach.

You should also explore new ways to engage with or present information to your
audience. When you have a clear understanding of who your audience is and where
they are hanging out online (think: social media, forums, etc.), you can begin to have
meaningful conversations with real people. Once you have their attention, you can
gently nudge prospects over to your other digital assets.

 Tools and Technology:

Without the right tools, it’s unlikely you’ll see success from your inbound efforts. To
smoothly execute your inbound strategy, invest in scalable resources that let you do
more in less time.
 With the abundance of tools available, it can be a challenge for marketers to sort
through their options and find the most suitable technology for their campaign. In
fact, HubSpot’s State of Inbound report found that 24% of marketers struggle in
identifying the right tools and technologies for their needs. How, then, do you pick
the ones that add value to your marketing?
As a HubSpot Platinum Certified Agency Partner, we recommend learning about and
using HubSpot tools; even the free tools can add lots of value. Regardless of whether
you use HubSpot, here are some other tools that you should have in your arsenal:

 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software:

Keep track of, organize, and learn more about your contacts. This helps you get to
know your customers better, so you know how to sell your business to them.

 Social Media Publisher:

This should integrate a calendar, scheduling tools, and monitoring capabilities for
easy social media management.

 Marketing Automation Tool:

Inbound is about nurturing your leads. A marketing automation tool helps you guide
your leads to a purchase decision and prevent them from falling through the cracks.

 Analytics Tools:

How do you track the actions people take on your website? Explore available
analytics tools. Google Analytics is a great option—are there others that suit your
needs?

Pick the right tools by looking at what your business truly needs. To benefit from
your investment, go for software or technology that is simple enough for the whole
team to learn and use.
 Overwhelming Data:

Inbound marketing provides you with an extraordinary amount of data. Many

marketers struggle with what to focus on. From determining your buyer persona to
 choosing the most effective method of tracking your ROI, the amount of information
that you need to understand and process is seemingly endless.

But when done right, it’s possible to track all of this new information.
Take some time to research the data options that are available to you. You’ll likely be
confronted by a sea of options, from consumer trends to complex calculations based
only on eye movement. The key to preventing information overload is zeroing in on
data that will be most useful to you.
Pare it down to the essentials by asking yourself: What’s important to me? Which
metrics will measure whether I’m achieving my goals?
Much of the data available to you will be interesting, but if it doesn’t inform your
decisions, don’t take on the additional struggle. Only add in new figures that are
critical to your success.
 Securing Enough Resources:

You’ve already formulated effective strategies—the only problem is putting them

into motion. Many marketers see it as a challenge to get enough hands on deck and
secure sufficient budget without having to pull the plug before they see results.

Impressing people in big offices is usually the way to secure a bigger budget. This
becomes easier if you’re able to prove the return for every marketing dollar.
If you’ve been wondering how to solve your marketing problems given your lean
budget, it could help to show the decision-makers the direct link between your
marketing activities and sales results. Your marketing efforts should collect leads and
track them from start to finish, instead of simply passing those leads on to sales.
Regardless whether the lead ends up being rejected by sales or turning into a repeat
customer, you can tie your leads back to your marketing activities. That way, your
organization’s decision-makers have enough data to appreciate the benefits of
increasing your budget.
To secure resources, you must also be able to measure and prove your return on
investment. Without ROI tracking, it could be difficult to prove ROI, and without ROI,
there would be no budget.
The problem is, proving the ROI of every single marketing activity is no walk in the
park. This is especially true if a two-way communication between your marketing
and sales teams does not exist.
 To overcome tracking and proving ROI-related challenges marketers face, you
should:
 Determine your goals.

What do you want your marketing to accomplish? Do you want to generate leads?
Expand your reach? Establish your status as a thought leader? Clearly defined goals
help you determine what needs to be measured.

 Determine KPIs.

How will you know whether you’ve reached your goals? You can’t measure ROI
without measuring progress toward your goals, so make sure your team is aligned on
what key performance metrics you’ll be measuring.

 Invest in tools.

How you’re going to measure your ROI is just as important as knowing your goals. If
you want to see whether blogging has generated more leads, onboard Google
Analytics. If you want to prove that your social media campaign is working, utilize
tools like Twitter Analytics or BuzzSumo.

 Align your marketing and sales.

Proving ROI involves making a strong case for dedicating resources and time as well
as establishing links between your marketing activities and sales results. Create a
service-level agreement (SLA) to close the gap between your marketing and sales
efforts. Then, use a marketing software and a CRM solution to see how many leads
your marketing activities have generated.[ CITATION Nat19 \l 1033 ]

D1 Demonstrate critical analysis and evaluation of the digital marketing landscape and
the impact of the growth of e-commerce.

Impact of digital marketing on growth of E-commerce:

Digital Marketing has become a lifeline for e-commerce business as it offers the best of
both worlds - REACH and ROI. Distract from the old brick and mortar methods of
traditional advertising power up your e-commerce business with Digital Marketing.
Disrupt the e-commerce industry with perpetual growth by fueling your online store
with abundant sales and colossal income.
Digital marketing is a sure shot way to reach prospects for E-commerce business
because you know the current scenario “Digital is everything”. Make this digital
revolution reverberate your brand anywhere. Employ sound Digital marketing strategies
for your web store that skyrocket your business growth.
Digital marketing for E-commerce business breaks the inertia by breaking the sales
funnel. It has turned out to be an everyday propensity. If you are selective with the right
digital marketing tool, then it provides a space for the growth of your business.
So, build your business and fast forward your growth with digital marketing. Vying for
consumer attention and retention till now? Make 2020 as a watershed year for your e-
commerce business.
“The right digital marketing strategy is the key to your e-commerce success.”
Following are some important features of digital marketing for e-commerce:
Markets your products online:

Gone are the days of marketing products through physical stores alone. Digital
Marketing has changed the way of buying and selling products or services. All products
and services can be marketed online. It’s a new trend of marketing and allows hassle-
free buying and selling.

Reach millions of millennia in a fly:

As there is explosive growth in online users, you can reach millions at a time through the
digital medium. Your customers are online so you should be online. Digital marketing
tools can pull targeted customers or the right prospects at the right time.

Improves market reach by surviving competition:

In this cut-throat competition, standing tall in the crowd is a tough row to hoe since
every business uses this digital marketing including large corporations and top brands.
Surviving is the only way to sustain any business. However, digital marketing streamlines
the marketing process smooth and it can sneak into the competitors’ business and
provides insights.

It impacts the buying decisions:

The digital marketing strategy you use will attract site visitors and impacts their buying
decisions. Also, it prompts them to buy the products from the deserted shopping
basket. To stand out the fierce competition, e-commerce businesses need to adopt
diverse digital marketing channels and tactics that attract and retain their customers.

Proliferate sales in short span:

Digital marketing services hit the mark when it comes to getting traction in a short span.
As it is an easy way to interact with customers, it helps in saving time, money, and
marketing efforts.

LO2 Examine key digital tools, platforms and channels, comparing and contrasting bricks
and mortar and other physical channels.

P3. Assess the key digital tools and hardware that are available to marketers in contrast
to ‘bricks and mortar’ and other physical channels.

Digital tools and hardware to increase efficiency of bricks and mortar businesses:

We are witnessing a significant shift in shopping patterns away from brick-and-mortar to

online mobile shopping. However, bricks and mortar stores will remain the dominant
revenue-generating channel for the foreseeable future (Gartner Group). Online
shopping is still less than 10 percent of revenues in most developed countries.

The benefits of online shopping, which come mainly from digitization, will be married
with the human need for physical and local experiences to create a better shopping
experience. This is a win for the consumer. This also is a win for retailers that digitize
aspects of their business and use this to understand and be where consumers shop.
They will be able to better meet and exceed customer expectations and create a
differentiating value proposition that leads to an overall better brand experience.
Digital technology can be used to:

 Enhance the store experience.

 Take advantage of mobile user capability.
 Increase shoppers’ convenience.
 Promote a retailer’s online presence and the store together as an omnichannel
approach to the customer.
Digital Technologies That Enhance the Store Experience:

These technologies include tablet technology, video screens and in-store kiosks, digital
signage, interactive hangers, augmented reality, use of social proof, and virtual reality.
Tablet Technology:

Touchscreens have become key components to the in-store experience. They come in
two forms: kiosks and digital signage. Touchscreens encourage interactivity and
engagement on the part of the user. Some retailers have used tablets to remove
checkout desks.

Tablets can turn an ordinary dressing room into a place where customers try on new
clothes and then capture and share experiences through their social networks. Giant
touchscreens on showroom floors could become interactive mirrors people use to
assess the potential for new purchases. At some retailers, tablets are made available
inside stores in order to capture customers’ interest and then lead them to the right
product at the right price. Retailers are learning to adapt to shoppers using personal
devices before, during, and after purchases.
Tablet technology in store can help to ensure the correct fit for customers. Acustom
Apparel in New York customizes clothing with the help of a 3-D body scanner. Using its
digital measuring technologies, the store gathers 200,000 data points to create a 3-D
body model that is then fed into its proprietary algorithms to create custom clothing.
Hellman’s Mayonnaise installed touchscreen tablet computers on grocery carts. The
devices could detect RFID (radio frequency identification) tags on the products inside
the carts to suggest recipes that use the condiment. The tablets also served as an
additional informational resource.
Tablets offer retailers a chance to deliver meaningful visual experiences that engage
shoppers who are using tablets to blend the best of digital and real worlds to get the
right size and color at the right price.
In-Store Kiosks:

Organizations such as McDonalds and KFC have “kiosks” that allow customers to browse
product ranges and order items while in store, while brands like Monal have been using
iPads for taking orders and directly delivering them to kitchen with the help of their
software, which has impressively improved their performance.

Digital Signage:

Digital signage promotes engagement in store and encourages customers to take the
retail experience with them when they leave the store. Digital signage can connect with
content management systems to allow for quick and seamless updates, as well as the
ability to either broadcast updates once to any number of devices or custom update
each device with localized content. It can be used to assist customers with in-store
purchases as well as to update prices anywhere—anytime. It also can be used to gamify
the retail environment, share content from screen to screen, create wish lists that can
be sent to a customer’s mobile via SMS or email, and run “loyalty” and “just in time”
promotions.

Interactive Hangers (IH):

IH works when the hanger is picked up by a shopper and triggers preprogrammed visual
media to be played on a nearby screen. IH also can be programmed to change lighting,
background music, and other media around the store.

Augmented Reality (AR):

AR allows for a digitally enhanced view of the real world. AR can add layers of digital
information on top of items in the world around us. It also can be used for reading
product reviews, watching videos, and ordering online.

A retail furniture AR app allows users to see how a piece of furniture looks inside their
home before buying it. This AR viewer utilizes the live camera feed of a mobile device
and projects a virtual representation of the object in real time on a tracking marker,
allowing the user to view the virtual object from any angle. The application solves the
problem of picturing how a piece of furniture would fit in its intended environment.

Virtual Reality (VR):

Topshop’s latest use of technology was to live stream a VR “experience” of its London
Fashion Week show. Customers could use VR headsets to experience the show in 360
degrees.
Digital Technologies to Take Advantage of Mobile User Capability:

QR Codes:

“Quick Response” (QR) codes are a response mechanism for mobile users. They can be
placed in various places—in a shop window, on point of sale (POS) in store, in print ads,
and so on. In store, they can be used to provide more product information at the POS.
QR codes offer a quick way to respond to ads, access vouchers, and learn product details
simply by scanning quickly.
Smart Phone Coded Tags:

A store in Seattle called Hointer allows shoppers to scan a coded tag on an item of
clothing with a smart phone, use the phone to select color and size, and find the item
ready to try on in a dressing room.

Near Field Communication (NFC) Shopping:

Customers use their smart phones to access information on products and pricing, access
loyalty programs, and share content on social media via NFC-enabled shelf-edge labels,
and scan items added to their basket. When they’re done shopping, they can quickly pay
for their items by tapping their phone on a reader attached to the cash register.

Browse and Order Hubs:

These hubs allow users to browse the catalog or scan barcodes on items and explore
product information. Customers can choose to order on the device and collect at a later
date or have the product delivered. These touchscreen devices resemble huge iPhones
and come with a card payment machine.

Outdoor Location-Based Services (LBS):

Outdoor services are geolocation services that tap a smart phone’s internal GPS to
match consumers’ whereabouts to local businesses and special offers. For a retailer,
knowing when its best customers are nearby—and simultaneously being able to reach
out and invite them into its stores with a message or promotional offer—can be a huge
marketing boost.

LBS technologies, in their simplest form, provide the ability to track someone’s exact
location through his or her mobile device. In general, LBS allows retailers to “find”
customers when they come near the stores and to deliver a targeted sales message,
usually in the form of a text message. In general, customers engage retail LBS via a
mobile app such as Foursquare or Shopkick. Customers download the app and then
access all of the data and benefits through the app’s interface. Foursquare created a
rewards program to recognize its most avid users.
Indoor LBS:

Indoor LBS allows the same kind of tracking and promotional capabilities as outdoor
LBS, but inside a store. This technology is based on Bluetooth beacons throughout the
store that connect to mobile devices. The beacons push notifications to users as they
walk around the store. Apple and Google are two players in this field.

At Macy’s, customers with the Shopkick app installed on their iPhones will be alerted
about deals and items they may be interested in. This kind of precision marketing can be
very effective. It uses real-time behavioral data to deliver immediate, personalized
content and initiate ongoing dialogues with shoppers to drive loyalty and sales.
Digital Technologies to Increase Shoppers’ Convenience:

These technologies include digital personal shopper, 90-second skin care guide, price
comparison, holograms, smart mobile solutions, and in store Wi-Fi.

Digital Personal Shopper:

IBM recently introduced a new “personal shopper” that will be rolled out in North Face
stores later this year. This digital assistant device utilizes knowledge of the brand’s
product database to provide recommendations to the end user. For example, a shopper
can tell this device that his or her family is planning a trip and needs a tent, sharing the
location of where the family would like to go. The technology behind this “shopper”
takes into account the user’s request and contextual information about the location in
order to recommend the best product for the shopper’s request.

90-Second Skin Care Guide:

Using software on the Apple iPad at Clinique counters, consumers identify their skin
care concerns and receive personalized recommendations using a 90-second computer-
guided skin care analysis. The diagnostic tool processes more than 180,000 product
combinations that match each consumer’s personal needs. At the end of the intuitive
analysis, consumers receive a printout or email with a list of their custom-fit product
recommendations.
Price Comparison:

A comparison shopping website—sometimes called a price comparison website,

comparison shopping agent, shopbot, or comparison shopping engine—is a vertical
search engine that shoppers use to filter and compare products based on price,
features, and other criteria.
Holograms:

Holograms are 3-D models of retail products that can be used to instantly try on
different colors or styles of clothing and accessories. You can see 30 or 40 items
realistically without physically trying them on. The technology can be used in a virtual
dressing room as well, showing what the clothes look like when you are, say, walking
down the street or hitting a golf club. Technical innovation and falling costs mean
holograms will likely be used soon by retailers to personalize the shopping experience
and create a virtual environment.

Smart Mobile Solutions:

According to Walmart, its app-wielding customers make twice as many shopping trips
per month and spend 40 percent more than non-app users. Two Walmart innovations
include the ability to guide customers (via GPS) directly to products in its large stores,
and to let them skip the checkout line and scan and pay for items with their smart
phones.

In-Store Wi-Fi:

Some retailers offer free internet access in their stores so that customers can use their
mobile or tablet devices without any frustrating connection issues.

Whatever the quality of service in store and the range of products on offer, shoppers
always have the option of checking prices on their mobile phones and heading online, or
to another high street retailer, to make the purchase.
Digital Technologies to Promote a Retailer’s Online Presence:

These technologies include Color IQ technology, in-store pickup (BOPIS), and increased
range online.

Colour IQ Technology:
Sephora has invested in technology that delivers a better customer experience for in-
store shoppers. Sephora added Colour IQ technology that matches skin tones to
cosmetic products, and iPads for ordering from the full range of Sephora products.
Sephora’s retail strategy is not to compete with online channels but instead to offer
them in store.
In-Store Pickup:

Some stores, such as Officeworks in Australia, allow online customers to pick up their
orders in a retail location rather than wait for a delivery. In what it calls "omnichannel"
retail, Macy's spent the better part of 2013 completely transforming its supply chain,
making 500 stores perform double duty as fulfillment centers to ensure customers could
order and receive products from any store location, in any variety, and, when possible,
on the same day. Ten percent of online sales are fulfilled from Macy's stores.

Increased Range Online:

Many retailers are now using their websites as a showroom for a limitless number of
items. Store no longer need to carry their full range of products and can leverage
technology to showcase products virtually.[ CITATION Law15 \l 1033 ]

P4 Examine the development of e-commerce and digital marketing platforms and

channels in comparison to physical channels.

Development of Ecommerce:

It’s no surprise that ecommerce continues to grow and thrive. Ecommerce sales by UK
non-financial sector businesses totalled £560 billion in 2017, according to the Office for
National Statistics. This marks a sharp rise of 16% since 2016, which is the largest year-
on-year growth since 2011 until the pandemic.

As lifestyles become busier and technology changes and improves, consumers are
seeking new, more convenient methods to fulfil their sales needs. However, technology
isn’t the only cause of the massive boost in ecommerce.

These are the major reasons why Ecommerce businesses are developing fast in
comparison to brick and mortar businesses:

Tailored experiences:

Gone are the days of simply being recommended a similar product when you buy
something online. The ‘customers who bought this also bought’ option is no longer
suitable for modern consumers who want that bit more. They want to see
recommendations tailored to their preferences, purchase history and unique style –
whether it’s fashion, furniture or even food products.
This is delivered on ecommerce sites, with user data enabling a bespoke customer
experience. From the emails they receive to the products they’re offered before
checkout, shoppers now get tailored experiences targeted to their unique customer
profile. As well as pleasing customers, this allows ecommerce businesses to drive sales.
More options:
On top of that, shoppers also want more choice. They enjoy having every option
available in terms of colour, size, style or spec. And while traditional brick and mortar
stores are forced to carry a smaller range of stock, ecommerce makes all of these
options possible.
Items are stored in central warehouses, with a much cheaper cost than retail spaces.
Customers can see everything that’s available and purchase whatever they want. Why
would a shopper wait for their size to be re-stocked in-store, when they can find it
online straight away?
Social media integration:

The huge role that social media now plays in modern life is continuing to grow. With
people increasingly turning to their phones for answers to everyday problems, it is easy
to see why ecommerce and social media apps are joining forces. One of the biggest
social sites to have an influence on ecommerce in Instagram.

According to research conducted for Facebook, 81% of people surveyed said that
Instagram helped them research products or services. 83% said it enabled them to
discover new products or services. On top of that, 80% also felt it assisted with making a
choice on whether to buy something.
Embracing social has other perks too. Customers can be involved with a brand more
than ever before. Social media gives consumers the chance to like or share brand
content.
They can also have their say on products and deals. People can see whether a brand has
a positive reputation and its products are high quality or good value for money.
Likewise, if a brand ignores issues, doesn’t deliver on promises or offers poor quality
products, customers can avoid it before they make a purchase. This helps reduce the
risk for consumers making purchases.
User-friendly experiences:

A core reason why ecommerce is growing is its user-friendly approach to everyday tasks.
Having a website or app makes doing the weekly shopping, buying new clothes or even
ordering prescriptions easier. You don’t have to travel, walk among busy crowds or
battle the traffic. There aren’t any parking tickets and you can shop in your pyjamas.

The development of voice-activated shopping even takes the issue away of using a
website and makes shopping hands-free. With a simple command, you can order a
product or find out more information about a store. This can help you to make more
informed shopping decisions.
Going online to conduct your shopping habits also makes processes like returns and
refunds faster and more convenient. Many large companies offer a free-returns service
that can be dropped off at a convenient location and you can keep track of your refund.
This feature takes away the need to take things back in person and queue to return
products.
Accessibility:

Similar to the user-friendly benefits, ecommerce is growing due to its accessibility.

Brands that sell online are no longer limited to traditional store hours. Instead, sales can
happen around the clock.

Online stores don’t close due to bad weather or struggle with queues of customers
when staffing falls short. Likewise, customers can shop at any time of the day, 365 days
a year – which also applies to their customer services too. In fact, one in 15 shopping
purchases on John Lewis’ website is now made between the hours of midnight and
06:00 – which is a 23% increase from 2017 to 2018.
Being more accessible at any time also opens businesses up to new customers. For some
people with disabilities who may struggle with physical accessibility in stores, being able
to shop online can be very useful. Having access to a store or customer service team can
also benefit those who don’t have the time to get out to the high-street.
Parents and people who work long hours might struggle to find time to browse in-store
too, making the accessibility of ecommerce stores all the more helpful. People can shop
when it suits them.
Offline becoming online:

Although traditional shops are still standing and continue to open, many know the
importance of being omni-channel. This means combining online and offline, with a
consistent experience for users. That could be an online shop or just an active social
media profile. But it’s not just limited to sales.
Companies that don’t offer shopping online yet can still offer help to their customers via
social media. Being able to contact a brand representative or staff member without
going to the store may save a customer a trip. Having a responsive social presence can
also remove the need to call and be trapped in a phone queue which can put customers
off.[ CITATION Jon19 \l 1033 ]
Digital marketing channels in comparison to traditional channels:

As a business, you need to ensure that you are ahead of your competition. Which means
you cannot just depend on outdated marketing methods anymore. You need to look
beyond and understand how you can leverage the latest digital marketing techniques to
grow your reach.

Traditional marketing is nothing new as it’s a form of marketing that we have been
exposed to at one point or another. It is a conventional mode of marketing that helps to
reach out to a semi-targeted audience with various offline advertising and promotional
methods.

Traditional marketing may have evolved over the past few decades, but the
fundamental aspects remain the same. The selling techniques that we use today heavily
rely on the infamous four P’s of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion.

Every successful business knows how integral it is to create a proper sales funnel. By
leveraging the four P’s of marketing, a business can actually lead its prospects and
customers through any sales funnel and see favorable results.
On the surface, digital marketing may look different than traditional marketing in a big
way as it is all about the fourth P: promotion. However, the fact of the matter is, digital
marketing is highly effective because it does not ignore any of the four Ps of marketing.
It rather uses each one of them in a unique manner, and sometimes even better than
traditional marketing.

Downside of Going Traditional:

While traditional marketing is still effective, it’s not the only way to make your product
popular among your target market. Today, technology has grown and is enabling
businesses to connect to their audience like never before. Which is why it’s important to
consider the drawbacks of traditional marketing before investing in it.
 Little Interaction:

Traditional marketing is a one way street where a business is able to broadcast or

provide information to their target audience about its product or service. This brand
building exercise is done in the hope to attract the attention of the right people and
maybe convert them into customers.

 No Control over Timing:

Traditional marketing is dependent on promotional methods that once executed

cannot be updated. Whether it is a static text print ad in your local newspaper or a
television commercial, you will have to place a new ad to replace the old one in case
of any change. While this may not seem like a huge factor, but it does make a big
difference in the long run.

For instance, let’s say you run a magazine ad promoting your latest widget. After
which, you make a major update to it that can make a significant impact to the sales
numbers. Can you change the ad on fly? Of course not, which can put a huge dent in
your marketing budget overtime.

 Higher Costs:

The recurring costs in traditional marketing can prove to be a huge investment that
may or may not give a good return. Your ad in the local newspaper will only be
effective if it is seen by your target audience on the day it gets published. And what
are your chances of that?

If you want to reach out to them again, you need to create and run a new print ad
campaign. Or when you create and distribute posters or fliers in your area, it’s an
investment you are making for a one time exposure. Compare that to content that
you create on your website that can bring in target visitors for years to come at no
additional cost.

 Limited Customization Options:

Do you want to target customers working in a certain industry and fall in particular
age group? Traditional marketing offers you little help when it comes to customizing
your campaign and targeting a specific customers.

Even though you can use traditional marketing techniques to market to certain
segments, you cannot go after targeted customers. When you’re using online ads,
you have the option to not only reach out to the right kind of customers, but also
show them offers that are tailored towards them.

 Cannot Be Easily Updated:

Let’s face it, one of the strengths of digital marketing is the fact that it can easily be
updated and adjusted. Unlike in traditional marketing wherein it takes a lot of effort
to tweak. Imagine your print ads having the wrong percentage discount, how can
you correct that if the prints are already out? On the other hand, editing digital
marketing campaigns is just a few clicks away.

 Inability to Disclose Full Pricing Details:

At the basic level, traditional marketing has never failed to attract people based on
discounted prices or special sales. However, when it comes down to offering more
unique, customized pricing options, you may hit a brick wall. If you analyze the
options given to you in print marketing, you may not find the needed space to
display all your pricing options – even though these can help you convert more
people into customers.
  Poor Campaign Measurement:

When executing a traditional marketing strategy, it is essential to know how effective

it is to ensure you’re not investing in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, results that
you get from traditional marketing cannot be measured easily and efficiently.

However, when you launch an online marketing campaign, you can effortlessly
identify where you are going wrong and if it is successful or not. This alone makes
digital marketing much better than its traditional counterpart.

Development of digital marketing channels:

The reason why digital marketing is crucial for a business today is because the Internet is
becoming one of the most used tools. More and more people are logging on the web to
carry out their day to day activities, which includes purchasing goods and services.

If you look at the past decade you’ll see that online marketing has grown exponentially.
So when it comes to digital marketing vs traditional marketing, it’s clear that that digital
as a definite edge.
Successful marketing requires a business to connect to prospects and customers in the
best possible way, so that there is an actual return on the investment. Given the fact
that a large majority of people (especially the Millennials) are spending their time on the
Internet, it makes sense for you, as a business, to connect to them on it.
As technology grows and the new digital ideas are brought to life, the digital marketing
world grows with it. One of the reasons why it continues to deliver results is because it
is a form of inbound marketing. Which means, instead of you going out there to find
people, they find you. Whether it is running an advertisement on Google or creating
marketing related content for your blog, it’s all about attracting your target audience
and spreading awareness.
The idea is to get out there and gain exposure. Because the more people know about
your website, your brand and the products you sell, the more familiar they become with
your agenda. Which eventually leads to close relationships or bonding that is developed
on the basis of trust.
Being a business, the Internet offers you a way to build an authority in your niche and
grow your online presence like never before.[ CITATION She19 \l 1033 ]
So over the years with advancements in the technology new digital marketing channels
and Ecommerce businesses have developed which have smart and effective operating
procedures unlike the traditional marketing methods. The credit of this development
goes solely to technology which distinct digital marketing in many ways from traditional
approach and outperform traditional methods.
M2 Critically analyze the use of appropriate digital tools, both hardware and software,
to use in a specific organization context to meet their marketing requirements.

To perform this task let’s take an example of a small business. 12 bar blues is a music
themed restaurant with live music experience where customers can also perform with
the band. The restaurant also has a section for inventory of musical instruments and
their maintenance.

The restaurant offers Mexican and Italian food and organizes events and musical nights
occasionally. The theme of the restaurant distinct it from others which can be a key
marketing point to attract a lot of customers if properly marketed.
Following are some means and tools which would be appropriate to market 12 bar
blues:

Social media Presence:

The restaurant already has a social media presence on various platforms e.g. Facebook
and Instagram. The pages om the said platforms are not managed properly and to do
that a lot of social media management softwares are present which help in organizing
the posts schedule and also come up with captons. Here are some examples of such
softwares: Hootsuite, Canva, Buffer, Sendible etc.

Website:
The restaurant has no website and it’s been operating for almost 3 years now. It should
immediately ddevelop a website so it can exhibit its menu, prices and a pictorial view of
how the restaurant looks from the inside and what it offers. Other omni-channel
features can also be integrated into it.
Social media marketing:
It should use paid ads on social media channels to promote its name. facebook ads and
Instagram ads are most cost effective and impactful channels in social media marketing.
They’re not like other ads, you pay them to boost your post for a specific time span
rather than just displaying it on the web, like other paid ads work.
Search Engine Optimization:
When people search for anything online it’s very rare that they jump on to the second
page. Usually they browse on the first page only. So in order to put their website on the
first search page they have to do SEO and add specific words so that it appears on the
first page and a maximum number of people can see it.

Re-targeting Ads:
Speaking of re-targeting, many restaurant owners don’t quite understand this concept.
To make it simple, there are many potential customers navigating their way to our site,
based on something they saw, heard about, or were interested in. But for some reason,
they leave our site and go somewhere else.
We can actually put a code on our site that puts a free display ad for our restaurant in
front of them for at least 30 days. And the best part is that it’s free, until they actually
click on the ad and go back to our site.
Online Ordering System:
Normally if you a customer wants to order something from a restaurant on the go they
either have to call the restaurant beforehand which makes the line busy for other
customers and if they all plan on ordering at the same time an start calling it would be a
disappointment for them and most of them would not call again or might even order
from another restaurant. To avoid these scenarios 12 bar blues should opt for an online
ordering system where customers can choose from the menu and also add their
preferences for the chef.
Home delivery service:
12 bar blues gets a positive response in regards of food from every customer they have.
To deliver that experience to the door step of customer is value addition and it also
pools in a lot of customer flow who don’t like to visit the restaurant in this pandemic but
love their food. People should be able to order food and get it delivered to their door
steps and to help with all of this there are third parties in Pakistan which pickup from
the restaurant and deliver to the customer for a nominal fee e.g. Foodpanda, cheetay,
tossdown, supermeal, olaround etc.

The digital marketing requirements of 12 bar blues can be easily fulfilled by above
mentioned tools and techniques and their end goal of customer inflow will be achieved.

LO3 Determine how to organize digital marketing activities and build multichannel
capabilities in an organization.

P5 Develop a digital marketing plan and strategy to build multi-channel capabilities.

Multi-channel marketing strategy:

Multi-channel marketing mixes many distribution and promotional channels into a

single, unified strategy to attract customers. This approach efficiently and effectively
communicates a product or service’s value using the unique strengths of specific
marketing channels. These channels include, but are not limited to, email, direct mail,
websites, social media, display adverts, and/or a retail storefront. Marketers may use
several distribution channels so customers can procure products in their preferred way
– for example, a business may sell products at a specific brick-and-mortar retailer while
maintaining their own online store.[ CITATION mar21 \l 1033 ]

Let us take example of 12 bar blues again here. In order to develop a multi-channel
marketing strategy for any organization it is mandatory for them to have a presence on
different channels. In this case they have to maintain a digital presence parallel to
physical presence to get maximum results i.e. customer inflow.
Following steps should be taken to develop a digital marketing strategy with multi-
channel capabilities:

Easy to order:

12 bar blues should optimize their ordering procedure over all platforms and make it
more convenient for customers so that they don’t find it complex to order or they don’t
have to wait for a long time to place an order. A customer who had a mediocre ordering
experience on their platforms won’t bother ordering again so regardless of how good
their marketing is they won’t get the desired inflow of customers.

Optimization of content:

The content on the website or other platforms used by 12 bar blues should be good
enough to convince the customer who has reached either your website or a social
media platform page/ account due to an ad or promotion by the marketing agency. It is
then the content which will give them a better and clear idea of their services and food
quality. It should be clearly mentioned what type of food they offer, how do they
procure their ingredients and what kind of sitting arrangement do they offer. These are
the major things which collectively help the customer to form a decision whether they
should buy from 12 bar blues or not. So to help with this pictures and small clips should
be certainly considered.

Focus on mainstream channels:

There are a lot of social media platforms and other channels that are helpful in digital
marketing strategies. Instead of going for all of them 12 bar blues should focus on a few
that are quite popular in Pakistan such as Instagram, Facebook, twitter and Snapchat.
After creating profiles and pages on desired platforms then strictly monitor them and
regularly post content on them. For example any signature dish or a new addition in the
menu or about any event or some discounts offers or a happy moment for a customer in
the restaurant etc.

P6 Explain how Omni channel marketing has evolved.

Omni channel retail:

Omni-channel retail (or Omni channel commerce) is a multichannel approach to sales

that focus on providing seamless customer experience whether the client is shopping
online from a mobile device, a laptop or in a brick-and-mortar store.
According to Harvard Business Review, 73 percent of all customers use multiple
channels during their purchase journey. Only when the customer has gathered as much
information as possible from a variety of sources to support their purchase decision, will
they decide to buy from a retailer.

Omni channel operations focus on the entire customer experience—not the customer’s
individual experiences on different channels.[ CITATION Tes99 \l 1033 ]

Evolution of Omni channel retail from brick-mortar and ecommerce:

Retail has often reinvented itself from mom-and-pop to big-box format. Today,
however, retail has been evolving at a faster pace due to the rise of the internet and the
utilization of technology. We’ve had online models battle offline models, offline models
entering the online model's space and vice versa — all in the quest for a unified,
seamless Omni channel model of today.

The term "Omni channel" may be a beaten-to-death buzzword by now, but the
significance of it has never waned. Additionally, Omni channel has been constantly
evolving over its few years of existence, from in-store versus online buying to in-store
pickup and "trying before buying".
The idea of Omni channel retail, today, is to unify the retail experience across different
touchpoints and to allow shoppers to transition seamlessly between physical and virtual
stores without any break in the experience. Omni channel retail isn’t about retailers
being everywhere. Omni channel retail is about providing shoppers what they want,
when and where they want it.
Examples of Omni channel experiences would include:
1. A shopper walks into a store and finds an outfit they likes. However, it is not available
in their size. They order online from a tablet in the store and has it delivered to them
home.
2. A shopper browses an outfit online but wants to try it on before buying. The website
shows them the nearest store that has the product in stock where they can try it on and
purchase.
3. A shopper requests to ship the product they finds online to their nearest store for
trying on before purchase.[ CITATION Eil19 \l 1033 ]
M3 Apply the tools and techniques to plan an end-to-end Omni-channel marketing
campaign.

Following steps can be helpful to create a sound Omni channel marketing campaign:

 An emphasis on context:

We’ve heard the sickeningly cliché phrase “content is king” more times than we can
probably stand. Today that’s still true, but without context, it’s nothing. Lisa
Gevelber expands:

“With empowered consumers now connecting across an array of devices in a variety

of situations, the way a marketer wins is by offering information people value in
those moments. It’s not that being relevant is a new concept. But being relevant to
the moment is where marketing power — and consumer expectations — now lie.”
What kind of content are your customers consuming and when? Are your eBooks
resonating with them? Do your free tools help better to convert customers? At what
point in the buyer’s journey do they find them most valuable? Are they optimized for
the device that they’re being consumed on?
If you’re a retailer with an Omni-channel strategy, are you offering your prospects
suggestions based on their browsing history? How about their location? When
RadioShack added a mobile optimized store locator with click-to-call and GPS
functionality, they estimated that 40-60% then visited a store, with 85% of those
making a purchase. Are you trying to upsell and cross-sell them other offers? Are you
sending responsive abandoned cart emails that can be viewed on a myriad of
devices?
A good marketer should know the answers to these questions from customers’
perspective and incorporating those answers in the content will enhance its context
and the prospects will respond better to it i.e. make purchases from the business.
 Deep knowledge of the customer:

To provide a truly valuable Omni-channel experience, you have to know your

customers intimately. You have to understand who they are and where they’re
coming from. You need to know their goals and challenges.
Invite customer feedback, use social listening tools, and leverage the power of lead
capture post-click landing pages to learn more about them. Most importantly, which
channels do they use to access your content?
The Netsertive report indicates that the following are the channels most crucial to
Omni-channel success:
 These channels can be used as a benchmark, but they may vary based on the type of
business, their targeted audience and buyer personas.
 Inter-departmental coordination and agility:

Takeaways from multiple reports indicate there’s still a major roadblock to Omni-
channel implementation: siloed organizational structure. Sales, marketing, product
development, PR, and customer service still operate somewhat independently of
each other in many organizations.

The good news is, that’s changing. Only 11% claim their departments are siloed
compared to 26% in 2015. The reason for the change could be that some are
completely redefining their teams. An excerpt from the report by Rakuten Marketing
and the CMO Club:
At Pet360, Rose Hamilton, Executive Vice President, CMO & General Manager, says
redefining and reorganizing teams has helped optimize their Omni channel strategy.
The company’s marketing team is now considered a ‘customer engagement team,’
encompassing product development, marketing, CRM, content, social and PR
functions. Information Technology (IT) is also part of the team. This allows the
technical team to better understand and support marketing efforts, and eliminates
the technical barriers cited by survey respondents. ‘What pulls us together is that
everyone has a hand in the customer experience,’ Hamilton says.
Restructuring traditional roles can put the responsibility for the customer experience
on more than one or two departments, thereby allowing each team to understand
how it fits into the Omni-channel puzzle in relation to others. That, in turn, sets clear
expectations that can streamline communication between teams.
When communication is swift and teams operate fluidly, the result can be amazing.
Agile marketing that puts customers at the center makes for remarkable Omni-
channel experiences.
 A fully integrated marketing technology stack:

The marketing technology landscape is bigger and more confusing now than ever.
It’s also more necessary now than ever to identify groupings of tools that can work
together to improve all facets of your marketing efforts.

When used together, those tools are called a “marketing technology stack.” They’re
different for everyone, but research from Aberdeen indicates the most used are:
  Customer relationship management software
 Video/web conferencing solution
 Email service provider
 Marketing automation platform
 Print materials and solutions
 Analytics and data visualizations solutions
 Content management system
At the heart of every productive marketing technology stack is a customer
relationship management (CRM) tool that allows you to record, in detail, each
buyer’s journey from prospect to customer.
And if the CRM is the heart, then the analytics tool is the brain. Without it, you can’t
make any informed decisions about your overall strategy. A report from the CMO
Council shows that an organization’s relationship with data directly impacts how
they understand user behavior.
Make sure you have both, then build the rest of your stack around them with tools
that will allow you to reach your customers relevantly.
 Responsively designed web pages:

Nobody likes to pinch and zoom. With customers accessing your brand’s content on
all channels and devices, it needs to display well no matter the screen size. All your
web pages should be designed responsively — especially your post-click landing
pages — on which visitors will need to input personal information in a form with
their thumbs.

According to several studies it is proven that shifting to Omni channel marketing

brings a lot more customers. According to a study from IDC, users who shop across
channels have a 30% higher lifetime value than those who do not. Another study of
46,000 shoppers reinforces that, showing customers not only enjoy using multiple
channels, but that they also spent:

 An average of 4% more on each shopping occasion in-store.

 10% more online than those who use only one channel.
 13% more compared to when doing prior buying research.

The more channels they use, the more valuable they become.
Example of an Omni channel marketing campaign:

The trench coat above was a big hit with Camuto’s customers, but there was one
problem: The communications team heard from a retailer that buyers kept losing the
belt.
In response, the marketing team launched an Omni-channel campaign that spanned
email, social, web, and in-store promotions. It featured digital content from three
fashion bloggers, “create a trench-look” sweepstakes, and stylish suggestions to
customers.
The campaign exemplifies the value of an Omni channel marketing campaign: It puts the
customer at the center of the experience. In this case, it takes a complaint about the
product and then uses marketing’s coordination with other departments to create a
seamless, cross-channel campaign that solves the problem.[ CITATION Ted20 \l 1033 ]
LO4 Evaluate methods of monitoring and measuring digital marketing effectively

P7 Determine and evaluate the measurement techniques and performance metrics in

digital marketing.

As websites continue to become more important in the consumer journey, the need to
measure the efficiency of digital marketing also increases. This is a shared burden
between those selling digital media and business owners and marketers who are looking
to maximize their ROI. We know that “clicks” provide an incomplete picture into the
impact of digital advertising, as most users do not click on ads but still find their way to a
business's website after being exposed to ads.
Here are five metrics to help give a more in-depth insight into the effectiveness of our
digital marketing efforts.
Basic 5 Metrics to determine the Effectiveness of our Digital Marketing Efforts:

 Overall Site Traffic:

Establish a base line prior to adding any new components to your marketing efforts.
Do you see a lift in overall traffic to the site during your campaign? Examining the lift
in overall traffic to the website will help to give you a more complete picture beyond
a click-through report.
 New vs. Returning Traffic:

Based on the website goals and the purchase cycle of the consumer, you may be
looking to increase new or returning users. The goal here should be to understand at
the start of the campaign what is most important to you and make sure that you
design a campaign to achieve that goal.

In other words, if you're looking to get as many new people to the site, look for the
percentage of new traffic to increase. However, if you find that the typical consumer
comes back to the site multiple times before making a purchase in store or online,
you may want to design a campaign that gets people coming back to the site and, in
turn, examine the percentage of returning traffic.
 Mobile Traffic:

More than half of digital traffic online comes from mobile devices and through
mobile apps. Because of that trend, understanding how many users access your site
via mobile devices each month should demand attention. Look at your mobile traffic
metrics to learn about how many users are accessing your site via a mobile device.
Also, examine how long they stay on the site and how deep they go on a mobile
device. Compare those to your non-mobile traffic to determine if users are more or
less engaged with your site on their mobile devices, and use that insight to enhance
the experience for users.
 Traffic Sources:

Use your traffic sources to determine how users are getting to your site. What
keywords do they use? What websites are they coming from? For search traffic, aim
to increase the percentage of traffic that comes to the site via branded keywords or
specific keywords that are being highlighted in your marketing efforts that are
important to your business.

 Average Time Spent per Visit:

Assess the average time that users spend on the site to learn about how engaging
they find your content. You can also look at the average pages per visit in
conjunction with this metric to get a deeper understanding of the engagement with
the content. The longer they stay and the more pages they view, the more likely they
enjoy the content and the experience of your site.[ CITATION Ali20 \l 1033 ]

Ultimately, the importance of each metric will vary based on individual campaign
goals. These metrics will all provide deeper insight into how well our digital
marketing is performing.

P8 Present a set of actions to improve performance in digital marketing.

With the right tools and a little bit of know-how, we’ll be able to measure our content’s
effectiveness and avoid pandemonium.

Following are some ways to improve our digital marketing:

 Assess Your Tech:

Knowing how your budget is being allotted and if there are gaps in your workflow
will save you time and money. Here are some guiding questions to ask your team in
order to determine what technology stack you need to accomplish your goals.

 What kind of voicing do your personas prefer?

 Is your message aligned so it will be consistent across all channels?
 Do you have list of which social channels your buyers and/or potential leads use
the most?

o Must-Have Core Platforms:

 CMS (e.g. WordPress, Drupal, Kentico, Sitecore, Squarespace)

  Marketing automation (e.g. Marketo, Eloqua, Pardot, Hubspot)
 CRM (e.g. Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics)
 Content management platform (e.g. Kapost)
 Social media platform scheduling, monitoring, engagement (e.g. Hootsuite,
Sprout Social, Lithium)
Once you have these key platforms in place, you’ll be able to start aligning key
objectives alongside your chosen technologies’ capabilities.
 Optimize Your SEO:

While SEO optimization might be commonly mentioned more within B2C circles, it’s
just as important to audit your SEO score within the B2B environment. To put it very
simply, if it’s not something people can find on the web, B2B enterprises run the risk
of falling between the cracks.

The SEO specialist on your team should ensure your content is optimized with focus
keywords, Google-friendly HTML formatting, and a URL structure that correlates with
your product keywords.
Using tools provided by SEO gurus like Moz, you can assess the overall score of your
product page and decide where improvements are needed. Make sure you use the
same SEO auditing process for all digital assets involved in your campaign, including
case studies and blog posts.
 o How to Track Your SEO Success:

 Traffic:

Using Google Analytics, track the volume of traffic and break it down into
categories like organic, paid, and referral.

 Heatmap analytics:

Collecting data from a heatmap will help you determine where people are
clicking the most on your site. It’ll also show you the overall amount of time
someone spends on a page, which will help you assess which pieces of
content are resonating the most.

 A/B testing:

Test different subject lines and calls to action to see what approach attracts
the most clicks.

 Measure Your Content Reach:

While measuring content reach we should measure both internal and external reach.
Measuring both internal and external reach will give you a broader picture of what
content types, topics, and messaging are effective in the market.
o Measuring External Reach:

Measuring external reach can be tricky. In fact, 17% of marketers in a Demand

Metric study said they have no content effectiveness measurements in place, and
49% are using only basic metrics such as clicks or downloads.

Here are some basic numbers to crunch when you’re auditing your external
reach:
  Number of engagements per month categorized by engagement type.
(downloads, page views, open rates)
 Number of engagements by content type, persona, and sales stage.
 10 most engaged assets per quarter.
 10 most shared assets per quarter.

o Measuring Internal Reach:

Calculating internal reach is often overlooked in measuring B2B marketing

success, but it is critical to your overall strategy. If your sales, customer success,
and other internal teams aren’t able to find your content, or don’t find it to be
valuable with leads and customers, then you are wasting time and resources.

To create a closed feedback loop across your entire content life cycle, track the
following key metrics:

 Number of month-over-month (MoM) internal views of assets.

 Number of MoM internal downloads of assets.
 Number of MoM internal shares of assets via email or social.
 Amount of MoM referral traffic from internal shares.

 Track Your Social Channels:

Social media marketing has become more and more prevalent in the B2B space.
However, in a recent survey, content marketing and social media sharing were used
by 71% of B2B marketers, but only about 22% of them rated these methods as
“effective.”
Use the power of social media to broaden your overall presence and reach. Once
you’ve integrated the most applicable social channels into your marketing strategy,
make sure that tracking performance on those channels is top priority—and I don’t
mean just clicks and likes.
Social media for B2B is more than just likes and retweets. At the end of the day,
social marketing exists to drive a potential buyer deeper into the sales cycle and
motivate them to engage—by clicking through landing pages, requesting a demo, or
doing something else to earn a higher lead score.
You’ll want to track:
  Number of shares/reposts by leads
 Number of shares/reposts by influencers
 Number of engagements/impressions

Tools like SEM Rush and Google Analytics are crucial tools for tracking performance.
Some social media channels have tools for auditing your strategy built into their
platforms—Facebook Insights is a perfect example. This tracking tool allows you to
measure crucial metrics like what time of day most of your users are online, post
reach, and post engagement.

Think of digital marketing as an ongoing process. While your initial strategy might yield
promising numbers, having a quarterly calendar in place to continually assess your B2B
strategy is essential. Trends change, demand shifts, and strategies should always be
open to change.[ CITATION upl10 \l 1033 ]

M4 Critically evaluate application of key digital measurement techniques and

performance metrics used in digital marketing.

The basic step before you can determine if your digital marketing campaign is a success
or not, you need to set a benchmark to compare with your efforts, and to do that we
have to set achievable goals.

 Achievable Goals:
Much of your online strategy is born from your goals. Goal setting ensures you have
something to strive for. What’s more, it provides a guideline for the digital marketing
metrics you’ll use to measure the success of one or more campaigns. Let’s put it
another way, you really can’t measure success without goals! That fact holds true no
matter what you’re attempting to measure. From digital marketing success to
personal financial success, without goals you are limited to two basic analyses:
“I seem to be making some progress.”
Or:
“This doesn’t look like it’s working.”
Take a look at the sample below from Sprout Social. It shows five distinct social
media metrics and a detailed plan for how the company intends to achieve them.
Your digital campaign will have more than just a social media element. However, this
template offers a nice overview of how you can set goals for anything—and during
any point of your marketing funnel.
When it comes to measuring digital marketing success, there are seemingly endless
digital marketing metrics. Below is a compilation of the most important ones a
business needs to consider.
Not all of these digital marketing KPIs may be relevant to particular business goals,
but it’s a starting point on the road to finding ROI (return on investment).
 Overall Website Traffic:
Your website serves as your home base, and the face of your brand. Therefore, all of
your digital marketing efforts will likely focus on driving traffic there. Individual
campaigns may focus on list building or increasing social media reach, but the
ultimate goal of that activity is to send more traffic to your website over time.
Because of this, measuring website traffic metrics regularly will provide you with a
number of insights such as which campaigns are working and when.
If at any point you see a steady decline in traffic while still conducting consistent
marketing efforts, consider troubleshooting your website. You may find broken links,
a Google Algorithm penalty, or other technical issues deterring visitors.
 Tips for sending more traffic to business website:
 Optimize all pages on your site with relevant keywords
 Consistently publish in-depth content on your blog
 Promote your content on social media channels
 Create targeted ads to a landing page with an offer

 Traffic by Source:

This useful website traffic metric sheds light on exactly where your website visitors
are coming from.

With the myriad of marketing platforms available and limited time to capitalize on all
of them, the Traffic by Source metric is one to watch.
Use it to determine which sources are winners, and which ones need a little more
attention. Or, use it to narrow down where you’ll spend your valuable time creating
content.
These are the four main website traffic sources tracked by Google Analytics:
 Organic Search:
These users clicked a link on a search engine result that brought them to your
website.
 Direct Visitors:
These users typed your URL directly into the search bar, or perhaps have it
bookmarked and returned to visit.
 Referrals:
These users were sent to your website when they clicked a link from another
website.
 Social:
These users came to your website after finding your social media profile or content
posts.
 New Visitors vs. Returning Visitors:

The value of this dual metric is that it helps you determine how relevant your
website content is over time. Multiple visits can indicate you are providing
information that people find so valuable, that they keep coming back.

As you release new content on a regular basis (think: blogs), you can review your
New vs. Returning Visitors marketing metric to see how any given content piece is
performing.
If you’re looking to drive more organic traffic to your website, New Visitors may be
of importance to you.
 If you would like to measure how many people come back to browse and consume
info, the Returning Visitors website traffic metric is important to note.

Tips for increasing new and returning visitors:

 Create and publish valuable blog content that can be found organically via search
engines.

 Use Twitter to promote blog posts, and add 1-2 relevant hashtags.

 Send an email blast to your subscribers after a new piece of content is published.

 Sessions:

Sessions refer to the number of visits your website receives. Google specifically
counts this in 30-minute increments, meaning it triggers this website traffic metric
only once every half hour for each individual user.

Taking Amazon as an example:

Users may trigger a session in the morning to shop, and then visit again later in the
day to add something new to their cart. Each of those are considered unique
sessions.

 Average Session Duration:

Depending on your website’s function (informational, ecommerce, etc.) or the

industry, the time on site metric can vary in its relevance to your campaigns.

A study by Brafton found these average session duration numbers by industry.

 Average Session Duration is a general indicator of how long visitors spend on your
site entirely. This helps you to understand how your site performs from a user
experience (UX) standpoint.
 Is your website easy to navigate?
 Are users finding what they’re looking for quickly?
 Is the content valuable and worth reviewing at length?
Average Session Duration (time on site) can help answer these questions and many
more.

Tips for increasing a visitor’s time on page:

 Add a video to your content.
 Use Bucket Brigades to help readers stay engaged.
 Increase the readability of your copy (larger fonts, more white space).
 Page Views:

This is the total number of pages viewed. A user who repeatedly visits the same page
will trigger this marketing metric, so it’s the broadest of all page-related
measurements for digital marketing success.

However, it’s one of the most important website traffic metrics. It’s relevant to know
how many pages are visited on your website in a given time period. This helps you to
understand if your entire site is of value or if only certain pages are.
 Most Visited Pages:

To further determine which areas of your website are most valuable, look at this
metric. You can find it in the “Behaviors” section of Google Analytics.

The Most Visited Pages metric uncovers all sorts of information about exactly where
your site’s visitors are going and for how long. For a deeper analysis, let us check out
the Behavior Flow.

 Exit Rate:

Here’s a marketing metric that is very specific and reveals quite a bit about your
website design and user experience.

If your campaign is meant to drive new users to your website for a more general
“learn more” branding effort, the Exit Rate metric will show you exactly where they
left after they reviewed your content.
Unlike Bounce Rate which triggers when someone views only one page, Exit Rate
tells you where the user lost interest after spending some time exploring.
Make sure they don’t lose interest in your brand!
 Bounce Rate:
Different from Exit Rate, the Bounce Rate metric is the percentage of people who
leave (bounce away) from your website after viewing only one page.
This metric can help reveal that visitors may be leaving because:

 The site takes too long to load

 They did not immediately find what they were looking for

 They found relevant content but were not compelled to click further

 An error page loaded.

Unless your website is set up to send users to a separate URL for conversion, you
should look to the Bounce Rate number to determine if your campaign is effective.

An overview of average bounce rates for certain environments is noted below, in a

chart by Kissmetrics.

If you are marketing a new product but your link sends users to the website’s Home
page, you’re likely to have a high bounce rate. Therefore, combat this by sending
them to a page that is highly relevant to the path you want them on.
Tips for reducing bounce rate on your website:
 Decrease your page load time.
 Add internal links to your page copy.
 Include images or other visuals in your content.
 Use a compelling call-to-action.

 Conversion Rate:

Google Analytics can help measure the number of conversions made on your site.
However, conversions may mean different things depending on the campaign.
For example, they could be:
 An actual sale,
 A subscriber,
 A completed download,
 A lead entry, and more.
Oftentimes, the number crunchers only look to this digital marketing metric to
determine if your campaign is effective. However, it’s only one piece of the puzzle
and should be part of your overall digital marketing strategy.
 Impressions:

Which marketing metric is especially important to clients who are running a branding
campaign? Impressions!

Sometimes confused with reach, an impression is the larger overall number of views
your content or advertisement receives.
Your content on social media or a pay-per-click ad may be shown multiple times to
the same person. Each time is counted as an individual impression. As a result, this
number will always be higher than reach because the reach metric is only triggered
once per user.
 Social Reach:

The posts you make on your social media platforms are meant to reach a wide
number of users. This social media metric tells you exactly how many people were
reached (i.e. saw your content).
 Now, the number of people reached is always much larger than the number who
engage. A benchmark goal is to see 2-5% engagement based on your overall reach.
Tips to increase your social media reach:
 Fully brand all your social media profiles.
 Post curated and original content consistently.
 Engage with your community.

 Social Engagement:

Social Engagement reflects the total number of interactions made on any given social
media post.
This could mean:
 Clicks
 Shares
 Likes
 Retweets
 Comments

Engagement is the yardstick by which to measure all of your social media success.

You can pay for all the others, but engagement is only earned when a user chooses
to interact with your content. Because of this, you can easily rank your content types
based on how much engagement they receive. This helps to guide your future
content creation.
 Email Open Rate:

If you’re list building with your website (and you should be), this is one of the most
important email marketing metrics you need to watch.

Your Email Open Rate measures the number of people who open your email
campaign as compared to the overall number of those who received it.
High open rates indicate:
 Properly segmented list
 Attractive subject line
 Appropriate send time

Low open rates tell you at least one (if not all) of those factors above are lacking.

 Click-Through Rate:

The Click-through Rate (CTR) can be used as an email marketing metric as well as a
paid advertising metric. Clicks on email blasts are often some of the highest
conversion-drivers across the board.

Your CTR as it relates to pay-per-click helps to determine your relevance score and
affects your Cost Per Click.
 Cost Per Click:

Cost Per Click (CPC) applies to both pay-per-click marketing and a number of social
media platforms that offer the clicks-to-site ad type.

These online advertising metrics reflect the amount you pay for each individual click
a user performs. This is relevant as it directly relates to your overall marketing
budget in this area. Your budget can only go so far; the lower your CPC, the farther it
goes.
 Cost Per Conversion:

Cost Per Conversion relates completely to your individual business model, and often
to your individual online marketing campaign. As I mentioned previously, not every
metric matters to every campaign. This might be one to leave off if you aren’t
converting sales directly online.

However, if you’re running an ecommerce website where users can add something
to a cart and convert there, CPC is a must-track metric. Simply put, these digital
marketing analytics tell you how much it costs to convert a site visitor into a sale.
 Cost Per Acquisition:

Your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) is only relevant when you have returning customers.
This doesn’t just apply to subscription-based businesses or even ecommerce sites.
Consider how a private golf community calculates CPA knowing that their members
pay monthly dues.

Understanding the lifetime value of a customer helps you back into the proper
amount you should spend to acquire a new one.
 Overall ROI:
The return on investment marketing metric should come as no surprise as it serves
as a true baseline for success. Basically, ROI equates to how much you spent
(investment) vs. how much you earned (return).
 It’s easy to lose track of exactly what you’re spending on marketing because we
often fail to count hours of effort. Ensuring you properly calculate your online
marketing campaign’s ROI will be the key to determining if it was an overall success
or not.[ CITATION Son19 \l 1033 ]
D2. Develop a coherent and logical digital marketing strategy and determine its
implications. Generate an actionable measurement framework that can be applied in an
organizational context.

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