Huyen Ton

THE APPLICATION OF ONLINE MARKETING

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Case Biti’s company

Thesis
CENTRIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
Business Management
March 2022
ABSTRACT

Centria University Date Author

of Applied Sciences 16 March Huyen Ton

Degree programme
Business Management
Name of thesis
THE APPLICATION OF ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT. Case Biti’s Company
Instructor Pages
41
Supervisor
Weimu You

The aim of the thesis was to provide the general theories of marketing strategies in the enterprise and
review the online marketing strategy at Biti's to identify the factors influencing Biti's customer
engagement and suggest suitable solutions to enhance the productivity of Biti's online marketing
strategies. In this study, I employed a qualitative research method. Based on this, I had a deep
understanding of Bitis's online marketing situation currently and proposes solutions to improve Bitis'
marketing strategy.

The thesis is divided into three parts, the first part provides information about the thesis's background
and history. The second part, the theoretical framework provides the reader with a more
comprehensive overview of how online marketing is perceived and adopted, as well as the
importance of customer engagement and interaction.

The theoretical framework assisted I in conducting qualitative interviews with four different
representatives of company . I would need to gain a better understanding of the company's marketing
tools and, finally, implement an appropriate strategy.

Key words
Customer engagement ,Online marketing, Social media marketing.
ABSTRACT
CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Research objectives and the research question ...........................................................................2
1.2 Case company and actual situation ..............................................................................................2

2 THEORY FRAMEWORK..................................................................................................................7
2.1 Online marketing ...........................................................................................................................7
2.2 Marketing online strategy .............................................................................................................9
2.3 Marketing mix ..............................................................................................................................10
2.4 Online marketing benefits ...........................................................................................................12
2.4.1The 5 Ss of online marketing...............................................................................................12
2.4.2 Additional benefits ..............................................................................................................13
2.5 Online marketing communications ............................................................................................15
2.5.1 Email marketing..................................................................................................................15
2.5.2.Content marketing ..............................................................................................................18
2.5.3 Search engine marketing ....................................................................................................19
2.5.4 Display advertising..............................................................................................................21
2.5.5 Social media .........................................................................................................................24
2.5.6 Facebook ..............................................................................................................................26
2.5.7 Instagram .............................................................................................................................27
2.5.8 Youtube ................................................................................................................................29
2.5.9 Pinterest ...............................................................................................................................30
2.5.10 Website ...............................................................................................................................31

3 METHODS AND DATA ...................................................................................................................33

3.1 Research methodology.................................................................................................................33
3.2 Data collection ..............................................................................................................................33

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................35

5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION .............................................................................38

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 40
APPENDICES

PICTURES
PICTURE 1Bitis’s website. ...................................................................................................................... 4
PICTURE 2. Biti’s Facebook.................................................................................................................. 13
PICTURE 3.Biti’s Instagram .................................................................................................................. 16
PICTURE 4. The difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing ............................... 18
PICTURE 5. Number of e-mail users worldwide from 2017 to 2025 .................................................... 19
PICTURE 6. Statistic of search’s dominant channel share. .................................................................... 20
PICTURE 7. Example of rich media advertisement ............................................................................... 31
PICTURE 7. Example of interstitial advertisement ................................................................................ 31
PICTURE 8. Example of expandable banners advertisement. ............................................................... 20
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1 INTRODUCTION

With the development of today's era, marketing online is the type of business marketing that cannot be
ignored in the development process. Due to the development of the Internet today, shopping for goods
and services on e-commerce sites is becoming more and more convenient than ever. Type of
advertising such as marketing online are the tools to help businesses get closer to potential customers
and markets. Consumers tend to search for information about products and services through the
internet or by search engines, social networks instead of going to actual stores. Finding product
information on the internet will help customers save more time, and lead to customers prefer using the
shopping online. As a result, marketing online becomes more and more developed and is an effective
advertising channel for businesses.

Marketing online not only identifies needs by age, gender, occupation, and regional address but also
helps the business learn about the preferences, shopping habits, and specific behaviours of many
customers on the market today. Geographical distance is no longer a problem with this form of
marketing online. As long as customers have a need, wherever the product or service is, it will reach
them at the right time. These great changes are also changing the way businesses build brands, images,
and how they communicate with the public and with customers. While traditional communication
channels are losing ground, digital marketing methods play an important role in the branding strategy
of the business. (Stokes 2011.)

The idea for the thesis emerged when I's started to wonder how online marketing affects the increasing
customer awareness and preference for the products. In this thesis, I review the theoretical basis of
marketing online and some tools that can be applied when doing marketing over the internet under
consideration. Research about Biti's Vietnam company as well as specific analysis of the elements of
the online marketing strategy is taken into consideration. In which, I analyze these of the campaign
strategy, the roles, functions, and interrelationships of the micro and macro-environmental factors that
affect customer purchasing decisions. From there,I will propose solutions to improve the company's
marketing strategy. (Habibi ,Hamilton, Valos&Callaghan 2015.)
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1.1 Research objectives and the research question

The objective of this study is to find out how marketing online affects customer behavior. The research
will go into detail about systematizing the theoretical basis of marketing online, especially the
marketing strategy and analyzing the marketing campaign of the Bitis's Hunter product line and the
role of promotion in the marketing mix. In addition, the objective is to determine the suitable digital
marketing strategy based on the current situation, theoretical and practical research results to improve
brand awareness through digital platforms and develop marketing strategies for the company.

In detail, Iwill focus on finding answers to the following question: "How can Bitis use digital
marketing to enhance brand awareness and attract more customers?" The carefully considered
questions were taken into account by in-depth studies of the theory, research, and written data on the
subject.

In the chapter1.2, I provide a general introduction about Bitis's establishment history, company's
development and achievements, production as well as business scale. In addition, I will provide an in-
depth analysis of the current status of marketing online for the Biti's Hunter product. The research
content goes into analysis of online marketing strategies and customers' evaluation of the online
marketing activities of Biti's company. By drawing out the advantages and disadvantages of marketing
communication activities of Biti's company, I will suggest solutions to increase customer engagement
at the later stage.

1.2 Case company and actual situation

Binh Tien Consumer Goods Manufacturing Company Limited, also known by the name Biti's, was
established in 1982. Biti's began as a small workshop with only 20 employees in 1982, and with
unwavering desire, strong determination, and unwavering humility for further success, they have held
steady during the national economy's subsidy time to create and prove their current position. With
"tireless steps" for more than a third of a century, they have never stopped making improvements and
changes to continuously strengthen their footwear brand with a variety of forms and designs.
Furthermore, they have concentrated on the effective marketing strategy of Biti's for this branded
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sports product line. Currently, Biti's is one of the leading footwear manufacturing enterprises in
Vietnam and is always appreciated. In 2007, Biti's was honoured to be in the top 30 enterprises
recognized as "National Brand", this is a prestigious award for Vietnamese enterprises. Biti's has
earned a reputation for quality and affordability, and its goods have become familiar with many
children's childhoods. Customers' sympathy was a reason for Biti's Hunter's success when it first
opened with new products. Biti's Hunter's second strength is that it not only delivers physical things
but also addresses the psychological expectations of its target market.(Bitis 2021.)

People of both genders, aged 17 to 25, with a moderate and upper-middle-income, living in tropical
cities, are the customer sector Biti's Hunter has chosen to target. This segment is the most engaged on
social media sites, seek out new experiences, follow trends, and have the power to influence others'
decisions. They could be high-loyalty ex-users or new users. They are on the search for attractive,
high-quality shoes at economical prices. Determining the best product strategy is important for a
company's long-term success in the marketplace. If executed properly, this will provide the company
with consistent product quality and establish a familiar image of the product in the minds of its
customers. Biti's products are focused on quality and constantly develop products to meet the market
requirement. In addition, Bitis also offer multiple product lines with a new design to provide young
people with more options such as Hunter Originals, Hunter Liteknit Summer Vibes, Hunter 3, Hunter
Feast.

Besides pricing and product strategy, Bitis also pays great attention to online marketing activities.
Furthermore, the company actively uses Facebook, Youtube and recently started using Instagram. The
firm has also utilized other digital marketing strategies. Search engine optimization is a good
representation of this. Biti's Hunter offers a number of advantages over its competitors, including a low
price, good design, and a preference for domestic products, but it also has a number of downsides.
Biti's is the term given to the Vietnamese sports shoe market, which is dominated by big brands such
as Nike, Adidas, Puma, and others. As a result, Bitist is still gaining about all of the advantages and
potential that digital marketing technology may provide.

The website is a portal with low cost but high efficiency of information, and it is an extremely
important interactive portal for customers, Biti's pays great attention to taking care of its website.
Firstly, the website design of Biti's is done professionally, with a user-friendly interface, making a
good impression on the viewers. Besides, the website is attractively designed, interactive, entertaining
and immediately appealing. Not only that, Biti's website has comprehensive information as well as
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images of its existing products, and product categories are divided into separate sections for different
customers. This helps customers find the products they want quickly and reduces their search time. In
addition, the end of the home page includes more detailed information such as company address, all
the email addresses for distributors and vendors, and support service information. It can be said that
the website is an effective and cost-effective tool for providing information, as well as being highly
interacting with customers, and Biti's website has achieved this. However, a few key points are missing
from the website. More information on this topic will be found in the chapter Recommendations and
Conclusion.

Picture 1.Bitis’s website (Bitis 2022.)

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PICTURE 2.Biti’s Facebook (Bitis’s Facebook 2022.)

Facebook seems to have become the main online communication channel for many businesses, and, of
course, Biti's is no exception.According to statistics up to the present time, we can see that the number
of followers of Biti's is 756,879 people, and the number of interactions is about 191,249 people per
post. The statistics show that the fan page works relatively effectively.

The use of the timeline interface for business fan pages, or fan pages like the company's, helps
promote the brand of the business. As soon as customers access the fan page, they will immediately
see the company's name and logo. Besides, the fan page contains a lot of information, such as business
contact information, a website, business hours, and location. Biti's company fan page on Facebook
frequently publishes short videos about the campaigns Biti produces. Viewers can get an overview of
Bitis' promotional campaigns or new products by viewing the content posted on the fan page. Video
content on the company's fan page is posted to advertise, introduce new shoe models, or convey short
clips of the message that Biti's wants to convey.

In short, Biti's Facebook page is quite effective. However, to avoid making it uninteresting, Biti's
needs to develop variety in content. It can be interactive live streams or create content in the form of
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questions that encourage users to share topics related to Biti's product and stimulate readers to give
more positive feedback.

PICTURE 3.Biti’s Instagram(Bitis’s Instagram 2022.)

Compared to Facebook, with 756,879, the number of Instagram followers is only 98,400. The
engagement posts have not attracted the number of likes, comments,and shares. The articles' content is
primarily advertising for new products, and the posting frequency is limited, with only one post per
week. Furthermore, posting the same content will be uninteresting. Moreover, promotions or similar
games to increase shares, comments, and likes are quite small and have received little attention.
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2 THEORY FRAMEWORK

Based on a research study, the theoretical framework describes the major topics in marketing field,
offers relationships between them, and examines relevant theories. A theoretical framework offers
me research direction and helps in understanding, explain, and extend my findings convincingly.

2.1 Online marketing

Online marketing refers to the use of a variety of digital resources and techniques to connect with users
while they are online. From the company's branded online tools such as online advertising, email
marketing, and online fliers, to the website itself. Online marketing encompasses a wide range of
techniques. Marketing online, according to Dave Chaffey, is the management and execution of
marketing activities via electronic advertising media such as the web, email, or other non-media. On
the other hand, Jared Reitzin, CEO of mobile Storm Inc defines marketing online as the practice of
activities that promote products and services using database-driven online distribution channels to
reach customers at the right time, right need, and right audience at a reasonable cost. (Chaffey & Ellis-
Chadwick 2016.)

The evolution of marketing online that evolved in the 1990s and 2000s has changed the way brands
and businesses use technology to market. As digital platforms are increasingly incorporated into
marketing plans and daily lives, and as people use digital devices instead of visiting stores, marketing
online is becoming more and more popular and effective. (Cave 2016.)

Online marketing is an important part of the overall marketing strategy. Along with traditional
marketing, online marketing serves as a vital link between users and businesses. Not only that,
marketing online has been a strength for most businesses and accounts for a significant amount of
budget in the overall marketing strategy of the business. The strong development of marketing online
not only overcomes the presence of traditional marketing, but it also overcomes the previous
limitations, proving outstanding advantages compared to traditional marketing in many aspects. The
main difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing is the means of displaying the
messages that businesses bring to customers. Traditional marketing makes use of print media like
 8

magazines and newspapers, whereas digital marketing makes use of digital media like social media
and websites. However, that does not mean traditional marketing is obsolete. The grown up in
technology as a result of technological advancements, but the concepts, principles, and objectives
remain the same. However, through digital marketing, interacting with the audience at the right place
and at the right time has become a reality and a great accomplishment. (Pineiro-otero & Martinez
Rolan 2016.)

TYPE OF ACTION
Expert, flexible and
caring of long-term
relationships

PICTURE 4. The difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing

(globalbusinesconsulting 2021)

The aim of marketing online is to develop brand awareness, trust, and order conversion rates faster.
From a business standpoint, the ultimate goals are sales and profits. Customer data, on the other
hand,is the most valuable asset in the eyes of marketers. Previously, marketing online activities were
based on popular online channels such as SEO, social media, SEM, and email to deliver results. When
planning and executing, marketing online not only brings new customers but also a difference in
analysing and tracking customer behaviour and preferences for customized marketing for a company's
goods and ser-vices. (Pineiro-Otero & Martinez-Rolan 2016.)
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2.2 Marketing online strategy

To have a successful marketing online campaign, the company needs to understand who its target
audience is. Maybe businesses already have specific customer research, but from a campaign
perspective, businesses need to make sure that the content satisfies that audience, and that the business
message is not misconstrued. The business should take the time to research business target customers,
find out where they spend the most time online, how to reach them most effectively. This can be done
using Customer Journey – Copy Customer journey map to understand and optimize interactions with
target customers at touchpoints. (Gil & Anya 2019.)

Businesses conduct effective keyword research as part of their online marketing strategy. This will
help to ensure that the material and information a company provides reaches the intended audience.
Expanding the number of keywords will definitely create more opportunities to reach more potential
customers. If businesses only focus on developing old keywords, they will not be able to find more
new conversions and grow their websites to get more traffic. Expanding the number of keywords will
definitely save businesses a lot of advertising costs. (Murray 2022.)

Nowadays, almost everyone carries their phone-smartphone with them wherever they go. Therefore,
mobile marketing has become an important area for businesses to invest in. If the content in the
business marketing campaign is not mobile-friendly, no matter who the target audience is, there is a
very high chance that the business will lose a large number of potential customers, which directly
affect website development, design, user experience, content development and form of promotion.

Another online marketing channel that needs to be worked on is SEO. Search engines have long
demonstrated their ability to help firms become more well-known and accessible online. Furthermore,
pay-per-click advertising is one of the quickest ways to bring potential clients to a company's website.
It enables them to display when a user conducts a search query for a keyword that is specifically
connected. (Yu 2021.)

Many potential customers do not turn into customers the first time they see the product. Therefore, the
importance of remarketing is necessary for every advertising campaign. Customers remember brands
by constantly reminding them about the brand so that when they have a need, it will be the first thing
that comes to mind.
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Plan future content to attract customers by using high-quality and engaging content templates. Find out
which content formats, like videos, ebooks, infographics, and images, will inspire customers to
connect and learn the most. What voice style and tone are appropriate for the target audience? Building
exceptional content that is relevant to the company's target audience will be a key component of its
online marketing plan. (Fertik 2019.)

2.3 Marketing mix

The "marketing mix" is the combination of several strategies used to establish a marketing emphasis in
a certain market. This channel's goal is to identify the best distribution and marketing channels
available in the market. The term "marketing mix" was first used in 1953 by Neil Borden, President of
the American Marketing Association, who carried the concept one step further and invented the term.
In 1960, E. Jerome McCarthy, a well-known American marketer, proposed a classification system
based on the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotions) that has been widely adopted around the
world.

According to the American Marketing Association, a product is defined as a set of attributes (features,
functions, benefits, and uses) that can be exchanged or used. The product is intended to satisfy the
current needs of individuals and organizations or lead consumers to believe they need it and create new
demand. A product can be an idea, a good, a service, or any combination thereof. The product includes
three levels .The most basic level is the core product or idea contains the uses and benefits capable of
satisfying customer needs.The second is actual product which means a product formed with some
basic characteristics of quality, design, and brand identity, to help meet the specific wishes of
customers.Complementary products are valued. That creates additional differences for the product,
such as after-sales services, warranty, and free shipping.

To be successful, a business needs to understand the life cycle of a product and have a strategic plan to
help launch, maintain, and develop products that are new at every stage of the life cycle. Elements of
product attributes such as product concept, product benefit are also the first prerequisites required
before businesses set prices, plan to distribute to consumers or promote in the market. All subsequent
efforts of the business will fail if the product is not good or does not solve the customer's problem.
(Kingsnorth 2016.)
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A product's price is the amount consumers pay for it. This is a very important factor in determining
revenue and financial profit (usually the ultimate goal of a business). Therefore, pricing strategy and
tactics need to be carefully planned by studying factors such as consumers' perceived value, internal
factors such as production operating and external factors, for instance, supply costs, seasonal
discounts, competitor duplication. In some cases, businesses may price to counter year-over-year
marketinflation, or price cuts to enter new markets, causing consumers to try more of the product.
(Kingsnorth 2016.)

There are three main pricing strategies:

• Penetration pricing: This is a strategy when businesses evaluate their products at a low level to
penetrate the market and quickly gain market share.
• Skimming pricing: This is a strategy where a business sets the highest possible price for the
segments that are willing to pay and gradually reduces it to attract consumers in the lower
segment.
• Neutral pricing: This is a strategy when the enterprise sets the product price to maintain with
the average price of the market and close to the price of competitors to eliminate price factors,
especially often used during periods of saturation and in saturated markets.

By definition, distribution refers to the strategy of getting products into the hands of consumers by
defining distribution channel models and managing market coverage. The distribution strategy also
includes working with wholesalers, retailers. Afterwards, planning to choose and display products in
the store put products on e-commerce products, television shows. (Kingsnorth 2016.)

Promotion is a series of activities and purposes to make customers remember brands, products, and
promote their buying behavior. In short, the promotion replies to consumers about why they need that
product and why they should pay a certain price for it. Promotion includes tools:advertising.public
relations, personal selling. direct marketing and sales promotion.

In the digital era, marketing tends to incorporate promotions and places to reach more powerful
potential target groups, such as bringing products to e-commerce products and matching email
advertising on the website. (Kingsnorth 2016.)
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2.4 Online marketing benefits

Traditional marketing techniques such as television advertising, newspapers, magazines, brochures,

and letters are used to introduce products to the market for enterprises with substantial budgets.
However, the cost of performing marketing online is considerably lower than it is traditionally.
Businesses can begin advertising online without worrying about the first investment because marketers
do not demand firms to do so. The business itself has the right to decide how to approach, how much
each campaign costs, and for how long. All search engines like Google and social channel platforms
like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram offer flexible bids so that any business can run advertisement
depending on their budget management. (Welbourne 2022.)

2.4.1The 5 Ss of online marketing

In their book titled 'Marketing Excellence', Chaffey and Smith (2001) presented a 5S model to
illustrate the benefits that online marketing provides for marketers. The 5S model not only states the
benefits of online marketing but is also used by administrators to set goals for online marketing
strategies. (Chaffey & Smith 2001.)

Grow businesses and attract businesses using digital technology. The objective is to distribute products
to a wider range of customers because there are customers that the sales department cannot reach
easily. Besides, the volume of products sold online is larger than the products displayed in stores, and
the product prices are lower than in other sales channels. (Chaffey & Smith 2001 .)

Add value through the benefits of the internet, like the speed of service.The service objective can
provide customers with additional benefits online or inform customers of new products through online
dialogue with customers and receive feedback from customers. (Chaffey & Smith .)

Get closer to customers by making businesses available to customers whether they are at home, at
work or on the road through mobile technologies. The purpose is to create dialogues with customers
through websites, email, and mobile phones. In addition, conduct online surveys through the "chat
room" system and learn about customers or approach customers through online programs. (Chaffey &
Smith 2001.)
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Time and money are important aspects when making a purchase.Customers today can obtain
information quickly and make purchases online at any place and any time.Last but not least, as a
business, they can improve the online user experience. This helps to strengthen the brand and leads to
more business through referrals.

The 5s model of Chaffey and Smith in marketing online can be a great framework for attracting and
retaining customers online. So, pay attention to business customers' needs and provide an always-on,
interactive, and simple-to-use service.

2.4.2 Additional benefits

Enterprises reach customers on a large scale through big data. Big data has a large volume, high
velocity, and various types. For example, customer profiles, audio, and images that online advertising
platforms such as Google and Facebook collect user data through declarations or user activity history.
Through a marketing campaign, businesses can also sell to customers anywhere in the world without
opening a store there. They expand the target market, organize an export business without building a
network of distribution channels in other countries. Whereas, the cost of doing this using traditional
methods is quite substantial. Therefore, optimizing the content search keywords in one website helps
businesses get a lot of long-term value, with a relatively low cost to maintain rankings in search
engines. (Ulkuniemi,Mustonen&Karjaluoto 2015.)

It is indeed difficult to accurately track and measure the efficiency of variable advertising in traditional
marketing, and it is not so with web marketing. Technical analysis tools make it easier and more
effective to measure. Businesses effectively estimate the number of people interested, ad visits, and
business searches with specific keywords in order to accurately quantify the interest of potential
customers in each of those advertisements. Advertisers also assess the cost of advertising based on the
date and location of the posting. Businesses may control their advertising budget to the maximum, as
well as adjust their campaigns quickly. These systems can also track user behaviour, such as how
customers found the website—through a Facebook page or a Google search—how they explored the
business website, how long they stayed on the website, and which content they read on the website.
Moreover, these systems track the conversion of readers to customers based on specified
characteristics, so even if the number of potential consumers declines over time, the organization may
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still compile statistics. Businesses can measure the amount of profit gained on each product sold after
subtracting production expenses, advertising expenditures, and other costs, which makes measuring
business success easier and more effective. (Welbourne 2022.)

Targeting the right audience for each marketing campaign is one of the prerequisites of any business.
This is not an easy task, but unlike traditional marketing, marketing online can select audiences to
advertise to based on available customer data - user information needs. Therefore, helping businesses
bring their products to the exact audience. This data can also be built by the business itself or provided
by a third party such as Facebook or Google, which can reach and collect information from an
extremely large number of users. All search engines and social media platforms provide choices about
demographics such as gender, age, occupation, geographic location, shopping habits, interests, and
preferences of millions of users. For example, when a business plans to run advertisement on
Facebook, Facebook will ask the business what they want to reach in this ad campaign with typical
choices such as location, age, gender, language, interests, behaviour, and lots of other options to
determine the maximum audience business advertisement can reach. Targeting the right customers
makes the marketing campaign more effective. Specifically, businesses increase sales, save maximum
costs, choose the right potential customers, and determine the size of the market in a simple and
detailed way. (Storm 2020.)

In addition, businesses can easily chat and exchange messages with their customers through the
internet environment. When a consumer buys products online, the business can initiate a relationship
with them by sending a follow-up email to confirm the transaction and thank the customer. Regularly
email customers about the products they are interested in, along with special promotions/gifts for them,
to maintain a long-term relationship. Customers might also be invited to leave product reviews on a
company's website. Interactions between businesses and customers not only motivate customers to buy
and utilize items but also help businesses gain loyal clients in the long run. Because businesses can
acquire opinions and grasp customer insight while interacting with customers, they can create products
and services that meet that desire.Moreover, businesses can classify and evaluate customers'
purchasing ability through their interaction with advertising products to focus resources on target
groups with high revenue potential for business.(Cave 2016.)

Viral marketing is essentially encouraging individuals to spread the content of marketing messages
that businesses send. It can be said that this is the biggest advantage of digital media-based marketing.
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Business marketing online not only helps PR businesses for free but also creates a crowd effect,
making many people know the business brand or have a little sympathy for the business brand.

2.5 Online marketing communications

Marketing communications can be described as a set of tools and methods used to promote products
and services through the Internet platform with the aim of creating brand interaction with potential
customers. In other words, the means by which companies use to exchange information about their
goods and services to customers is known as "marketing communication." Marketers use marketing
communication tools to create brand awareness among potential customers. (Pulizzi & Barrett 2009.)

2.5.1 Email marketing

Email marketing is a form of using email (e-mail) to bring information about sales, marketing, and
product introductions to a targeted group of potential customers using email. Unlike spam email which
sends mass emails to any customer that causes customers to feel uncomfortable and refuse to receive
mail, email marketing is targeted at consumers who have been carefully selected and analyzed in
advance. (Church 2019.)

Email marketing can be done through different types of emails:newsletter,transactional email and
direct email.

A newsletter, also known as an email newsletter, is an email sent periodically by an individual or

business containing news and updates on a certain topic that the user has previously subscribed to.
Unlike a promotional email with the goal of convincing businesses to buy, participate, or sign up for a
trial of a business's product/service, the newsletter only focuses on making recipients feel loved and
excited to see them. (Jackson 2019.)

A transactional email is an email sent by a business to contacts, leads, or customers to help facilitate or
track some type of action a user has taken on their website. These messages are simply a way to
confirm that something happened as a result of the user's action, or sometimes, even communicate
additional information regarding the action they have taken. For instance, one can combine a
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transactional business email with an offer download email – and even include a sale, cross-sell, or
other information that helps move recipients deeper down the sales funnel. And that is where a big
opportunity presents itself for marketers. A transactional email is typically sent after a visitor lands on
a website and takes an important action—an action that shows they trust the business, are interested in
the business product and want whatever they signed up for. This is the reason why transactional emails
have the highest open rates of all email types because their recipients care about the content of those
emails. (Reis 2019.)

Direct mail is a form of direct mail marketing campaign, helping to promote and convey messages
related to products or services of the business through letters sent to potential customers. Direct mail is
used regularly by small and medium-sized enterprises to collect information from customers, then
refine and research to implement sales plans. (Fraser 1989.)

In the era of information technology, the Internet has developed all over the world, and business
people have more and more opportunities to choose from many sales channels for their company and
store. In order to thrive in today's competitive market, developing multiple sales channels is a strategic
advantage, and using email marketing is one of them. Email marketing is considered a form of
advertising through the use of email. Despite the rapid growth of messengers, chat apps, and social
media, e-mail has managed to remain an important role in digital communication and is still growing
in popularity. It is predicted that the number of global email users will reach 4.6 billion by 2025, an
increase of approximately 600,000 from 4 billion. It is predicted that the number of global email users
will reach 4.6 billion by 2025, an increase of approximately 600,000 from 4 billion in 2020.
(Medynska 2022.).Picture 2 has shown that e-mail has higher click-through rates than social media
when it comes to online advertising.
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PICTURE 5 .Number of e-mail users worldwide from 2017 to 2025 .( Statista 2021.)

Many large companies and corporations have used email marketing as a powerful, core
communication tool. Most of today, everyone owns an email account. And they have a habit of
checking email at least once a day for job updates. This is really an opportunity for all the small
businesses that want to reach their customers. If the title, product, or service is really attractive, the rate
of customer response to email interaction is extremely high. Evaluating the effectiveness of each email
marketing campaign is an important job. It shows whether the campaign has really achieved the goal
or not and draws valuable lessons for the next campaigns. (Reis 2019.)

Email marketing tools all have specific numerical measurement systems. It's fairly easy to gauge the
effectiveness of each marketing letter. Compared to many other marketing channels, one can
immediately recognize the effectiveness of an email marketing campaign. With television, distributing
leaflets and banners, it is difficult to measure its success when it is impossible to know how many
people it reaches and responds to positively. On the contrary, all email marketing tools have a
measurement system based on specific numbers to evaluate the effectiveness of each marketing
mailing. For example, how many people opened the email to read the information? How many people
clicked on the link? (Medynska 2022.)
 18

Another advantage of email marketing is optimizing advertising costs. There are many channels that
can serve as communication plans, such as Facebook advertisement, Google Advertisement, and
advertising in the media. However, exploiting these marketing channels is quite expensive. It will cost
a lot of budgets but with email marketing, it is different, the cost of email marketing services is
assessed to be much lower than today's communication channels. In addition, email marketing
campaigns often have a short term (weeks or months), so if the campaign is not effective, it can
immediately change for the next campaign. Therefore, the cost of mistakes will also be reduced. If the
business has a reasonable budget, this will be an ideal choice to send information to potential
customers quickly and efficiently.( Georgiou 2014.)

Email marketing is one of the few channels to reach the exact audience businesses want. The majority
of businesses that use the platform only send emails to people who have signed up to receive them.
This can allow for much higher conversion rates since a business only targets people who are already
interested in their brand. When users sign up, they agree to receive communications, show interest in
what they have to offer, and become potential customers of the business. Email marketing will be the
bridge to convert these potential customers into real customers. (Bellman ,Johnson & Lohse 2001.)

2.5.2.Content marketing

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is a marketing technique that creates
and distributes relevant and valuable content to attract and engage with a clearly defined and
understood audience to evoke profitable customer action. Content marketing is the act of
communicating with customers and prospects without the intent of making a sale. Quality content
marketing is essential to a successful advertising campaign. It will target a specific group of users on a
digital platform. This is a place where there is too much information. The approach to customers is
passive, so more content is required to have depth and hit the consumer psychology of customers to be
successful. The process of developing a brand for a firm cannot be done without content marketing.
Content marketing will convey the information to instil in the customer's mind the quality of its
products and services. Content is understood as multi-disciplinary content appearing on digital
platforms today. It can be presented as an article, video, or article that contains information but has no
purpose and high value, thus creating spam that dilutes the content. (Tanton 2013.)
 19

As mentioned above, content marketing is the bridge connecting businesses with their customers. The
methodical and professional content marketing strategy will gradually build long-term value, increase
brand value, and reduce advertising costs. Besides, ContentMarketing, ContentMarketing aids firms in
attracting customers, promoting items, establishing brands, and being commercial. When using content
marketing, the goal of a business is to attract customers and target customers to its side by producing
content that is valuable to them. This material must meet the needs and desires of clients as well as
provide them with additional value. That content can be the solution to the problem the customer is
looking for a solution to, a beautiful image that matches the individual customer's
preferences.(Yu2021.)

Quality content will attract a lot of traffic and have high interaction with customers. Therefore, this
helps the website improve its rankings and attract more customers. Content marketing satisfies their
obvious desires, they will stay on the business website longer, increasing traffic and organic
interactions. Whether Facebook's fan page is attractive enough to retain readers, stimulate interactions,
and make them decide to buy products or use services depends greatly on the content. To achieve this
properly, it is necessary to capture the psychology of customers and gain their trust. (Holliman &
Rowley 2014.)

A strong brand is built on product quality, customer service, and an appropriate marketing strategy.
Content marketing is a highly effective strategy for startups entering the market. This is considered a
quick and effective way to promote the business image to everyone. In this way, businesses can reach
potential customers through many different platforms, for example, social networking websites, books,
newspapers, television, radio, and radio. The process of reaching customers must ensure that the
information provided is valuable, sent continuously, with a purpose, and with consistent content to
make customers trust, buy, and return. When a customer sees a product that they immediately
recognize, it means that the content marketing campaign that businesses are using has been successful.
(Patel 2020.)

2.5.3 Search engine marketing

SEM stands for "Search Engine Marketing," which means marketing through search engines. As its
name suggests, the purpose of SEM is to make websites popular by increasing their visibility on search
 20

results pages through optimization and advertising. SEM is divided into two separate small channels:
SEO and PPC. (Fertik 2019.)

Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing a website to help it rank naturally on search
engines. Every hour, thousands of potential customers search for what businesses have to offer, but
90% of them go to the first pages they find on the Google search engine, and often they trust partners
on this page. However, not all websites nominated at the top will be prioritized for selection.
Specifically, websites labelled "Advertisement" on Google will mostly be ignored by Vietnamese
people because most Vietnamese do not believe in advertisements. SEO is the solution of how to
optimize the ability of users to find a website using Google. In other words, SEO is a collection of
methods to improve the ranking of a website in Google's returned list in the most natural way, and
thanks to that, users will find it easier to find SEO websites when searching on Google.( Murray
20219.)

In essence, SEO is a method of ranking based on a deep understanding of Google's website ranking
principles. For SEO purposes, a website needs to be accompanied by improving website quality,
optimizing Google's website evaluation criteria. Picture 6 shows that, on average, 51% of visitors to a
website are obtained through organic search sources. (Manick 2021.)

PICTURE 6.Statistic of search’s dominant channel share .( Brightedge research 2021.)

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Pay Per Click is an easy form of payment to get a high position on search engines. Online marketing
specialists will use Google Adwords to buy keywords suitable for products, services, and advertising
campaigns. When consumers find information with relevant keywords, the company's information will
appear in an ad-specific area on the results page. However, more money spent does not mean that
advertisement will achieve optimal placement. If there is a competitor that buys the same keyword to
advertise on the same search engine in the same position, depending on the expertise of the SEM
specialist, the CPC (cost per click) price between the competitors is different. An online marketing
specialist will rely on experience, analytical ability, and judgment to design an SEM program, from
selecting keywords to classifying them appropriately. Through that, they can write ad templates within
an allowable cost but still maximize the results achieved. (Ozolins 2012.)

SEM helps save up to 50-80% of online marketing costs and is more effective than other forms of
online advertising such as placing banners on websites or paying for professional building services or
promotional video clips. Online advertising firms such as Google Adwords, Facebook Advertisement
are being used by many businesses. To use paid advertising for maximum effectiveness, businesses
and stores need to have attractive messages, hit customer psychology, or call-to-action buttons, to
increase the number of interactions customers have.

2.5.4 Display advertising

A display ad is a type of online advertisement that uses text, images, and a LINK that is present on a
website, social media channels, and digital platforms to promote a product or service. There are
numerous ad formats, such as images, animations with multiple images, and videos. Display
advertisement may also appear on third-party websites as banners or text advertisements. (Hoban
2015.)

A display advertisement conveys the core message of the campaign to the target audience. When the
user visits a website or a social media platform, they are automatically attracted to display
advertisements. Besides, one of the most important parts of display advertising is the ability to target
specific audience segments based on parameters set by the advertiser. Display advertising has evolved
into a variety of specialized types, including the following:
 22

Rich media is an ad format that includes a complex interactive experience with animated graphics,
GIFs, games, video, and audio. This ad format creates more space for marketers to create without
being constrained by its format. At the same time, this ad format also allows users to interact, much
like a game or commercial application. However, this requires customization according to customers
and significant time investment. For example, some multimedia formats often require a specific and
much larger bandwidth. Producing rich media also requires the advertiser to have a lex multi-party
workflow at a higher cost than other formats. In addition, some multimedia formats have not yet
developed sufficient metrics to provide performance information. (Hoban & Bucklin 2015.)

PICTURE 7.Example of rich media advertisement. (Appsamurai 2020)

Standard banner advertisement is one of the most popular ad formats, usually appearing in electronic
newspapers as static or dynamic and arranged at the top or bottom of the screen. Banner advertising
has the advantage of not disrupting the user experience, having high flexibility, simplicity, low cost,
and being supported on many devices. However, standard banner advertisement do not attract the
readers' attention because of limited display space. As a result, this format often results in low CTR
results and is not appreciated in terms of performance. (Schofield 2022.)
 23

Interstitial advertisement completely encircle the user's phone screen or computer browser window.
They appear at app transition points, such as while the app is loading or after the app is closed. This ad
format typically requires the user to click a button to close the ad or swipe to navigate to the desired
content. This ad format typically requires the user to click a button to close the ad or swipe to
discontinue this ad type. Interstitials can draw users' attention with a large display ratio, which is a
benefit of this format over other forms, especially on mobile displays. Google estimates the interaction
rate for this ad at around 54 %. Thanks to appearing in the interval of user actions, this format does not
disrupt the experience. However, its disadvantage is that the user can quickly press X to close this
window, without actually noticing or being impressed with the ad. (Schofield 2022.)

PICTURE 8.Example of interstitial advertisement .(Appsamurai 2020)

Expandable banners are a rich media type that can be considered a combination of banner
advertisement and interstitial advertisement. These banner advertisement can be automated or clicked
to expand beyond the banner's original size. This format gives brands a large number of opportunities
to tell their stories. This format also overcomes the situation of banner advertisement falling into the
blind spots of readers by expanding the display area of advertising messages. A study from John Lewis
and IAB found that people who interact with expandable banners advertisement are 25% more likely
than those exposed to static banners. (Schofield 2022.)
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PICTURE 9.Example of expandable banners advertisement. (Appsamurai 2020)

Video advertisement is a video ad format that allows audiences to reach and connect with more
personalized advertising. Video advertisement are featured on display advertising networks and ad
association networks, in addition to media sharing platforms like Youtube, TikTok, and Netflix. As
Youtube is the second largest search engine on the Internet and people spend 33% of their time online
interacting with video content, video advertisement already have a sizable audience. Additionally, the
video works well on both handheld and desktop devices. Therefore, using video advertisement can
help reach the target audience at the right time. Therefore, the customer conversion rate is very high.
(Schofield 2022.)

2.5.5 Social media

Social media is defined as a collection of websites and applications that allow users to share content
and participate in online social networks. Social media marketing means using social media platforms
 25

to connect with customers to build brands, drive website traffic, and increase sales. Specifically, social
media marketing includes creating content and interacting with people, monitoring, analysing results,
and running social media advertisement. (Hayes 2018.)

There are many types of social media platforms. One of the most popular and widely used social media
platforms today is social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Users use these networks to
connect with other users (and brands) online who also share information and emotional states. This is
the most popular type of social media today. Its special feature is that users utilise it to exchange,
connect, and update their status and personal information. In addition, the explosion of the mobile
internet has turned the social network into a resource where everything related to life is constantly
updated. Moreover, this is the main platform on which brands focus on marketing as it is the social
media platform that has the largest user base of all types, and the ability to reach them is also higher.
However, to maximise effectiveness, brands must build an effective plan, and the content they intend
to deliver should be of high quality and offer value to viewers. (Halligan , Shah 2014.)

Meanwhile, media sharing networks such as Instagram or Youtube are also one of the largest social
media sites in the world. The difference between this type of social media and other social networks is
that this network prioritizes and focuses on posting in the form of videos, images, and live streams. For
example, Instagram is a free photo-sharing app that allows users to take photos on their phones, add
image filters, and then share them on various social networks. (Georgiou 2014.)

Bookmarking and content management networks such as Pinterest are a type of social media that helps
people store, share, and discuss current news and trends. Usually, it will be the source from which
users look for information and ideas for their work, especially in areas related to creativity. For
example, Pinterest allows users to share photos on social media, post them, and categorise them as
photo stickers (or pin them). Users create and manage photo collections based on different themes,
such as events and interests.

According to research from Statista, by 2020, there will be 3.6 billion social media users around the
globe, and this number is predicted to continue to grow to 44 billion by 2025. Businesses will increase
their chances of being known, attract more potential consumers, and improve customer conversion
rates by being present and active on social media sites. Sharing useful content related to products on
social media is a way to generate leads, drive conversions, and increase sales. Driving traffic to their
website through advertising is one of the best ways to get more new customers. In addition, the
 26

functions commonly available on social media, such as sharing, liking, and commenting, also help
increase interaction and assist in attracting potential customers and maintaining relationships with
existing customers by regularly delivering appealing content. By leading and actively interacting with
followers on social media, businesses can build long-term relationships with their brand's potential
customers beyond just replying to comments, providing customer care services, supporting customers
24/7, and organising contests or giveaways.(Ulkuniemi, Mustonen& Karjaluoto 2015.)

2.5.6 Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site that allows users to connect with friends, family, colleagues, and
others, including groups of people with similar interests. Users share photos, videos, articles, and
opinions with their friends. People can also make friends, send them messages, and update their profile
pages to lets their friends know about them.

Since being introduced by Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Messenger, the messaging
application on Facebook, has been fully utilised by businesses in the marketing online process. With
the advantage of more than 1 billion active users per month, it is not difficult to understand why more
and more businesses are launching their projects on Facebook. In particular, with fan pages established
for business purposes, Facebook also fully supports a chatbot framework structure that automatically
pops up when users access it. When interacting with users via Facebook Messenger, businesses can
create a series of automated messages with a variety of information options, such as attaching images
and links.

Facebook spends a lot of time gathering customer feedback. Before the invention of Facebook, most
businesses had to rely on traditional means to obtain client feedback on their products or services, such
as sending emails or calling. These approaches are not only time-consuming for the firm, but also be
inconvenient for customers. Nowadays, to get customer feedback, they just need to post a question on
their profile, such as “What makes a business like our product the most?” and wait for answers from
comments. Besides, these things are becoming more and easier to update on fan page pages. (Facebook
Blueprint 2019.)

Giving users the ability to share opinions about this product, service, or brand is considered one of the
advantages of Facebook compared to other online platforms. It not only helps businesses understand
 27

the needs and actual feelings of shoppers, but Facebook has done a great job of satisfying the common
psychology of most customers by being shared and heard. Not only that, but Facebook also gives them
the power to decide what types of information and which businesses will appear in their news feeds by
pressing the "Like" button. Not only do users have the right to like, but they can also share news and
product announcements on their pages. (Karjaluoto , Mustonen &Ulkuniemi 2015.)

Besides, Facebook built the Facebook Custom Audience Tool, which helps businesses aim at specific
audiences. With this application, digital marketers update contact lists with details such as email
addresses, identifiers, and phone numbers so they can target specific audience groups with
advertisements when needed. If in the past, businesses had to spend months sorting and organising
their customer database as well as zoning other potential target groups, now that job is much easier
thanks to the algorithms that Facebook built. With the help of this social networking site, all
businesses, from small companies with a few dozen employees to large multinational corporations,
stand to benefit. (Facebook Blueprint 2019.)

Facebook always tries to perfect it every day by updating more and more functions and utilities. Over
the past few years, Facebook has introduced countless new functions, such as Facebook Live Video,
Facebook Professional Services, Facebook at Work, and Facebook Eve. Among these new utilities, it
is impossible not to mention Facebook Live Video—the utility that helps the Livestream become
explosive, becoming a craze in many places. Businesses can reap a lot of marketing online benefits
from live streaming on Facebook. With intuitive, vivid, receiving a lot of information in a short time,
the amount of time that users spend watching live videos is up to 3 times more than the time they
spend on text content.

2.5.7 Instagram

Instagram is a social networking application founded by Kevin Systrom. This application was created
to share photos and videos uploaded from users' smartphones with hashtags and captions.

It is similar to Facebook but focused on mobile use and photo sharing. Users can engage with each
other on Instagram by following, tagging, and sending private messages. They can even save the
Instagram photographs they like.
 28

If Facebook users often tend to share emotions by status, with the social network Instagram, this is
done primarily with images. The ability to share high-quality images of users is the main and most
popular feature of Instagram. On Instagram, those photo editing effects help users edit and set up
images with rich and varied colours. This variety of effects not only helps users confidently share
beautiful pictures but also helps them be deeply impressed with the eye-catching image quality.
Having many filters and image editing tools is the strong point of Instagram. Images are a fast, unique,
and impressive way to convey information. In addition to the photo-sharing feature, Instagram also has
an Instagram story feature that allows users to shoot extremely short videos. This feature lets users
share their moments that only last for 24 hours. Besides, Instagram stories also feature many
interactive tools. Directly interacting with customers has never been easier. Besides, Instagram stories
can even gather feedback from customers and give a better understanding of their needs. (DeMeers
2014.)

IG television is an video viewing platform exclusively for mobile users on Instagram. This feature is
designed to play vertical videos full screen, creating a comfortable feeling for viewers. Because users
all have the habit of using their phones vertically, videos that are formatted appropriately for this
feature will be more user-friendly. Unlike the short video style that Instagram pioneered, Instagram
now allows users to post lengthier films. For regular users, the maximum length of any video broadcast
on IG television will be 10 minutes, and up to one hour for famous accounts with a large following.
Therefore, more content will be conveyed to users of this social network. (Patel 2020.)

As of mid-2021, the technology platform has more than 1 billion monthly users. This is a much larger
number than other social networking platforms. According to an analysis by ComScore, the average
person spends about 12 billion minutes/month using the social network Instagram.( Neher 2021.)

With Instagram, the company can reach a large number of users, belonging to many different countries
and regions, at any time. Instagram marketing is a way for businesses to visually and simply present
information that can capture interest as Instagram's design and appearance are optimised for mobile
displays. In addition, Instagram also provides many fascinating photo filters to help users edit and
transform their photos more diversely. As a result, businesses can leverage them to create unique
content.
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2.5.8 Youtube

YouTube is a social networking platform for users to share videos uploaded from computers or
phones. Youtube was created by a combination of three former employees of PayPal around February
2005. At the same time, Google acquired Youtube in 2006 for about $1.65 billion, making this website
the largest video sharing platform and ranking second in the list of most popular global music sites.

YouTube is different from popular social networks like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Instead of
sharing content or images, Youtube's focus is on video. However, the essence of Youtube is still a
social network, as users not only share videos but also comment and interact with the content of other
users' videos on this social networking platform. Youtube allows users to upload, watch, share, and
subscribe to other users with technology that helps display multimedia videos created by users and
businesses. Typically, this content will be television shows, short clips, music clips, short films, sound
recordings, movie trailers, creative videos, educational videos. This factor makes Youtube more
similar to television channels, especially with the development of modern television and the gradual
replacement of the above channels on television.( Habibi et al 2015.)

Youtube's advertising revenue comes from Google AdSense. There will be programmes that specify
advertising goals with appropriate content for each audience segment on that page. The Youtube
Premium service will provide access to exclusive content that has been made available to existing
users. There is also a Youtube Music service to stream artists' music.

Hubspot's statistics show that Youtube and Facebook are the two most used platforms by video
marketers, with 85% and 79%, respectively. More than 2 billion users access YouTube every month.
Every day, people watch more than a billion hours of videos, which generates billions of views for
YouTube. Furthermore, after Google, Youtube is the second-largest search engine. (Hupsot 2021.)

Youtube allows users to create the content of the video, provided that the terms are adhered to. As a
result, businesses produce a large number of videos with diverse content that are appropriate for each
customer as well as marketing objectives. Businesses can enhance their brand awareness or popularity
in the market with just one or two short videos. (Hookle 2022.)
 30

In addition, users can reproduce the content they have provided with Youtube videos. The content
posted on websites, blogs, or other platforms can be turned into videos for customers to easily access.
Besides, videos need to have a reasonable length and condensed content. At the same time, it shows
the professionalism and expertise of the business or product.

The growth of Youtube opens up golden opportunities for marketers. As communities move towards
Youtube, businesses can implement Youtube advertising similar to television advertising, with lower
costs and higher retargeting. If it is effective , marketing campaigns on Youtube can bring results that
exceed business expectations. (Hookle 2022.)

2.5.9 Pinterest

Pinterest was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp. Just nine months after its
launch, Pinterest has grown to about 10,000 users, and now it has become one of the most popular
social networks in the world.

Pinterest is an image sharing and social media application that allows users to save and explore
information on the internet through the use of images, as well as, on a smaller scale, animated videos
in pinboards. Architecture, art and crafts, fashion, science, and travel are just a few of the categories
available on Pinterest. Pinterest mainly consists of "pins" and "boards." Pins are chosen from a single
user's board and saved to virtual pinboards, which are organised into categories. (Pinterest 2020.)

In addition to hosting images, Pinterest also functions as a social network. Pinterest users can interact
with each other through the functions of following, commenting, saving on boards or chatting through
private messages. Like other social networks, users need an account to start using Pinterest. They can
create a free account at Pinterest.com by email or use their existing Facebook or Google account.
Then, they have to fill in some basic information such as name, age, gender, language, and country,
and then select at least three topic categories according to their interests so that Pinterest can target
suitable topics. (Pinterest 2020.)

People go to Pinterest looking for new things to discover and save. Pinterest Pins help a business's
target audience identify what their brand stands for and how it can fit into their lives. Pinterest is a
visual discovery tool for connecting with people who are still considering their next purchase. By
 31

getting their message to the right people, businesses can help them make decisions and reach the
people at the most influential times in their lives to get them to act. (Pinterest 2020.)

In addition, Pinterest is also the most popular shopping and product discovery platform, making it the
perfect place to run sales campaigns to increase online and offline sales. Any business can launch a
marketing campaign to promote online shopping on a website or raise brand awareness. Some
companies may also create shopping campaigns pulled directly from product feeds to create actionable
ads.

Pinterest not only helps users save their ideas while surfing the web, but also lets them watch the news
on Pinterest's homepage. What this means is that Pinterest is a place that focuses a lot on the concept
of a person's lifestyle.

2.5.10 Website

Consumers land on websites to look up information before deciding to purchase a specific product.
This is an indispensable step in the online shopping process today. What this means is that the website
is the face of the business expressed on the Internet. There will be thousands of views if the website is
authentic and meets the demand of visitors. Creating and maintaining a professional website is a
commission for businesses. The effective website structure will help customers easily read or navigate
on mobile devices. Not only that, a professional, highly interactive website contributes to increasing
the position of the business with consumers as well as other competitors in the industry. Besides, a
negative mobile user experience affects the website's search engine ranking and the opportunity to
achieve high customer satisfaction. Businesses should run the website smoothly by keeping the
software up to date, maintaining high levels of professionalism, and constantly updating new content
that is useful to them. ( Habibi et al. 2015.)Key metrics commonly use to measure website usage
performance .

Website loading time is the time it takes to load a webpage into the browser from the time the user first
clicks to access the website until the website displays on the device. The loading time is evaluated by
Google PageSpeed On a scale of 100. A website with a score of less than 70 is considered a negative
 32

website. A score of 70–85 is considered a good website, and a score of over 85 is an effective website.
From a customer's perspective, they cannot use the above tool to check every time they visit a website.
Therefore, they often rely on real-time evaluation. A website is rated sufficiently when it has a page
load speed of fewer than 5 seconds. (DeMeers 2014.)Onsite time is the average time from the time a
visitor enters the website until they completely exit the website.

Bounce Rate is the ratio of the number of visits to a page divided by the total number of visits. The
higher the bounce rate, the more users tend to only visit 1 page on the website, with little instant
action, and then exit, because the business's website is not appealing, or only meets one of their needs
without the suggestion of other needs. A good website should only have a bounce rate of 15% to
30%.(Moz 2019.)

Direct interaction is the direct interaction between visitors and administrators to answer questions
promptly and achieve user requirements. Contacting the phone number and email is still necessary, but
having an online chat box for live chat between visitors and website owners will solve customers'
momentary concerns and avoid changing their behaviour. (Moz 2019.)

Responsive website design shows the ability of the website to display fully no matter what the
customer is accessing on any device, any platform. A responsive website is considered better than a
non-responsive website. In February 2015, Google officially added this factor as one of the factors
used to rank websites in search engines. (Moz 2019.)
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3 METHODS AND DATA

Qualitative research methods will be used in the study. This information is usually collected through
direct observation interviews or focus group discussions used for histology and is often applied in the
case of a small, concentrated sample. The data for qualitative research is primarily a record of what
people said. After obtaining quantitative research data, the collected data will be evaluated for practical
results and concluded.

3.1 Research methodology

Qualitative research methods will be included in the study.Qualitative research is an investigative

method used in many different fields of science, not only in the traditional sciences but also in market
research and other contexts. Qualitative research aims are to gain an in-depth understanding of human
behaviour and the reasons that influence it. Qualitative methods investigate the why and how in
decision making, not just answering the what, where, and when questions.Qualitative research is a
method of collecting information and using non-numerical data to obtain detailed information about
research and survey subjects for the purpose of analysis or in-depth assessment.

Qualitative research methods will use documents and information online about Biti's company,
especially about Biti's Hunter shoes then systematize and generalize the information obtained about the
promotional strategy. Based on that, I conducted questionnaires to interview Biti’s employees. The
interview helps author obtain more detailed information from the respondents and allows her to gain a
better understanding of the current situation of Bitis.

3.2 Data collection

The data for qualitative research is primarily a record of what people said. After obtaining quantitative
research data, the collected data will be evaluated for practical results and concluded. All of the
interviewees were asked the same questions, which were all related to the summary of the theories.
The interviewees were asked about their online marketing goals and expectations, target audience,
distribution channels, and measurement methodologies during the unstructured interviews.
 34

General information about the type of interviews can be seen below:

1. 13 September 2021- Skype Interview with Nguyen Son Quynh Oanh – Category Marketing
Manager – Biti’s Company
2. 23 September - Skype Interview with Cuong Nguyen– Marketing Director –Biti’s Company
3. 26 September 2021- Skype Interview with Diem Tran – Marketing Manager – Biti’s Company.
4. 22 October 2021 - Email Interview with Duong Minh - Biti’s Company- Senior Brand Manager-
Biti’s Compan
 35

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, I used an in-depth interview with the employees of the company, which gave I a
deeper understanding of the topic and the respondent's point of view. The company's team members,
who have experience with internet marketing, are the target group for this study. During the research
period, several interviews were conducted in unstructured interviews.
When asked about the importance of digital marketing to their business, all interviewees stated that it
plays a significant role in increasing sales and expanding market share by 30% more than before.
Diem Tran mentioned that the main role of online marketing is to promote the brand and market it
through the media, helping to convert target customers into buyers. Measure sales, subscribers, leads,
transactions without regard to purchase conversion rate as meaningless metrics and all business
advertising efforts are wasted.Small and medium businesses use the online marketing system for clear
targeting, specific leads, conversions, and revenue generation. Duong Viet states that online marketing
opens the door to better and stronger targeting in his business.

Both Nguyen Oanh and Hoang Dung agree that digital marketing offers fair competition opportunities
for all types of businesses to promote brands in the online environment. Digital Marketing in business
can be grasped and applied by not only large and multinational companies but also small and medium-
sized companies. Nguyen Oanh emphasises that marketing online is mainly done on the internet, free
social media channels. Therefore, small and medium-sized businesses advertise their brands more
widely to consumers on the internet and improve business efficiency at a low cost. When applying the
form of digital marketing, businesses can promote their products/services online to a huge number of
target customers.

The second question raised to interviewees is how they effectively implement online marketing tools.
The interviewees mentioned various marketing online tools they have used, with social networks
(mainly Facebook) being the most popular. Diem Tran believes that it is necessary to carefully
combine marketing tools to promote customer outreach in this current period. Taking advantage of
social networking channels such as Facebook, Zalo, and Twitter helps businesses reach more
customers. By advertising with appealing content on social media, businesses attract users to interact
 36

with the company's products and services. Besides, she also suggests the company evaluate and review
articles to determine which articles increase engagement rates with business followers and which ones
do not or generate few conversions. In short, businesses should use social media channels to build a
business brand and reach out to a business audience. Then, leverage this audience to convert them into
leads or buyers. Diem Chan concluded.

In the case of the director of marketing Cuong Nguyen, he states that instead of using too many social
networks, businesses need to choose the right one that is appropriate for their products, services, and
media campaigns. The largest network is not necessarily the best if it does not match the
characteristics of the product, brand, and target audience. On the other hand, with the influence of
social networks, many businesses want to optimise their spread by joining many networks. However,
the essence of social networks is contribution and sharing, so it takes time to become an active
member. This is difficult to implement if the company uses too many networks at the same time. He
admits that quality is more important than quantity. Therefore, businesses should focus on the few
social networks that work productively and exploit them to the maximum.

SEO is the inevitable activity for creating long-term value. Duong Viet states that this is the foundation
for the brand to develop sustainably in a competitive market. He firmly believes that the right
keywords associated with good article content make websites get high rankings in search engines.
Businesses can place advertisement here through keyword selection for Seo. However, he also
mentions that businesses should consider this tool because the cost of investing is quite high.

The final topic discussed during the interviews was current marketing trends. Although there are some
differences among experts when forecasting online marketing trends, they all agree that content
marketing remains one of the top marketing trends. Cuong Nguyen emphasises that by creating
effective online marketing campaigns with quality content, brands cultivate strong relationships and
help reinforce customer loyalty. Besides, he also states that live streaming will remain the trend in
online marketing in the next few years. Videos are also the most popular way for consumers to learn
about new products. Watching live video is more engaging than viewing pre-recorded as the customer
feels more connected to brands and is more interactive in the buying process.

Diem Tran believes that social commerce is becoming a mainstream form of shopping and will
continue to increase rapidly in the long run. Brands are becoming more adept at creating advertisement
that seamlessly match data from social media channels and integrating e-commerce platforms with
 37

social media channels. Instagram and TikTok are particularly influential in driving the social
commerce trend. Instagram Checkout makes it easier than ever for brands to advertise and sell their
products directly.

According to Duong Viet, "We are entering an era where traditional marketing has recently been
renovated by machine learning." Marketers are getting smarter about optimising and personalising
customer experiences. He also emphasised that his company has implemented personalization for a
customer segment or product line, and is moving to a broader customer scale.

Although experts have differing opinions and perspectives, they all agree that digital marketing
transformation is the key to success now and will continue to be a trend in the future. Expert
suggestions are valuable resources for authors who want to learn more about marketing trends. As a
result, I will provide strategic direction for Bitis' internet marketing operations in the following years.
 38

5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

Based on the theory in chapter 1, and after analysing the current situation of online marketing activities
in chapter 3, combined with the analysis results from the interview, I give some advice on how to
improve the effectiveness of marketing online activities to attract more customers. To ensure the
feasibility of the proposed solutions, I also developed a specific plan to deploy the proposed solution
groups following the goals and development direction of Biti's. These solutions involve online
marketing tools such as SEO, email, and social media platforms.

The selection of keywords that are both close to the web site's content and close to the customer's
search content has influenced the development of the website, helping the company's website increase
visits and brand products more popular. In a competitive market, SEO is more important than ever.
Search engines serve millions of users looking for answers to their questions or solving their problems.
To get more traffic from search engines and appear on the top positions on the first page of results, the
company website is influenced by the Google ranking algorithm.For example creating many natural
links pointing to the website from other websites, such as forums, company websites, distribution
channels, and links on each product.Besides,the sentences from the meta description card need to be
brief, contain the right content, and entice users to click on the article.It helps improve Google
keyword and the keyword is the phrase that potential customers type in to find it.Inaddition, to know if
the keyword is suitable for users, businesses must regularly update social news and capture user trends
and behaviours. Some tools support keyword research, such as Semrush, Google Keyword Planner,
and Explorer from Moz.

In addition, a significant number of searches is performed each day on mobile devices. Research has
shown that the number of searches using smartphones is steadily increasing. Therefore, the website
should be designed to be mobile-friendly or tablet-friendly with applications for iOS, Android, and
Windows Phone operating systems to match the current trend.

The goal of this solution is to increase traffic to the enterprise website both in quality and quantity.
Besides, to put the website that appears in the top ten of the search engine. And finally, promote the
brand and improve sales.
 39

Innovating and creating content on the website creates highlights and attracts customers' curiosity
when accessing the website, which is a top priority. In addition, it encourages customers to leave
comments and reviews on the website to improve services. Optimising the website interface helps
users view the information even when viewing it on computers and mobile phones.

Investing in marketing activities through search engines by participating in paid advertising campaigns
to compete for the top position on search engines help customers be impressed and have a positive
view of the company. Besides, businesses should focus on training private staff who still have
professional knowledge and qualifications in using online consulting tools and software professionally.
Customer service, enthusiastically consulting and answering all questions from customers is the best
and most beneficial way for them during the consultation process.

The marketing activity of Biti’s on Instagram has not been effective. The number of followers and
interactions for each post is quite low. Post content is not updated regularly and is often repetitive.
Therefore, it is necessary to change the content to be more compelling and richer to attract high
interaction and virality. For example, more updates on new products, new promotions, and campaigns
for consumers to view promptly. Besides, Biti's can increase the amount of interaction with customers
by running the giveaway and contest. For example, Biti's can set up programme rules to maximise
customer interaction by tagging their friends, sharing stories, and hashtags Bitis's account.

Customers can trust and comprehend the information by regularly being updated with news, events,
and promotions. The content should be published in a planned manner. It is necessary to choose the
appropriate posting times. Customers pay attention to a company's post by including appealing images
and videos, as well as selecting an appropriate article title. Furthermore, the company must categorise
information as well as gifts so that customers can understand and find it more easily.

This social media platform has the largest number of followers of Bitis. The number of posts and
interactions is quite high. However, instead of making advertising posts like the current way that Biti's
performs, I suggested that Biti's use the live stream feature of Facebook on its fan page. It can be
broadcast weekly on Saturday or Sunday. To attract the intended customers to their live stream, Bitis
should collaborate with celebrities or famous people. Besides, Biti's incentivize their live stream by
providing prizes for viewers, such as gifting Bitis Hunter products. At the same time, Biti's should
 40

have a professional fan page management team to increase views and followers to expand market
share on its internet channel.

In conclusion to outcomes, the development of the online marketing initiative is a long process,
requiring investment, patience, in-depth knowledge acquisition, market trends, and a combination of
departments and management to achieve the best results for the company.Biti's will need to make more
efforts in their marketing online activities to develop and expand the domestic market. I have
researched, generated documents, and applied them in practice to come up with solutions to help Biti's
complete marketing online activities for its product line. Although in a short time, I believe that this
topic will be a reference base to help Biti's make the right decisions. I also believes that the solution
will serve as the basis and premise for further studies to analyze the marketing strategies of
competitors in the market. From there, I propose solutions to improve promotional activities to
enhance the brand value and competitiveness of Biti's with domestic and foreign enterprises.
 41

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