P R E PA R E D B Y:

M A R I A A N G E L I TA R A M O N A L . VA L L E S
F A C U L T Y, D E P A R T M E N T O F G R A D U A T E B U S I N E S S
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS

Note: The content of this materials should not be copied or distributed. This is used solely for the classroom purposes only.
What is E-business?

✓ E-business is short for “electronic business.” As an

overarching term, it refers to any method of utilizing
digital information and communication technologies to
support or streamline business processes – from
preparation to implementation.
✓ However, it can also refer more specifically to the
business processes of online stores or other internet-
based companies.
✓ These two slightly different interpretations of the term
have led to a problem: a widely accepted, precise
definition of e-business does not yet exist.
✓ As a result, it’s interpreted broadly, and is commonly
misunderstood – mainly in relation to e-commerce.
✓ Although there is some overlap, e-commerce refers to
trading products and services online, and so is strictly
only speaking of one aspect of e-business.

https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/online-marketing/online-sales/what-is-e-business/
What is E-commerce?

✓ The term electronic commerce (ecommerce) refers to a business

model that allows companies and individuals to buy and sell goods
and services over the Internet.

✓ Ecommerce operates in four major market segments and can be

conducted over computers, tablets, smartphones, and other smart
devices.

✓ Nearly every imaginable product and service is available through

ecommerce transactions, including books, music, plane tickets,
and financial services such as stock investing and online banking.
As such, it is considered a very disruptive technology.

✓ E-commerce is the process of buying and selling tangible products

and services online. It involves more than one party along with the
exchange of data or currency to process a transaction. It is part of
the greater industry that is known as electronic business
(ebusiness), which involves all of the processes required to run a
company online

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/ecommerce.asp#toc-understanding-ecommerce
✓ Ecommerce has helped businesses (especially those with
a narrow reach like small businesses) gain access to and
establish a wider market presence by providing cheaper
and more efficient distribution channels for their products
or services.

✓ Ecommerce operates in all four of the following major

market segments. These are:

• Business to business (B2B), which is the direct sale

of goods and services between businesses
• Business to consumer (B2C), which involves sales
between businesses and their customers
• Consumer to consumer, which allows individuals to
sell to one another, usually through a third-party site
like eBay
• Consumer to business, which lets individuals sell to
businesses, such as an artist selling or licensing their
artwork for use by a corporation.
Future of E-commerce Experience

1. The E-commerce Experience will Transcend The

Screen.
✓ In addition to delivering an experience through all
screen types, future experiences will be delivered
through new touchpoints such as voice, wearables and
kiosks.
2. The E-commerce Experience will be More Personalized.
✓ While this has been a buzzword for decades, the next
wave of personalization will do a much better job of
predicting needs.
✓ Each individual will get a different experience based on
geography, searching history, past behavior, etc.
✓ When you walk into a store, a salesperson can intuit a
lot about you. The future of e-commerce will use
technology to do the same thing … smarter technology
that provides a better experience.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2019/11/16/the-future-of-ecommerce-and-how-the-experience-will-change/?sh=601d412f205b
3. The E-commerce Experience will Include a Lot More
Relevant Content.
✓ Consumers want brands that have values and convey the
values in a personalized way to the shopper.
✓ This requires content. E-commerce brands are moving
toward the creation of more, relevant, and helpful content
that drives engagement and facilitates the right purchase.
✓ Machines will enable this occur faster for long-tail retail
items, in real time, allowing humans to develop the
biggest experience-enhancing content.

4. The E-commerce Experience will Shift Toward Better

Service and Elevate the Shopping Experience.
✓ For some time, the emphasis has been on providing
cheaper service (e.g., shifting to chat rooms, etc.). The
future winners will go beyond efficiency to provide service
that create value for the consumer.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2019/11/16/the-future-of-ecommerce-and-how-the-experience-will-change/?sh=601d412f205b
What is Digital Marketing?
2

✓ Digital Marketing is a process in which business Strategy and

Business Models

enterprises and existing or potential customers use the

Internet to create value and products as well as 3

interchange them. Internet marketing, online marketing 10

Market
sensing
4
and e-marketing are all synonyms for Digital Marketing Customer
relationship Product
realization
management

✓ Digital Marketing is becoming increasingly important.

Planning and
Organization
1 5
According to research conducted by consultancy firm 9

13
Digital Customer
Order 2
marketing
acquisition:

Deloitte, marketing managers expect to spend two thirds processing digital

branding

of their media budget online by 2020 (Deloitte, 2017)

8 6
Customer Customer
acquisition:
acquisition:
✓ As a result of the growing number of possibilities sales and
pricing
7
owned or
earned
channels
Customer
regarding digitalization and interactivity that the Internet acquisition:
paid

facilitates, a number of marketers’ dreams have become

channels

reality.
12
Digital Analytics

✓ When used wisely, the Internet makes marketing more

effective: marketing objectives can be met with less effort
 ✓ Digital marketing is defined as the use of digital
channels to promote a product or service. The
goal of this approach is to connect with customers
online - the place where they spend the most time
seeking information or entertainment.

✓ Digital marketing is a broad practice, simply

because there are so many online channels
available. Posting on social media is a form of
digital marketing, as are email marketing and
blogging. Together, the promotional content on
these various platforms forms a cohesive online
marketing strategy. Whether you are focusing on
event marketing or creating an email subscriber
list, digital marketing is an incredible important
facet.
https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/
 Benefits of digital marketing

✓ Every company - from large international

organizations to independent brick-and-mortar
stores - can gain from advertising themselves
online. Here are some of the ways digital
marketing can benefit your business:
✓ Building brand awareness by putting your
stamp on the web
✓ Engaging prospective customers and
generating leads
✓ Deepening customer relationships and building
a loyal customer base
✓ Guiding customers through the marketing
funnel, from the first touchpoint to the sale

https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/ https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/
 Types of digital marketing
Digital marketing isn’t a single practice but, instead, is the sum of
several elements. Some of the most common examples of digital
marketing include:
✓ Search engine optimization (SEO)
✓ Content marketing
✓ Social media marketing
✓ Pay per click (PPC)
✓ Native advertising
✓ Affiliate marketing
✓ Influencer marketing
✓ Email marketing
✓ Marketing automation
✓ Online PR
✓ Mobile marketing
✓ Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
While this may seem like a lot of different types of marketing, keep in
mind that you don’t need to implement each and every one of these
practices. However, it’s important that you familiarize yourself with
them so that you gain a better understanding of which methods should
go into your own marketing strategy.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
01. Search engine optimization (SEO)

A foundational element of digital marketing, SEO is the practice of optimizing your

website to rank higher in search engine results. When your website appears as a
top result on Google and other search engines, people are more likely to click on
your link, learn about your brand, and perhaps even become customers.

There are three broad ways to improve your website’s SEO:

• On-page SEO involves optimizing the pages on your website by conducting

keyword research. When you incorporate strategic keywords throughout your
site, you can rank high on search engine results pages and guide customers
through the sales funnel with relevant, authoritative content.

• Off-page SEO is about improving your SEO by looking at pages external to

your website. Inbound links to your website - known as backlinks - are a critical
component of off page SEO. Networking with publishers, writing guest posts,
and providing information-rich content on your blog can help improve your off-
page SEO.

• Technical SEO deals with the backend elements of your website such as
coding, structured data, image compression and more. Optimizing these
elements can make it easier for search engines to “read” your site and improve
your page speed.
 02. Content marketing
Closely tied to SEO, content marketing is also a core component of
digital marketing. This involves creating and promoting content with
the goals of building brand awareness, increasing traffic to your
website, generating leads and converting customers.
Whichever content formats you choose, be sure to focus on subject
matter that’s relevant and valuable for your audience and that will •
help boost your website’s SEO.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
The content you create can take many forms:
• Blog posts: Creating a blog - and using strategic, long tail keywords in
your articles - is a great way to bring traffic to your site and engage your
customers.
• E-books and whitepapers: Adding in-depth, long-form content to your
website establishes your expertise in the industry and builds trust among
your audience. You can also offer this content for download in exchange
for your readers’ contact information, helping you generate leads.
Videos: Website content doesn’t need to be in written form. Adding
videos to your website is an engaging way to provide valuable
information to your audience.
• Infographics: Another form of visual content, infographics are a fun,
helpful way to make information easier for readers to conceptualize.
Complex explanations and statistics are particularly well-suited to this
content format.
• Podcasts: This audible content format is a useful way to strengthen
your connection with your audience and build a loyal community around
your brand. To start a podcast, try repurposing existing website content,
such as blog posts, and adapting it for audio.
• Webinars: A merging of “web” and “seminar,” webinars further engage
your audience, establish your authority, and delight customers with the
extra value they provide.
03. Social media marketing

Another cornerstone of a strong digital marketing strategy is

social media marketing. This involves promoting your brand on
social channels in order to increase brand awareness, drive
traffic to your website, and capture leads. You can do this by
creating posts on popular social media channels such as:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn

Your posts can include anything from insightful blog articles to

videos of your product in action. Choose channels on which
your audience is most active; often, this is a factor of their
demographics, such as age and location, as well as their
interests.

Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?

04. Pay per click (PPC)

Some digital marketing methods, such as blogging, SEO, and social media posting are organic - meaning that they draw traffic
“naturally” to your business rather than requiring that you spend money directly. Other practices, however, come with a price tag.

PPC, an acronym for pay per click, is a particularly powerful form of paid online advertising. Like SEO, PPC is a type of search
engine marketing, or SEM. If you’re familiar with posts labeled “Ad” at the top and bottom of Google search results pages, you’ve
already seen PPC in action.

By this model, advertisers pay a fee every time their link is clicked. As with other forms of digital marketing, the goal of PPC is to
drive traffic to a website in order to generate leads and make sales.

Generally, PPC is used on either search engines or social media

platforms:

• Google: Search engine marketing PPC is most commonly associated with

Google Ads. Take a look at this article to learn how to advertise on Google.
• Facebook: You can further use the pay per click model to advertise on
Facebook. Creating paid Facebook posts helps you expand your reach,
exposing your content to people who don’t follow you.
• LinkedIn: You can also do PPC on LinkedIn, helping you get in front of
professional audiences.
• Twitter: Likewise, you can use Twitter Ads to target your relevant audience
and expand your reach.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
 05. Native advertising

Native advertising, too, is a popular online marketing

model. In contrast to large pop-ups and other
intrusive ads, native ads match the format and tone
of the platform on which they appear. Native ads
often appear on websites, and they display content
that “blends in” with surrounding articles or blog
posts. For example, they might appear as a video
embedded within a blog post, or as recommended
reading at the bottom of the page.

The goal of native advertising is to guide users to

click on content that will take them to your company’s
page. If the advertised content is unobtrusive and
highly relevant to the material at hand, users may be
more enticed to click.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
 06. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a digital marketing practice in which one

party, such as an influencer or a brand, receives a commission
for promoting someone else’s products or services. For
businesses, this practice is beneficial because it allows them to
reach that party’s followers.

By the affiliate marketing model, a company provides that party

(called the affiliate) with a special link, usually leading to a page
to purchase their product. The affiliate, in turn, will post about
that product (usually on their blog or social media pages),
promoting the given link in their content. When users click on
that link and buy, it’s a win-win for both the brand and the
affiliate: the company makes a sale, and the affiliate earns a
commission on that sale.

Brands can connect with affiliates using platforms by reaching

out to influencers directly.

Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?

07. Influencer marketing

This practice is similar to affiliate marketing in that it involves

another person promoting your brand, typically on social media
or within their blog. Unlike affiliates, however, influencers get
paid by the company simply for the promotion - regardless of
whether people actually purchase the product.

Influencer marketing is effective because it helps brands reach

a particular influencer’s fanbase. When that influencer is trusted
among their followers, they have the power to sway their fans’
purchasing decisions by recommending a product.

On the business side, the key to a successful partnership is to

choose influencers whose audience matches your target
market. For example, a company selling athletic wear would
benefit most from collaborating with a well-known athlete.
Likewise, a business selling cosmetics would be wise to seek
out a collaboration with a beauty influencer.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
08. Email marketing
You’ve almost certainly experienced email marketing in some form - in fact, you probably have branded emails sitting in your
inbox right now. This popular digital marketing strategy involves communicating with your target audience via email with the
goals of improving engagement, promoting products and driving conversions and sales.
You can set up email campaigns, newsletters and automations for your business. This platform is particularly effective
because it tracks statistics on email opens, views and clicks, giving you insight into your business’s performance. It also
allows you to customize the design of your emails so that they match the look and feel of your brand.
Broadly speaking, there are four different types of marketing
emails you can send to prospects and customers:

• Email campaigns promote products, provide special offers or

coupons, or encourage people to sign up for a product or service.
• Email newsletters are sent on a consistent basis to provide
subscribers with regular updates, such as new blog posts,
industry news or upcoming events.
• Automated marketing emails are sent automatically based on
predefined triggers, and they include welcome emails, birthday
emails and reminder emails.
• Automated transactional emails include automatic order
confirmations, shipping updates and appointment reminders.

Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?

09. Marketing automation

Speaking of automated emails - they’re examples of a broader

digital marketing practice called marketing automation. As the
name suggests, this involves the automation of basic marketing
tasks.
The idea behind this practice is to streamline repetitive tasks
that would otherwise be done manually, such as transactional
emails, data analysis and more. Some tasks that benefit from
automation include:
• Thank you, confirmation and welcome emails
• Social media post scheduling
• Live chat
• Data analytics
Marketing automation is a critical way to build relationships with
your customers while sustaining an organized and productive
workflow. To set up your own automated responses to actions
and account activities on your site, try Ascend Business Tools.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
 10. Online public relations (PR)

Online PR is the practice of obtaining coverage

from online publications and blogs. This tends to
require outreach to reporters and editors at
relevant publications, which you can do through
LinkedIn or Twitter.

PR also involves monitoring your brand’s

reputation on the web overall. For example,
you’ll need to engage with comments on your
blog and social media posts, as well as respond
to online reviews of your company.

Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?

 Mobile marketing involves adapting standard digital marketing
11. Mobile marketing practices to fit the mobile experience. This includes:

Often, converting customers through the screens of their • Optimizing your mobile page speed: Google uses page speed
laptops seems like the ultimate goal. It’s important, as a ranking factor for mobile as well as desktop search. In
however, that we also take full advantage of a smaller - addition, users are quick to navigate away from a site with a slow
but equally important - device: the smartphone. This is load time. To improve the speed of your mobile site, try to keep
your site lightweight - for instance, avoid heavy images, and
especially important considering that mobile internet
minimize redirects.
usage comprises more than 50% of online traffic • Designing your website for mobile: Your site is a fundamental
worldwide. marketing tool that represents your brand, showcases your product
or service, and persuades people to buy. As such, the way it
appears on mobile plays a crucial role in whether or not your
audience will convert. Take a look at this article for mobile website
design examples and tips.
• Creating mobile-friendly emails: Research shows that mobile
accounts for nearly half of all email opens. With this in mind, it’s
critical that your email campaigns are designed for the mobile
screen. That means short subject lines, concise text and a clear
and prominent CTA.
• Experimenting with in-app ads: Don’t limit your ads to websites
and search engines. Advertising within relevant mobile apps is also
a valuable practice that can expand your reach even further.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
 12. Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

If we need to sum up the goals of digital marketing,

we’d say it’s about bringing traffic to your site and
increasing conversions. This latter component -
called conversion rate optimization - requires
designing your website with an understanding of the
way users interact with it.

To do this, you’ll need to take into account how users

navigate your site, which actions they take, and what
guides them toward - or prevents them from -
achieving your goals. Tracking tools and analytics
can provide you with quantitative data about the
ways users engage with your site, helping you guide
them smoothly through the sales funnel.
Source: Rebecca Strehlow (2020) https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/?
Why the need of digital marketing
Overall, digital marketing is a broad concept that
covers a variety of practices and uses a wide range
of online channels. Underlying these different
elements, however, is a common theme - the ability
to take advantage of the huge marketplace of
prospective customers online.
Whether you decide to grow your blog, create an
email newsletter or advertise on Google, you’ll be
able to bring more traffic to your site, build stronger
connections with your customers, and track and
measure your results. Not only will this help you gain
customers in the short term, but it will also help you
build a sustainable, long-term strategy for future
improvement and growth.
https://www.wix.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-digital-marketing/
 Digital Marketing versus Traditional Marketing
As a result of the growing number of possibilities regarding
digitalization and interactivity that the Internet facilitates, a number
of marketers’ dreams have become reality. When used wisely, the
Internet makes marketing more effective: marketing objectives can
be met with less effort. Consider the following possibilities:

• The Internet have responded to the customer’s demands for

information are more easily and simply met.
• The Internet allowed for the provision of tailor-made information.
• The Internet offered the possibility of gathering large quantities of
data about potential customers.
• The effects of marketing communications on the Internet can (in
most cases) be easily measured
• A high level of interactivity with customers is possible.

Digital Marketing can be more efficient than Traditional Marketing.

It is possible to share large quantities of information with potential
customers at low cost. The marketing budget can be more
purposefully assigned due to the fact that the effects of marketing
communications are (in general) more easily measurable.
The website is at the center of Digital Marketing. Websites can be classified
as follows:
1. Corporate sites are aimed at supporting interaction between the organization and
the various stakeholders, like customers, employees, press and shareholders.
2. Ecommerce sites are online stores or selling sites where products can be viewed
and ordered; famous examples are Amazon.com, eBay and Taobao (Alibaba).
Ecommerce sites can also be procurement sites of a company or sector, where the
purpose is seeking/accepting offers, such as buying, not selling.
3. Communication sites inform their visitors more about the products or services of
the supplier. Besides product descriptions these sites also include functional
elements such as lists of stores where the product can be purchased (or ‘store
finder’ tools) and user manuals. An example of this type of site is
https://www.apple.com
4. In some cases (especially for Business-to-Business that is B2B marketing) this
type of website has the specific purpose of reaching out to potential customers.
These are called lead generation sites.
5. Branding sites have the aim to improve brand knowledge and brand perception.
These sites are usually very interactive and contain recreational elements such as
forums or games intended to make the visitor come back more often. For example,
Heineken.com.
6. Service sites not only provide information but are also involved in the production
process of the organization. For instance; online banking, and online newspapers.
In these cases the content and functionality is the product.
7. Portals present an overview of websites for specific target groups or for particular
subjects. In web history, brands like AOL, Yahoo! and msn were early examples.
8. Content sites or publishing sites provide their visitors with information. This could
be news, but also other kinds of information that would be interesting for a specific
target group or in a specific situation, for reviews. Consider sites such as
huffingtonpost.com or tripadvisor.com
 The 5Ss of Internet marketing
Benefit of e-marketing
Sell – Grow sales that is increasing sales by
accessing new markets or by developing
new (online) products.
Serve – Add value by improving customer
service
Speak – Get closer to customers; the
initiatives for better communications with
(potential) customers.
Save – Save costs by reduction through the
use of digital media.
Sizzle – Extend the brand online with
initiatives to support the brand.
How benefit is delivered Examples of typical objectives
Includes direct online sales and sales from offline channels influenced online. • Achieve 10 per cent of sales online in
Achieved through wider distribution to customers you cannot readily service offline market
or perhaps through a wider product range than in-store, or lower prices compared • Increase online sales for product by 20 per
to other channels cent in year
Achieved through giving customers extra benefits • Increase interaction with different content
online or inform product development through online dialogue and feedback on site
• Increase dwell-time duration on site by 10
per cent (sometimes known as ‘stickiness’)
• Increasing number of customers actively
using online services (at least once per
month) to 30 per cent
Creating a two-way dialogue through web interactions like forums and surveys and • Grow email coverage to 50 percent of
conducting online market research through formal surveys and informally current customer database
monitoring conversations to • Survey 1000 customers online each month
learn about them • Increase visitors to community site section
by 5 percent
Achieved through online • Generate 10 per cent more sales for same
email communications, communications budget
sales and service transactions to reduce staff, print • Reduce cost of direct marketing by 15
and postage costs. Savings percent through email
also accrue through ‘web • Increase web self-service to 40 per cent of
self-service’ where customers answer queries through all service enquiries and reduce overall cost-
online content to-serve by 10 per cent
Achieved through providing new propositions, new offers and new experiences • Improve branding metrics such as brand
online including building communities awareness, reach, brand favorability and
• purchase intent
 Digital Marketing and the Marketing Mix
The ‘Marketing Mix’ is one of the most frequently used
concepts from marketing theory. Originally it represents a
sort of formula for marketing activities. The idea is that the
marketer should be a kind of chef, mixing the four elements
together in order to achieve an offer that caters optimally to
the taste of the target audience; a product that aligns with
their needs and desires, a price they are willing to pay for
that product, a place where they can buy or reserve the
product and promotion to stimulate the sales of the product.

Another analogy is that of the marketer as the ‘conductor of

the orchestra’, bringing in each instrument at the appropriate
time and at the appropriate volume.

Later, the Marketing Mix’s element ‘place’ gained a broader

definition. It’s not only about the question of where the
customer can buy the product (distribution), but also about
the answer to the question of how the product will eventually
end up in the consumer’s hands.
Digital Marketing in relation to
business processes
The five core processes of a business’s marketing are
(Kotler & Keller,2014):
1. The market sensing process: the process that keeps
organizations up-to-date with the market’s needs,
developments and trends. consists of actively following
and analyzing the website’s own visitor behavior, gathering
information from social media and online market research.
One of online market research’s biggest advantages is
that results can be quickly collected and immediately
accessed. Market sensing and digital/web analytics play a
big part in forecasting how successful new products will
be. Immediate feedback from users leads to a more rapid
process of quality improvement and product innovation.
2. The product realization process: researching and
developing new core products and services, extending the
market supply and the launch of the product.
Product realization means a clear idea of what the product
will be, usually expressed in drawings, statements of work,
functional product specs, or their equivalents. Based on this
clear idea, quality management can objectively determine if
the product was "realized" and how efficient the process was.

3. The customer acquisition process: defining target markets

and acquiring new customers.
Customer Acquisition is the process of bringing in new
customers for the business. Organizations thrive when more
and more customers buy their products or services. In other
words, customer acquisition is the backbone of any business.
It helps businesses to achieve two important goals.
Firstly it helps organizations to earn money and keep the
finances flowing through the processes.
Secondly, the customer acquisition process works as an
image-building tool for the companies. It helps to attract new
prospects, get an edge over the competitors and prove their
strategies in front of investors. A well-thought-of strategy for
acquiring customers contributes a great deal to a company’s
growth and prosperity.
4. The order fulfilment process: receiving and approving orders, shipping the
ordered goods on time and collecting payments. (literally: delivering on your
promises). This is a process consisting of receiving and processing goods
for distribution to customers which means fulfilling a sales order to the
customer’s specifications. That is, delivering goods as promised at the time
of sale. There are three main steps in this process: receiving, processing
and shipping.
Business enterprises make money by selling goods, products and services
to businesses or direct to consumers. No matter whether you’re B2B or
D2C, the sale is not complete until the sold items are received by that
customer.
Order fulfillment is how companies complete the sale and it’s at the heart of
every business. The order fulfillment process takes place in one or more
distribution centers and typically involves inventory management, supply
chain management, order processing, quality control and support for
customers that need to report problems or make product exchanges or
returns.
Video: What is Order Fulfillment? https://youtu.be/Usn8qJuesrU

5. The customer relationship management process (CRM): building a

deeper understanding, a better relationship and a better offer for individual
customers. The main focus is to build customer loyalty. Because data from
these customers can be directly included in the database, the results of
these efforts are easily measurable, and the time needed to act on
customers’ activities can be minimized.
Development of Digital Marketing
In recent years Digital Marketing has advanced rapidly.
We can divide this development into three broad phases:
the mass media phase, the Internet phase and the social
media phase. The development of marketing, brands and
the role of the various forms of media. In short, this
explains that brands and consumers are growing closer
together. As shown here:
Paid media: these are types of media that marketers can
buy to create brand awareness (consider online
advertising, radio, television and print).
Owned media: these are types of media that are readily
available to marketers themselves and in which they can
autonomously decide on the content (for instance
websites, apps, email newsletters etc.).
Earned media: these are all types of media that a brand
‘earns’ thanks to customers or journalists, or bloggers
writing about your brand, on social media for instance, or
because other organizations refer to your brand on their
website.
 How have digital technologies transformed marketing?

In the year 1991, since the first website (http://info.cern.ch) went live. The Internet, the web and digital media have transformed marketing and
business. With over 3 billion people around the world regularly using the web to find products, entertainment and friends, consumer behavior and
the way companies market to both consumers and businesses have changed dramatically (https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web).

Timeline of online services indicating innovation in business model or marketing communications approach Timeline of online services indicating innovation in business model or marketing communications approach

Year founded Company/service Category of innovation Year founded Company/service Category of innovation

1994 Amazon Retailer 2004 Facebook Social network applications and groups

1995 (March) Yahoo! Directory and portal 2005 YouTube Video sharing and rating

1995 (September) eBay Online auction 2006 Paypal Paypal offers first mobile payment service

1995 (December) Altavista Search engine 2007 iPhone Apple launches the iPhone

1996 Hotmail Blog publishing platform Purchased by Yahoo! In 2003 2008 Groupon A group-buying service based on use of
discounted gift certificates

1998 GoTo.com Overture First pay-per-click search marketing 2009 Foursquare and Foursquare was a location-based
Purchased by Yahoo! in 2003 Kickstarter social media website designed for
mobile access through ‘check-ins’
1999 Google Search engine Kickstarter launches to give momentum
crowdsourcing
1999 Blogger Blog publishing platform
Purchased by Google in 2003 2011 Snapchat A mobile photo messaging service where
images are deleted after a set number of
1999 Alibaba B2B marketplace with $1.7 billion IPO
seconds
on Hong Kong stock exchange in 2007
2012 SmartThings Internet of Things service, connects
2001 MySpace Social network
everyday objects — from ovens to
Formerly eUniverse Purchased by News Corp in 2005
thermostats to the Internet
2002 Wikipedia Open encyclopedia 2013 Apple iBeacon and iBeacon uses low-energy Bluetooth
2003 Last.fm A UK-based Internet radio and music CloudTags to notify shoppers of items of interest.
community website, founded in 2002. Cloudtags gives shoppers in-depth
On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive information about products via tablets
acquired Last.fm for £140m (US$280m)
The Future Digital innovations and Innovation drives the digital economy and is set to continue into the
business propositions future. Digital has become
2003 Skype Peer-to-peer Internet telephony VOIP –
Voice Over Internet Protocol
mainstream and although there are opportunities, displacing existing
Purchased by eBay in 2005 global incumbent platforms will be rare. For the latest developments
see: www.thenextweb.com
2003 Second Life Immersive virtual world
 Application and Benefits of Digital Marketing
Digital media and technologies can be applied as follows: Digital marketing can be used to support these benefits as follows:
✓Advertising medium . Display ads on publisher sites or social networks can be
✓ Identifying – the Internet can be used for marketing research to find
used to create awareness of brands and demands for products or services.
out customers’ needs and wants
✓Direct-response medium . Targeted search advertising enables companies to
drive visits to a site when consumers shows intent to purchase, such as ✓ Anticipating – the Internet provides an additional channel by which
searching for a flight to a destination. customers can access information and make purchases – evaluating
this demand is key to governing resource allocation to e-marketing
✓Platform for sales transactions. Online flight booking is now the most common
method for booking flights both for consumers and business travelers.
✓ Satisfying – a key success factor in e-marketing is achieving
✓Lead-generation method. For booking business flights, tools can be provided customer satisfaction through the electronic channel, which raises
which help identify and follow up corporate flight purchases. issues such as: is the site easy to use, does it perform adequately,
what is the standard of associated customer service and how are
✓Distribution channel, such as for distributing digital products. Today, airlines sell
physical products dispatched?
more insurance services than previously, for example.
✓Customer service mechanism. For example, customers may ‘self-serve’ more
cost effectively by reviewing frequently asked questions.
✓Relationship-building medium. Here a company can interact with its customers
to better understand their needs and publicize relevant products and offers. For
example, easyJet uses its email newsletter and tailored alerts about special deals
to encourage repeat flight bookings.
 The five main types of site or site or mobile app functions are as follows:
1. Transactional e-commerce site Enables purchase of products online. The main business contribution of the site is
through sale of these products. The sites also support the business by providing information for consumers who prefer to
purchase products offline.

2. Services-orientated relationship-building website Provides information to stimulate purchase and build relationships.
Products are not typically available for purchase online. Information is provided through the website and e-newsletters to
inform purchase decisions. The main business contribution is through encouraging offline sales and generating enquiries
or leads from potential customers. Such sites also add value to existing customers by providing them with detailed
information to help support them in their lives at work or at home.

3. Brand-building site: Provides an experience to support the brand. Products are not typically available for online purchase.
Their main focus is to support the brand by developing an online experience of the brand. They are typical for low-value,
high-volume fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands for consumers.

4. Portal or media site: Provides information or news about a range of topics. ‘Portal’ refers to a gateway to information; it is
not in common usage today. This is information both on the site and through links to other sites. Portals have a diversity
of options for generating revenue including advertising, commission-based sales, sale of customer data (lists).

5. Social network or community site: These sites or parts of sites focus on enabling community interactions between
different consumers (C2C model). Typical interactions include posting comments and replies to comments, sending
messages, rating content and tagging content in particular categories
Relationship Marketing using Digital Platforms
 Bibliography
Books:

Visser, M., Sikkenga,B., Berry, M. (2018), Digital Marketing Fundamentals: From Strategy to ROI,1st Ed, Noordhoff
Uitgevers bv Groningen.

Chaffey, D., Chadwick, F. E. (2016), Digital Marketing, 6th E., Pearson Education.