The Ultimate Guide to Earning Your CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional Digital Marketing in 2024

This guide provides an in-depth overview of the CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional Marketing (2024), covering essential modules to build practical skills for digital marketing professionals. Planning Campaigns (2111) focuses on designing, implementing, and evaluating effective marketing campaigns, equipping students with tools to set clear objectives, manage budgets, and measure success. Digital Marketing Techniques (2113) introduces key digital tactics and platforms, emphasizing content creation, SEO, and data-driven insights to optimize online engagement. Applied Marketing (Record and Review) (2110r) enhances hands-on skills by guiding learners through real-world projects, from strategy development to performance review. This guide is ideal for individuals seeking a structured path to develop foundational marketing expertise in today’s competitive digital landscape.

Introduction

The CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional Digital Marketing is a key qualification for those aiming to join the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as professional members, and it offers an essential pathway to elevate your career.

Developed through extensive employer-led research, this certification is tailored to meet industry demands, ensuring its relevance in advancing marketing careers.

This course prepares you to excel as a marketing executive, a crucial role in any marketing team, by building foundational expertise in planning, executing, and analysing marketing campaigns.

It also provides hands-on experience with practical skills directly applicable to real-world marketing roles, setting you apart as an essential and effective professional.

Candidates can easily book to take the exam through the official CIM platform: www.cim.co.uk

Eligibility requirements include over one year of industry experience or a relevant Level 3 qualification (CIM or equivalent). Relevant Level 3 Apprenticeships, such as Digital Marketer, Multi-channel Marketer, or Marketing Assistant, are also accepted, along with other equivalent marketing apprenticeships.

Exams include a proctored quiz session and two written assignments bookable through the official CIM platform. Upon successful achievement, you will earn an accredited Level 4 certificate and a Credly digital badge, marking you as a certified marketing professional.

Module 1: Applied Marketing

In this module, you will explore about the role of marketing in the organisation and the key concepts that underpin the activities of the marketer. You will explore the marketing environment, customer behaviour in the digital age, market research and the marketing planning process. This will include the marketing mix and a tactical planning framework to aid marketing effectiveness.

Unit 1 The Marketing Concept: Understand the contribution of marketing to the organisation and Know what influences customer behaviour across a range of contexts.

Unit 2 Analysis and Insight: Understand the factors and trends in the marketing environment and how they affect marketing and Know a range of options for gathering relevant marketing information.

Unit 3: Marketing Mix: Understand the application of the marketing mix within the different marketing contexts. Know how to apply and adapt the marketing mix to satisfy customer needs and business goals.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this module you will be able to:

Unit 1: The Marketing Concept

LO1 Understand the contribution of marketing to the organisation.

LO2 Know what influences customer behaviour across a range of contexts.

Unit 2: Analysis and Insight

LO3 Understand the factors and trends in the marketing environment and how they affect marketing.

LO4 Know a range of options for gathering relevant marketing information.

Unit 3: Marketing Mix

LO5 Understand the application of the marketing mix within the different marketing contexts.

LO6 Know how to apply and adapt the marketing mix to satisfy customer needs and business goals.

Assessment: Examination

The examination will comprise of multiple-choice questions to be completed in a proctored assessment session.

Unit 1: The Marketing Concept

LO1: Understand the Contribution of Marketing to the Organization

The CIM defines marketing as “The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.”

Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

If you read the AMA definition closely, you see that there are four activities, or components, of marketing:

1. Creating. The process of collaborating with suppliers and customers to produce offerings that have value.
2. Communicating. Broadly, describing those offerings, as well as learning from customers.
3. Delivering. Getting those offerings to the consumer in a way that optimizes value.
4. Exchanging. Trading value for those offerings.

Value

Value is at the centre of everything marketing does. What does value mean?

When we use the term value, we mean the benefits buyers receive that meet their needs. In other words, value is what the customer gets by purchasing and consuming a company’s offering. So, although the offering is created by the company, the value is determined by the customer.

Furthermore, our goal as marketers is to create a profitable exchange for consumers.

Value Creation Through the Marketing Mix 🎥

What is Marketing?

Marketing has taken a variety of forms as it is developed over the years. A common and extremely incorrect view is that selling and advertising is marketing. Although these activities are part of the marketing mix and were perceived as the only outputs from a lot of marketing efforts that were measured, they are indeed only a fraction of this whole process.

In addition to promotional activities, or the extended marketing mix as they’re more commonly known, marketing includes a much broader strategic and tactical set of functions including; auditing & analysis, planning, product development, packaging, pricing, distribution, customer service and evaluation.

Many organisations and businesses assign responsibility for the marketing functions to a marketing manager or specific group of creatives within the organisation.

In this respect, marketing is a unique and separate entity. Those who make up the marketing department may also include brand and product managers, marketing researchers, sales representatives, advertising and promotion managers, pricing specialists, and customer service personnel.

A marketer will typically take up the following roles, acting between the customer and the organisation; Strategic Partner, Guide, Deliverer, Communicator, Co-ordinator, Negotiator and Customer Voice.

A marketing role will also assume the following responsibilities:

• Understanding the economic and competitive features of a sector;
• Identifying target markets;
• Identifying segments within a target market;
• Identifying the most appropriate strategies;
• Commissioning, understanding, and acting upon market research;
• Understanding competitors and their strategies and likely responses;
• Developing new products;
• Auditing customers’ brand experience;
• Establishing environmental scanning for opportunities and threats;
• Understanding an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses;
• Creating a sustainable competitive advantage;
• Understanding where a brand needs to be in the future;
• Creating and delivering marketing plans to get there;
• Establishing management information systems to identify progress.

What does marketing achieve?

As a managerial process, marketing is the way in which an organisation determines its best opportunities in the marketplace, given its objectives and resources. The managerial philosophy of marketing puts central emphasis on customer satisfaction as the means for gaining and keeping loyal customers.

Therefore, marketers must urge their respective organisations to carefully and continually gauge target customers’ expectations and to consistently meet or exceed these expectations.

In order to accomplish this, everyone in all areas of the organisation must focus on understanding and serving customers; the business will find it hard to succeed if marketing occurs only in the marketing department and does not involve everyone.

What is Marketing In 3 Minutes | Marketing for Beginners 🎥

Why is marketing important in business?

Marketing can help businesses increase brand awareness, engagement and sales with promotional campaigns. No matter what area a business focuses on, they can take advantage of all the benefits marketing can offer and expand their reach. Marketing is a valuable tool for growing businesses, but to stay competitive and maximize return on investment (ROI), it’s important to approach marketing as a process and to use all the benefits it can provide. In this article, we define marketing and provide reasons marketing is important in business.

The purpose of marketing is to help businesses grow efficiently and reach their highest potential for ROI by promoting brands, products and services. Marketing promotions usually focus on boosting content engagement, increasing sales of products and services and growing brand awareness. Marketing and promotions can be traditional, digital or both. Traditional marketing refers to print media, and digital marketing refers to digital media.

Some traditional and digital marketing avenues include:

• Postal mail;
• Billboards and posters;
• Articles in print magazines or newspapers;
• Email;
• Social media;
• Digital ads;
• Blogs and posts online.

Marketing may also use market research and analysis to determine where to target content and analytics – this can help with accurately tracking performance or engagement. For example, completing and analysing market research may help a company determine where to place promotional ads, and later, marketing and sales analytics can provide information about the effectiveness of those ads.

It’s important to remember that marketing is a process, and to market your business, it might require some time and attention to detail. However, there are many benefits to executing a comprehensive marketing strategy, including:

1. Brand awareness: Brand awareness refers to how recognizable an organization or product is based on its logo, style and reputation. Brand awareness helps businesses retain customers and reach new ones. Effective marketing can help generate brand awareness by placing a brand where consumers or other businesses might see it. For example, a brand whose target audience is kids might place their products in children’s stores or place ads for their products during children’s television programs to expand their reach. Brand awareness is also important because consumers often want something they are familiar with, whether they are trying something new or performing a daily task. A consumer who is used to a specific toothpaste brand, for example, may purchase that brand over one they are unfamiliar with, even if the less familiar brand is cheaper and has the same ingredients.
2. Engagement and communication: Engagement marketing refers to in-person or online interactions and communications a business might use to promote its products and services. A business may engage with customers or other businesses through social media, email or customer service. One marketing strategy that can help your business engage customers is creating social media and SEO content like blogs or articles. Using this method may help boost customer engagement and develop lasting relationships because you can customize your content to your target audience’s interests. Communication marketing is also important because it can influence how customers view businesses. For example, a business with the right balance of informative emails and incentives, like promotional discounts, may help persuade customers to re-engage with the business. These positive effects might include increases in sales, customer loyalty and customer referrals.
3. Personalisation: Personalization marketing is when businesses customize experiences for individual customers. A business’s email communication to a customer may address them directly by using their name, or they might receive special promotions based on their relationship with the business if they are a member. This type of personalization marketing might make a consumer more likely to read the entire email and use the business’s product or service in the future. Another way you can use personalized marketing is by letting customers choose which advertisement they want to view. For example, if a business is paying for an ad on a streaming service, they may give viewers the option to choose between two ads based on a short preview. This allows the ad experience to feel more personalized, which can build loyalty and interest. If your business wants to personalize its marketing, use strategies like creating customized messages, targeting customers based on location or promoting similar products.
4. Sales: Marketing is important for sales because it can inform consumers about what a business offers, its value and what sets it apart from competitors. For example, a business offering accounting services might call attention to how they make doing taxes easier. Campaigns like this can help encourage customers to buy the products or services your business offers. Marketing can also target individuals or groups who may be more likely to buy a business’s product or service. A business may use its analytics to re-target former customers who all bought a similar product when releasing an updated version of the product. If your business needs to increase sales, these marketing strategies may help: implementing specialty marketing campaigns, highlighting benefits, identifying networking opportunities, related: how to use target marketing.
5. Analytics: Marketing analytics can provide data and numbers to help professionals make informed marketing decisions that will achieve the greatest ROI. A business may use marketing analytics to identify audiences who previously didn’t engage with their business, then develop future campaigns that specifically address those audiences to engage them. Strategically using information from marketing analytics may help maximize a company’s chances of increasing sales or consumer engagement. Businesses can also use marketing analytics to document their growth, which can be important when deciding whether to expand and when sharing statistics with investors or board directors. Other ways to use marketing analytics are: identifying market changes, tracking customer engagement, examining sales and market trends, marketing and value creations.

Marketing’s Boundary Spanning Role

“Marketing has a boundary-spanning role because marketing must affect every aspect of the customer experience; marketing must include all possible touchpoints, such as store layouts, package designs, product functions, customer service and many more roles that are not the obvious domain of the marketing department such as production schedules, supply-and-demand networks and so forth. Marketing must also be influential in key general management activities, such as manufacturing, product and service innovation, service provision and new business development. To create a strong marketing organisation, marketers must think like executives in other departments, and executives in other departments must think more like marketers”.

Von Hoffman (2006)

This means that marketers deliver the aim of customer satisfaction with other departments and functions, and therefore interact and collaborate with them in order to achieve marketing objectives. The ability of marketing to unite with other departments such as sales, production and finance is crucial to gaining the acceptance and enthusiasm of other departments concerning marketing and the marketing mix programme.

An example is if the Research and Development department of a large organisation comes up with a new product or a new material for a product, without the marketing department creating a marketing strategy for the idea, then the Research and Development department’s time and resources used to create the new idea would be wasted. It is therefore important that any work by the Research and Development department needs to be if not under the direction, but in consultation with the marketing department.

Internal marketing

So far we have concentrated on the role of marketing, focusing on customers external to the organisation and the way that marketing facilitates interactions between customers and the organisation through transaction. This transaction is confirmation that the customer prefers the organisation’s products to others in the market and is willing to pay for them. This relationship creates revenue for the organisation and contributes to its long-term survival and success.

For marketers there is another type of customer, and that is internal customers. This relates directly to marketing’s boundary spanning role. The purpose is to ensure that all members of the organisation are aligned with the marketing concept and are motivated to serve customers and carry out their functional role in a consumer-focussed way. For example, in an organisation like Apple it is important that all employees and managers at all levels understand and practice a customer focussed philosophy to their functional role.

Importance of Marketing Management for industries |Marketing Management by Philip Kotler| Explained! 🎥

5 Marketing Concepts or 5 Marketing Management Philosophies

There are five alternative concepts under which organizations design and carry out their marketing strategies to answer these. These 5 alternative marketing concepts are also called marketing management philosophies.

There are 5 marketing concepts that organizations adopt and execute.

• Production concept
• Product concept
• Selling concept
• Marketing concept
• Societal marketing concept

The Production concept

The idea of the production concept – “Consumers will favour available and highly affordable products.” This concept is one of the oldest Marketing management orientations that guide sellers.

Companies adopting this orientation risk focusing too narrowly on their operations and losing sight of the real objective.

Management focuses on improving production and distribution efficiency. Most times, the production concept can lead to marketing myopia.

Although, in some situations, the production concept is still a useful philosophy.

If a firm decides to operate based on this concept, it will try to minimize production costs by making the production process efficient. Moreover, for its products to be favoured by the consumers, it will try to make its distribution as extensive as possible.

This production concept is found to be applicable if two situations prevail.

When the demand for a product exceeds the supply, this is seen in markets that are highly price-sensitive and budget-conscious. Under such situations, consumers will be interested in owning the product, not it’s quality or features. Thus, producers will be interested in increasing their outputs.

If the production costs are very high, that discourages consumers from buying the product. Here, the company puts all its efforts into building production volume and improving technology to reduce costs.

Reduction in production costs helps the firm to reduce, helping the market size to increase. A company can thus try to create a dominant position in the market where it operates.

This concept is also seen in service firms such as hospitals. Applying this concept in service firms such as hospitals is also criticized because it may cause deterioration in the firm’s service.

Production concept example:

Most easily seen when companies move their production abroad to cheaper labour markets, but also high-end producers such as Ferrari will focus on how their products are produced as this is key to the attractiveness of their products. Nobody wants an Italian sports car built in China.

The product concept holds that consumers will favour products that offer the most quality, performance, and innovative features.

Here, marketing strategies are focused on making continuous product improvements.

Product quality and improvement are important parts of marketing strategies, sometimes the only part. Targeting only the company’s products could also lead to marketing myopia.

During the first three decades of the twentieth century, more and more industries were adopting mass production techniques. The supply of manufactured goods was exceeding demand by the early 1930s.

Manufacturers were facing excess production capacity and competition for customers. They started realizing that buyers will favour well-made products and are willing to pay more for product extras, and the product concept started taking place in many producers’ minds.

The Product Concept

The product concept assumes that consumers will favour those products that are superior in quality, performance, innovative features, designs, and so on.

This marketing concept is thought to have been simple: he who offered a standard product at the lowest price was going to win. A firm pursuing this philosophy tries to improve its products in terms of quality, performance, and other perceptible features.

Followers of product concept philosophy keep on improving their products continuously.

Advocates of this concept think that consumers favour well-made products, products that are superior to the competing products in the above-mentioned aspects.

Many of product-oriented firms often design their products taking little or no suggestions from their target customers.

They firmly believe that product design or improvement aspects are better understood by their engineers or designers than by the customers.

They also do not compare their products with competitors’ products to bring changes in their products. They sometimes caught up with “LOVE AFFAIR” with the quality of their product and behave unrealistically as people do when they are in love with someone.

A General Motors executive said years ago: “How can the public know what kind of car they want until they see what is available?”

Here engineers first design and develop the product, the manufacturing makes it, the finance department prices it, and finally, marketing and sales try to sell it.

Many marketers still hold this concept, and it influences some that they even forget that the market is going in another direction. Marketing has very little room for this concept.

The main emphasis here is on the product. Therefore, it is understood that in the product concept, the management fails to identify what business it is in, which leads to marketing myopia – i.e., short-sightedness on the role of marketing.

Product concept example:

For example, suppose a company makes the best quality floppy disk. But does a customer need a floppy disk?

They need something that can be used to store the data. It can be achieved by a USB Flash drive, SD memory cards, portable hard disks, etc. So, the company should not look to make the best floppy disk; they should focus on meeting the customer’s data storage needs.

When you think of high-quality products, Apple is one of the top ones. Their products are so good that they set industry trends and standards.

Logitech makes very high-quality computer products such as keyboards, mice, and webcams. These high-quality products are priced higher, but people still buy, and they get almost free advertisements from independent reviews.

The Selling Concept

The selling concept holds the idea – “consumers will not buy enough of the firm’s products unless it undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion effort.”

Here the management focuses on creating sales transactions rather than on building long-term, profitable customer relationships.

In other words, the aim is to sell what the company makes rather than making what the market wants. Such an aggressive selling program carries very high risks.

In the selling concept, the marketer assumes that customers will be coaxed into buying the product and will like it; if they don’t like it, they will possibly forget their disappointment and buy it again later. This is usually a very poor and costly assumption.

Typically, the selling concept is practiced with unsought goods. Unsought goods are that buyers do not normally think of buying, such as insurance or blood donations.

These industries must be good at tracking prospects and selling them on a product’s benefits.

The selling concept also developed at the same time, and the product concept developed and is still predominant in many industries.

The great depression in America proved that producing enough goods or quality goods is no more a problem. The problem is to sell those products.

Producing quality products does not necessarily guarantee its sale. During this period, the vital role of selling, advertising, and other marketing functions was organized truly, and the selling concept came into existence.

As defined by Philip Kotler, it holds that if left alone, consumers will ordinarily not buy enough of the organization’s products. Aggressive selling and promotion activities can guarantee sales.

According to him, consumers typically show buying inertia and are sometimes resistant to buying and have to be influenced by different means so that they are agreed to buy. The company’s function is to influence consumers by using all possible sales techniques to encourage them to buy more.

As Kotler says, the selling concept is practiced most aggressively with unsought goods, those goods that buyers normally do not think of buying, such as insurance, encyclopaedias, and funeral plots (Kotler 2001).

This concept is mostly used in the case of overcapacity, where a firm wants to sell what it makes. It starts with the point of production, which focuses on products, and its aim is to earn profit through increased sales volume, and the means used are selling and promoting.

Marketing, in its true sense, still does not get a strategic position in this concept. Marketing, here, is indeed based on hard selling. In moving goods from producers to consumers, the function of personal selling is to push, and advertising plays a pull function.

These two strategies are used together and backed by marketing research, product development, improvement, pricing, dealer organization, cooperation, and the physical distribution of goods themselves.

To be effective, selling must be preceded by several marketing activities such as needs assessment, marketing research, product development, pricing, and distribution.

If the marketer does a good job of identifying consumer needs, developing appropriate products, and pricing, distributing, and promoting them effectively, these products will sell very easily.

Marketing based on hard selling carries high risks since a consumer who is unhappy with the product will bad-mouth it to eleven acquaintances, which will multiply at the same rate by those: bad news travels fast.

Selling concept example:

Almost all soft drinks and fizzy drinks follow the selling concept. These drinks have no health benefits (they actually harm your health more); you can easily replace them with water (the most available substance on the earth). And the soft drink companies know it, and they run ads 24×7, spending millions.

The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept holds “achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions better than competitors do.” Here marketing management takes a “customer first” approach. Under the marketing concept, customer focus and value are the routes to achieving sales and profits. The marketing concept is a customer-centred “sense and responds” philosophy. The job is not to find the right customers for your product but to find your customers’ right products. The marketing concept and the selling concepts are two extreme concepts and different from each other. When companies started achieving the capability to produce in excess of existing demand, executives realized the need to reappraise marketing in business operations. They also started recognizing the significant changes in the market, in the technology field, and how to reach and communicate with markets. These changes led to the evolution of the “marketing concept,” which, in essence, is a philosophy of management. The marketing concept can be contrasted with earlier concepts in terms of the principles of orientation. In the earlier concepts, goods would be brought to the market, hoping to find customers. On the contrary, the marketing concept suggests that marketing starts with the customers and works back to producing desired products in the right amounts and with the right specifications. According to Philip Kotler, the marketing concept holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consists of being more effective than competitors in integrating marketing activities toward determining and satisfying the needs and wants of target markets or determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors.

Kotler (2016)

This definition suggests that marketing starts with the market, focuses on customers’ needs, and attains profit through customer satisfaction with coordinated marketing.

Under this philosophy, the marketer’s first task is to identify the needs and wants of his prospect, then should work backward through the trade channel and physical distribution and continue this reverse course beyond the shipping door, past the production and assembly line, right to the drawing boards and research laboratories.

Under this concept, all aspects of company operations are aimed at satisfying customers’ wants and desires.

One important point to be mentioned here is that a company’s operation is also influenced by the company’s overall target or objective. For example, a company might be aimed at satisfying consumers’ wants and desires, but its overall objective might be to increase the profit volume.

The above discussion suggests that the marketing concept is based on four main pillars.

Pillar – 1 of the Marketing Concept – Market Focus

The marketing concept suggests that a company should focus its attention on marketing rather than production and selling. In today’s diverse market, it is not feasible for a company to operate successfully in every market and satisfy its needs. Therefore, it is ideal for a company to highlight its attention to a particular segment (s) of the total heterogeneous market.

Pillar – 2 of the Marketing Concept – Customer Orientation

Focusing on a particular market does not guarantee a company’s success in the marketplace. Customer orientation is needed for success, i.e., carefully defining customer needs from customers’ points of view. A company can do this with market research; hence, market research plays a dominant role in marketing concept -oriented companies. Customer orientation is important in the sense that a company’s future and progress depend on the customers. Customers can be new or old. A company must retain its old customers since attracting new customers is very difficult and costly. A satisfied customer will buy again and again, and they will speak highly about the company, which will increase the company’s image and help attract new customers. Therefore, it is very important for a company to be customer-oriented, i.e., to identify their needs and wants and reasonably satisfy those.

To ensure customer satisfaction, a company should encourage customer complaints since it is seen from different studies that 96% of unhappy customers never tell the company about their dissatisfaction. Hence, the company should take the initiative on its own to encourage customers to complain. It is also vital for a company because criticism from a dissatisfied customer can cause the firm’s ruination. On the other hand, a company can get quite helpful innovative ideas from its customers’ complaints. It can also improve its product quality and service level if it knows what customers actually want. Thus, it may increase the number of loyal customers and profit volume.

Pillar – 3 of the Marketing Concept – Coordinated Marketing

The marketing concept is a total enterprise concept. To be successful, all marketing functions must be coordinated among themselves, and second, marketing itself must be well-coordinated with other departments. A company managed under the marketing concept must plan, organize, coordinate, and control its entire operation as one system toward achieving a single set of objectives applicable to the organization. There are obvious reasons behind coordinating marketing functions among themselves, and the main reason is to eliminate conflict. For example, if marketing functions are not coordinated, the salesforce might criticize marketing people for setting a high sales target. Coordinating with other departments is that marketing cannot work in isolation. If employees of other departments do not recognize how they impact customer satisfaction, the marketing department cannot alone provide it. To be marketing oriented, a company must carry out internal and external marketing. Internal marketing means successfully hiring, training, and motivating employees to serve the customers well and satisfy them. Internal marketing must be carried out first because unless a company is not ready to provide customer satisfaction, it cannot go for external marketing. Under the marketing concept, marketing becomes the basic motivating force for the entire firm.

The status of marketing people also changes, and marketing comes into the foreground of the company’s operation. The entire company works to develop, manufacture, and sell a product from the marketing perspective. Regarding what business we are in, the company, for example, says, “we sell beauty and hope instead of we sell cosmetics.”

The importance of different levels of management also changes with the adoption of the marketing concept. Customers come to the top of the organization and then come front-line people who meet, serve, and satisfy customers. Middle management is there to support front-line people so that they can better serve the customers, and top management stays at the base to support middle management so that they can effectively and efficiently provide support to the front-line people.

Pillar – 4 of the Marketing Concept – Profitability

The end of the marketing concept is to make profits through customer satisfaction. This suggests that profit is to be made by satisfying customers’ needs. As customers’ needs are changing day by day, a marketing concept-oriented company has to consider and modify its product, service, and activities with the change in needs and satisfy customers better than its competitors due to earning profit in the long run.

Marketing concept example:

Restaurants and startups do follow the marketing concept. They try to understand the consumer and deliver the best product or service, which is better for the competition.

The marketing concept starts with a well-defined market, focuses on customer needs, coordinates all the activities affecting customers, and produces profits by satisfying customers.

Societal Marketing Concept

Societal marketing concept questions whether the pure marketing concept overlooks possible conflicts between consumer short-run want and long-run consumer welfare.

The societal marketing concept holds that “marketing strategy should deliver value to customers in a way that maintains or improves both the consumer’s and society’s well-being.” It calls for sustainable marketing, socially and environmentally responsible marketing that meets consumers’ and businesses’ present needs while also preserving or enhancing future generations’ ability to meet their needs.

The Societal Marketing Concept puts human welfare on top before profits and satisfying wants. The global warming panic button is pushed, and a revelation is required to use our resources. So, companies are slowly, either fully or partially, trying to implement the societal marketing concept.

This is basically a management orientation that holds that the key task of the firm is to determine the needs and wants of target markets and to adapt the organization to deliver the desired satisfactions more efficiently and effectively than its competitors in a way that preserves and enhances the well-being of the consumers in particular and the society in general.

It calls upon marketers to balance three considerations in setting their marketing policies: company profits, consumer want satisfaction and public interest.

Companies may adopt the societal marketing concept if it does not result in a competitive disadvantage or loss in the company’s profits. It is because any contemporary company’s basic goal is to keep its customers happy and profit by serving and satisfying them.

Marketing Management Orientations – The 5 Marketing Concepts 🎥

LO2: Know What Influences Customer Behaviour Across a Range of Contexts

Having discussed the importance of the marketing process to an organisation and recognized the relationship between and organisation and its customers, marketers need to understand how and why a customer chooses one product over another. As well as this, marketers need to understand why it is that a customer may purchase one product with little thought such as a cup of coffee, whilst spend many weeks deciding on a purchase discussion for another such as a car. Then there is the paradox of the customer who will spend a considerable time choosing a product, then when the customers visit a shop to buy a product will come out with a completely different product.

A marketer who works for a retailer will not only be interested in the how and why of choosing a product but also where the customer is going to buy it. So which shop will they visit, or will they buy it online, will they use their credit card or pay cash or even buy something on credit? All these questions relate to customer behaviour, or as it is more often known, buyer behaviour. Marketers have many models and theories related to buyer behaviour, but we are going to look at the key elements that they all share. The collective name for these models is the Decision-Making Process (DMP).

This process is the same for if you are making the decision over many months such as purchase a house or a few seconds, such as purchasing a soft drink.

The Decision-Making Process

1. Problem recognition: At its core a product is a solution to a problem, whether the problem is thirst, dirty hair or the best way to access the internet. Other purchases may be triggered by a definable event. If, for example, the exhaust falls off your car, you will soon become aware of the nature of the problem and the kind of purchase that will provide the remedy. Some problems may be ones you have everyday like how to get to work, which means you need to purchase a bus ticket, or they may be one-off such as buy a wedding present. Either way this the starting point for a purchase decision. Not all problems will be solved by a purchase. There may be a problem that the buyer doesn’t have sufficient funds to purchase such as a three-week holiday, or the problem can’t be solved through a purchasing a product, such as finding a boyfriend. Though they’re maybe a substitute for this purchase such as a caravan holiday or a bar of chocolate!
2. Information search: So, once you have identified the problem then the next stage is to identify the solution to the problem. This will need the customer to gather some information. This may involve a quick glance around a sweet shop or months search on the internet. Again, this will depend on the nature of the problem and type of solution required. Marketers will attempt to provide information for the customer through advertising and other promotional activity. However, not all external sources of information are controlled by the marketer – don’t forget the power of word of mouth as a marketing tool. Friends, family and colleagues, for example, may all give advice, whether based on experience, knowledge or opinion, to the would-be decision maker in this phase. People are more likely to trust information given through word of mouth, because the source is generally assumed to be unbiased and trustworthy, and the information itself often derives from first-hand experience. In other situations, the consumer might seek out information from the internet, specialist publications, retailers or even from marketing literature. For example, when buying a car, potential buyers will probably visit competing dealerships to talk to sales staff, look closely at the merchandise and collect brochures. Additionally, they might consult what they consider to be unbiased expert sources of advice such as What Car? magazine and begin to take more notice of car advertisements in all media. However, there is a limit to the amount of information that a buyer can process, so a marketer needs to be careful to balance the amount of information the buyer requires and the amount that the buyer is given. This will depend on the product and the type of buyer, so someone buying a shampoo will require less technical information than the person responsible for purchasing aircraft for British Airways. (Keller and Staelin, 1987)
3. Information evaluation: Once the buyer has gathered all the information that they require then the need to evaluate this information. This may take a few seconds when purchasing chocolates, a few minutes when purchasing shampoo or a few months when choosing a house to buy. This stage of the process may be based on a highly scientific and objective criteria or on more emotional and subjective criteria. This will depend on the type of product but also on the personality of the buyer. So, a party dress is going to have a different evaluation criterion than the purchase of a mobile phone. Also, the evaluation may be a highly structure affair such as the purchase of an aircraft or subconscious such as a shampoo. Again, marketers will be trying to influence this stage. This can be done, for example, through their communications campaigns which may implant images of products in the consumer’s mind so that they seem familiar (and therefore less threatening) at the point of sale. They may also stress particular product attributes, both to increase the importance of that attribute in the consumer’s mind, i.e., to make sure that the attribute is number one on the list of evaluative criteria, and to ensure that the consumer believes that a particular brand is unsurpassed in terms of that attribute. Point-of-sale material can also reinforce these things, for example through displays, leaflets, the wording on packaging and on-pack promotions. Generally, therefore, what is happening is that without necessarily being conscious of it, the potential buyer is constructing a list of performance criteria, then assessing each supplier or available brand against it. This assessment can be based on objective criteria, related to the attributes of the product and its use (price, specification, service, etc.) or subjective criteria such as status, fit with self-image or trust of the supplier. To make the decision easier, the consumer often adopts mental ‘rules of thumb’ that cut corners and lead to a faster decision. The consumer is especially prepared to compromise on the quality and thoroughness of assessment when the problem-solving situation is less risky and complicated. They may focus on brand, store choice, pricing, promotion or packaging, and will serve to limit the size of the evoked set and to eliminate some of the options. Also, how the source of the information is important. If you are buying a car, will you take advice from a friend who is a mechanic or from your best friend who can’t drive. Also, you may admire somebody, such as a celebrity who recommends a particular product, and this will influence you more than the information you have got from internet reviews. These types of people who recommend products on Twitter, YouTube and the like are termed – Influencers.
4. Purchase decision: The purchase decision may be a natural outcome of the evaluation stage, if one of the options is noticeably more impressive on all the important criteria than the rest. If the choice is not as clear cut as this, the customer may have to prioritise the criteria further, perhaps deciding that price or convenience is the one overriding factor. In the car exhaust example, the decision-making is a conscious act, whereas with the impulse purchase of chocolate, the decision may be made almost unconsciously. In any case, at this stage the consumer must finalise the proposed deal, and this may take place in a retail shop, over the telephone, by mail or in the consumer’s own home. In the supermarket, finalising the deal may be as simple as putting the bar of chocolate into the trolley with the rest of the shopping and then paying for it at the checkout. With more complex purchases, however, the customer may have the discretion to negotiate the fine details of cash or credit, any trade-in, order quantity and delivery dates, for example. If the outcome of the negotiation is not satisfactory, then the customer may regretfully decide not to go ahead with the purchase after all or rethink the decision in favour of another supplier – you cannot be certain of your customer until they have either handed over their money or signed the contract! The purchase decision is where the customer agrees with the provider that there is the best solution, however this agreement may last a lifetime, i.e., insurance or bank services or only a few seconds, if the coffee doesn’t taste as nice as anticipated. There is also the principle of risk, so a low-risk purchase that lacks any long-term commitment such as a bar of chocolate may be ‘experimental’ so that the customer is trying a product in preference to another to see if it is a better fit between their needs and the products benefits. This is not always possible, such as a house purchase, but marketers are increasing using this to encourage customers to switch their preferences i.e., try before you buy offers.
5. Post purchase evaluation: After the purchase the customer will evaluate the choice. This maybe the taste of chocolate or the quality of the mobile phone services. This evaluation is partly to understand the quality of the match between need and benefit but also to confirm to themselves the choice of product was the correct one. This will inform future choices that the customer will make.

Buying Scenarios

Having read in the previous section you will now be aware that the decisions made in purchasing a product is based on a number of variables, such a type of product, purchase need, situation of purchase. These are known as Buying Scenarios.

Routine purchase

These are purchases that are regularly done, such as toothpaste, toilet paper, milk etc, where limited attention is paid to the decision and where there is likely to be limited information available to assist the decision-making process. They also may involve impulse purchase influenced by price promotion or a products placement in the shop.

High-value purchase

Here a purchase may impose more risk due to the outlay involved. So, more research and thought needs to go into the purchase. This is also true of purchases that maybe more permanent than a regular purchase i.e., computer vs tea bags.

Services

Services are particularly difficult purchase because they are not physical. That means assessment of them are more complex, such as a mobile phone provider. Another factor is that they can be quite variable, such as haircut. This means that trust and reliance on purchase may require more thought and consideration.

Buyer decision process stages in marketing 🎥

Marketing segmentation

What is market segmentation?

Market segmentation is a process that consists of sectioning the target market into smaller groups that share similar characteristics, such as age, income, personality traits, behaviour, interests, needs, or location.

Knowing your market segmentation will help you target your product, sales, and marketing methods. It can help your product development processes by guiding how you build product offers for various groups, such as males versus females or high-income versus low-income. These segments can be used to optimize products, marketing, advertising, and sales efforts.

Segmentation allows brands to create strategies for different types of consumers, depending on how they perceive the overall value of certain products and services. In this way, they can introduce a more personalized message with the certainty that it will be received successfully.

Types of market segmentation

Market segmentation is the process of breaking up a large market into smaller groups of customers with similar needs, traits, or ways of behaving. There are 4 types of market segmentation.

www.questionpro.com

Geographic segmentation

Geographic segmentation consists of creating different groups of customers based on geographic boundaries.

A fast-food chain might change its menu items and specials based on what people in a certain area like. For example, they might have spicy food on the menu in places where spicy food is common.

The needs and interests of potential consumers vary according to their geographic location, climate, and region. So, geographic segmentation is valuable. Understanding geographic segmentation allows you to determine where to sell and advertise a brand and where to expand a business.

Demographic segmentation

Demographic segmentation divides the market through different variables. Demographic segmentation includes age, gender, nationality, education level, family size, occupation, income, etc.

A company that sells luxury cars might look for customers with a certain income, age, or job. For example, they might make ads for older, wealthy people who are likely to be interested in luxury cars.

Demographic segmentation is one of the most widely used forms of market segmentation since it is based on knowing how customers use your products and services and how much they are willing to pay for them. Surely demographic segmentation is very important.

Psychographic segmentation

Psychographic segmentation consists of grouping the target audience based on their behaviour, lifestyle, attitudes, and interests.

A fitness brand might try to reach customers based on how they live and who they are. For example, they might go after people who like to be active and care about their health.

To understand the target audience, market research methods such as focus groups, surveys, interviews, and case studies can successfully compile psychographic segmentation conclusions.

Behavioural segmentation

Behavioural segmentation focuses on specific reactions, i.e. consumer behaviours, patterns, and how customers go through their decision-making and purchasing processes.

An online store can target customers based on what they buy. For example, they might give discounts to people who buy from them often or send personalized suggestions based on what people have bought in the past.

The public’s attitudes towards your brand, how they use it, and their awareness are examples of behavioural segmentation. Collecting behavioural segmentation data is similar to how you would find psychographic data. This allows marketers to develop a more targeted approach.

Market Segmentation (With Real World Examples) From A Business Professor 🎥

Segmenting, targeting, positioning

This is the marketing strategy that follows the process of segmenting your overall market, choosing an attractive segment i.e. high-spending individuals and then position your products so that it is attractive to your chosen segment.

STP Marketing (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) 🎥

Influence of Social Media

What Is Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

Social media marketing (also known as digital marketing and e-marketing) is the use of social media–the platforms on which users build social networks and share information – to build a company’s brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic. In addition to providing companies with a way to engage with existing customers and reach new ones, SMM has purpose-built data analytics that allows marketers to track the success of their efforts and identify even more ways to engage.

Within 18 years, from 2004 (when MySpace became the first social media site to reach one million users) to 2022, the dramatic growth of interactive digital channels took social media to levels that challenge even the reach of television and radio.

At the start of 2023, there were 4.76 billion social media users globally – over 59% of the world’s population.

With over 80% of consumers reporting that social media-especially influencer content–significantly impacts buying decisions, marketers across industries are driving the evolution of social media marketing (SMM) from a stand-alone tool to a multipronged source of marketing intelligence on an increasingly important–and growing-audience.

• Social media marketing uses social media and social networks – like Facebook, X platform (formerly Twitter), and Instagram – to market products and services, engage with existing customers, and reach new ones.
• The power of social media marketing comes from the unparalleled capacity of social media in three core marketing areas: connection, interaction, and customer data.
• Social media marketing has transformed the way businesses are able to influence consumer behaviour – from promoting content that drives engagement to extracting personal data that makes messaging resonate with users.
• Because social media today is so ubiquitous, marketing techniques using these platforms are extremely important for businesses.
• Social media marketing is often more cost-effective with great exposure, though it requires ongoing maintenance and might have unintended negative feedback consequences.

Marketing Insights

Why is Social Media Marketing (SMM) so powerful?

The power of SMM is driven by the unparalleled capacity of social media in three core marketing areas: connection, interaction, and customer data.

1. Connection: not only does social media enable businesses to connect with customers in ways that were previously impossible, but there is also an extraordinary range of avenues to connect with target audiences – from content platforms (like YouTube) and social sites (like Facebook) to microblogging services (like X platform).
2. Interaction: the dynamic nature of the interaction on social media – whether direct communication or passive liking – enables businesses to leverage free advertising opportunities from eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) recommendations between existing and potential customers. Not only is the positive contagion effect from eWOM a valuable driver of consumer decisions, but the fact that these interactions happen on the social network makes them measurable. For example, businesses can measure their social equity – a term for the return on investment (ROI) from their social media marketing campaigns.
3. Customer data: a well-designed social media marketing plan delivers another invaluable resource to boost marketing outcomes: customer data. Rather than being overwhelmed by the 3Vs of big data (volume, variety, and velocity), SMM tools have the capacity not only to extract customer data but also to turn this gold into actionable market analysis – or even to use the data to crowdsource new strategies. Consider how different demographics may not have equal access to social media. Relying only on digital or online marketing may unintendedly exclude certain groups of people without online access.

How Social Media Marketing (SMM) Works

As platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram took off, social media transformed not only the way we connect with one another but also the way businesses are able to influence consumer behaviour – from promoting content that drives engagement to the extracting of geographic, demographic, and personal information that makes messaging resonate with users.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Compared to traditional marketing, social media marketing has several distinct advantages, including the fact that SMM has two kinds of interaction that enable targeted customer relationship management (CRM) tools: both customer-to-customer and firm-to-customer. In other words, while traditional marketing tracks customer value primarily by capturing purchase activity, SMM can track customer value both directly (through purchases) and indirectly (through product referrals).

Shareable content

Businesses can also convert the amplified interconnectedness of SMM into the creation of sticky content, the marketing term for attractive content that engages customers at first glance, gets them to purchase products and then makes them want to share the content. This kind of word-of-mouth advertising not only reaches an otherwise inaccessible audience but also carries the implicit endorsement of someone the recipient knows and trusts – which makes the creation of shareable content one of the most important ways that social media marketing drives growth.

Earned media

SMM is also the most efficient way for a business to reap the benefits of another kind of earned media (a term for brand exposure from any method other than paid advertising): customer-created product reviews and recommendations.

Viral marketing

Another SMM strategy that relies on the audience to generate the message is viral marketing, a sales technique that attempts to trigger the rapid spread of word-of-mouth product information. Once a marketing message is being shared with the general public far beyond the original target audience, it is considered viral–a very simple and inexpensive way to promote sales.

Customer segmentation

Because customer segmentation is much more refined on SMM than on traditional marketing channels, companies can ensure they focus their marketing resources on their exact target audiences.

Tracking metrics

According to Sprout Social (www.sproutsocial.com), the most important SMM metrics to track are focused on the customer: engagement (likes, comments, shares, clicks); impressions (how many times a post shows up); reach/virality (how many unique views an SMM post has); share of voice (how far a brand reaches in the online sphere); referrals (how a user lands on a site); and conversions (when a user makes a purchase on a site). However, another very important metric is focused on the business: response rate/time (how often and how fast the business responds to customer messages).

When a business is trying to determine which metrics to track in the sea of data that social media generates, the rule is always to align each business goal to a relevant metric. If your business goal is to grow conversions from an SMM campaign by 15% within three months, then use a social media analytics tool that measures the effectiveness of your campaign against that specific target.

Even in the digital age, people appreciate the human touch, so don’t rely only on social media to get the word out.

Advantages

The introduction of social media marketing has introduced a new suite of benefits. Social media platforms provide a powerful channel for reaching and engaging with a large audience, which can help increase brand awareness and recognition.

Engaging with customers through social media channels can help build stronger relationships and foster customer loyalty. It’s often a less expensive option than traditional advertising methods, making it more appealing for smaller or start-up businesses.

The nature of social media marketing also has plenty of benefits. Sharing links to your website or blog on social media can help drive more traffic to your website and increase the likelihood of conversions. In addition, social media provides a way to gather feedback from customers in real-time, allowing for instant interaction and simplicity in communication.

Social media marketing also has the benefit of being broad but also targeted. Social media can help businesses reach a wider audience and increase engagement through shares, likes, comments, and other forms of interaction. This is especially true considering when customers forward content along to non-customers. On the other hand, social media platforms offer a range of targeting options, meaning companies can pinpoint specific demographics, interests, and behaviours, and deliver personalized content to those audiences.

Last, it may be difficult to clearly understand the return on social media marketing. Measuring the effectiveness and ROI of social media marketing can be challenging as it often involves tracking multiple metrics, analysing complex data sets, and making assumptions on why consumers may have acted in various ways.

Disadvantages

Though riddled with benefits, there are some downsides and complications to social media marketing. Building a strong social media presence takes time and effort, and business owners must often consistently engage and create content.

Effective social media marketing requires a deep understanding of the various platforms, as well as the ability to create engaging content, analyse data, and make data-driven decisions. Each platform is often specialized and requires its own understanding. In addition, social media platforms are constantly changing their algorithms and policies which can make it difficult to predict and maintain success.

Though social media makes it easy to communicate with customers, it also provides a platform for customers to voice their complaints and grievances publicly. This may have the unintended consequence of creating a public forum which can damage a company’s reputation if not handled properly.

Last, it may be difficult to clearly understand the return on social media marketing. Measuring the effectiveness and ROI of social media marketing can be challenging as it often involves tracking multiple metrics, analysing complex data sets, and making assumptions on why consumers may have acted in various ways.

Pros

• May help companies enhance brand recognition easily.
• Offers companies more cost-effective solutions with great exposure.
• May be leveraged to increase website traffic and real-time feedback.
• May be leveraged for targeted or specific engagements.

Cons

• May be time-consuming to set up and maintain.
• May be unpredictable, as different platforms may change algorithms.
• May result in negative feedback displayed in a very public fashion.

Social Media Marketing In 5 Minutes | What Is Social Media Marketing? 🎥

Unit 2: Analysis and Insight

LO3: Understand the factors and trends in the marketing environment and how they affect marketing

The macro environment

The macro-environment is the context in which organisations and marketers operate. It is the canvas on which organisations operate, it is always evolving but as a principle the organisation has no influence over this evolution but has to accept it and to adjust the organisation marketing strategy, objectives and plans according to the evolution of the marketing environment.

For this reason, marketers are continuously monitoring the macro environment to better understand these evolutions and understanding their impact on marketing, whether the evolutions are favourable called Opportunities or unfavourable called Threats.

To help assess the macro-environment marketers divide it up into common areas.

Depending on which textbook these common areas of different elements with different acronyms. PEST, STEEPLE, PESTLE etc.

The most common four are:

• Political
• Economic
• Socio-Cultural
• Technological

In addition

• Legal
• Environmental
• Ecological

1. Political: The political environment covers the external forces at work, national governments and local authorities and assemblies. Sometimes even through trans-national organisations such as the EU. The political environment controls the activities of a domain under the governments control and guides the principles and laws that control business activities. Politics will govern the direction of an area, but the power of enforcement will be through laws, such as GDPR – Data protection.
2. Legal: The legal environment covers not only the external forces controlled by governments, but also the constraints imposed by other trade or activity oriented regulatory bodies. Some of the rules and regulations developed and implemented by bodies under this heading have the force of law, while others are voluntary, such as advertising codes of practice. These include what can be bought and sold or even what is allowed to be included in a product such as levels of salt and sugar.
3. Economic: The economic environment affects the economic conditions that an organisation has to operate under including the structure of competition in a market, the cost and availability of money for marketing investment in stock and new products, for example, and the economic conditions affecting a customer’s propensity to buy. The global recession of the late 2000s, for instance, caused a significant increase in unemployment at all social levels, and thus affected consumers’ willingness and ability to buy many kinds of products.
4. Sociocultural: The sociocultural environment is of particular concern to marketers as it has a direct effect on their understanding of customers and what drives them. Not only does it address the demographic structure of markets, but it also looks at the way in which attitudes and opinions are being formed and how they are evolving. A general increase in health consciousness, for instance, has stimulated the launch of a wide variety of products with low levels of fat and sugar, fewer artificial ingredients and no additives.
5. Technological: Technological innovation and technological improvement have had a profound effect in all areas of marketing. Computer technology, for instance, has revolutionised product design, quality control, materials and inventory management, the production of advertising and other promotional materials, and the management and analysis of customer information. The rise in direct marketing as a communication technique and relationship building through brand presence on Facebook, Twitter and in other social media owes a lot to the cheap availability of powerful computerised database management and internet technology.
6. Ethical: Changes in the ethical environment will impact on issues such as fair-trade, working conditions of labour, minimum wage. These will relate not only to general principle of business but also what are acceptable products and components.
7. Ecological: These factors relate to the environmental impact of the production, use and disposal products. So, the influence of such factors will influence purchases on how ‘Green’ a product is. So, companies such as Lush and Innocent will use these influences as a reason to purchase their products in preference to those that are perceived to be less environmentally friendly. Marketers will use strategies to emphasise the favourable elements relating to their products in preference to those elements that are less favourable.

PESTLE Analysis 🎥

Impact of PESTEL on industries and organizations

PESTEL factors will impact on industries and individual organisations differently. Here are examples of the way PESTEL changes can impact on organisations and how these impacts on marketing strategies.

Automotive Industry:

Political:

• Government policies on emissions and fuel efficiency standards
• Tax incentives for electric vehicles
• International trade agreements and tariffs

Economic:

• Economic Growth and consumer spending patterns.
• Fluctuations in oil prices and their impact on fuel costs.
• Interest rates affecting financing options for vehicle purchases.

Sociocultural:

• Consumer preferences for eco-friendly vehicles.
• Urbanization and changing transportation needs.
• Shifting Demographics and their impact on car ownership trends.

Technological:

• Advancements in electric vehicle technology and battery efficiency.
• Autonomous driving technology.
• Integration of connectivity and infotainment systems.

Environmental:

• Increasing concerns about air pollution and climate change.
• Regulations on vehicle emissions and waste disposal.
• Development of renewable energy sources for electric vehicles.

Legal:

• Safety regulations and standards for vehicles.
• Intellectual property rights related to automotive technology.
• Employment and labour laws affecting the industry.

Fast Food Industry:

Political:

• Government policies on food safety and health regulations.
• Taxation on unhealthy food items (e.g., sugar taxes.)
• International trade policies affecting supply chain management.

Economic:

• Disposable income levels and consumer spending habits.
• Inflation and its impact on food prices.
• Economic growth affecting the demand for fast food.

Sociocultural:

• Changing consumer preferences toward healthier food options.
• Cultural attitudes toward fast food consumption.
• Demographics and their impact on food preferences (e.g., millennials’ preference for diverse and customizable options.)

Technological:

• Advancements in food processing and packaging technology.
• Online ordering systems and food delivery apps.
• Integration of digital payment systems.

Environmental:

• Increasing awareness of environmental sustainability and ethical sourcing.
• Waste management and recycling initiatives.
• Impact of climate change on Agriculture and food production.

Legal:

• Food safety regulations and standards.
• Labelling and nutritional information requirements.
• Employment and labour laws affecting the industry.

These examples demonstrate how a PESTEL analysis can help organizations in different industries to identify external factors that may impact their business and inform their strategic decision-making.

The competitive environment

In order to understand the impact rivalry and competition have on businesses, it is essential to understand what we are talking about when mentioning the competitive environment.

The competitive environment is where different businesses compete within a defined marketplace. It relates to how an enterprise is affected by its competition and how it adapts its practices to compete effectively.

Competitors

In 1979, Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter (Porter, 1979) created a tool that allows companies analyse competitive environment of a business which we call Porter’s Five Forces analysis. According to this method, there are five main factors of the competitive environment:

• Rivalry among existing competitors: the intensity of competition.
• Threat of new entrants: how easy it is to enter the market.
• Power of suppliers: how easily suppliers can charge higher prices.
• Power of buyers: the ability of buyers to negotiate lower prices.
• Threat of substitute products: availability of alternative products.

1. Competitive Rivalry: The first of Porter’s Five Forces looks at the number and strength of your competitors. Consider how many rivals you have, who they are, and how the quality of their product compares with yours. In an industry where rivalry is intense, companies attract customers by cutting prices aggressively and launching high-impact marketing campaigns. This can make it easy for suppliers and buyers to go elsewhere if they feel that they’re not getting a good deal from you. On the other hand, where competitive rivalry is minimal, and no one else is doing what you do, then you’ll likely have tremendous competitor power, as well as healthy profits. For example: If you were setting up a haulage business, you’d likely be entering a crowded market. You’d have to consider many potential rivals, how much they charged, and whether they were able to discount deeply. You’d also need to think about their resources: you might be setting up to compete with international logistics companies, as well as local competitors. Remember that at this point the analysis should focus on your potential rivals. Only start thinking about your own offer when you’ve got your data together on the competition.
2. Supplier Power: Suppliers gain power if they can increase their prices easily or reduce the quality of their product. If your suppliers are the only ones who can supply a particular service, then they have considerable supplier power. Even if you can switch suppliers, you need to consider how expensive it would be to do so. The more suppliers you have to choose from, the easier it will be to switch to a cheaper alternative. But if there are fewer suppliers, and you rely heavily on them, the stronger their position – and their ability to charge you more. This can impact your profitability like, if you’re forced into expensive contracts. For example: Let’s say your business idea was to manufacture electronic devices. You’d have to assess your supply options for a range of specialist components. If one supplier dominated the components market, then they could raise their prices without worrying about their own competitors. This might affect the viability of your product.
3. Buyer Power: If the number of buyers is low compared to the number of suppliers in an industry, then they have what’s known as “buyer power.” This means they may find it easy to switch to new, cheaper competitors, which can ultimately drive down prices. Think about how many buyers you have (that is, people who buy products or services from you). Consider the size of their orders, and how much it would cost them to switch to a rival. When you deal with only a few savvy customers, they have more power. But if you have many customers and little competition, buyer power decreases. For example: Buyer power is a significant factor in food retail. Think of large supermarkets that operate in a crowded, highly competitive market. This market has changed dramatically with the arrival of cheap, no-frills food discounters. Shoppers have strong buyer power here. That’s why supermarkets have coupon schemes, loyalty cards, and aggressive discounting–to capture the largest share of buyers. These organizations in turn have strong buyer power with their own suppliers, using their influence to drive down the cost of food at the manufacturing level.
4. Threat of Substitution: This refers to the likelihood of your customers finding a different way of doing what you do. It could be cheaper, or better, or both. The threat of substitution rises when customers find it easy to switch to another product, or when a new and desirable product enters the market unexpectedly. For example: If your organization makes medical instruments, you may find your position being threatened by the rise of 3D printing. This enables instruments to be made from a wide range of materials, sometimes at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. If a competitor gets it right, it can weaken your position and threaten your profitability.
5. Threat of New Entry: Your position can be affected by potential rivals’ ability to enter your market. If it takes little money and effort to enter your market and compete effectively, or if you have little protection for your key technologies, then rivals can quickly enter your market and weaken your position. However, if you have strong and durable barriers to entry, then you can preserve a favourable position and take fair advantage of it. These barriers can include complex distribution networks, high starting capital costs, and difficulties in finding suppliers who are not already committed to competitors. Existing large organizations may be able to use economies of scale to drive their costs down and maintain competitive advantage over newcomers. If it costs customers too much to switch between one supplier and another, this can also be a significant barrier to entry. So can extensive government regulation of an industry.

The Five Forces Analysis Explained 🎥

Internal ccompetitive factors

Competitive factors from within the company include:

• Quality of products and services: a company offering better products increases has a better chance to be more competitive.
• Innovation: a business investing in research and development is more likely to introduce innovative products a overcome its competition.
• Productivity: a company that is able to produce more at a lower cost has a better chance of increasing its market share.

Types of competitors

Companies must understand the different types of competitors in order to effectively evaluate their own competitiveness and position in the market. Understanding these types of competitors allows companies to identify opportunities and threats, as well as make informed strategic decisions. We can distinguish two main types of competitors: direct and indirect.

Direct competitors

Direct competitors are businesses that offer the same or similar products or services.

Ryanair is a direct competitor with Wizz Air, because they offer the same service which is low fare flights.

Indirect competitors

Indirect competitors are businesses that offer different products or services, but they can still compete.

Firms producing cameras and smartphones. Even though they offer different products, they compete with each other because consumers often substitute cameras for smartphones.

Types of competitive environment

There are various different types of competitive environments, including perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. Managers need to understand in which type of environment they operate in order to make the best decisions for their business.

• Perfect competition: Perfect competition, in other words, pure competition, is a market that has numerous competitors which offer exactly the same products or services. Rival manufacturers have a large number of customers. They are usually small and have little market power which means that they have little ability to influence the price. The price is defined by supply and product demand. Agriculture. Farmers who provide a local market with grains or milk cannot change the market price of their products and have to agree with the going one.
• Monopolistic competition: In this environment, there are many competitors, who offer similar (but not identical) products or services. However, they typically serve the same purpose. In monopolistic competition, the companies are price makers, because they have the power to influence the price of products. Restaurants. They offer different products (different types of food), but their purpose is the same, they aim to feed people. They can easily raise prices, because even though other restaurants serve dishes as well, they do not serve the exact same ones.
• Oligopoly: This environment is dominated by a small group of large sellers. The companies are independent in their pricing and production policies. This is a highly concentrated market where merger agreements and cooperations between major players are common. Social media. There are many social media platforms, but the market is dominated by few channels only.
• Monopoly: In this environment, there is only one company producing a unique product. A monopolistic company does not face any competition since there is no substitute of its products or services. Public utilities such as gas, electric and water.

Competitive environment analysis

Understanding external factors affecting your business’s ability to compete is key to staying ahead of your competition. Competitive environment analysis helps managers identify key elements of the competitive environment and understand the market, industry, and competition.

There are three common tools used to perform competitive environment analysis:

• PESTEL
• Porter’s Five Forces
• SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

When analysing the environment marketers will summarise the internal aspects i.e., resources and capabilities in relation to the macro and microenvironment by creating a SWOT analysis.

The external elements create Opportunities and Threats whilst the internal analysis identifies the organisations Strengths and Weaknesses.

Internal Environment Factor

• Strengths: attributes, characteristics and factors that give competitive advantage to the business. For example, successful brands, efficient production facilities.
• Weaknesses: attributes, characteristics and factors that weaken competitiveness of the business in the marketplace. A history of defective products, poor brand reputation.

External Environment

• Opportunities: favourable situations and factors that can strengthen competitive advantage of the business or provide the business with new sources of competitive advantage. The list of major opportunities for a business may include new product development, finding new customer segments for existing products, opportunities for further cost reductions thanks to creativity and technological innovations and others.
• Threats: unfavourable situations and factors that could create problems for the business compromising its competitive advantage to a certain extent. The most noteworthy threats faced by businesses include, but not limited to the loss of key members of workforce, increase in the prices of raw resources, patent infringement and other lawsuits against the company and others.

SWOT analysis has important practical implications. Specifically, with findings of SWOT analysis in their hands, marketers identify and built upon their strengths, discover new opportunities and work upon eliminating or minimising threats to the business.

Business Strategy – SWOT Analysis 🎥

LO4: Know a range of options for gathering relevant marketing information.

Most of us take it for granted that great companies make great products with benefits that satisfy the needs of customers. But this doesn’t happen by accident. But how do companies develop successful offerings? More often than not, companies develop propositions using research programmes designed to identify customers’ changing needs. They are based on the knowledge that market research and customer insight can bring. Along with marketing communications, marketing research is a key sub-discipline of marketing practice and a fundamental component of the way that marketers ensure that the customer is central to an organisation’s focus.

‘Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyses the results, and communicates the findings and their implications.’

American Marketing Association – www.ama.org

Types of research

There are two main types of research. Primary and secondary research. The key difference between them is the reason why they are collected.

Secondary research

Sometimes also referred to as desk research, secondary research consists of data and information that already exist and can be accessed by an organisation. Thus, for example, it would include published government statistics and published market research reports. Organisations will subscribe to data produced by research companies such as Nielsen who provide retail statistics. Normally an organisation will have its own secondary research, which is information that is collected for general use. Sales figures are an obvious example, but their maybe other information such as competitor activity collect by the sales team or feedback from customers. These can be accessed by marketers to help formulate strategies.

Clearly, if secondary research is available that answers the question or solves the problem, then that is the quickest and most efficient way of gathering the necessary data. In many cases, however, secondary data may not be directly applicable, or may only give half the picture.

Sources of secondary research:

• Journals and trade publications.
• Websites.
• Market research reports.
• Internal data.
• Government data/statistics.

Primary research

Sometimes also called field research, primary research is undertaken or commissioned by an organisation for a specific purpose. The required information does not already exist in any available form and so the research has to be undertaken from scratch.

The advantage of primary research is that it is exactly tailored to the problem in hand, but it can be expensive and time consuming to undertake. An example is when a new product needs to be tested, or an advertising campaign needs to be evaluated, so that specific research is necessary as part of this research process.

Research types

Research whether it is Primary and Secondary Research can be Quantitative or Qualitative.

Quantitative research

This type of research involves numbers it is sometimes called Data Research. Quantitative research usually involves larger-scale surveys or research that enable a factual base to be developed with sufficient strength to allow statistically rigorous analysis. Most of us have been on the receiving end of quantitative research at some time or another, having been collared by an interviewer armed with a clipboard interviewing respondent in the street, or had an invitation to participate in a survey pop up on our computer screens. The success of quantitative research depends in part on establishing a representative sample that is large enough to allow researchers to be confident that the results can be generalised to apply to the wider population. It is then possible to specify that ‘Forty-five per cent of the market think that . . . whereas 29 per cent believe . . .’. The research can be undertaken through telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, or mail or online questionnaires.

This research is analysed through data analysis programmes such as SPSS to provide statistical analysis that creates the ability to take a sample and using this sample to extract information about the target customers.

Secondary research can also be qualitative such as sales figures, census figures, or even research from market research companies, and again this can be analysed using statistical techniques.

Qualitative research

This is research that is about opinions and feelings that is interpreted. This type of research is especially useful for investigating motivation, attitudes, beliefs, and intentions, rather than utilising probability-based samples. It is often based on very small-scale samples and, as a result, cannot be generalised in numerical terms. Although the results are often subjective, tentative, and impressionistic, they can reflect the complexity that underlies consumer decision-making, capturing the richness and depth of how and why consumers act in the way they do.

These two techniques are used alongside each other by marketers. A marketer will normally have two question such as: ‘How many people buy an iPhone in preference to a Samsung?’ – and ‘Why do they buy an iPhone in preference to a Samsung?’ So having data research give an idea of ‘how many’ whilst qualitive research will likely explain the ‘Why?’.

Market Research | The Secret Ingredient For Business Success 🎥

Validity and reliability

A marketer needs to be careful with research. Many failed products have resulted from poor research. Coca-Cola in the 1980s launched a new version of Coke and it failed miserably. Here is the story of how it happened.

Coca-Cola New Formula Disaster 🎥

So, it important that research is what statistician call valid and reliable.

As you would have seen from the Coca-Cola example marketers must ask the right questions but also, they need to make sure they ask the right people.

So, the first issue of primary research is whether the sample for the research is representative of the market that the research is targeting, normally termed ‘the universe’. If the sample is not representative of the market, then the research is not valid. So, asking parents about their children’s social habits is not going to be valid.

Secondly is the research reliable. So can it be repeated with the same results.

So, if you ask a person on a hot day how often they buy ice cream then ask the same people in winter it will not be reliable as the results will be different.

• Research validity in surveys relates to the extent at which the survey measures right elements that need to be measured.
• Reliability refers to whether or not you get the same answer by using an instrument to measure something more than once. In simple terms, research reliability is the degree to which research method produces stable and consistent results.
• Business Research Methodology.

Sources of Research

Quantitative methods:

• Face-to-face.
• Telephone/mobile.
• Postal.
• Online – searching the internet for information or for ideas and opinions.
• Omnibus – conducting a number of interviews with a specific target group on a regular basis.

Qualitative methods:

• Individual depth interviews.
• Panels – this is a group of experts who advise on specialist subjects. Also called Delphi technique.
• Focus groups – interviews in groups rather than individually.
• Online group discussions.
• Chat rooms.
• Social media research – searching online communities such as Facebook.

Introduction to Market Research 🎥

Questionnaire design

A questionnaire is a list of questions or items used to gather data from respondents about their attitudes, experiences, or opinions. Questionnaires can be used to collect quantitative and/or qualitative information.

Questionnaires are commonly used in market research as well as in the social and health sciences. For example, a company may ask for feedback about a recent customer service experience, or psychology researchers may investigate health risk perceptions using questionnaires.

Questionnaires vs. surveys

A survey is a research method where you collect and analyse data from a group of people. A questionnaire is a specific tool or instrument for collecting the data.

Designing a questionnaire means creating valid and reliable questions that address your research objectives, placing them in a useful order, and selecting an appropriate method for administration.

But designing a questionnaire is only one component of survey research. Survey research also involves defining the population you’re interested in, choosing an appropriate sampling method, administering questionnaires, data cleansing and analysis, and interpretation.

Sampling is important in survey research because you’ll often aim to generalize your results to the population. Gather data from a sample that represents the range of views in the population for externally valid results. There will always be some differences between the population and the sample, but minimizing these will help you avoid ‘bias’.

Sampling

What is sampling? In market research, sampling means getting opinions from a number of people, chosen from a specific group, in order to find out about the whole group. So, if you are targeting a specific market segment or customer profile you need to ensure that your sample mirrors the characteristics of your target segment.

Questionnaire methods

Questionnaires can be self-administered or researcher administered. Self-administered questionnaires are more common because they are easy to implement and inexpensive, but researcher-administered questionnaires allow deeper insights.

Self-administered questionnaires

Self-administered questionnaires can be delivered online or in paper-and-pen formats, in person or through mail. All questions are standardized so that all respondents receive the same questions with identical wording.

Self-administered questionnaires can be:

• Cost-effective.
• Easy to administer for small and large groups.
• Anonymous and suitable for sensitive topics.
• Self-paced.

But they may also be:

• Unsuitable for people with limited literacy or verbal skills.
• Susceptible to a nonresponse bias (most people invited may not complete the questionnaire.)
• Biased towards people who volunteer because impersonal survey requests often go ignored.

Researcher-administered questionnaires

Researcher-administered questionnaires are interviews that take place by phone, in-person, or online between researchers and respondents.

Researcher-administered questionnaires can:

• Help you ensure the respondents are representative of your target audience.
• Allow clarifications of ambiguous or unclear questions and answers.
• Have high response rates because it’s harder to refuse an interview when personal attention is given to respondents.

But researcher-administered questionnaires can be limiting in terms of resources

They are:

• Costly and time-consuming to perform.
• More difficult to analyse if you have qualitative responses.
• Likely to contain experimenter bias or demand characteristics.
• Likely to encourage social desirability bias in responses because of a lack of anonymity.

Open-ended vs close-ended questions

Your questionnaire can include open-ended or closed-ended questions or a combination of both.

Using closed-ended questions limits your responses, i.e. How old are you? While open-ended questions enable a broad range of answers, i.e. What is your opinion of the NHS. You’ll need to balance these considerations with your available time and resources.

Step-by-step guide to design

Step 1: Define your goals and objectives

The first step of designing a questionnaire is determining your aims.

• What topics or experiences are you studying?
• What specifically do you want to find out?
• Is a self-report questionnaire an appropriate tool for investigating this topic?

Once you’ve specified your research aims, you can operationalize your variables of interest into questionnaire items. Operationalizing concepts means turning them from abstract ideas into concrete measurements. Every question needs to address a defined need and have a clear purpose.

Step 2: Use questions that are suitable for your sample

Create appropriate questions by taking the perspective of your respondents. Consider their language proficiency and available time and energy when designing your questionnaire.

• Are the respondents familiar with the language and terms used in your questions?
• Would any of the questions insult, confuse, or embarrass them?
• Do the response items for any closed-ended questions capture all possible answers?
• Are the response items mutually exclusive?
• Do the respondents have time to respond to open-ended questions?

Consider all possible options for responses to closed-ended questions. From a respondent’s perspective, a lack of response options reflecting their point of view or true answer may make them feel alienated or excluded. In turn, they’ll become disengaged or inattentive to the rest of the questionnaire.

Step 3: Decide on your questionnaire length and question order

Once you have your questions, make sure that the length and order of your questions are appropriate for your sample.

If respondents are not being incentivized or compensated, keep your questionnaire short and easy to answer. Otherwise, your sample may be biased with only highly motivated respondents completing the questionnaire.

Decide on your question order based on your aims and resources. Use a logical flow if your respondents have limited time or if you cannot randomize questions. Randomizing questions helps you avoid bias, but it can take more complex statistical analysis to interpret your data.

Step 4: Pretest your questionnaire

When you have a complete list of questions, you’ll need to pretest it to make sure what you’re asking is always clear and unambiguous. Pretesting helps you catch any errors or points of confusion before performing your study.

Ask friends, classmates, or members of your target audience to complete your questionnaire using the same method you’ll use for your research. Find out if any questions were particularly difficult to answer or if the directions were unclear or inconsistent and make changes as necessary.

If you have the resources, running a pilot study will help you test the validity and reliability of your questionnaire. A pilot study is a practice run of the full study, and it includes sampling, data collection, and analysis. You can find out whether your procedures are unfeasible or susceptible to bias and make changes in time, but you can’t test a hypothesis with this type of study because it’s usually statistically underpowered.

Designing A Questionnaire Or Survey – Statistics Help 🎥

Unit 3: Marketing Mix

The principle of the Marketing Mix was first proposed by McCarthy (1960) The four elements of the Marketing Mix are Product Price, Place (Distribution) and Promotion. In the 1990s this was expanded to 7Ps to include specifically services. Boom and Bitner (1990). The extra 3 Ps are Physical evidence, People, and Process.

LO5: Understand the application of the marketing mix within the different marketing contexts

The principle of the Marketing Mix was first proposed by McCarthy (1960) The four elements of the Marketing Mix are Product, Price, Place (Distribution) and Promotion. In the 1990s this was expanded to 7Ps to include specifically services. Boom and Bitner (1990). The extra 3 Ps are Physical evidence, People and Process.

The marketing mix is issued by marketers to create a unique offering to customers that is attractive to the customers that the marketer is targeting. The marketing mix is the toolbox that the marketer uses to facilitate the relationship between the producer and the customer.

Products

The product is at the heart of the marketing exchange. Remember that customers buy products to solve problems or to enhance their lives and thus the marketer has to ensure that the product can fully satisfy the customer, not just in functional terms, but also in psychological terms. The product is important, therefore, because it is the ultimate test of whether the organisation has understood its customer’s needs. Normally the term is used to represent a physical good, but also can be a service.

Services

When refer to a service marketers use this term rather than ‘product’ as product is normally referring a physical good.

“Services represent intangible products comprising activities, benefits or satisfactions that are not embodied in physical products. Items such as financial services, holidays, travel and personal services create problems for marketers, because of their intangibility and inherent perishability. Service providers have to find ways of either bringing the service to the consumer or persuading the consumer to come to the service delivery point. Communication has to develop both functional and psychological benefit themes as well as reassuring the potential customer of the quality and consistency of the service offered.”

Brassington and Petit (2013) P 210

The 4P’s

1. Product:

Product refers to what the business offers for sale and may include products or services. Product decisions include the “quality, features, benefits, style, design, branding, packaging, services, warranties, guarantees, life cycles, investments and returns.

Blythe (2009). p213.

2. Price: Price is the value that is placed on something., price is measured in money, as a convenient medium of exchange that allows prices to be set quite precisely. This is not necessarily always the case, however. Goods and services may be bartered (‘I will help you with the marketing plan for your car repair business if you service my car for me’), or there may be circumstances where monetary exchange is not appropriate, for example at election time when politicians make promises in return for your vote. Price is any common currency of value to both buyer and seller. Even money-based pricing comes under many names, depending on the circumstances of its use: solicitors charge fees; landlords charge rent; bankers charge interest; railways charge fares; hotels charge a room rate; consultants charge retainers; agents charge commission; insurance companies charge premiums; and over bridges or through tunnels, tolls may be charged. Whatever the label, it is still a price for a good or a service, and the same principles apply.

3. Place: Place or Distribution provides access to a product for a customer. There are a variety of ways that a customer can access a product. The marketer’s role is to ensure that not only the product is available to the customer but that the distribution of the product is appropriate to the type of product. So, a Ferrari is distributed in a different way to a soft drink.

4. Promotion: Promotion refers to marketing communications and comprises elements such as: advertising, Public Relations, direct marketing, personal selling and sales promotion, social media. The purpose of promotion is to encourage a customer to enter into an exchange relationship with the producer of the product or service.

Marketing Mix: 4Ps (With Real World Examples) | From A Business Professor 🎥

Extended marketing mix (3Ps)

1. People: Services depend on people and interaction between people, including the service provider’s staff, the customer and other customers. As the customer is often a participant in the creation and delivery of the service product, there are implications for service product quality, productivity and staff training. The ability of staff to cope with customers, to deliver the service reliably to the required standard and to present an image consistent with what the organisation would want is of vital concern to the service provider.
2. Physical evidence: Physical evidence comprises the tangible elements that support the service delivery and offer clues about the positioning of the service product or give the customer something solid to take away with them to symbolise the intangible benefits they have received. Shostack (1977) differentiates between essential evidence and peripheral evidence. Essential evidence is central to the service and is an important contributor to the customer’s purchase decision. Examples of this might be the type and newness of aircraft operated by an airline or of the car fleet belonging to a car hire firm, the layout and facilities offered by a supermarket or a university’s lecture theatres and their equipment as well as IT and library provision.
3. Process: Because the creation and consumption of a service are usually simultaneous, the production of the service is an important part of its marketing as the customer either witnesses it or is directly involved in it. The service provider needs smooth, efficient customer-friendly procedures. Some processes work behind the scenes, for example administrative and data processing systems, processing paperwork and information relating to the service delivery and keeping track of customers.

7Ps Of Marketing | Marketing Mix For Services 🎥

LO6: Know how to apply and adapt the marketing mix to satisfy customer needs and business goals

The Marketing Mix is central to the delivery of a Marketing Strategy. The management of the marketing mix is the referred to as the marketing programme. The benefit of having a marketing mix that is linked to a strategy is that it provides a context that makes the marketing mix more effective.

Synergy is created this way by marketers ensuring that all the elements of the marketing mix whether it is 4 or 7Ps are working in harmony, to the same purpose. This is emphasized by the way that the marketing strategy is linked to the overall organisational strategy and objectives. So, there is a central focus of the marketing mix as it is coordinated with the overall organisational strategy.

The elements that are used will be ensure that the resources at a marketer’s disposal such as branding is used effectively to develop a proposition that is more favourable than a competitor’s. So, create what is known as competitive advantage through the marketing mix. Also, it will use traditional elements in the marketing mix such at TV advertising, poster campaigns and ‘money-off’ incentives alongside newer tools such as those found on social media, such as twitter, Facebook, mobile apps and influencers. These synergies not only produce highly effective marketing mixes but ones that are cost effective.

The Marketing Mix – The Dynamic Nature Of The 4P’s 🎥

Simple steps to an effective marketing mix

Use these 10 steps to assist you in building your perfect marketing mix for a successful product offering.

Step 1. Goals and Objectives: To create the right marketing mix you must first clearly define what you want the end result to be – more customers, brand awareness, higher sales, etc. Every marketing plan has its own marketing goals. Also ensure you have set a specific time frame in which to achieve your goals.

Step 2. Determine Your Unique Selling Proposition (UPS): Describe the benefits users will experience from using your product or service. What unique problem are you solving better than anyone else? What Is A USP? 🎥

Step 3. Who is Your Target Market?: In order to communicate effectively with your audience, you need to know who they are and how they prefer to be communicated with. Create an in-depth profile of your ideal customer. Make sure you’ve gathered enough consumer data to develop a complete picture of your ideal buyer.

Step 4. Research your customers:

• What do they think of your product?
• How satisfied are they with the quality?
• Are the benefits apparent?

How is your product effectively or not effectively meeting their needs? Use their answers and the language they used in your marketing material. You’ll appear more relatable and approachable to your audience.

Step 5. Define Your Product in Detail: Take your time describing the specific qualities and value of your product. Look for the unique features that show your product’s worth.

Step 6. Know Your Distribution Channels: Identify the places your product will be marketed – which distribution channels you’ll make use of. Your choice of distribution channel will influence your pricing and your promotion decisions. Depending on your audience and product your main options will be:

• Selling to wholesalers who will sell to retail outlets, who will then sell to the consumer.
• Selling directly to the retail outlet.
• Selling directly to your customers.

Step 7. Create a Pricing Strategy: You need to discover clever ways of differentiating your product on price. Research your competitors and make sure you’re not overcharging your customers. You will also need to consider what your target audience might be willing to pay and what it costs to actually produce your product.

Step 8. Choose Your Promotional Techniques: Your target audience needs to be made aware of your product offering. Successful promotion of your product includes various elements, like:

• Direct Marketing: Directly connecting with carefully targeted individuals to cultivate lasting relationships. For example, catalogues, telephone marketing, and mobile marketing. Used for direct outreach to prospects in a database or sales list.
• Public relations: Press releases, exhibitions, sponsorship deals and conferences. Used for getting newsworthy attention.
• Advertising: Television, radio and print media will be your offline focus. Used for introducing your audience to new products and services.
• Personal selling: Personal presentation by your sales force. Demonstrating how your product works is key. Used for selling expensive, specialised and technologically advanced products.
• Sales promotion: Short-term incentives to encourage a purchase. This includes discounts, promotions, and payment terms. Used for getting people to use your product more often and to gain new customers.
• Word of mouth: Creating positive word of mouth via your sale staff, recommendations from buyers and social media. Used for boosting brand awareness.

Marketing departments need to be managed in a methodical way that ensure a clear process or programme is followed. Marketers don’t create a marketing mix without carrying out research and developing a marketing mix that is consistent and is coordinated with the overall marketing strategy. Central to this is the segmentation, targeting and position process.

A well-developed marketing mix will help you develop products and services that better serve the wants and needs of your target market.

Done, your market mix will help your customers understand why your product or service is better than those of you competitors.

Conclusion

You should now have a strong understanding of the role that marketing has within an organisation and all the key concepts that construct the activities of the marketer. You should understand customer behaviours which influence the marketing planning process and how best to analyse this insight by following a range of options for gathering relevant marketing information.

You should now confidently understand the assessment criteria as outlined at the beginning of the unit in order successfully complete the end of unit assignment.

Key words

• Customer – someone who purchases a product of service for themselves or on behalf of another. In an organisation they would termed buyers.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – the way of interacting with customers to ensure a positive relationship is developed.
• Earned Media – social media content that is generated externally to the organisation by social media users such as influencers.
• Influencer – someone who is active on social media and has a personal following.
• Market Research – carrying out an investigate into the current state of the market place
• Market Segmentation – a way of dividing a heterogeneous population into groups that share similar characteristics.
• Metrics – measures that are used by marketers to understand the effect of their marketing efforts.
• Primary Research – research that is carried out for a specific purpose.
• Product – anything that can be marketed.
• Qualitative Research – numerical based research.
• Quantitative Research – non-numerical based research.
• Reliability – research that is accurate.
• ROI (Return on Investment) – the measurement of an investment based on the income that it generates.
• Sampling – the technique to research a small part of a population so as to accurately understand the population as a whole.
• Secondary Research – information that has been collected independently of specific marketing activity.
• Service – something that has no physical representation.
• Shareable Content – social media content that is reproduced on various social media sites by potential customers.
• USP – Unique Selling Proposition which the key differential between one product (and service) and another.
• Validity – research that is carried out in a rigorous fashion.
• Value – is how a customer understands the worth of a product to them.
• Viral Marketing – marketing that based on user interaction on social media usually to promote a product beyond the promotion that is part of the advertising strategy.

CIM multiple choice assessment information

When studying both the CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional Marketing or CIM Level 4 Certificate in Digital Professional Marketing, to pass the Marketing Applied Marketing unit, all students are required to take a multiple-choice assessment.

The assessment is made up of 50 questions and you have 90 minutes to complete the assessment. CIM allow the assessments to be taken from home using proctoring software and you have the flexibility to choose when you sit your assessment.

Whilst CIM have set assessment periods, there are a wide range of dates available and we strongly advise that you book your assessments as early as possible to ensure you get your chosen dates.

Before you can book your assessments, you are required to be a member of CIM. Annual student membership costs £65 and you register at the following link:

Membership | Benefits of Becoming a Marketing Member | CIM

Booking your assessments

Once students have registered for their CIM membership they will be granted access to the student portal, MyCIM – and this is where you can book your CIM assessments. Please note you must be an active CIM member at the time of booking your assessments, but also on the dates you are planning to take your assessments.

Module 2 Planning campaigns

In this module, you will explore the knowledge and skills needed to plan and implement successful campaigns that deliver real results for an organisation.

You will be introduced to the campaign planning process which will include how to analyse an organisation’s current position, set campaign objectives and how to analyse the success of a campaign.

Unit 1: Campaign process

• LO1: Understand the process of planning a campaign.
• LO2: Know how to undertake an internal and external situational analysis.

Unit 2: Planning campaigns in action

• LO3: Know how to develop a successful campaign plan.
• LO4: Understand how to implement a plan in practice.

Unit 3: Campaign success

• LO5: Understand the principles of monitoring a marketing campaign.
• LO6: Know how to undertake a post campaign evaluation.

Assessment: Assignment

An assignment, based on a given theme and an organisation of choice.

Unit 1 : Campaign process

LO1: Understand the process of planning a campaign

Learning outcomes: At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1.1 Describe the parts of a campaign plan.

1.2 Explain the role of the creative brief.

1.3 Discuss the role of external agencies.

Marketing Campaigns

Marketing campaigns are organized, strategy efforts to promote a specific company goal. That can include raising awareness of a new product or capturing customer feedback. They typically involve a combination of media, including email, print advertising, television or radio advertising, pay-per-click, and social media.

Marketing campaigns vs. advertising campaigns

Marketing is how a company raises awareness of its brand and convinces customers to make a purchase. Alternatively, advertising is the process of creating persuasive messages around these broad goals.

In terms of campaigns, an advertising campaign might be one facet of a larger marketing campaign strategy.

Say the brand Nike launched a campaign surrounding the release of a new product. Its advertising would only reflect one facet of its marketing strategy.

The brand might also leverage email newsletters, social media, and paid search to meet its goal.

Successful marketing campaigns continue to focus on social media marketing and brand-building. Companies have focused on online communities to drive more engagement.

www.campaign.com

Regardless of the type of campaign, the most popular marketing asset is video. This is followed by images, blog articles, infographics, podcasts, and other audio content.

How to create a successful Marketing campaign

Planning your marketing campaign

This step is crucial to the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. The planning stage will determine how you measure success and will guide your team when things go awry. Many marketing campaigns are planned by using a creative brief as this will outline the purpose and goals of the campaign, which taking into account all contributing factors which will impact on this.

When planning a campaign and setting your brief, you should consider the following:

1. Set a purpose and goal for your campaign:

Let’s start simple. Why are you running this campaign? What would you like your campaign to accomplish for your business?

If you’re having trouble defining your campaign purpose, start broad. Take a look at the goals below. Which one is most aligned with your own?

• Promote a new product or service.
• Increase brand awareness.
• Gather customer feedback or content.
• Generate revenue.
• Boost user engagement.
• Advertise an upcoming event.

This is hardly a definitive list, but it gives you an idea of general business goals a campaign could help reach.

Let’s take this broad campaign purpose and turn it into a S.M.A.R.T. objective. We’ll use the third option as an example: Gather customer feedback or content.

“The goal of the marketing campaign is to gather user-generated content from 100 customers via a branded hashtag on Instagram featuring our new product line by December 31.”

The goal is specific (user-generated content), measurable (100 customers), attainable (via a branded Instagram hashtag), relevant (featuring the new product line), and timely (by December 31).

See how this broad campaign purpose instantly transforms into an actionable, attainable goal.

SMART Goals – Quick Overview 🎥

2. Establish how you’ll measure your campaign

This will look different for everyone depending on the channels you’re leveraging and your end goal. You might measure email open rates, new Facebook likes, or product pre-orders. You can also track a combination of several helpful metrics.

These answers will depend on your overarching campaign goal. Here are a few examples of metrics based on the campaign goals mentioned above.

• For promoting a new product or service: pre-orders, sales, and upsells.
• For increasing brand awareness: sentiment, social mentions, and press mentions.
• For gathering customer feedback or content: social mentions and engagement.
• For generating revenue: leads, sales, and upsells.
• For boosting user engagement: blog shares, social shares, and email interactions.
• For advertising an upcoming event: ticket sales, vendor or entertainment bookings, and social mentions.

If your campaign involves multiple marketing channels, it’s wise to define how you’ll measure your campaign on each medium

• Instagram engagements (likes and comments) and profile tags.
• Email open rates and click-through rates.
• Blog views, click-throughs, and social shares.

Then define the primary campaign KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Instagram-branded hashtag mentions.

While the above KPIs indicate how well the campaign reaches and engages the audience, the primary KPI tells the marketer how close the campaign am to reaching the SMART goal.

Key Performance Indicator 🎥

Lastly, let’s think about another question: What does “success” look like for your company? Sure, it’s exciting to reach a predetermined goal, but that’s not always possible. What (outside of your goal) would constitute success for you (or serve as a milestone)?

When determining how you’ll measure your campaign, consider setting up some checkpoints along the way.

Let’s say your campaign involves boosting brand awareness, and your goal is to reach 50 PR mentions by the end of the year. You can set benchmark notifications at 10, 25, and 40 mentions.

This will remind you to keep pushing toward your ultimate goal and boost morale within your team. Checkpoints are a reminder that your hard work is paying off.

3. Define your target audience

Imagine constructing a bulletproof marketing campaign only to be met with poor feedback.

In that case, you might think you chose the wrong marketing medium or that your creative wit wasn’t enough. However, the culprit may be your audience.

To resolve this problem, figure out what stage of the buyer’s journey your campaign is targeting. Are you trying to bring in new customers? Are you attempting to gather feedback from existing clients?

Are you marketing to those who recognize your brand? Or are you introducing a new brand identity altogether?

Your marketing message will vary depending on whether your campaign audience is in the awareness, consideration, or decision stage. Even though your campaign may reach those outside your target audience, it’s vital to design your campaign with a specific target in mind.

Next, identify your audience’s interests and disinterests. Here are some questions to ask yourself and your team to better understand your audience:

• What are the audience’s general interests? What magazines do they read? What TV shows do they watch? How do they spend their free time?
• Where does the audience hang out online? For what purpose do they use Instagram, Facebook, and other networks? Do they engage or merely browse?
• What kind of content gets the audience’s attention? Do they respond to straightforward sales messages? Would they rather consume witty, humorous content? What cultural references would they understand?
• What kind of problems do they have that the product, service, or brand could solve?

Becoming well-acquainted with your campaign audience will help you confidently answer these questions and any others that may arise during the campaign.

To uncover more about your audience, survey your existing and potential customers in your market. Then, use this data to create your buyer personas. You can even enter that data into a free buyer persona generator like the one below.

4. Set a concept for your campaign and get in contact with the right team

Marketing campaigns require a mission, vision, and visual identity. Great campaigns are an offshoot of their parent brand – both visually and creatively. These campaigns stay consistent with the business brand while maintaining their own identity.

When creating campaign assets, some businesses use an in-house team. Others opt for an agency. You can also hire a freelancer or contractor to complete a specific portion of the project, such as the copy or design.

Most marketers start with their in-house team and moving forward from there. This team includes experts. They know the brand and can speak to what your campaign needs to succeed.

This step will likely take the longest, as you’ll be creating your campaign concept from scratch. Next, we’ll dive into how you’ll distribute your campaign assets and connect with your audience.

Here, you’ll focus on the public-facing part of your campaign. This is what your audience will see and when. If you’ve combed through the previous section, you should have all the answers you need to guide you through.

5. Choose the channels on which you’ll run your campaign

This choice depends on your audience preference, budget, and brand engagement levels.

Take a look at the current media channels you use to promote your company. Which ones perform the best? Which ones allow you to pay for advertisements? Which ones have the best engagement? Most importantly, where are your customers hanging out?

6. Set a timeline for your campaign

Establishing a campaign deadline gives you a better idea of when, how, and how often you’ll promote it. Here’s how to do this:

• Build a general campaign timeline. Then, mark your campaign start date and deadline on a calendar.
• Take a look at your marketing assets and chosen promotional marketing channels. Then, work backward from the campaign launch date. Based on your resources, how often can you afford to post and promote your campaign content? With this information, create a promotional calendar for each marketing channel.
• Decide on a programme for each channel and map your scheduled posts, emails, etc., on your calendar.

7. Ensure your campaign is driving users toward a desired action

Even if your campaign is effective and drives a ton of traffic, it still needs to complete its desired action. By “the desired action,” I’m talking about that SMART goal you initially defined. Let’s take a moment and reiterate that goal.

For the example the SMART goal was “to gather user-generated content from 100 customers via a branded hashtag on Instagram featuring our new product line by December 31.”

This step is all about your marketing efforts and channels to lead your customers to complete your desired goal. This is done through conversion assets like calls-to-action, landing pages, and lead forms.

8. Monitor the right metrics

Your campaign effectiveness metrics will depend on what type of marketing campaign you’re running. This section merely serves as a baseline list to give you an idea of what to watch.

Focusing on metrics like generated traffic, click-through rate, and impressions is tempting. A bump in these areas is a good thing. However, they don’t necessarily indicate a change in revenue.

The post-campaign stage determines your success just as much as the planning stage. Analysing your campaign data can provide unique insight into your audience, marketing channels, and budget. Insights will also inform future campaigns.

9. Establish success numbers and metrics

Start by considering your campaign’s initial SMART goal. Did you meet your target? If it did, great! If it didn’t, you can dive into the data to assess why.

For example, if your goal was to increase organic blog views by 100K, any bump in views would be considered successful. But there’s a difference between a campaign that works and a worthwhile campaign. A worthwhile campaign gives you revenue proportionate to the time and energy you put into it.

10. Decide what you’ll do with the campaign data

This step helps maximize your campaign’s business impact.

When you analyse and apply your data, its value increases tenfold. The data helped you assess your campaign results. Analysing further gives you clarity on your audience, marketing methods, creative prowess, and more.

In addition to meeting the goal of 100 posts with UGC, the data collected in the process also offers insights into who the audience is. You understand when and how often they post on Instagram, what languages they use, and how they use the product.

Whether you collect lead information, pre-orders, social engagements, or offer downloads, your data can equip you to expand your marketing efforts as a whole.

The campaign isn’t over once you’ve pulled that final report. Spend time with your team in a retrospective meeting. Ask yourselves questions like:

• What could’ve been done differently?
• How could we have saved money?
• For anything that went wrong, why do we think it went wrong?
• What did we learn about our audience or marketing channels?
• What kind of feedback could we gather from participants or customers?

How to choose a Marketing Agency that’s perfect for your business

What is a marketing agency?

Marketing agencies specialize in finding businesses leads through optimized marketing campaigns. This is done through extensive market research, building relationships with potential customers, and increasing sales and profits. At the core of it all, marketing agencies are in the business of communicating with target audiences. It’s their job to position your business in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

What does a marketing agency do?

It’s wrong to think that all marketing agencies are the same. Yes, most marketing companies implement marketing strategies to generate business leads, but each agency may go about this process in their own unique way. Furthermore, many marketing firms only have a single area of expertise.

In some instances, businesses will hire more than one agency to ensure all their marketing needs are handled. Though this method may be necessary on occasion, it’s far more cost effective to hire a single agency that can handle all of your marketing needs.

Types of Marketing Agencies

Telemarketing/Call Center

These agencies provide marketing services via telephone. In a sense, they act as a call centre for your business. Agencies that specialize in telemarketing often make calls to follow up with prospects. They will also take customer service calls to answer questions and provide information about your products and services.

Digital marketing

Agencies that specialize in digital marketing promote your services across a variety of online platforms that include social media, email marketing, and online ads. These agencies can help you optimize your website and create online funnels to attract and convert leads. Many businesses end up choosing a digital agency because online promotion is one of the best and most affordable ways to attract customers in today’s modern world.

Traditional marketing

Traditional marketing agencies provide tried and tested marketing techniques that have been alive and well for thousands of years. Traditional marketing leverages the use of flyers, brochures, billboards, radio spots, and TV commercials to market products and services. Though traditional marketing services have essentially become overshadowed in the battle between traditional marketing vs. digital marketing, businesses can still benefit greatly from an effective traditional campaign that’s run by an experienced team.

Full-service marketing

Full-service agencies offer an entire range of services that include branding and design, digital marketing, and traditional marketing. You can think of a full-service marketing agency as a “one-stop-shop” where you can meet all of your outsourced marketing services via a single source.

LO2: Know how to undertake an internal and external situational analysis

Learning outcomes: At the end of this unit you should be able to:

2.1 Analyse the internal marketing environment to inform decisions for marketing campaigns.

2.2 Analyse the external marketing environment to inform decisions for planning campaigns

What is internal analysis?

Let’s start with internal analysis. As the name suggests, internal analysis focuses on evaluating all aspects of the organization itself. Although internal analysis can sometimes take into account the actions of external organizations or market-wide shifts, it is largely related to the inherent traits of the organization at hand.

For example, internal analysis can allow you to identify both strong and weak aspects of your organization, without taking into account the performance of external organizations.

Here’s another way to think about internal analysis: if your organization was the only one that existed – meaning your organization had no competition – and your business environment was entirely neutral – meaning it didn’t in any way affect your organization – then what factors would you consider when analysing your organization?

Why Is internal analysis Important?

In the context of strategic management, internal analysis is crucial for a few reasons. Your organization might be spending too much in some areas due to internal inefficiencies, or, alternatively, your organization could be leaving money on the table. The only way to reveal these things – and get a true understanding of how resources are being used in your organization – is by means of internal analysis.

The Internal Environment Of The Business Environment 🎥

Why use SWOT as a tool?

The SWOT model is an excellent tool for internal analysis, since it encourages you to think about your organization and only your organization. The acronym SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, which are the four factors you take into account during SWOT analysis as you create the SWOT table.

As you can see, the first two of these factors – Strengths and Weaknesses – are very much internal. Neither your competitors nor your external business environment can affect what your organization does well and what your organization does poorly: those things are entirely up to you.

With the latter two factors – Opportunities and Threats – you could argue that SWOT analysis doesn’t have an entirely internal focus. However, that simply depends on how you use it. If you choose to ignore external factors (such as competitive rivalry, material costs, or government regulations), the Opportunities and Threats categories can still provide valuable insight to the internal aspects of your organization, in the context of strategic management.

Getting started with SWOT

SWOT analysis is as easy as it sounds: listing and evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats affecting your organization. Trying to come up with these factors isn’t always so easy; it takes a lot of brainstorming.

Animation: SWOT Analysis 🎥

External Analysis for Strategic Management

Let’s switch gears and talk about external, or environmental, analysis. Unlike internal analysis, external analysis is less about the organization itself, and more about its business environment (including its competitors). Again, the term is mostly self-explanatory – looking at external business analysis factors instead of internal ones.

So, what exactly would an example of an external factor be? The number of new competitors entering your industry, the cost of materials used to manufacture your products, or the regulatory frameworks set out by governments – these are all examples of variables which are out of your organization’s control and should be taken into account in external analysis.

One helpful way to tell whether a business analysis factors is external or not is to ask “does this factor apply to other organizations?” For example, an increased tax rate applies all organizations – not just yours – so you know it’s an external factor.

Why is external analysis important?

As you might expect, external analysis is also very important in the context of strategic management. When evaluating your organization’s goals and resources, you absolutely need to look at the surrounding business environment. In a perfect world, it would be enough just to look inside your organization; in the real world, you need to be conscious of external forces that might affect your business’ operations and throw you off course.

Why use PESTLE (PESTEL) as a tool?

For analysing external factors, the PESTLE model should be your tool of choice. PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Legal, and Environmental, which are the six categories of environmental factors you should take into account during business analysis (like in strategic management).

If you look closely, you’ll see that these almost all of the factors that fall into these six categories aren’t inherently related to your organization, but are related to the overarching business environment:

• Political. How are government decisions influencing your organization?
• Economic. How is the local or global economy influencing your organization?
• Sociocultural. How are changes in social and cultural norms influencing your organization?
• Technological. How is the advancement, presence, or lack of technology influencing your organization?
• Legal. How are legal issues influencing your organization?
• Environmental. How is the environment influencing your organization?

Getting started with PESTLE

Similar to SWOT analysis, using PESTLE analysis is surprisingly easy. Simply categorize the external factors affecting your business as Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Legal, or Environmental.

The challenge is finding those factors in the first place. It’s helpful if you have some experience in your industry, which would give you a head start on where to look. Otherwise, you’ll need to do a lot of brainstorming and trawl through plenty of reports to find out which factors really affect your organization.

For more information on carrying out an external analysis like this, be sure to read our three-step guide to PESTLE analysis.

PESTLE Analysis 🎥

Internal and External Analysis in Strategic Management: Final Thoughts

Strategic management is a powerful way to run businesses. As a result of this approach’s inherently analytical nature, it’s important that you use both internal and external business analysis tools to make managerial decisions. You can do so by using the popular models of SWOT and PESTLE, which we have come to know and love in the world of business analysis.

Internal marketing

When we think of marketing, advertising and branding – creating awareness in the minds of our target audience – come to mind first. There is another important audience that marketing often overlooks: the one inside your own offices.

The good news is, this audience is relatively easy to target and inexpensive to reach. So, why are they not part of your marketing communications plan?

Internal marketing versus employee engagement

Employee communications are often less formalized and less budgeted than marketing. Human Resources generally sends out the majority of employee communications, with managers and corporate communications departments doing the rest, but rarely are these efforts coordinated and most could use some help from your marketing staff.

Researchers at Gallup found that only 15% of workers are actively engaged in their jobs and that the behaviours of highly engaged business units result in 21% greater profitability.

Formalized or not, employee engagement and the employee experience is a team effort.

Why employee communications need marketing

How often do your leadership messages read like a press release? How many HR communications are so overloaded with content and links you can’t bother reading it now, if ever? How many corporate communications messages are worth sharing socially? Are employees finding out about company news and new products in the media first?

If any of these sound familiar, then your company needs a communications organization to coordinate these efforts.

HR, leaders and managers, and corporate comms would all benefit from adopting a marketing mindset. Why? Today’s marketing professionals are focused on using customer research, data and creativity to define the customer experience at multiple touchpoints in order to capture attention and build profitable relationships.

Now substitute “employee” for “customer” in that sentence. This is why internal marketing is important. Marketers simplify complex ideas into compelling emotional arguments. They know how to use words and images to attract attention and build campaigns to lead people through a series of steps.

Internal marketing is an opportunity. It is the heart of a coordinated communications organization. It is about applying the same level of data and creative thinking that you would for any promotional or advertising campaign for an external audience, where you promote an idea consistently and repetitively over time in ways to work down a logical funnel from attention to engagement.

When internal marketing is properly executed, your communications campaigns will improve the employee experience, boost company loyalty and increase employee engagement, which ultimately leads to a better-performing business.

The Power of Employee Advocacy

Internal marketing can also turn your employees into active brand advocates. As customers increasingly tune to social media to understand why brands and businesses are doing and why, the voice of the employee has value.

According to Hinge Research: “A formal employee advocacy program helps shorten the sales cycle. Nearly 64% of advocates in a formal program credited employee advocacy with attracting and developing new business, and nearly 45% attribute new revenue streams to employee advocacy.”

Internal marketing can use stories to connect your workforce with your corporate vision and values and produce shareable content that harnesses the employees’ own networks and online channels, maximizing your company outreach.

Internal marketing is about building a consistent company story and aligning your HR, leadership and corporate communications teams around the same narrative. When employees buy in, customers buy more.

Building an internal marketing practice

Whether you call it internal marketing, employee marketing or employee communications, businesses looking to the future will build a team focused on communications with employees, with a leader and a coordinated organization designed to knit together the HR, leadership, corporate news and marketing communications into a unified whole.

• Appoint champions and encourage collaboration: identify a leader and influencer from each department and put them together on an employee communications board. Give this team the objective to establish your employee communications culture and coordinated communications efforts. This collaborative group could meet weekly and set a handful of quarterly objectives.
• Focus on your primary communications channels: you are aiming to engage an audience that is already overloaded with communications and trying to sort and prioritize their way through it. They likely don’t need anything new. They just need meetings and email to work better for them.
• Provide training, tools and budgets: change and coordination take time. Teaching HR people how and why to write emotional hooks into their content and teaching PR people to write leadership messages in a more authentic human voice takes time. Each member of the employee communications group can learn from the others, contribute, share best practices and improve over time. They will need adequate support to move forward.
• Establish metrics and objectives: what you can’t measure, you can’t manage. This applies to your internal communications as much as external. Start by establishing baseline measurements of communications’ reach and frequency. Then advance into monitoring attention, engagement and participation outcomes for specific target audiences and communications programs.

When employees believe in the brand and are engaged in your company initiatives, they will generally be more motivated and loyal to the organization and more likely to spread your company message.

LO3: Know how to develop a successful campaign plan

Learning outcomes: At the end of this unit you should be able to:

3.1 Recommend campaign objectives and strategy in context.

3.2 Recommend the use of resources required to deliver the campaign objectives.

3.3 Develop the media plan to support the campaign.

How to develop a successful digital campaign

1. Lean towards influencer marketing instead of celebrity endorsements

While similar in nature, influencer marketing, and celebrity endorsements were not created equal.

Influencer marketing is similar to celebrity endorsements in that it employs a recognizable figure to instil trust and interest in a target audience but is also successful in ways celebrity endorsements are not.

To start with, influencers are specialists in a niche, not just recognizable names.

Influencer marketing, because it is based on a smaller, more intimate fan base than that of a true celebrity, instils more trust in the consumer.

2. Don’t underestimate what social media can do

Social media is, of course, an excellent way to advertise to new and previous customers.

Beyond this, and not to be ignored in your revamped 2020 marketing campaign, is that it is also a perfect medium for building a relationship, and thus brand loyalty, with your target audience.

How to craft the perfect social media message:

• Identify and Get to Know Your Target Audience
• Create and Conduct Social Media Audits
• Develop a Content Calendar

A. Identify and get to know your target audience

Nowadays, everyone is on social media. While this is great, it also means that it’s easier to have your message lost in the sea of users. So how do you create a strong social media strategy that will help you build customer relationships and brand loyalty with your target audience? First, you’ll have to find out who your audience is, where they’re from, when they’re online, and which channel they use. You can discover this information by using free online social media analytics tools, including:

Buffer – a tool that helps you drive traffic, increase your social media engagement and understand your followers. The free version helps you track major engagement stats.

Tweriod – a free Twitter (now known as X) tool that helps you find the best time to Tweet based on when your followers are online.

Facebook Page Insights – available to all page admins, Facebook Insights give you the stats behind your posts, your fans and the reach of the content you are posting. Bonus: You can also get to know your competitors by placing them in the “Pages to watch” category.

Twitter Analytics – Twitter provides users a 28-day overview of how their tweets have performed: # of retweets, # of mentions, # of favourites, and # of clicks.

Many platforms, such as Instagram, have made it incredibly easy to gain insights on your audience:

B. Create and conduct social media audits

As you’re gathering data about your target audience, create a social media audit to better understand what the data is telling you and how to best navigate your channels. The audit should include information on the different platforms you are active on. More specifically, this audit should list links to your profiles, identify who is responsible for these accounts, key social media metrics, key audience demographic information, and the best performing posts based on engagement. Here’s an example of a social media audit from Hootsuite:

This audit should also include information about your followers such as which day of the week and at what time they are most active on these platforms as well as the type of posts they resonate with most (i.e. posts with pictures, posts that contain videos, posts about giveaways/contests, etc.). Use this audit as a way to complete a “SWOT” analysis of your social media channels. Pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of your current social media strategy, capitalize on your opportunities to grow your brand, and mitigate threats based on your market/followers.

C. Develop a content calendar

In order to ensure your content is well planned, interesting, and timely, we recommend developing a content calendar. Based on the information you gather from your social media audit, develop a content calendar on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis. This will help you track the frequency of your posts and the content that you will use based on the channels you are active on. This calendar will ensure that you are creating consistent, timely messages across your channels. Don’t worry, there are many content calendar templates that you can download. Each has its own way of organizing information and most of them are customizable. Here’s an example from HubSpot:

Now that you know your audience and you have set a solid foundation for a social media strategy, you can now begin crafting the perfect messages to get (and keep) your followers engaged!

Facebook

• Facebook posts with visuals receive the highest amount of engagement.
• Optimize your images to fit the proper specs. Standard news feed image: 472px x 374px.
• Engage your followers by providing just enough information to make them click.

X (Twitter)

• Try to keep your message at 250 characters or less.
• Allow 20 characters for retweeters to add content.
• Unlike Facebook, images are automatically scaled to fit it your Twitter feed.

LinkedIn

• Post about breaking news, deadlines, events, sneak peeks, or other timely industry related information.
• Keep your link title to < 70 characters to grab the reader’s attention.
• Edit your link description and keep it as brief as possible.

For all three channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)

• Use hashtags wisely.
• Don’t bend any grammar or spelling rules to make your message fit the space. Doing so could tarnish your credibility with your followers.
• Use images or videos to grab the reader’s attention.
• Ask the readers a question to get more engagement.
• Provide just enough information for the reader to know what your content is about but still make them want to learn more.
• Use bit.ly or another link builder to create a unique, trackable link.
• Provide a clear call to action including a shortened, unique link to track effectiveness.
• Post at a time when you know your followers will see it. Use the data in your social media audit to determine your best days/times to post.

If your best days/times to post are not during regular business hours, you can use free scheduling tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer to upload posts and schedule them accordingly.

Overall, try interacting in a way that isn’t too sales-oriented. Strive for a 70:30 special interest to promotional content ratio. Keeping the sales pitch dialled down let’s customers relax and connect with your brand, and later, want to purchase from you.

3. Use technology to understand your strengths

Take what was popular last year and use it to make this year even better.

Google Analytics and HubSpot Analytics makes it easy to track what your followers have enjoyed. Follow this analysis to publish more engaging content, and gain more authority, loyalty, and exposure in your niche.

But your 2020 marketing campaign strategy doesn’t just include online marketing. So how do you track the efficacy of your offline efforts?

What Is Google Analytics And What Can It Do? 🎥

Kissmetrics used URLS and coupons codes to track traffic to your site, so you can see what came of all those flyers or brochures.

What Is Kissmetrics? 🎥

4. Continue to publish on a company blog regularly

Publishing regularly to a professional blog gives you great exposure. In fact, businesses that blog have 55% more visitors to their site. (www.campaign.com)

But other than creating interest, blogging regularly creates trust and loyalty in consumers, as your business and brand become part of their regular exposure.

This is a great aid in lead generation, as prospective customers can come to value you first as a source of information and entertainment. If you’re new to blogging or looking for some new ideas to up your campaign strategy in 2020, check out this article here.

5. Host in person or online events

Holding events is not only a great way to interact with your customers and humanize your company, but they give tangible worth to your business.

Over 90% of marketers agree that hosting events is an important practice to form in-person relationships and connections in an increasingly digital world. Being able to put a face to a company makes clients more comfortable than a voice on the phone or online.

If you aren’t able to host an in-person event, a virtual online event can be just as beneficial in providing value to your customers. One of the key benefits of hosting an online event is the expanded audience reach around the world.

Deliver even more value during events by providing exclusive information, workshops, complimentary samples, or special discounts. Vans did this by hosting a skateboarding workshop in celebration of International Women’s day.

6. Understand current cultural tensions

Not every product or service is explicitly political, but every brand can have an impact in culture. To find out what impact your brand can make, ask yourself: what problems or affairs today are addressed or exacerbated by my industry?

With this information, you can find success in the exact middle of the two opposing sides of your product’s relevant issue and market from there. Marketing from the middle allows you to appeal to the largest number of consumers while marginalizing the fewest.

Need an example? Dove encourages women to feel beautiful in their skin naturally while simultaneously telling them the way to achieve this beauty it is to buy their product. This way, beauty enthusiasts and naturalists alike see the appeal.

7. Remember your existing customers

While expanding exposure and customer base is great, don’t neglect the customer base you have grown already. It’s easier to make a sale to a repeat customer than acquiring a new one.

So, for your 2020 marketing strategy, dedicate some of your funds to retaining old customers with up-sells or cross-sells.

Provide great customer service and rely on traditional email marketing to nurture that relationship. Increase your customer base more holistically by offering discounts for referrals. Also, try using social media as a customer service channel.

Existing customers aren’t the only focus for your marketing campaign, but neither should they be forgotten.

8. Bring in new ideas

Creating a marketing campaign strategy doesn’t have to be the brainchild of you alone. Don’t shy away from asking input from important stakeholders, like sales or product managers.

The whole team is invested in the success of this venture. As a bonus, by making their voices heard, they’ll be more likely to support your own ideas in the future.

9. Follow through with stakeholders

After you’ve gotten their input, don’t forget to follow through!

Maintain open communication with major stakeholders by setting up meetings weekly or monthly to keep an eye on what is developing well and what is not.

Besides just helping develop a killer marketing campaign, keeping the channels of communication open and flowing builds trust between you and your team.

10. Look back to look forward

To round out your new marketing campaign, review what strategies were successful in 2019. What did you achieve, and how? Were any events you hosted particularly successful? What pitfalls should you watch out for? Look for times when opportunities for sales or prospective clients slipped through the cracks, and ways to fix this.

Lastly, track everything. There is no way to guarantee that everything you try will work, but if you track what does and what doesn’t, you will develop a better understanding of how to get more things to succeed.

What Is Digital Marketing? Introduction To Digital Marketing For Beginners 🎥

Managing Budgets

What is a campaign budget?

A campaign budget can be best described as an estimation of a business’ revenue and expenses for specific campaigns (promotion of its products and services) over a specified period of time (monthly, quarterly or yearly).

Why is it important to have a campaign budget?

Regardless of the size of your business, the benefits of setting money aside for driving awareness, boosting sales and revenue through your marketing efforts cannot be overstated.

1. It allows you to allocate your resources affectively: Having a campaign budget allows you to keep track of all your expenses, cut down on unnecessary costs and allocate your resources only to marketing projects that support your marketing goals and are likely to generate good results both short term and long term.
2. Easily track your ROI (Return Of Investment): When it comes to creating a campaign budget for the new fiscal year, one way to assess how campaign contributed to generating revenue, as well as the ROI for your campaign efforts is to dive deep into your campaign budget. How much did you spend? How much profit did you make? Does it make sense to focus on certain projects next month, quarter or year if they’re not resulting in more leads, sales, etc?
3. It encourages long-term planning: A campaign budget does not only cater to your current campaign needs but also covers future projects. A great practice would be to have your campaign budget closely aligned with your marketing or business goals/plan. So, for example, if you plan to publish 20 blog posts in a quarter, ideally, you would also want to ensure your campaign budget covers expenses such as the cost of hiring freelancers, paying for an SEO tool to help with keyword research, etc.
4. Keeps everyone motivated: Team members will be better motivated to put their best foot forward when they know that the company prioritizes funding tools, marketing reporting software, and resources that will help them do better work. Hence, why having a campaign budget is important. It communicates the company’s goals, priorities and involves team members by asking for their opinions on what the company should be spending on.

What is included in a campaign budget?

Typically, the following should be included in your campaign budget:

• Software/tools: think your email service provider (ESP), any automation tools, analytics tools, web conferencing software, etc. You can include web hosting and domain renewals in here, too.
• Salaries: the salary of those on your campaign team should be included in your overall budget, too.
• Outsourcing: does your team hire freelancers, temps, or paid interns for specific projects? It’s important to work that into your budget.
• Advertising spend: whether you’re advertising in search engines, social media, video, podcast, or even print.
• PR costs: using a paid service to distribute your press releases? Include that in your campaign budget.
• Events/trade-show costs: these tend to eat up a lot of campaign resources, so plan accordingly.
• Swag: t-shirts, stickers, hats, etc.
• Training: does your company help employees level-up with relevant training courses? That could fall under your campaign budget, too.
• Gear: cameras, microphones, lighting, and other equipment to help your team create multi-media content.

Marketing Budgeting 🎥

LO4: Understand how to implement a plan in practice

Learning outcomes: At the end of this unit you should be able to:

4.1 Apply tools to support campaign planning.

4.2 Recommend how to gain internal support and engagement for the plan.

To deliver an effective campaign the manager responsible for it needs to be an effective Project Manager. Project Management is a vital part of any modern business or organisation, as management is comprised of a series of projects.

What is the project management lifecycle?

The project management lifecycle is a step-by-step framework of best practices used to shepherd a project from its beginning to its end. It provides project managers a structured way to create, execute, and finish a project.

This project management process generally includes four phases: initiating, planning, executing, and closing. Some may also include a fifth “monitoring and controlling” phase between the executing and closing stages. By following each step, a project team increases the chance of achieving its goals.

The project management lifecycle provides projects with structure and tools to ensure they have the best chance of being successful. As a project manager, it’s a process you’ll want to know well.

What Is Project Management? Training Video 🎥

The project management lifecycle: 5 steps

All projects have a beginning and an end. They go through the same cycle of initiation, planning, and execution. Projects are temporary efforts, born to create value – and when that value has been delivered, the project ceases to be. This cycle of project birth, maturity and closure is known as the project life cycle, or project management life cycle.

In this post we’re going to explore each phase of the life cycle and how you can keep apply it to your projects today. A key aspect of successfully managing projects within the project lifecycle is being equipped with the right PM tools that support each phase of the project.

What is the project life cycle?

The project life cycle is the phases in a project necessary for the effective delivery of the project. The project lifecycle dictates the order of processes and phases used in delivering projects. It describes the high-level workflow of delivering a project and the steps you take to make things happen and successfully deliver a project.

The PMI (Project Management Institute) has defined these five project management process groups, or phases, which come together to form the project life cycle:

• Project initiation
• Project planning
• Project execution
• Project monitoring & controlling
• Project closure

1. Project initiation phase

Initiating the first phase of the project life cycle is all about doing a project kick-off with your team and with the client and getting their commitment to start the project.

You bring together all of the available information together in a systematic manner to define the project’s scope, cost, and resources. The goal of the initiation phase is to take the (sometimes) loose brief of a project and understand what the project needs to do and achieve in order to be successful.

That usually necessitates identifying the project stakeholders and making sure they all share the same perception of what the project is and the business case – the problem that the project is trying to solve.

It’s during this project initiation phase that you also decide whether delivering the business case is feasible. As a project manager, you will need to conduct adequate research to determine the project goals and then propose a solution to achieve them.

Key steps during project initiation

• Make a project charter: what is the vision, objective, and goal of this project?
• Identify the high-level scope and deliverables: what is the product or service that needs to be provided?
• Conduct a feasibility study: what is the primary problem and its possible solutions?
• Ballpark the high-level cost and create a business case: what are the costs and benefits of the solution?
• Identify stakeholders: who are the people this project affects, how does it affect them, and what are their needs?

2. Project planning phase

After receiving approval to proceed in the initiation phase, you can begin project planning, typically using a Gantt chart tool.

Gantt Charts, Simplified – Project Management Training 🎥

Planning is where you define all the work to be done and create the roadmap that you follow for the remainder of the project.

This is when you figure out how you’re going to perform the project and answer these questions:

• What exactly are we going to do?
• How are we going to do it?
• When are we going to do it?
• How will we know when we’re done?

At this point in the project life cycle, you have to decide how you and your team will attain the goals of the project. It’s worth evaluating those goals with three criteria:

Strive for something that is achievable. Ask yourself, does this solution match the budget? Does my team have the ability to do this? Do we have enough time? Setting unrealistic goals is setting yourself up for failure.

Projects are tough, so you want a team that is emotionally engaged in the project. Ask yourself, is this a project that your team can be passionate about? Is it something that can bring them together to collaborate and achieve the same goal? Even though it might be their job to do what you tell them to do, no one is going to invest into something they don’t think is worthwhile.

Does this have the potential to become a ground-breaking success? Is this something that is a complete solution to the problem that was given to you or is it really just a band-aid solution? Does it have the potential to be improved on, developed, and to become a permanent way of working?

The planning phase results in a project plan that outlines the activities, tasks, dependencies, and time frames, as well as costs. In addition, it’s prudent to develop a plan for resources, quality, risk, acceptance criteria, communication, and procurement.

3. Project execution phase

This is the part of the project life cycle where you finally get to execute on your project plan. You bring your resources onboard, brief them, set the ground rules, and introduce them to one another. After that, everyone jumps in to perform the work identified in the plan.

As the project manager, you shift from talking about a project and creating documentation to getting the green light to proceed with the execution phase. Now, you’re leading the team and managing them toward delivery. You’ll spend your time in briefings, meetings, and reviews, and keep the project on track as it moves through the project life cycle.

Key steps for project execution:

• Team leadership: cast a vision for success and enable the team to deliver on it.
• Create tasks: clearly define what needs to be done and the criteria for each project task.
• Task briefing: ensure the team are clear about what they need to do, and when they need to do it by.
• Client management: work with the client to ensure deliverables are acceptable.
• Communications: ensure you’re informing and updating the right people at the right time through the right channel.

4. Project monitoring & controlling phase

This involves reporting on performance and monitoring and controlling the project.

That means ensuring the project is going according to plan, and if it isn’t, controlling it by working out solutions to get it back on track. As a project manager, you’ll be monitoring and controlling a project in some way throughout all of the project life cycle phases.

First, that means ensuring you capture the data (usually derived from timesheets and reports in your project management software) to track progress effectively against the original plan.

Second, it means taking the data and comparing overall project progress, milestone and task completion, budget spend, and time allocated in the original plan. By comparing the actuals against the plan, you can establish whether or not you’re hitting the objectives for timeline, cost, quality, and success metrics.

And when you realize that things aren’t quite going to plan (they rarely do), it’s figuring out the options for pivoting the project so that it still delivers something the client is happy with while meeting the budget, timeline, and quality constraints.

Key steps for project monitoring and controlling:

• Cost & time management: review timesheets and expenses to record, control, and track against the project’s budget, timeline, and tasks.
• Quality management: reviewing project deliverables and ensuring they meet the defined acceptance criteria.
• Risk management: monitor, control, manage, and mitigate potential risks and issues.
• Acceptance management: conduct user acceptance testing and create a reviewing system, ensuring that all deliverables meet the needs of the client.
• Change management: when the project doesn’t go to plan, managing the process of acceptable changes with the client to ensure they’re happy with necessary changes.

5. Project closure phase

In the closing phase of the project life cycle, your project is essentially over and your job as a project manager comes to a close. But the project’s not over yet.

At this point, before everyone forgets, it’s useful to hold a post-project review meeting or post-mortem to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the project and team, what went wrong or didn’t go so well, and how to improve in the future.

This can be one of the most rewarding stages of project management, as it’s a great opportunity to recognize and acknowledge valuable team members and celebrate successes.

Key steps for project closure:

• Project performance analysis: this is an overall look at how well the project was managed, and whether the initial estimates of costs and benefits were accurate. Were there unforeseen risks? What issues arose and how well were they dealt with? Has the project plan been changed, and how?
• Team analysis: did everyone do what they were assigned to do? Were they passionate and motivated enough? Did they stay thorough and accountable? Was the communication within the project team healthy and constructive?
• Project closure: document the tasks needed to bring the project to an official end. This includes closing supplier agreements, signing off contracts, and handing in all the necessary project documentation.
• Post-implementation review: write down a formal analysis of successes and failure, resulting lessons learned, and suggestions for the future. At the end of every successful project, you will learn that room for improvement always remains.

The Lifecycle Of Project Management 🎥

Module 3: Digital Marketing Techniques

This module focuses on the importance of the ever – evolving, dynamic digital landscape and how to develop skills to improve digital marketing performance and explore the challenges and opportunities within the digital environment. You will use a range of tools to plan how to enhance an organisation’s effectiveness in the digital age.

Module structure

Unit 1: Digital techniques

LO 1 – Understand digital marketing tools and techniques

LO 2 – Assess different applications of digital marketing

Unit 2: Digital enhancement

LO 3 – Know how to integrate digital and offline marketing

LO 4 – Understand approaches to enhancing stakeholder engagement

Unit 3: Digital management

LO 5 – Know how to develop a digital marketing plan

LO 6 – Apply and adapt digital marketing analysis

LO1: Understand digital marketing tools and techniques

Learning outcomes

1.1 Appraise the scope of the digital marketing toolbox.

1.2 Applying a range of digital marketing techniques in different contexts.

For businesses to compete effectively today, they must use digital marketing to support their business and marketing strategies. Each one of us now spends several hours each day using digital media, whether we’re looking for entertainment, social interaction or seeking new products.

Digital Marketing In 5 Minutes | What Is Digital Marketing? | Learn Digital Marketing 🎥

Businesses and brands that don’t have the right digital tactics shown in the visual within their marketing communications programmes miss out on opportunities to influence consumers at key online touchpoints.

🔗CIM Marketing Guide

Customer Lifecycle Marketing Explainer 🎥

Customer lifecycle and influence of digital media

The customer lifecycle represents the stages a consumer goes through from initial awareness of a product or service to making a purchase and becoming a loyal customer. With the growth of digital media and technology, the customer journey has become increasingly complex, with various touchpoints and channels influencing purchase decisions. Here’s how potential paid, owned, and earned digital media channels can impact each stage of the customer lifecycle:

1. Awareness stage:

• Objective: at this stage, the goal is to create brand awareness and attract the attention of potential customers.

Influence of Digital Media

• Paid Media: advertising on social media platforms, search engine ads, display ads, and influencer collaborations can increase visibility.
• Owned Media: content marketing through blogs, videos, and social media posts can provide valuable information and engage the audience.
• Earned Media: positive reviews, social shares, and mentions from influencers or media outlets can enhance brand credibility.

2. Interest/consideration stage:

• Objective: once awareness is established, the focus shifts to nurturing interest and guiding prospects towards considering the product or service.

Influence of Digital Media:

• Paid Media: retargeting ads, email campaigns, and sponsored content can remind and persuade consumers to explore further.
• Owned Media: detailed product/service information on websites, webinars, and how – to videos can help educate and build trust.
• Earned Media: recommendations from friends, social proof through user – generated content, and expert reviews can sway decisions.

3. Decision stage:

• Objective: consumers are ready to make a purchase decision, comparing options and looking for the best value.

Influence of Digital Media

• Paid Media: promotions, discounts, and limited – time offers through ads can prompt immediate action.
• Owned Media: clear calls – to – action (CTAs), customer testimonials, and product demonstrations can help in the final decision.
• Earned Media: positive word – of – mouth, ratings and reviews, and endorsements from influencers can provide the confidence needed to purchase.

4. Purchase stage:

• Objective: the consumer completes the transaction and becomes a customer.

Influence of Digital Media

• Paid Media: transactional emails, confirmation pages, and follow – up ads can reinforce the purchase decision.
• Owned Media: seamless checkout processes, personalized thank – you messages, and loyalty program offers can enhance the customer experience.
• Earned Media: sharing purchase experiences on social media, referral programs, and customer satisfaction surveys can foster loyalty.

5. Retention/advocacy stage

• Objective: after the purchase, the focus shifts to retaining the customer and turning them into brand advocates.

Influence of Digital Media:

• Paid Media: exclusive offers for repeat purchases, loyalty rewards, and personalized recommendations can encourage ongoing engagement.
• Owned Media: regular newsletters, updates on new products/services, and customer support through social media can maintain the relationship.
• Earned Media: user – generated content sharing positive experiences, social media mentions, and reviews can attract new customers.

The customer lifecycle is now intricately intertwined with various digital media channels, providing multiple opportunities for businesses to engage and influence consumers at every stage. By strategically utilizing paid, owned, and earned media, businesses can navigate the complex customer journey, from initial awareness to conversion and beyond. Understanding how digital media impacts each stage of the customer lifecycle is essential for developing effective marketing strategies that drive growth, foster customer loyalty, and create brand advocates.

Digital Marketing Media Channels

Digital marketing offers a variety of channels through which businesses can reach their target audience. These channels can be categorized into three main types: paid media, owned media, and earned media. Let’s explore each of these categories and the options available within them:

1. Paid media

Paid media refers to any form of advertising for which a company pays to leverage a third – party channel. It allows businesses to reach a larger audience quickly and can include:

Search Engine Marketing (SEM):

• Google Ads: Pay–per–click (PPC) advertising on Google search results and display network.
• Bing Ads: Similar to Google Ads, targeting users on Bing search engine and its partner networks.

Social Media Advertising:

• Facebook Ads: Targeted ads based on user demographics, interests, and behaviours.
• Instagram Ads: Visual ads that appear in the Instagram feed or stories.
• Twitter Ads: Promoted tweets and accounts to reach specific audiences.
• LinkedIn Ads: B2B – focused ads targeting professionals based on job titles, industries, etc.
• Pinterest Ads: Promoted pins to reach users interested in specific topics.

Display Advertising:

• Banner Ads: Visual ads placed on websites, often based on user behaviour.
• Native Advertising: Advertisements that match the form and function of the platform they appear on.
• Video Ads: Pre – roll, mid – roll, or post – roll video ads on platforms like YouTube.

Shopping Ads:

• Google Shopping: Product listing ads that appear in Google search results.
• Amazon Ads: Advertising products directly on Amazon’s platform.

Remarketing/Retargeting:

• Ads shown to users who have previously visited your website but did not convert.

2. Owned media

Owned media includes channels that a company has control over and does not require payment for access. It involves creating and distributing content on platforms owned by the business. Options within owned media include:

Website:

• Company website with product/service information, blogs, and other resources.

Blogs:

• Regularly updated articles on industry topics, company news, and insights.

Social Media Profiles:

• Facebook Page, Twitter Profile, LinkedIn Company Page, Instagram Account, etc.

Email Marketing:

• Sending newsletters, promotions, updates, and personalized messages to an email list.

Mobile Apps:

• Company – developed applications for customer engagement, services, or product interactions.

Webinars/Podcasts:

• Live or recorded sessions providing educational or entertaining content.

Whitepapers/eBooks:

• In – depth guides, reports, or ebooks offering valuable information to prospects.

3. Earned media

Earned media is publicity gained through promotional efforts other than paid advertising. It involves word – of – mouth, recommendations, and organic exposure. Options within earned media include:

Public Relations (PR):

• Press releases, media coverage, and mentions in news articles.

Social Media Mentions:

• User – generated content, shares, and tags from satisfied customers.

Online Reviews:

• Positive reviews on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc.

Influencer Marketing:

• Collaborations with social media influencers to promote products/services.

Word–of–Mouth:

• Recommendations and referrals from satisfied customers.

Viral Content:

• Content that spreads rapidly and organically through social sharing.

These main digital channels – Paid Media, Owned Media, and Earned Media – provide businesses with a comprehensive toolkit for reaching and engaging their target audience. By strategically utilizing a mix of these channels, businesses can enhance brand visibility, drive website traffic, generate leads, and ultimately increase conversions and revenue. Each channel offers unique advantages, and an integrated approach that considers all three types of media can lead to a more effective and successful digital marketing strategy.

Organisational contexts and situations where different digital marketing tools can be utilised

How digital marketing operations can transform any business

By David Edelman and Jason Heller

Marketing operations is certainly not the sexiest part of marketing, but it is becoming the most important one. With businesses unable to keep pace with evolving consumer behaviours and the marketing landscape, the pressure is on to put marketing operations – skilled people, efficient processes, and supportive technology – in a position to enable brands to not just connect with customers but also shape their interactions.

When done well, we’ve seen marketing operations provide a 15 to 25 percent improvement in marketing effectiveness, as measured by return on investment and customer – engagement metrics. Yet achieving that level of improvement is elusive for many. While marketers are embarking on a wide array of “digital transformations” to reshape their operations and business models, many of these efforts are stymied by marketing’s difficulty in delivering on its aspirations. For example, one recent survey found an astonishing 84 percent of marketers do not have a formal content strategy or distribution process to feed their growing bevy of marketing channels, and they lack any kind of formally managed content supply chain. 1 Despite this, content budgets continue to increase.

This situation played out at one global consumer – products company, which saw year – over – year content spending rise by more than 25 percent as a result of its efforts to become more customer – centric. There was, however, no unifying strategy, governance, or system to create cohesion, reuse assets, or measure effectiveness.

Establishing a centre – of – excellence function to develop and manage a consistent content operating model across divisions resulted in transparency, new governance, and improved processes. That cut the time to generate content, stopped the growth in costs, and brought new discipline into managing the impact of content. As a result, marketing return on investment has improved by more than 20 percent.

Five steps to bring marketing operations into the digital era

Digital marketing operations involves the application of capabilities, processes, structures, and technologies to cost – effectively exploit and scale the interactivity, targeting, personalization, and optimization of digital channels. As the example of the consumer – products company shows, marketing operations has a critical role in driving bottom – line growth. That capability directly enables the speed, agility, iterative development, experimentation, and responsiveness that successful companies need to react to and shape the marketplace.

Marketers are aware of what needs to be done, and many are taking action. But that often boils down to implementing new technology platforms, adding head count, or increasing digital allocations within the marketing – spending mix. While these are important steps, they won’t solve the challenge. Fundamentally, modern marketing operations calls for the thoughtful, deliberate development of new processes, coordination, and governance. We’ve identified five attributes of effective marketing operations (exhibit).

1. Truly understanding customers

Like any meaningful relationship, getting to know your customers well is a commitment. Tracking, analysing, and interpreting customer behaviours and attitudes should be an ongoing, often moment – to – moment undertaking that is critical not only to targeting and shaping relevant content and experiences but also to optimizing how they’re delivered – an important capability, given that during the buying process.

Feeding these insights into marketing operations requires processes and teams that focus on collecting and making sense of the data, as well as quickly delivering the analysis in a digestible form to the right decision makers – often continuously. Scaling this capability means organizations need to automate processes that don’t require human intervention, for example, personalizing web pages, delivering e – mail, or generating dashboards for managers to track customer behaviours.

Most companies are only at the beginning of creating comprehensive customer – insights programs. While establishing “war rooms” to monitor and react to social – media conversations is a good example of how companies are moving in that direction, what’s needed are organizations that integrate and make sense of all sources of customer insights. One global hotel chain, for example, has combined its customer – research group and marketing – analytics group in an effort to better understand its customers – specifically, those who engage with their marketing, stay in their different hotels, and spend their money once there. These two groups have been combined into one insights team that reports directly to the chief marketing officer.

2. Delivering a superior experience

What happens when customers have a bad experience? They stop doing business with a company. And a souring of the customer experience can take place at any point, which is why getting the consumer journey right requires getting everything right. Meeting customer expectations calls for mapping out each of the steps that define the entire customer experience, highlighting not only the technologies and marketing, sales, support, service, and operations play key roles in many customer journeys, of course. But there are other functions that are critical as well, such as order management and fulfilment. Those are not typically top of mind for marketers, but the experiences enabled by these back – end systems are instrumental to the way a customer perceives a brand’s ability to deliver on expectations.

Consider the technology and operations required for L’Oreal’s Makeup Genius app, which uses webcams to enable customers to virtually try on different shades and styles of makeup. To the customer, it is an easy, seamless, and enjoyable experience. But it is enabled by complex technology that involves coding dozens of makeup shades, matching them to a near infinite variety of skin tones, and collecting data on which types of customers try on which shades, then tracking their satisfaction levels after purchase – all of which are analysed to further refine the matching process and improve the customer experience.

This two – way flow of information is an important aspect of modern marketing operations. As an experience is delivered to the customer, there needs to be a system to capture how that shopper responds and feeds that information back into the organization, which then adjusts its offer or message accordingly. And this feedback loop is not just about optimizing the customer experience. It also helps decision makers adjust campaign spending based on trends and opportunities, for example, or direct salespeople to stores where product inventory is low. We’ve found that best – in – class companies reallocate up to 80 percent of digital – campaign budgets during a campaign.

3. Selecting the right marketing technology

Delivering on omnichannel customer experiences requires marketing technology that can automate processes, personalize interactions, and coordinate actions. Marketing technologists, in particular, have a critical role in navigating the ecosystem of more.

An important element of managing a capable marketing – operations function is building a system that has the flexibility to work with large platforms that are becoming more dominant, such as Adobe or Oracle, as well as point solutions that are constantly introducing innovations. That requires developing a thoughtful application – programming – interface strategy to make sure your system has enough flexibility to hook into both current and emerging technologies, which will only become more important as the Internet of Things moves mainstream.

Yet the “best” marketing technology isn’t necessarily what’s best for an organization. For example, an overriding consideration may be how well a particular solution integrates with legacy systems or how well it meets specific requirements. One global technology original – equipment manufacturer, for instance, set out to create a personalized content – delivery system across all touchpoints. Beginning with a clear vision of its ideal customer – delivery needs, it defined key performance indicators, outputs, and levels of personalization, and then it set out to assemble the technology that could do it. But it also needed a solution that could play nicely with the company’s many legacy systems and would also be easy for a large group of global marketers to implement and manage day to day. The company wound up combining off – the – shelf data, content, and analytics platforms with a personalization engine.

4. Implementing processes and governance

Technology enables the customer experience, but it requires people, processes, and governance to ensure technology does what it’s supposed to do. The failure to establish guidelines for how business units might pilot new technologies, how data will be shared across the organization, or which capabilities will be managed in – house versus by external agencies and partners could result in a patchwork of efforts across the enterprise that sow confusion and hamper attempts to scale.

The new approach required every agency involved in the product launch to participate in the creation of the briefs. Having everyone at the table formalized responsibilities, while aligning roles and resources ahead of time helped to mitigate the “land grabs” that can occur among competing agencies. In addition, bringing everyone together at the beginning made for stronger briefs, as it generated healthy debate on such key issues as which agencies would take the lead in the launch, which key performance indicators should be measured, and how and where to incorporate feedback loops that would allow teams to tweak and iterate after launch. The new approach paid off: the time spent writing a marketing brief and rolling out a new product dropped from four months to just one.

Establishing such clarity up front requires the client to be a strong orchestrator and the agencies to stick to their defined roles. Rather than being restrictive, this level of governance can enhance creativity, as it frees people to focus on their responsibilities instead of wasting time and energy jockeying for position with other agencies.

5. Using the best metrics to drive success

Technology is now catching up to the holy grail of marketing: the ability to monitor, track, and manage the effectiveness of marketing investments. Measures of marketing effectiveness need to move beyond what has often been limited to a narrow set of metrics. As companies become more customer – centric, for example, metrics should focus on customer activity rather than simply product or regional.

To be most effective, however, metrics need to deliver insights quickly – often in real time – so the business can actually act. They need to be delivered in a way that is easy for decision makers to understand, and they need to be forward looking to identify future opportunities rather than focus on reporting what has already happened.

“It’s sad but true: marketing operations has traditionally been overshadowed by sexier marketing tactics. Yet as consumers become increasingly empowered and sophisticated in the way they make purchasing decisions, it’s never been more important to use data to map customers’ DNA, understand exactly what they want, and then take those insights to develop and deliver a superior (and flawless) customer experience. As outcomes go, we think that’s pretty sexy indeed.”

McKinsey 🔗How digital marketing operations can transform business 📰

Digital Marketing In 5 Minutes | What Is Digital Marketing? 🎥

The validity, reliability, effectiveness and applicability of techniques

Can you trust Digital Technology?

Bruno Kurtic, Forbes Technology Council

Bruno Kurtic is the Vice President of Strategy and Solutions for Sumo Logic, a leader in continuous intelligence. Digital transformation is one of the largest forces in today’s economy. Consumers now demand their products and services are connected, available 24/7 and accessible via web, mobile app or smart – assistant. Companies are using this shift in the consumer mindset to differentiate themselves from the competition, causing market dynamics and dominance to shift at a neck – breaking.

For example:

In hospitality, Airbnb, the most valued company comparatively speaking, is worth more than the top three hotel chains combined according to Business Insider.

In media and entertainment, Netflix is second in market cap only to Disney and is well above the market cap of Sony. (Hence, the most likely reason why Disney recently launched its own video streaming service to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime.)

In retail, Amazon is valued more than the next nine largest U.S. public retailers.

In transportation, Tesla is valued more than Toyota, VW, Daimler and GM combined according to the Chicago Tribune.

All of these industry valuation leaders are digital disruptors, but what do they all have in common?

At their core, they are fundamentally digital business models with not just technical prowess but digital innovation capabilities for offering highly engaging, revenue – when a business switches from a traditional business model to a digital one, it must translate that new business model into the technology being used. Doing this in a differentiated way relies on software, but not the kind that is bought off – the – shelf. Successful digital business models typically rely on in – house – built custom software, thus forcing enterprises to become software businesses.

In addition to technology changes, digital transformation has also redefined customer experience. Now you engage customers online, so customer experience matters a lot more. For example, a poor customer experience in one physical store because of a cash register failure is far less likely to derail your business than your digital shopping cart feature failing during peak online shopping time. In the world of digital services, customers are won and lost in seconds.

So, what does the business leader need to know?

To be best – in – class in digital, your products, services and online experience must be reliable. If they aren’t, your customers will, with a click of a button, go elsewhere. They don’t have to drive or wait – they can satisfy their needs by going somewhere else right then and there and may never come back.

Reliability is now the digital transformation imperative and can impact the customer experience in three significant ways:

- Availability: Can your customers access your products or services when they need them?

- Performance: Is the performance of your product or service in line with customer expectations?

- Security: Do your customers trust that you can securely handle their data or money?

In addition, digital products, services and channels emit huge amounts of data from every interaction with the customer. This data is generated by infrastructure (servers, VMs, containers, cloud, etc.), applications (your code, databases, web servers, etc.), clients (web, mobile, etc.), security technologies (endpoint, SSO, etc.), and it comes in the form of logs (debugging statements developers put into the code), metrics (measurements that quantify latency, consumption, etc.) and traces (end – to – end view of distributed transaction execution).

This driving need for more scale and adoption of new technologies (like cloud and Kubernetes) that require more powerful analytics has lead to the data – driven approach of observability.

Observability is not a tool or a technology; it is an approach that enables the observer to quickly detect and explain behaviours of applications and systems even if those behaviours have never been encountered before. Observability is an adaptive approach for multiple digital business challenges such as monitoring, diagnostics and troubleshooting of mission – critical applications running in the cloud or hybrid environments, refactoring applications from monolithic to microservices – based using technologies like Kubernetes or serverless, moving to the cloud, detecting and responding to security issues and performing real – time business analytics to name a few.

Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2021/08/16/reliability-an-imperative-for-digital-business/

LO2: Assess different applications of digital marketing

Learning outcomes:

2.1 Assess digital marketing activity in organisational contexts.

2.2 Illustrate how digital marketing can support the marketing function.

2.3 Explain the role of content in the digital marketing environment.

Benefits of digital marketing

Top 4 Reasons Why a Digital Strategy is Essential

1. Clarity and Direction

• A digital strategy provides clear direction and goals for your online presence.
• Without a defined strategy, it’s challenging to understand your purpose and how to effectively engage with your audience.
• By setting specific goals and benchmarks, your marketing tactics remain focused and aligned with your overall objectives.

2. Reach your audience where they are

• Today’s consumers spend a significant amount of time online, across various devices.
• To effectively reach your target audience, you need to be where they are – online.
• A digital strategy ensures you use platforms preferred by your audience, maximizing your reach and engagement.

3. Track and measure success

• Unlike traditional marketing methods, digital marketing offers precise tracking and monitoring capabilities.
• You can easily measure ROI for each digital channel, understanding the impact of your campaigns.
• Analysing metrics such as website traffic, user behaviour, and engagement provides valuable insights into campaign effectiveness.

4. Stand out in a crowded space

• With numerous businesses and consumers online, differentiation is key.
• Through a digital strategy, you can identify unique opportunities to set your business apart.
• Discovering gaps in your competitors’ digital presence or understanding your audience’s preferences allows you to tailor your approach for maximum impact.

In summary, a digital strategy is crucial for providing direction, reaching your audience effectively, measuring success, and differentiating your business in the competitive digital landscape. It ensures your marketing efforts are targeted, impactful, and aligned with your overall business goals.

7 Benefits Of Digital Marketing | Explained By A Digital Agency 🎥

Advantages and disadvantages of digital marketing

Advantages of digital marketing:

1. Real – Time Analytics:

• Advantage: Digital marketing allows businesses to track and measure campaign performance in real time.
• Benefit: Marketers can quickly adjust strategies based on real – time data, optimizing campaigns for better results.

2. Precise Targeting:

• Advantage: With digital marketing tools, businesses can target specific demographics, behaviours, and interests.
• Benefit: This precise targeting ensures that marketing efforts reach the most relevant audience, improving conversion rates.

3. Cost – Effectiveness:

• Advantage: Compared to traditional marketing methods, digital marketing is often more cost – effective.
• Benefit: Businesses can achieve significant reach and engagement without large advertising budgets, making it accessible for small businesses.

4. Global Reach:

• Advantage: Digital marketing allows businesses to reach a global audience.
• Benefit: Brands can expand their market reach beyond geographical boundaries, tapping into new markets and opportunities.

5. Interactivity and Engagement:

• Advantage: Digital marketing channels offer opportunities for interactive and engaging content.
• Benefit: Businesses can build relationships with customers through social media, email campaigns, and interactive websites, fostering brand loyalty.

6. Measurable Results:

• Advantage: Digital marketing provides clear metrics and analytics to measure campaign success.
• Benefit: Marketers can track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, click – through rates, conversions, and ROI, allowing for data – driven decision – making.

Disadvantages of digital marketing:

1. Information Overload:

• Disadvantage: Consumers are bombarded with digital content, leading to information overload.
• Challenge: It can be challenging for businesses to cut through the noise and capture audience attention amidst the abundance of online content.

2. Privacy Concerns:

• Disadvantage: Data privacy and security concerns are growing among consumers.
• Challenge: Businesses must navigate privacy regulations and earn consumer trust by handling personal data responsibly.

3. Continuous Adaptation:

• Disadvantage: Digital marketing tactics and technologies are constantly evolving.
• Challenge: Marketers need to stay updated with new trends, algorithms, and platforms to remain competitive and effective.

4. Digital Fatigue:

• Disadvantage: Overexposure to digital ads and content can lead to digital fatigue among consumers.
• Challenge: Businesses must balance frequency and relevance to avoid overwhelming their audience and causing disengagement.

5. Technical Issues:

• Disadvantage: Technical issues such as website downtime or slow loading speed can impact user experience.
• Challenge: Ensuring a seamless online experience requires ongoing monitoring and optimization of digital assets.

6. Ad Blocking:

• Disadvantage: The rise of ad blockers limits the reach of digital ads.
• Challenge: Marketers need to create compelling and non – intrusive ads to overcome ad blockers and reach their target audience effectively.

Digital marketing offers numerous advantages for businesses, from real – time analytics to precise targeting and global reach. However, it also comes with challenges such as information overload, privacy concerns, and the need for continuous adaptation. By understanding these advantages and disadvantages, businesses can develop strategies to maximize the benefits of digital marketing while mitigating potential challenges.

Digital Carbon Footprint: How To Reduce Your Digital Carbon Footprint 🎥

What is content marketing

Content marketing: strategy and execution

Content marketing is a powerful tool for brands to engage with their target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive sales. By creating and distributing relevant, valuable content, brands can establish themselves as thought leaders and build meaningful relationships with consumers. Here’s a comprehensive look at content marketing strategy and execution:

What is content marketing?

Content marketing involves the creation and distribution of useful, relevant content to attract and engage a brand’s target audience. This content signifies expertise and helps promote brand awareness and identity. It can take various forms such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, emails, webinars, and social media posts.

Benefits of content marketing:

1. Genuine engagement: consumers who resonate with brand content are more likely to develop a positive association.

1. Versatility: different mediums such as social media posts, newsletters, and videos offer various approaches to reach audiences.

Content marketing aligns with the stages of a customer’s journey:

1. Awareness:

• Customers may not be aware of the brand.
• Content like social media posts, emails, and blogs can illuminate challenges and draw attention.

2. Consideration:

• Customers are aware of the brand but are comparing options.
• Articles, quizzes, and guides help sway opinions in favour of the brand.

3. Commitment:

• Customers are ready to buy.
• Content such as newsletters, FAQ guides, and social media posts seal the deal and encourage sharing.

Key elements of a content marketing strategy

When developing a content marketing strategy, consider these four key elements:

1. Brand Positioning:

• Define your brand, values, and unique positioning in the market.
• Consider demographics, competitors, and brand experience to stand out.

2. Value Proposition:

• Identify the value you deliver through content.
• Provide recipes, lifestyle tips, or other relevant content that resonates with your audience.

3. Return on Investment (ROI):

• Develop a business case for your content strategy.
• Assess benefits, risks, and budget to ensure a high ROI.

4. Plan Development:

• Create a detailed plan on how, when, and where to implement your strategy.
• Align with business goals and integrate with other marketing and sales plans.

Content marketing is an essential component of any successful marketing strategy. By creating valuable and relevant content, brands can attract, engage, and retain customers throughout their journey. With a well – defined strategy focusing on brand positioning, value proposition, ROI, and plan development, businesses can effectively leverage content marketing to achieve their objectives and drive growth.

What Is Content Marketing? An Introduction To Content Marketing For Beginners 🎥

Unit 2: Digital enhancement

LO3: Know how to integrate digital and offline marketing

Learning outcomes

3.1 Determine key factors affecting the integration of digital and offline marketing.

3.2 Demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of multichannel marketing.

3.3 Describe how to measure the use of integrated marketing tactics.

The rise in usage and popularity of digital channels amongst customers – especially since Covid – 19 – has meant that many companies have reduced budgets for traditional marketing in favour of the online route.

But is this the right move for B2C and B2B marketing in an increasingly competitive space with so much online ‘noise’? Is relying on digital channels the best way to engage with customers in a way that builds trust and is meaningful?

Digital vs. Traditional Marketing: What’s the difference?

To understand both forms of marketing, it’s important to look at not only the channels but the interaction and performance.

As you can see, there are many advantages to digital marketing compared to traditional. While the odds may seem stacked in digital marketing’s favour, the story’s not that clean – cut.

Recent evidence cited by Harvard Business Review suggests that a shift is underway as in August 2021 and February 2022, marketers predicted that traditional advertising spending would increase by 1.4% and 2.9%.

Certain traditional channels are still very effective when it comes to influence and marketing. TV is one of those examples. Television ranks as the second most profitable advertising channel in the U.S behind the internet and accounts for one – fifth of total U.S. media ad revenue. In 2021, U.S. ad spending on linear television reached $66 billion.

🔗Why Marketers Are Returning to Traditional Advertising by Christine Moorman, Megan Ryan, and Nader Tavassoli 📰

Radio advertising is another channel that can hold its own and ad spending worldwide is projected to reach $30 billion in 2024.

🔗 Radio advertising expenditure worldwide from 2000 to 2024 by J. G. Navarro 📰

The secret to great marketing is the combination of both digital and traditional marketing and using them in an integrated way to enhance customer experience and leverage the power of all channels.

Is digital really greener than paper?

We’ve all received statements from our banks, telecommunication and utilities companies with a simple message at the bottom urging us to “Go paperless, save trees”, often accompanied by a picture of a winding river or a green tree.

Implicit in these requests is the assumption that going digital is better for the environment. But the paper industry disputes this. It is pushing companies to remove these claims, which it says are misleading consumers and aren’t substantiated by adequate research.

Two Sides, a membership organization representing the paper and print industry, recently announced that it has convinced more than 20 major US companies to remove their “anti – paper” green claims when promoting e – billing as more environmentally friendly than paper.

The non – profit wasn’t permitted to disclose the names of the companies due to privacy issues, but Phil Riebel, president at Two Side US, said the organisations were all Fortune 500 companies – banks, telcos and utilities.

“We’re challenging the environmental claims around electronic versus paper, and our arguments are that many things are not considered, such as sustainable forestry practices or the fact that a lot of people print at home,” Riebel said.

Two Sides and its members naturally have a vested interest in preserving the paper industry, but the organization’s campaign does raise an important question: Is going paperless really better for the environment?

Paper or pixel?

Paper has gotten a bad rap in recent years. Detractors claim paper manufacturing leads to mass deforestation and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. While paper supply chains could certainly use an overhaul, some of the arguments against using paper are just plain wrong.

“What people often don’t realize is that the paper – making process is sustainable, and claims to the contrary are misleading to the consumer,” said Mark Pitts , executive director of printing – writing, at the American Forest And Paper Association (AFANDPA).

According to the organisation, more than 65% of paper in the US was recycled in 2012, making paper the nation’s most recyclable commodity. Over the past century, forest coverage in the northern part of the country, from Minnesota to Maine, has actually increased by 28% according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.

On the surface, digital media does appear more sustainable. Electronic products such as phones and laptops are used over an over again, making it a renewable resource of sorts. But manufacturing electronic products also leaves a carbon footprint, as well as the energy needed to power them. And a growing concern is the rapid growth of discarded electronics, especially in developing countries.

E – waste is on the rise, with a global increase of 40m tons per year, especially in third world countries like India and South Africa, according to a 2009 United Nations report.

A lack of concrete information

For companies to assert that paperless is better for the environment, research is needed to back these claims, but there isn’t much literature available comparing paper and e – media. One of the main reasons for this is that the two commodities are so different, and one has been around for far longer than the other.

As one of the oldest forms of communication, paper’s life – cycle is easy to track, while e – media is young in relative terms. Companies must prove that they’ve looked at both and found electronics have a lower impact, Riebel said.

“We have to be careful when we pin one product against the other and say it’s better. It’s a tricky thing to do if you don’t have all the data to back it up.” “Paper comes in a variety of forms from many different manufacturers, so there will likely be a number of impacts, not just one that can be generally applied”, said Arpad Horvath, a professor of engineering at the University of California – Berkeley.

More research is needed regarding the footprint of electronics, which means there is no “average environmental footprint” for e – media either, added Horvath, who, in 2004, published a study on the environmental impact of wireless technologies.

Saving the environment or saving money?

While the environmental benefits of going paperless may not be entirely clear just yet, it certainly carries cost savings for companies.

And it’s the bottom line that really motivates companies, said Shamel Naguib, president at Paperless Productivity, which helps medium to large companies, including healthcare and banking institutions, reduce or eliminate their paper documents by going electronic.

“For 99.9% of projects, the green initiative has nothing to do with it,” said Naguib. “It has everything to do with saving money.”

Even when he started the company 11 years ago, companies’ motives to go paperless were never about going green.

And now, “money is so tight with organizations and costs are such a critical part of the puzzle, I don’t know of anyone who is investing money just to be green,” he said.

Meantime, consumers seem to be on to companies’ true motives. According to a Two Sides survey, eight of 10 people in the US said they were suspicious of a company’s motives to push e – billing, believing financial considerations were the primary motivation for companies to push e – billing.

And customers still seem to prefer paper. According to a study released last year by technology consultancy Forrester Research Inc., more than half of customers were still opting for paper statements.

Until more research has been done on the life – cycle and environmental impact of electronics, pitting paper and e – media against each other is somewhat futile. It doesn’t need to be an “either or” situation. There is a place for both paper and e – media.

“The ideal situation is that we use both electronic and print media in a way that meets our social and environmental and economic needs,” Riebel said.

The Guardian 🔗 Is digital really greener than paper? 📰

Issues relating to data management

Data: A double – edged sword

No matter the goal, data can be a double – edged sword for technology companies. If wielded with skill, it can cut through competition. If managed poorly, operational and technical challenges can lead to self – inflicted wounds. In a candid discussion with a group of technology industry leaders with data management expertise and influence, we explored their operational maturity, challenges, thoughts on regulation, use of emerging technology, and organizational leading practices.

Most leaders told us that they had a high degree of confidence in their ability to handle any data management issue, but admitted that challenges still exist around governance, privacy, security, and architecture. Those that felt they were ahead of their peers credited modern applications and infrastructure, multiyear transformation initiatives, data loss prevention solutions, strong organizational collaboration, and robust policies around governance, privacy, and security. The few that felt they were lagging said that they lacked resources to enforce their governance, privacy, and security policies and had struggles with data quality. One leader admitted, “In the spirit of ‘the cobbler’s son wears no shoes,’ we are definitely underfunded in IT, with strained resources that are challenged by being leading – edge in our capabilities.”

Three key challenges to achieving leaders’ data management goals

Collecting and protecting ever – growing volumes of data ranked as the top barrier (figure). One leader told us, “Volumes continue to rise across all functions, without much regard for prioritizing what data is required to be maintained.” The data leaders highlighted a need for better technologies to collect data, make sense of it, and make it meaningful. They also said that achieving a holistic view of their entire enterprise’s data landscape and identifying sensitive data were significant challenges. Finally, with increasing amounts of data to handle, managing policy implementation and audit was getting harder.

Shifting regulations garnered the next – highest ranking. “Regulations changing all the time is a giant pain on top of an already complex problem,” one leader said. Most were resigned to the fact that inconsistencies will arise when trying to satisfy multiple regulators around the world. One said, “All regulations are a cost of doing business; we adapt to them because we don’t have a choice.” Many pointed out that new data – related regulations could lead to higher costs, increased complexity (e.g., network segmentation because of data sovereignty), and challenges to software development.

As part of the broader regulatory landscape, cross – border transfers and data localization issues also worried our data leaders. Some were trying to avoid or minimize having to transfer data out of country. A few had to establish additional cloud data centres around the world and develop new preferred partners. Generally, there was a fear of unintentionally “tripping up,” because they didn’t know something regarding the dynamic regulatory landscape.

The third major barrier, cost and complexity of data privacy, was selected by 18% as number one but by 50% as number two, indicating a high level of concern. Data leaders are dealing with a greater focus on data privacy due to customer requests and requirements, regulations, and internal improvements. This is creating a ripple effect, leading to increased costs for leaders, “The cost of everything is rising but our budgets aren’t rising with it.”

How leaders are addressing their data management challenges

The amount of data collected and generated isn’t going to decrease. This means data leaders should anticipate and prepare for potential challenges. Our panellists told us they were focused on four areas:

Improving internal, ecosystem, and industry – wide collaboration. Collaboration is essential for planning data management strategies and facing challenges head – on. Data leaders suggested that clear roles and responsibilities, aligned priorities, and transparent communication and policies were important. Whether collaboration is more structured or ad – hoc, a variety of functional viewpoints is critical: The CIO, research, security, legal, data management, business leadership, application development, infrastructure, and compliance should work together.

Staying on top of rapid regulatory change. It is important to make strategic investments and choices with potential regulatory developments in mind. Having strong, cross – functional collaboration and well – established workflows can help organizations react quickly to regulatory challenges. Some of our data leaders had dedicated teams or roles to monitor and evaluate the impact of global regulations. Modern infrastructure can help as well, one leader told us: “Most of our critical infrastructure is new, automated, and in public cloud, which gives us an advantage in terms of agility. We can redesign and redeploy much of our infrastructure confidently.”

Improving training to increase employee awareness and compliance. Leaders told us that, across the board, there needs to be better user education and stricter enforcement of rules when it comes to data management and cybersecurity. This includes both methodologies and technologies. Data leaders should share in the responsibility as well, by implementing more automated tools. “The average user is not suited to be responsible for understanding the full scope of data they handle and shouldn’t be saddled with this level of accountability,” one leader said. “We have to provide more intelligent systems and processes.”

Modernizing infrastructure, deploying automated solutions, and experimenting with emerging tech. Many of the data leaders we spoke with wanted to continue to streamline their systems and create a “lighter footprint.” This means moving to a fully SaaS – native cloud and standardizing their tools across all clouds. They also want to integrate new data sources and improve their ability to process real – time information. Some were beginning to experiment with automated data classification, including deployment of homegrown and commercial artificial intelligence/machine learning tools.

It can be difficult for tech industry leaders to weather the many challenges of increasing data volume, shifting regulations, higher costs, and more complexity. However, by focusing consistently on collaboration, flexibility, modernization, and automation, they may enhance operations and anticipate regulatory requirements.

Deloittes Insights: 🔗Data: A double-edged sword by P.H. Silverglate & D. Jarvis 📰

How can digital and traditional marketing work together?

Integrating online and offline experiences: the Omnichannel Approach

In today’s interconnected world, customers interact with brands through various channels, both online and offline. To drive success and create a seamless experience for customers, brands can adopt an omnichannel approach. This strategy involves integrating new digital channels with traditional offline assets to provide a cohesive and consistent brand experience. Here are some examples of how brands can effectively integrate online and offline channels:

1. Events and Account – Based Marketing

• Example: your sales team attends in – person events to target key clients.
• Scenario: targeting a client in a high – profile tech company by attending an event they sponsor and knowing that person is on a panel.
• Benefits: personalized interactions, building relationships, and targeted engagement.

2. Mail – Outs/Brochures and Online Discounts

• Example: including leaflets in print media or mailing out brochures with a discount code.
• Scenario: offering a discount code that drives people online to a custom landing page to claim the offer.
• Benefits: encourages online engagement, tracks offline – to – online conversions, and drives traffic to specific landing pages.

3. Outdoor Advertising and Geotargeting

• Example: using posters and banners for brand awareness in specific areas.
• Scenario: utilizing geotargeting from online platforms to narrow down locations of prospects and placing advertising in those areas.
• Benefits: targeted local advertising, increased relevance for the audience, and driving engagement in specific regions.

4. TV and QR Codes

Example: incorporating QR codes in traditional TV ads.

Scenario: Superbowl LVI using a QR code on its ad to offer people $15 in free bitcoin.

Benefits: seamless transition from TV to online channels, driving traffic to specific offers or promotions, and increasing engagement.

5. Print and Website Links

• Example: including URLs in print media such as magazines and newspapers.
• Scenario: ASOS magazine profiles products and celebrities with each item linked to a ‘Shop the ASOS magazine’ web page.
• Benefits: directing readers online for more information, creating a bridge between print and digital content, and driving website traffic.

6. In – Store and Mobile Apps

• Example: shoppers using mobile apps while shopping in – store.
• Scenario: customers using apps to find or redeem coupons, locate sale items, or make purchases.
• Benefits: enhancing the in – store experience, providing convenience to shoppers, and driving mobile engagement.

Integrating online and offline channels through an omnichannel approach is crucial for brands looking to create a seamless customer experience. By combining traditional offline assets with digital channels, brands can reach customers at various touchpoints, provide personalized interactions, and drive engagement. This approach not only enhances brand visibility but also improves customer loyalty and increases conversions. As customers expect a cohesive brand experience, brands that successfully integrate online and offline channels will stay ahead in today’s competitive market.

Mobile purchases while shopping in – store is growing among all age cohorts:

According to Mercator Advisory Group, younger adults are more likely to have used a mobile app to make a purchase while shopping in a store.

61% of smartphone users ages 18 – 24 used a mobile app to make a purchase while shopping in – store in 2020, up from 53% in 2019.

67% of smartphone users ages 25 – 34 used a mobile app to make a purchase while shopping in – store in 2020, up from 60% in 2019.

65% of smartphone users ages 25 – 44 used a mobile app to make a purchase while shopping in – store in 2020, up from 59% in 2019.

41% of smartphone users ages 45 – 64 used a mobile app to make a purchase while shopping in – store in 2020, up from 35% in 2019.

28% of smartphone users ages 65+ used a mobile app to make a purchase while shopping in – store in 2020, up from 15% in 2019.

Overall, 52% of smartphone users ages used a mobile app to make a purchase while shopping in – store in 2020, up from 47% in 2019.

🔗 Mobile Purchases While Shopping In-store is Growing Among All Age Cohorts By PaymentsJournal 📰

Reviewing digital marketing insights and analytics to improve customer experience

Mastering the digital advantage in transforming customer experience

Improving customer experience delivers real benefits to companies that successfully execute customer – centric strategies. Across sectors, satisfied customers spend more, exhibit deeper loyalty to companies, and create conditions that allow companies to have lower costs and higher levels of employee engagement. In that dynamic of value creation and durable competitive advantage, delivering digital services and operations has emerged as a prime mover in reshaping customer experience in almost every sector. As digital pure plays such as Amazon, Apple, and Uber continuously reinvent themselves by delivering simple, immediate, and individualized experiences, even traditional business – to – business players in sectors such as chemicals and steel are making bold moves to build dynamic shared digital.

The digital component in transforming customer experience

In this article we focus on what we’ve learned in building this operating model and the four success factors that are key to delivering superior digital experiences, as well as the challenges that companies across industries face in efforts to secure them. The success factors are as follows:

• designing and digitizing customer journeys
• increasing speed and agility in insight generation
• achieving customer adoption of digital customer journeys
• developing agility in delivering journey transformations

It is no surprise that a lot of digital journey transformations struggle to succeed, considering that running a digital customer – experience transformation is a complex, multidimensional task. It requires a combination of traditional transformation elements – such as rigorous, top – management commitment and steering – and cross – functional teamwork, as well as more digital elements, including agile delivery of technology, along all – journey transformation phases. That said, the effort can pay off handsomely; in our work we regularly observe up to 15 percent revenue increases and simultaneous reductions in cost to serve of more than 20 percent.

Customer – centric design of customer journeys

A key to offering an outstanding digital customer experience is creating a radical design (or redesign) of journeys to be improved. What we have found to work extremely well is to apply design – thinking methodologies and to conduct a design boot camp. Such a starting point is also how to best begin the process of developing an agile digital delivery system within a cross – functional team.

In this process, the primary goal is to thoroughly rethink the way the journey works, instead of simply fixing inefficiencies along the way. The customer and his or her needs and preferences is both the starting point as well as the ongoing proof point for the work, meaning that new designs are immediately tested and iterated based on customer feedback. Within such redesign workshops, it helps to render the customer journey in a clickable prototype in order to obtain a more concrete look and feel of the actual customer experience, which can then be continuously tested with customers. Overall, the approach must, however, allow for seamless integration with existing channels, including non – digital journeys. Furthermore, legacy processes, which become redundant as a result of the new journey, should still be run in parallel until the new journey is fully operational.

Similarly, a redesign of the customer – relocation journey for a large, multinational energy company introduced an approach to automated communication that reduced process steps for customers by half and accelerated processing time by 80 percent, while also making it easy for customers to move their accounts at any time during or after their relocation, via a range of devices. These changes decreased cost to serve by 40 percent and tripled the retention rate of relocating customers. By embedding design thinking in the organization, management was also able to form a new vision of how customers could experience their redesigned services in the future for a broad range of customer journeys.

Increasing speed and agility in generating insights

Digitization and the fast pace of changing market and consumer dynamics require fast, frictionless “real time” insights into a multitude of different areas for decision making, specifically customer – journey management and design.

Generating insights in an “agile” way in a digital – customer – experience transformation can start with conducting an in – depth user – experience assessment of current customer touchpoints, such as web properties, devices, call centres, and branches. These can then be compared with competitors. By combining this exercise with the zero – based approach to rethinking the customer journey, it is possible to generate valuable insights as to the strengths and weaknesses of the digital customer – experience design.

During the journey design process, agile insights can then be used to rapidly test new ideas and journey steps with customers, with more scale than traditional focus groups. For example, it is possible to use an online focus group with a carefully selected target audience or live video chats with customers sitting at home testing out a new digital process on screen to provide immediate insights that can help to fine – tune key journey steps. One large European energy player used customer – experience – measurement software to integrate input from text messages, web, and email surveys. One large insurer created digital “diaries” to better understand customer pain points.

Achieving customer adoption of digital customer journeys

The awareness of how to build effective digital channels has risen significantly in recent years. However, a typical pitfall we observe is that many projects falter because not enough thinking goes into actively stimulating customer adoption. There are a number of reasons why customers fail to adopt digital channels. In some cases they are related to sales barriers, such as a preference for in – person contact, the speed with which a product is delivered, or e – care challenges, including a lack of personalized experience. Consequently, customers don’t embrace digital self – service channels to the degree desired, limiting efficiency gains and cost savings. Thus, orchestrating and stimulating digital customer adoption thoroughly is a key success factor.

In our experience, there is no “silver bullet” to stimulate customer adoption of digital journeys. Rather, the answer lies in pulling a combination of different levers and iterating approaches based on customer testing. Broad strategies, each with their own tactics, include informing the customer, making the customer journey relevant to the customer, and guiding him or her to engage:

Informing the customer

Using effective marketing techniques, such as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine advertising (SEA), or offline campaigns, is critical for engaging consumers. Despite focusing on creating digital channels, there still needs to be a well – formed mix between traditional – and digital – media techniques. A great example for this combination is the market launch of Foodora in Germany, where the company successfully applied a mix between SEO/SEA, online awareness campaigns, and offline out – of – home penetration. Other digital pure plays like Amazon and Zalando followed similar strategies.

Explaining the usage of the new digital channels, for example, through videos at physical touchpoints, can also be a highly effective mechanism to promote adoption. Players like Deutsche Telekom, which promotes new cloud services; Alaska Airlines, with home check – in and baggage – tag printing; or HSBC, with its tutorial videos on redesigned online banking are companies that have taken this approach.

Triggering initial usage through testing, user groups, and by pushing reviews has allowed some players to stimulate feedback and word of mouth to gain a critical base.

Making the digital journey relevant

Pooling relevant content and creating a delightful experience, for example, by bundling functionalities in one app, is key, especially for digital channels that are not frequently used. There is only a limited number of apps that individual customers use, and so these need to contain as much content as possible from the same company. In Turkey, insurer Allianz decided to pool functionalities for health insurance, claims submission, and other services in one app instead of offering multiple apps, which would have a much lower likelihood of usage by consumers.

Include high – frequency services to stay in use (for example, gamification and feedback opportunities). An effective example of this is from the Chinese insurer Ping An, which includes multiple engaging functionalities in its Good Doctor app. In this way, the company triggered higher usage and was able to collect valuable behavioural customer data.

Continuously improve and innovate digital journeys. Draw from user – experience data to increase adoption and success of digital channels over time. Based on effective user – experience assessments and customer tests, some companies have used such simple tactics as developing a new landing page or changing the colours of functional elements on websites to improve subscriptions and click – through rates.

Guiding the customer

Providing incentives is also a major driver for digital adoption. Offering bonus points or other financial rewards is a common approach. This strategy is exemplified by the British Sunday Times’s competitive pure – digital subscription offer over traditional ones.

Reducing the effectiveness or limiting access to competing or legacy channels allows companies to further nudge laggard adopters. This signals commitment and confidence in new digital tools or channels. For example, airline Wizz Air offers digital support on its website for free, while charging a service fee of 15 euros when seeking help from the call centre.

To encourage customer adoption of digital journeys, it is critical to not simply rely on the quality of the channel but to find a suitable, individual solution using multiple levers to drive adoption. Furthermore, it is essential to achieve internal alignment in the organization across channel and business – unit leadership. Conflicts that arise among leaders on strategy, targets, incentives, and mind – sets can be highly disruptive.

🔗Mastering the digital advantage in transforming customer experience📰

LO4: Understand approaches to enhancing stakeholder engagement

Learning outcomes:

4.1 Illustrate how organisations’ key stakeholders influence digital marketing campaigns.

4.2 Outline online customer journeys to support improvements in customer experience.

What is stakeholder engagement & why is it important?

Stakeholder engagement is a process that organizations can follow in order to listen to, collaborate with, or inform (or a combination of all three) their existing stakeholders.

Stakeholder engagement helps marketers to proactively consider the needs and desires of anyone who has a stake in their marketing activities, which can foster connections, trust, confidence, and buy – in for your marketing strategies and plans. This includes customers but also suppliers, distributors, retailers and internal markets. When done well, stakeholder engagement can mitigate potential risks and conflicts with stakeholder groups, including uncertainty, dissatisfaction, misalignment, disengagement, and resistance to change.

What Is Stakeholder Engagement? 🎥

How to engage stakeholders

Identify – this involves identifying who your stakeholders are and your goals for engaging them. You will need to think about how to influence each stakeholder in different ways, according to who they are and what their interests are in your company, to achieve the results you want.

Analyse – the better you know your stakeholders and the more you understand them, the more effective your engagement will be with them and, in turn, the more you can influence them. It is important to prioritise your time with them and allocate your resources accordingly. Take time to plan who you have to support you in the engagement process and what skills they can bring to help you. It is important to think about specific ways you can gather information from your stakeholders and gain insight into their ideas and perceptions of your project and what tools you can use to do this.

Plan – it is important to draw up a campaign plan to communicate and engage your stakeholders. This involves thinking about who will be involved in each assignment, what approach you will take and the messages you will give about your company. You will also need to think about managing the feedback you will get, who will gather and process this, and what will be done in response to the feedback that you get.

Act – this is where you will engage your stakeholders, understand their ideas and influence their attitudes. You may face resistance; this needs to be handled positively in order to remove it where possible. Having powerful insights will help you in managing the resistance you are facing.

Review – reviewing the success of the stakeholder campaign is crucial. This involves continuously monitoring and reviewing the outcomes of your communication with stakeholders and revising your plans where necessary. This also involves thinking about potential new stakeholders and how you are going to engage with them. It is vital to evaluate your activity at the end of a project and at regular intervals for longer or more complex campaigns. Through evaluation, you can ensure that you are meeting your objectives and targets and engaging with the right stakeholders. Be sure to invite further stakeholder feedback as this will improve the engagement strategy in the future. These are all good opportunities to learn.

Why is it important to engage with stakeholders

Stakeholder engagement is becoming more important than ever as businesses are under close scrutiny from regulators and the media. Successful projects have all engaged with stakeholders and community groups and have managed these relationships proactively rather than reactively.

When stakeholder engagement is done effectively, it improves communication channels between parties, creates and maintains support for the project, gathers information for the organisation, and reduces the potential for conflict.

This means establishing open and honest lines of communication. Stakeholders need to know what is happening and what is in it for them. It is important to put yourself in their shoes and treat them how you would want to be treated.

Internal stakeholders are important because the company is reliant upon them to work together to achieve the goals of the business. External stakeholders can affect the business indirectly. For example, customers could be lost to another competing company, or they could change their buying habits in some way.

Suppliers can change the way they manufacture or distribute, or the government could change a law or regulation which could have a direct impact on your company. It is vital to manage relationships with both internal and external stakeholders in order to see consistent and long – term success. For further reading and tips you may find the following guide useful gov.uk ensuring effective stakeholder engagement.

The benefits of stakeholder engagement

• It offers those who will affect or be affected by the outcomes a chance to voice their opinion or concerns.
• It ensures that an organisation has greater clarity and a shared vision with its stakeholders.
• It enables an organisation to identify who its key stakeholders are and understand the relationship they have and what they expect from the organisation.
• It will give a better understanding of people’s needs at different levels.
• There will be increased opportunities for learning on both sides.
• It helps build relationships and partnerships that will generate value.
• It helps to reduce the level of risk within an organisation and improves governance.
• It will create more informed decision – making.
• It can identify strategies to gain a competitive advantage over other companies.

How to create effective stakeholder engagement

People will only respond if they are engaged. Effective communication is vital, as is consulting with your stakeholders early and often. Developing meaningful relationships where the stakeholders feel valued increases trust which means that people work together more effectively. This can increase confidence, problem – solving and decision – making.

It is important to build a stakeholder engagement strategy, and there are some steps you can take in order to do this successfully.

What Is Meaningful Customer Engagement? 🎥

Analyse your stakeholder

Never simply assume that you know who all of your stakeholders are; you will need to take the time to find out for certain. Cambridge dictionaries define a stakeholder as:

‘A person such as an employee, customer or citizen who is involved with an organisation and therefore has responsibilities towards it and an interest in its success.’

This can help you to identify both internal and external stakeholders. You can then map your stakeholders into four groups:

• Low interest, low influence – Those you need to keep informed. This may involve newsletters, websites, speeches, press and mailings.
• High interest, low influence – Those you need to involve and consult with. This may involve focus groups, task groups, visits and deliberative meetings.
• Low interest, high influence – Powerful stakeholders you need to engage. This may include open forums, round – table discussions, advisory groups, seminars, user panels and conferences.
• High interest, high influence – Partners you need to collaborate with, engage closely and influence actively. This may include joint planning, joint campaigning and press activities, partnership agreements, secondments and joint research.

Introduction To Stakeholder Maps 🎥

An organisation has many stakeholders with whom they need to communicate. The purpose of the communication will vary. For customers it is to buy products for retailers and distributors it may be to motivate. Or suppliers to understand the future needs of the organisation. Digital media, whether it is email, Twitter (X), Blogs and so on provides an effective communication tool and enhance the engagement of stakeholders.

Using digital marketing tools to improve awareness of broader societal issues and online customer experience.

How Can NGOs Use Social Media To Promote Their Work? 🎥

Buyer persona and customer journey

Buyer Persona

A buyer persona represents your ideal customer. It’s a semi – fictional representation of your best potential buyer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. It’s also called an audience persona, a marketing persona, or a customer persona.

Some characteristics you’ll give a buyer persona include geographical location, age, interests, and more. Your goal is to understand your customer’s goals and challenges. This way, you can understand their pain points and provide solutions through your products or services.

Customer Journey

The customer journey is the series of interactions a customer has with a brand, product, or business as they become aware of a pain point and make a purchase decision. While the buyer’s journey refers to the general process of arriving at a purchase, the customer journey refers to a buyer’s purchasing experience with a specific company or service.

The Design Process (Buyer Persona & Customer Journey) | Skills 🎥

What is the customer journey

The customer journey is the path that a customer takes when interacting with a brand, product, or business, starting from the initial awareness of a need or problem, all the way through to making a purchase decision. While the buyer’s journey is a broader concept referring to the general process leading to a purchase, the customer journey is more specific, focusing on the unique purchasing experience with a particular company or service provider.

A customer journey map is a visual tool designed to help understand your customers’ needs, challenges, and interactions with your brand or products. When utilized effectively, this map becomes a crucial asset for enhancing customer engagement.

This map is essentially a timeline that charts every touchpoint a customer encounters with your business, from their first awareness to repeat business. It offers insight into what the customer goes through at each interaction point.

For instance, a customer journey map might reveal that a customer struggles to evaluate your product on your mobile website, couldn’t find necessary information online, appreciated the in – store service, and eventually decided to make a repeat purchase.

By employing a customer journey map, you can develop a deeper understanding of your customers, identify and address potential issues, make informed business decisions, and ultimately improve customer retention. This map also highlights touchpoints that customers particularly enjoy, allowing you to emphasize these positive experiences, as well as areas where common pain points occur that need improvement.

This tool is invaluable for creating standard operating procedures within your business, training your staff, enhancing overall team understanding of your customers, and refining your product or service for an optimal user experience.

Elements of a Customer Journey Map:

1. Customer Persona: Understanding your customer’s experience begins with knowing who your customer is. If you haven’t already, start by creating customer personas to represent different segments of your customer base.
2. Phases: These are the stages of decision – making and purchasing that customers go through. Here’s a basic breakdown:

• Awareness: Recognizing a need, problem, or opportunity.
• Research: Exploring solutions and evaluating options.
• Consideration: Deciding to make a purchase and narrowing down choices.
• Purchase/Decision/Delivery: Selecting a solution and completing the purchase.
• Support/Advocacy/Follow – up: Using the product or service, engaging with the company, and deciding on future purchases.

3. Touchpoints: These are every interaction a customer has with your brand throughout their journey. Touchpoints can vary based on your marketing, sales, product, and customer service approach, and may include:

• Marketing collateral (posters, billboards, etc.)
• Physical properties (storefront, office)
• Digital properties (website, social media)
• Staff interactions (cashiers, customer service, sales)
• Purchase experience (pricing, checkout)
• Post – purchase follow – ups (emails, calls)
• Ongoing support and service
• Renewal or cancellation processes

4. Customer Thoughts, Actions, and Emotions: This aspect involves mapping out the customer’s precise experience at each touchpoint. What are they thinking, doing, and feeling at each step of the journey?

5. Opportunities: After plotting the customer journey, note potential opportunities for improvement. These are areas where you can eliminate pain points and enhance the overall buying journey:

• Where are customers encountering obstacles that prevent them from purchasing or returning?

By thoroughly understanding the customer journey and leveraging this map, businesses can better tailor their strategies to meet customer needs, enhance satisfaction, and ultimately drive growth.

Source: Uxplanet.org

What is the customer journey

Change Data Capture (CDC)

Put simply, Continuous Data Collection (CDC) refers to the process of gathering new data that is unexpected and could potentially lead to a shift in strategy or approach to managing a situation within an organization. This concept is utilized in various departments, from addressing production faults to handling employee absences.

For marketers, CDC becomes crucial when there are notable changes in received data, such as a sudden decrease in web traffic. This shift could signal a change in the customer journey, prompting a revaluation of the digital marketing strategy to ensure it aligns with the evolving customer behaviour.

Six steps to creating a Customer Journey Map

To create a customer journey map:

1. Decide what to measure. Get clear on your goals, so you know what to look for as you plot your customer journey.
2. Create your customer persona. Start with knowing which buyer you’re focused on and what their general needs and wants are.
3. Define your customer buying phases. What are the stages your customer goes through between discovering their problem and deciding to purchase your product or service? Which stages happen after purchase?
4. Plot your touchpoints. Within each phase, where does your customer interact with your brand?
5. Add customer thoughts, actions and emotions. At each touchpoint, what is the customer prompted to think, do and feel?
6. Note your opportunities. Based on your goals and what you discover through your customer journey map, which changes can you make at each touchpoint or within each phase to improve the customer experience?

Customer Journey Map Workshop 🎥

Personas provide an idealised description of the target market and in doing so provides a headline view of a segment’s characteristics. These characteristics will then be useful in creating a customer journey that allows the marketer to plan appropriate interactions with customers on their journey before, during and after purchase.

LO5: Know how to develop a digital marketing plan

Learning outcomes

5.1 Discuss the key stages in digital marketing planning.

5.2 Create a digital marketing plan

Digital Marketing Plan

A digital marketing plan is a comprehensive document wherein marketers strategically outline their digital marketing objectives and the actions they will take to achieve these objectives. It encompasses business goals, digital strategies, competitive landscape analysis, as well as timelines, budgets, digital channels, and more. This plan defines the future direction and investment needed to enhance the contribution of digital marketing for a business. It sets SMART objectives for digital channels, prioritizing strategic initiatives to leverage digital media, data, and marketing technology to engage audiences through digital devices and platforms. The scope includes opportunities from new business and revenue models, as well as always – on and campaign communications integrated with offline media and interactions.

Digital Marketing Strategy

A digital marketing strategy is a channel strategy derived from a marketing strategy. It is essential that the strategy supports business goals and is integrated with offline marketing activities. As defined by Chaffney (2022), a digital marketing strategy is about

“achieving marketing objectives through applying digital media, data, and technology.”

A digital marketing strategy must:

• Be informed by research into customer channel behaviour and marketplace activity, including intermediaries, publishers, and competitors.
• Be based on objectives for future online and offline channel contribution percentages.
• Define and communicate the differentials of the channel to encourage customer utilization.
• Manage channel integration effectively.

In essence, a digital marketing strategy defines how companies should:

• Achieve channel leads and sales targets.
• Allocate budgets for Acquisition, Conversion, Retention & Growth, and Service.
• Communicate the benefits of using the channel to enhance brand perception.
• Prioritize audiences targeted through the channel.
• Prioritize products available through the channel.

A Digital Marketing Strategy is crucial for providing consistent direction for online marketing activities and channel integration. Its goal is to ensure the integration of digital and other marketing activities to support overall business objectives. Digital marketing strategy aligns with marketing strategies to facilitate business growth through customer acquisition and retention, or to achieve the communications goals of not – for – profit organizations.

Additionally, a digital strategy should impact business and marketing strategy by identifying opportunities to create value for customers and the business. This includes reviewing new digital business and revenue models, such as subscription commerce. An online marketing strategy is indispensable, as without it, businesses fail to invest sufficiently in always – on lifecycle marketing activities and improving best practices for all digital marketing channels.

The six digital marketing communications tactics that the digital marketing strategy must specify investment in and improvements to best practices are:

1. Search Engine Marketing: enhances search engine visibility for target keywords through paid Pay – Per – Click (PPC) ads and organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO), balancing paid and earned media strategies.
2. Social Media Marketing: combines paid ads and organic content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to enhance visibility and engage customers, leveraging both owned and earned media.
3. Display Advertising: utilizes online banners and video ads on social media platforms and publishers to increase brand awareness. This includes programmatic display and native advertising, similar to digital sponsorship.
4. Digital PR: aims to secure positive external mentions, using tactics like guest blogging and influencer outreach to boost awareness, drive traffic, and support SEO.
5. Digital Partnerships: involves collaborative promotions on third – party sites, including affiliate marketing, co – branding, and co – marketing. This is particularly effective in retail, travel, and finance sectors.
6. Digital Messaging: primarily includes email marketing, which remains effective, but also utilizes mobile messaging such as mobile push and SMS notifications. It focuses on subscribed opt – in audiences with an emphasis on compliance with privacy regulations.

5 stages of planning a digital marketing strategy with examples

The 5 stages of strategic digital marketing planning are: Plan > Reach > Act > Convert and Engage.

In this section, we will summarise the key success factors for each stage of your digital marketing strategy, with examples, integrated across the Smart Insights RACE Framework.

The RACE Framework Explained 🎥

Planning

Omnichannel planning opportunities include customizing analytics, setting up KPI dashboards, and setting SMART objectives to create a strategy of prioritized improvements to how you deploy digital marketing media, technology, and data to increase leads and sales.

To ensure your digital marketing strategy is working efficiently and effectively, we recommend taking a digitally – focused approach to strategy and planning. The RACE Framework is designed for marketers and managers to create a fully integrated, data – driven, practical digital marketing funnel to support their business’ overall vision.

Reach

Strengthen your marketing funnel by reaching more customers and building awareness. Inform your digital marketing strategy with the latest key online marketing techniques to drive visits to your site.

Act

Encourage interactions on your website or social media to help you generate leads for the future. Having reached your audience, it’s crucial you influence their next steps to move down the funnel toward a purchase decision.

Content marketing

Use content marketing to entertain, inspire, educate, and convince potential converters during their customer lifecyc

www.smartinsights.com

Convert

The pinnacle of your structured digital marketing strategy is, of course, to convert more customers. Use retargeting, nurturing and conversion rate optimization to remind and persuade your audience to buy online or offline if phone and face – to – face channels if these are important to you.

Engage

Finally, after you’re worked so hard to get them, did you know you can increase sales from existing customers by keeping them engaged after their first purchase? Improve your personalized communications using web, email, and social media marketing using the data you already have about them to create hyper – personalized marketing campaigns.

RACE model and Customer Journey

This infographic shows how the RACE model can link with the customer journey.

www.smartinsights.com

The RACE Marketing Planning Framework 🎥

Adapt the RACE model to fit your organisation’s digital marketing strategy. This model builds on the STP model of segment – target – position for the digital strategy. So firstly, there needs to be clear segmentation and development of personas. Then there needs to be appropriate media to reach the segment. An attractive message to attract and encourage customers to act via a purchase or other actions – maybe a like or positive review.

LO6: Apply and adapt digital marketing analysis

Learning outcomes

6.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the data required for measuring the performance of digital plans.

6.2 Recommend online metrics to determine performance against objectives.

6.3 Reflect on how to monitor changes in the technological environment.

What is digital analytics?

Digital analytics is a comprehensive term that encompasses the tools and processes used to gather, measure, analyse, and interpret behavioural data. This data provides insights into how prospects and customers interact with your brand and product across various digital platforms.

The scope of digital analytics covers a wide range of sources, including:

• Websites
• Landing pages
• Mobile apps
• Software products
• Digital marketing campaigns
• Social media channels
• Customer interactions

While digital analytics is primarily utilized to inform marketing and product decisions, its insights are invaluable for other areas such as customer success and product support.

Benefits of Digital Analytics

1. Seamless and personalized customer experience

• In today’s competitive landscape, users expect a seamless and personalized customer experience.
• Seventy – six percent of consumers would cease doing business with a company after encountering a single bad customer experience.
• Personalization has shifted from a bonus to a necessity for businesses to retain and attract customers.

2. Data – driven decision making

• Data and analytics are critical for business growth, with 94% of businesses acknowledging their importance.
• However, the abundance of data can lead to challenges, as over 80% of enterprise data is either siloed or unstructured.
• This unutilized data, often referred to as “dark data,” is collected during regular business activities but remains untapped for analysis.

3. Moving beyond static personas

• Many organizations rely on static personas and top – level metrics like pageviews or purchases, which can be limiting.
• To provide meaningful personalization, it’s crucial to dive deeper into user interactions and behaviours.
• By analysing user behaviour through digital analytics, companies can create more dynamic and relevant customer experiences.

In summary, digital analytics plays a pivotal role in understanding customer behaviour, enabling businesses to make informed decisions, deliver personalized experiences, and drive growth. It bridges the gap between data collection and actionable insights, helping organizations stay competitive in today’s data – driven market.

🔗 2020 Global State of Enterprise Analytics 📰

Top 3 benefits of digital analytics:

1. Understanding users’ needs and preferences: Digital analytics allows businesses to comprehend user behaviour in a nuanced and privacy – conscious manner. Balancing personalization and privacy is crucial, and analytics tools provide insights into relevant pain points without compromising privacy. With the right data, businesses can deliver personalized experiences that resonate with users, as 83% of consumers are willing to share data for a personalized experience.
2. Accurate performance measurement: Seamless and consistent user experiences across multiple touchpoints are essential for customer satisfaction. Digital analytics provides a unified view of the buyer’s journey, capturing interactions from various channels. Understanding the nonlinear nature of buyer journeys helps in accurately measuring performance and identifying areas for improvement. Tracking interactions post – conversion is equally vital to ensure a seamless experience and prevent customer churn.
3. Effective campaign optimization and conversion rates: Digital analytics offers flexibility to analyse user behaviour at a granular level, enabling informed optimization efforts. Optimization based on real user behaviour, rather than generic KPIs, leads to improved conversion rates. Leveraging customer behavioural insights can result in significant sales growth and improved margins, as observed by organizations utilizing digital analytics.

Roles benefiting from digital analytics

Digital analytics supports a wide range of roles within organizations:

• Demand Generation: marketers gain insights beyond top – level KPIs, evaluating channels based on real user behaviour for accurate performance assessment.
• Content Marketing: aligning content strategy with audience preferences is facilitated by analysing digital analytics data.
• Customer Marketing: tracking behavioural data within the product helps identify cross – sell, upsell, and customer advocacy opportunities.
• Product Marketing: ensuring feature alignment with messaging is essential for effective product promotion.
• Product Management: digital analytics aids in product roadmap planning, feature evaluation, and conducting A/B testing for optimal results.
• Customer Support: monitoring and addressing recurring challenges through digital analytics data enhances customer support effectiveness.
• User Experience: UX and UI teams benefit from identifying friction points and monitoring website/app performance using behavioural data.
• Digital Application Performance: technical teams can troubleshoot and maintain app performance by analysing user interactions.
• E – commerce: online stores can optimize the shopping experience and address pain points, leading to improved conversion rates.

Digital analytics empowers these roles to make data – driven decisions and enhance overall business performance.

Sources of digital analytics data

Digital analytics data comes from various sources, each providing valuable insights into user behaviour, website performance, and campaign effectiveness. Here are some common sources of digital analytics data:

1. Website analytics tools:

• Google Analytics: provides a wealth of data about website traffic, user behaviour, conversions, and more. It tracks visitors, pageviews, bounce rates, session durations, and more.
• Adobe Analytics: similar to Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics offers robust website analytics, tracking user interactions, paths through the website, and conversion data.
• Hotjar: offers heatmaps, visitor recordings, and conversion funnel analysis to visualize how users interact with a website.
• Matomo (formerly Piwik): an open – source analytics platform providing insights into website traffic, user behaviour, and conversions.

2. Social media analytics:

• Facebook Insights: provides data on audience demographics, post engagement, reach, and impressions.
• Twitter Analytics: offers insights into tweet performance, audience engagement, and follower growth.
• Instagram Insights: provides data on audience demographics, post reach, impressions, and engagement.
• LinkedIn Analytics: offers data on post-performance, audience demographics, and engagement metrics.

3. Email marketing platforms:

• Mailchimp: provides email campaign analytics including open rates, click – through rates, bounce rates, and subscriber data.
• Constant Contact: offers email campaign metrics such as open rates, click – through rates, and subscriber behaviour.
• HubSpot: provides email marketing analytics along with CRM data integration for a comprehensive view of customer interactions.

4. Advertising platforms:

• Google Ads (formerly AdWords): offers data on ad impressions, clicks, click – through rates (CTR), conversions, and cost per click (CPC).
• Facebook Ads Manager: provides insights into ad performance, reach, engagement, conversions, and audience demographics.
• LinkedIn Ads: offers data on ad performance, clicks, impressions, and engagement metrics.

5. E – commerce platforms:

• Shopify Analytics: provides data on sales, orders, conversion rates, product performance, and customer behaviour.
• Magento Analytics: offers insights into e – commerce sales, customer behaviour, product performance, and cart abandonment rates.
• WooCommerce Analytics: provides data on online store performance, sales, customer behaviour, and product popularity.

6. SEO tools:

• Ahrefs: offers data on backlinks, organic search traffic, keyword rankings, and competitor analysis.
• Moz Pro: provides SEO metrics such as domain authority, page authority, keyword rankings, and site crawl data.
• SEMrush: offers data on organic search traffic, keyword rankings, backlinks, and competitor analysis.

7. CRM systems:

• Salesforce: provides customer data, sales pipeline analytics, lead conversion rates, and customer engagement metrics.
• HubSpot CRM: offers insights into customer interactions, lead generation, email marketing performance, and sales analytics.
• Zoho CRM: provides data on sales activities, customer interactions, lead conversion rates, and sales pipeline analytics.

8. Mobile analytics:

• Firebase Analytics: offers mobile app analytics, user engagement metrics, in – app behaviour tracking, and user demographics.
• Flurry Analytics: provides insights into mobile app usage, user retention, session duration, and in – app events tracking.

These are just a few examples of the diverse sources of digital analytics data available to businesses. By leveraging data from these sources, businesses can gain valuable insights into their online performance, customer behaviour, and marketing effectiveness, enabling data – driven decision – making and optimization of digital strategies.

By harnessing data from these sources, organizations gain valuable insights into user behaviour, enabling them to optimize strategies and drive growth:

Website data:

• Number of visitors
• Traffic sources by channel
• Traffic sources by device
• Traffic sources by keyword
• Time on page
• Bounce rate
• Page views
• Sessions

Digital marketing data:

• Form submissions
• Click – through rates
• Newsletter sign ups
• Free trial sign ups
• Leads to close ratio
• Conversion rates

Email marketing data:

• Open rates
• Open rates by device
• Click – through rates
• Unsubscribe rates
• Bounce rates

Social media:

• Engagement rate by channel – including likes, comments and shares
• Channel growth rate (followers and subscribers)
• User mentions by product, feature or theme

Product/e – commerce data:

• Sales conversion rate
• Shopping cart abandonment rate
• Average order value
• Average customer lifetime value
• Revenue by source
• Transaction histories

Interactions with prospects:

• Product inquiries
• Chatbot engagement
• Live chats

Interactions with customers:

• Onboarding sessions
• Support tickets
• Chatbot engagement
• Live chat and agent support
• Ratings and reviews
• Interviews
• Surveys

Implementing a digital analytics strategy is crucial for businesses looking to make informed decisions based on data. Here are steps to help you create and execute an effective digital analytics strategy:

1. Define your mission and goals:

• Clearly define your overarching mission related to digital analytics.
• Break down this mission into smaller, achievable goals and milestones.
• Ensure these goals are aligned with your business objectives.

2. Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

• Work backward from your goals to identify specific KPIs.
• Define what success looks like at each stage of your digital analytics journey.
• Determine how you will measure and track these KPIs.
• Establish benchmarks or targets to compare your performance against.

3. Identify limitations and knowledge gaps:

• Evaluate your current tools, processes, and resources.
• Identify any limitations or gaps in knowledge that may hinder your digital analytics efforts.
• Determine what additional information or resources you need to achieve your goals.

4. Select tools and processes:

• Based on your identified needs and limitations, choose the right digital analytics tools.
• Consider tools for data collection, analysis, visualization, and reporting.
• Ensure the selected tools align with your KPIs and objectives.
• Aim for a balance between functionality, usability, and cost – effectiveness.

5. Implement and execute:

• Roll out your chosen digital analytics tools and processes.
• Ensure proper training for your team on how to use these tools effectively.
• Set up data collection mechanisms according to best practices and privacy regulations.
• Establish regular data review and analysis schedules.

6. Monitor and iterate:

• Continuously monitor your KPIs and data trends.
• Regularly review and analyse the data collected.
• Use insights gained to make informed decisions and optimizations.
• Be prepared to adjust your strategy based on evolving data and business needs.

7. Stay adaptive and agile:

• Recognize that digital analytics is an ongoing process, not a one – time task.
• Stay informed about industry trends, new tools, and best practices.
• Be ready to adapt your strategy to changing customer behaviours and market dynamics.
• Foster a culture of data – driven decision – making within your organization.

8. Aim for continuous improvement:

• Regularly assess the effectiveness of your digital analytics strategy.
• Seek feedback from stakeholders and users to identify areas for enhancement.
• Iterate on your strategy to optimize performance and achieve better results.
• Embrace a mindset of continuous learning and improvement in your digital analytics practices.

By following these steps, you can develop and implement a robust digital analytics strategy that helps you collect, analyse, and leverage data effectively to drive business growth and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

With any marketing activity there needs be effective information gathering as to the effectiveness of the marketing strategy and plan. Digital Marketing by its nature provides a multitude of information from a variety of sources. This is good as it provides many different metrics from many different sources which can provide both intermediate and final data for any marketing plan. However, there can be an over – load of data that could confusing or contradictory information. Therefore, marketers must choose carefully the information they collect and how they use it.

Mastering Contemporary Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide to Strategies, Tools, and Techniques for…

References

1. Chaffey, D. and Smith, P.R., (2022) Digital marketing excellence: planning, optimizing and integrating online marketing. Taylor & Francis.
2. Custer, L., (2018) Mapping the way. Quality Progress, 51(5), pp.46–51.
3. www.smartinsights.com
4. Harvard Business Review (www.hbr.org)
5. New Customer Buying Journey https://www.cim.co.uk/content-hub/editorial/the-new-customer-buying-journey/
6. Wilson, L., (2019) Making Your Content Work Harder. In Data-driven Marketing Content: A Practical Guide (pp. 119–132). Emerald Publishing Limited.
7. Chartered Institute of Marketing CIM Level 4 Diploma on Professional Digital Marketing Course.
8. Brown, J. R., & Dant, R. P. (2014) The role of e-commerce in multi-channel marketing strategy. Handbook of strategic e-business management, 467–487.
9. Chaffey, D. and Smith, P.R., (2022) Digital marketing excellence: planning, optimizing and integrating online marketing. Taylor & Francis.
10. Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2019) Digital marketing. Pearson UK.
11. Jeffery, M., (2010) Data-driven marketing: the 15 metrics everyone in marketing should know. John Wiley & Sons.
12. Marr, B., (2015) Big Data: Using SMART big data, analytics and metrics to make better decisions and improve performance. John Wiley & Sons.
13. Ryan, D. (2014) The best digital marketing campaigns in the World II. Kogan Page Publishers.
14. Sponder, M. and Khan, G., (2017) Digital analytics for marketing. Routledge.

Track On Record

CIM Level 4 Certificate in Professional Digital Marketing

Assessment Criteria 🎓

Assessment: Applied Marketing – Quiz🎓

Assessment: Planning Campaigns – Redefining Luxury through CSR: A Campaign Blueprint for Rabanne🎓

Assessment: Digital Marketing Techniques – Digital Marketing Strategy for Microsoft Azure: Enhancing Agility in Response to New Technology🎓