Understanding Digital Marketing - Theories and Strategies
Understanding Digital Marketing - Theories and Strategies
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Article in International Journal of Management Science and Engineering Research · January 2016
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IRJMST Vol 7 Issue 9 [Year 2016] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print)
Today is the age of digital marketing, every nook and corner of the world is getting connected with
the help of the advanced forms of digital media. The article is an attempt to understand what exactly
digital marketing is and how it affects today‟s marketing scenario. It elaborates the various strategies
which a firm can use to make it more impactful in the world of marketing. It tries to explain the
evolution of digital marketing from the primary objective of “customer servicing “to more serious
and secondary objective of “engagement”.
INTRODUCTION:
As per the words of Wikipedia, „Digital marketing (also known as data-driven marketing) is
an umbrella term for the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on
the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium.[1]
Digital marketing's development since the 1990s and 2000s has changed the way brands and
businesses utilize technology for marketing.[2] As digital platforms are increasingly incorporated into
marketing plans and everyday life,[3] and as people use digital devices instead of visiting physical
shops, [4][5] digital marketing campaigns are becoming more prevalent and efficient.
Digital marketing techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine
marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign
marketing, data-driven marketing[6] and e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social
media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e–books, and optical disks and
games are becoming more common in our advancing technology. In fact, digital marketing now
extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as mobile phones (SMS and MMS),
callback, and on-hold mobile ring tones.[7]‟
In other words Digital Marketing is basically promotion of brands using all forms of digital
advertising mediums to reach the target segment. This now includes Radio, mobile, Internet,
Television, social media marketing and other less popular forms of digital media.
While the talk of the day is internet marketing, the latter is only a subset of digital marketing. While
digital marketing does involve many of the strategies involved in Internet Marketing, it extends
beyond this by including other channels with which to reach people that do not require the use of the
Internet. As a result of this decreased reliance on the web based media, the field of digital marketing
expands to include media such as cellular media(sms/mms/phone calls), digital signage (digital
banner ads and digital outdoor signboards), and other media like television and radio, it is thus a
much more comprehensive methodology to reach out and engage your target audience, and with a
higher conversion rate for most product categories.
Previously seen as a stand-alone marketing strategy because of its extension on mediums which it
covers, it is currently visualized more as a marketing effort that covers most, if not all, of the more
traditional marketing areas such as direct marketing by providing the same method of
communicating with an audience but in a manner using the development of science and technology
and thus optimizing resources. The spectrum of digital marketing is now being expanded to support
the “servicing” and “engagement” of customers, and thus cover not only customer acquisition but
also customer retention.
So how should firms go about planning their marketing strategies for a successful digital marketing
program? While there is no such common strategy which fits the requirement of all firms like a
glove, there are few generic strategic and economic issues that firms need to keep in mind while
designing their marketing program.
The first grid has three elements of your proposed strategy. Does your strategy match with the vision
and mission of your firm? Does the strategy assembling platform match with the knowledge that is
within your marketing team? Is that knowledge formally managed using any platform? Then comes
the question of how you are delivering the value transfer from the production of value, to the
assembly of value to the end value consumption in a value chain. Is your firm geared to take charge
of such a business model?
As in the second half of the architecture, the business model dimensions need to be evaluated based
on the digital marketing capabilities. Most important dimension for serious consideration is whether
your organization structure is geared to handle the marketing methodologies you are planning to
implement. The dynamics of knowledge distribution also needs to be looked into based on this
framework.
Information and telecommunications technologies such as the Internet, mobile phones and digital
television have opened new channels of marketing. Consumers are increasingly using these
technologies to access companies. Moreover, the increased affordability of these technologies allows
small-business owners to promote their companies though innovative means. Fundamental theories
of marketing need reinterpretation in the light of the new technologies.
Segments of One
According to market segmentation theory, to better serve the customers, the market is divided along
some similarities. Technological advances allow moving from mass markets to segments of one. The
interactive technology enables the customer to provide personal information and receive customized
products and services.
Customer-Led Positioning
Positioning is the company's attempt to forge an image of the product in the customer's mind. Unlike
physical retail, the customer manipulates and customizes the digital retail experience. Customers can
organize an entire retail store based on product price, functionality or popularity. To better position
products, managers should consider not only the specific product's features, but also present it in
relation to the entire range of products and services the customer needs. For example, in
pharmaceutical sales, customers are not just concerned about the effectiveness or price of a specific
drug, but they are also keen on its interaction with other medications or health conditions.
Additionally, effects of medication on general well-being and long-term health are important for a
growing number of people.
Online Auctions
Online auctions are different from conventional auctions because of two reasons. First, the setting of
an online auction is different from physical auctions. Second, researchers can observe and record the
evolution of the real transaction. In this setting, bidders‟ thoughts and actions are different. For
example, the online auctioning scene is cluttered and noisy with uncertainty about the seller
reliability and product quality; as a result, bidders tend to be biased toward items with existing bids
and avoid similar items with no bids.
Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing seeks to build customer loyalty. The interactive and personalized
communications in digital marketing help in relationship marketing efforts. These characteristics,
coupled with the possibility of having regular and frequent communications, improve customer
loyalty. For example, online banking allows for customized alerts for deposits, debits, balance levels
and reminders of payments. These features allow the customer to receive information based on her
needs, improve service quality perceptions and increase loyalty.
Use in the digital era
There are a number of ways brands can use digital marketing to benefit their marketing efforts. The
use of digital marketing in the digital era not only allows for brands to market their products and
services, but also allows for online customer support through 24/7 services to make customers feel
supported and valued. The use of social media interaction allows brands to receive both positive and
negative feedback from their customers as well as determining what media platforms work well for
them. As such, digital marketing has become an increased advantage for brands and businesses. It is
now common for consumers to post feedback online through social media sources, blogs and
websites on their experience with a product or brand.[20] It has become increasingly popular for
businesses to utilise and encourage these conversations through their social media channels to have
direct contact with the customers and manage the feedback they receive appropriately.
Word of mouth communications and peer-to-peer dialogue often have a greater effect on customers,
since they are not sent directly from the company and are therefore not planned. Customers are more
likely to trust other customers‟ experiences.[17] It is increasingly advantageous for companies to
utilise social media platforms to connect with their customers and create these dialogues and
discussions. The potential reach of social media is indicated by the fact that in 2015, each month the
Facebook app had more than 126 million average unique users and YouTube had over 97 million
average unique users.[21]
Brand awareness
Ease of access
A key objective is engaging digital marketing customers and allowing them to interact with the brand
through servicing and delivery of digital media. Information is easy to access at a fast rate through
the use of digital communications. Users with access to the Internet can use many digital mediums,
such as Facebook, YouTube, Forums, and Email etc. Social segregation plays no part through social
mediums due to lack of face to face communication and information being wide spread instead to a
selective audience.
Competitive advantage
By using Internet platforms, businesses can create competitive advantage through various means. To
reach the maximum potential of digital marketing, firms use social media as its main tool to create a
channel of information. Through this a business can create a system in which they are able to
pinpoint behavioral patterns of clients and feedback on their needs. This means of content has shown
to have a larger impingement on those who have a long-standing relationship with the firm and with
consumers who are relatively active social media users. Relative to this, creating a social media page
will further increase relation quality between new consumers and existing consumers as well as
consistent brand reinforcement therefore improving brand awareness resulting in a possible rise for
consumers up the Brand Awareness Pyramid.
Effectiveness
Brand awareness has been proven to work with more effectiveness in countries that are high in
uncertainty avoidance, also these countries that have uncertainty avoidance; social media marketing
works effectively. Yet brands must be careful not to be excessive on the use of this type of
marketing, as well as solely relying on it as it may have implications that could negatively harness
their image. Brands that represent themselves in an anthropomorphizing manner are more likely to
succeed in situations where a brand is marketing to this demographic. "Since social media use can
enhance the knowledge of the brand and thus decrease the uncertainty, it is possible that people with
high uncertainty avoidance, such as the French, will particularly appreciate the high social media
interaction with an anthropomorphized brand." Moreover, digital platform provides an ease to the
brand and its customers to interact directly and exchange their motives virtually.
PILLERS OF MARKETING AND DIGITAL MARKETING MIX
Remember when the 4 Ps were first introduced back in the 1960s? I didn‟t think so. Then why is it
that we continue to rely on the 4 Ps as if they are the epitome of marketing? The behavior of
businesses (brands) and consumers has changed in ways Jerome McCarthy and Philip Kotler could
have never predicted when they proposed the 4 Ps. The computer was not even close to being readily
available to the mass markets and the internet was merely a figment of the imagination. (Note: The
“concept” of communication through computer networks was a premise that was being researched by
the United States in the 1960s.) The 4 Ps came into existence at a time when, quite frankly,
marketing was simple and, dare I say, one dimensional.
It‟s not that the 4 Ps are irrelevant today. It‟s that they have evolved. Product, Price, Promotion, and
Place will never fade away. We will always have a Product (or service) that fills a consumer‟s or
business‟s need or want. That is the sole foundation of marketing: selling something someone needs
or wants. That something (Product) will always have an accompanying Price. Then, we need to have
a Place where we can distribute that something to customers, the store front. Lastly, we need to tell
potential customers we have something they need or want. This is where Promotion comes into
play. So these are the basics. As long as commerce is around, these 4 Ps will not vanish. However,
along the way our initial 4 Ps made a few friends. 3 to be exact. People.Process.Performance. Alas,
enter the 7 Ps of digital marketing.
Process can also be referred to as marketing operations. This is basically how we execute on
marketing efforts, the strategic versus the tactical. Process ensures our marketing is effective and
efficient. It‟s the proper alignment of our marketing resources, be it human intelligence, financial, or
other. And this is where shopping cart strategy (ecommerce), marketing automation, retargeting,
calls to actions, collection of big data (what you do with that data), drip campaigns, etcetera really
integrate into the overall digital marketing mix. Process also encourages us to pay more attention to
the UI/UX of a website, the digital user experience or “adventure” if you will. This is critical to the
marketing lifecycle of your customer and it can also be a major differentiator between you and your
competition. In many ways it is a part of your overall value proposition. Process in digital marketing
can be instrumental to building your brand equity and positioning it as a first choice in the eyes of
potential customers (top of mind).
Last but not least is Performance. Performance ties all the pieces of the marketing mix together. It
demonstrates the success of the digital marketing efforts. Did the call to action generate leads? Did
the the email marketing campaign produce any conversions? What was the conversion per email?
How many website visits converted to paying customers? All these questions and more relate to
performance. Unfortunately, in the days of print advertising marketers didn‟t really know if the
advertisement increased brand equity or if it actually triggered purchases. Big Data doesn‟t lie (most
of the time). It allows digital marketers to understand the performance of campaigns and provides
detailed insight into consumer behavior, allowing digital marketers to adjust and personalize
marketing content (and/or products/services). Performance metrics span all digital platforms. Almost
everything online is monitored, from email campaigns to social media to website traffic to the device
a consumer uses to access content. You can understand the traction of your email campaign by the
number of emails opened, the click through rate, and time spent interacting with the email. Google
Analytics offers feedback on website traffic and user behavior. The power of digital marketing is that
performance can be precisely measured, and actual ROIs on marketing efforts can be calculated. It
provides a better understanding of if and how your digital marketing efforts are working to drive
results, and you can receive feedback on how to adjust your efforts for success.
Now, from the original 4 Ps, the two that have developed since their introduction in the „60s are
Promotion and Place. Promotion is no longer a one-way conversation with consumers. And it‟s
definitely not just about selling to them. It‟s about building a trusting relationship with them (CRM).
It about being able to talk with your consumer, and engaging and interacting with them. In digital
marketing, Promotion is where you personify your brand and allow your brand to be more
approachable. Promotion has vastly expanded to include inbound marketing, content marketing
(blogs, white paper, webinars), influence marketing, social media, email marketing, etc. Place has
become synonymous with universal. Brick and mortar no longer confines where and how to
distribute your product (or render your services). In essence, having a website makes you an
international brand. Everyone and anyone can find you online (of course with the right search engine
optimization in place), but Place is now borderless.
None of the 7 Ps of digital marketing can stand alone. They are all a critical piece in the puzzle we
call the digital marketing mix. Each P plays into the next P to build a conducive and dynamic
strategy, one that will allow you to drive results and success. But just as the digital world will
continue to evolve, so will the marketing mix.
Digital Marketing is basically promotion of brands using all available forms of digital advertising
media to reach the target segment. In current marketing media, the popular media includes Radio,
mobile, Internet, Television, social media marketing and other less popular forms of digital media
like Digital Signage, Digital bill boards, etc.
Content has taken center stage in this digital marketing age. But we face growing pains. The
challenges content marketers face today are multi-fold:
How you do create content, so that it not only addresses an individual‟s informational need, but also
reaches the masses?
How do you present content, so that your target audience does not lose interest?
What language, style, and marketing vehicle will you adopt to reach your prospects and customers?
How will you connect employees, vendors, partners, and customers and help them make better, faster
decisions?
How will you build competitive strength and boost customer satisfaction?
How can you leverage technology investments and improve training offerings to grow your
customers‟ success?
These are just a few of the questions faced by content marketers today. Using frameworks to tackle
these questions is one sure-shot way of ensuring you are headed down the right path.
Let‟s take a look at the 7 S‟s of content marketing: Strategy, Segment, Simple, Succinct, Scannable,
Steak and Sizzle, and Social Media.
You can divide these 7 S‟s of content marketing into three categories:
Identify the goals for why you want to create and market content. For example, your goal might be to
grow your business by educating your prospects and training your customers. Once you‟ve identified
your goals, you can deliver a consistent message that your target audience will find relevant and
valuable.
If you don‟t have a strategy, then content creation will end up as haphazard tasks – a press release
here to combat the news your competitor threw at you and a quickly concocted FAQ there to answer
the questions your customers have been asking.
Take a step back and look at your content marketing strategy. Investing this time upfront will help
you pick the right tactics to grow your business.
Marketing 101 teaches you to do segmentation, targeting, and positioning. To that end, you need to
know your different types of target audience and how they consume content. Have a good
understanding of your target market segments.This will, in turn, lead to providing relevant,
compelling information to convert prospects to customers, drive greater engagement with your
content, and also encourage repeat sales through cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.
Keep your content simple, but don‟t oversimplify to the point that it fails to meet the goal of creating
it. Jazz artist Charles Mingus said, “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the
complicated simple, awesomely simple, that‟s creativity.”
Getting to simplicity is indeed a complicated road. Invest time upfront to simplify your content. Your
target audience needs to understand and act based on your content. To make it easy on them, think
and rethink about how best to present content. The more buzzwords you use in your content, the
greater the chance of confusing or losing your reader.
Ensure that your content conveys what you want to say in a clear fashion. Content should be crisp to
retain a reader‟s interest. Good writing is defined by its clarity. When writing content, do multiple
revisions until a crisp and polished final version emerges.
Choose the right marketing vehicles to get the content to reach your target audience. For example, is
a dense 100-page training document necessary, or would a training video be more effective?
Similarly, if you‟re recording a training video to educate your customers about a complicated
product, think about how you can divide it up into smaller chunks.
Your customers and prospects are bombarded with information in this digital age. Ensure that your
content is scannable, so your target audience will benefit from the huge investment you‟ve already
made to create and market your content.
Use lists and bullet points to make it easy for your readers to digest your content. Leverage a variety
of media options available to get your message across to your readers. Photos and video are a great
way to enrich your customer‟s and prospect‟s experience. Offer checklists for your prospects instead
of a sales brochure. For example, create a checklist of “10 things to consider when purchasing your
server” for your prospects.
One of the common expressions in marketing is “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” It implies that the
goal of a marketing message is to excite the customer. Today, customers and prospects are very
information-savvy. You can‟t just wow them with sizzle. To persuade them with your content, you
need both steak and sizzle.
Steak/substance is the meat of the content and the message that you are trying to get across. Sizzle is
the structure and style that constitute the packaging of your content. It doesn‟t matter how good your
content is. You need to dress it up, so it sounds, feels, and looks appealing to your target audience.
Include visuals in your presentation, so it‟s appealing to the eye. Your website should have an
uncluttered look. Your marketing videos should be short and informative as opposed to long and
sounding pitchy.
This list of S‟s of content marketing wouldn‟t be complete without mentioning social media
marketing. Marketing isn‟t just a “push mode,” one-way street anymore. Don‟t brush aside social
media as useless hype. There are lots of resources to give you a jump-start. Find out which types of
social media you need to use to reach your target audience. Leverage social media tools to listen,
converse, collect information, and grow your business.
The 7 S for Digital Marketing typically is the way a Digital marketing strategy is systematically
utilized.
Systems: Do you have systems in place to carry out the campaign? Is there technical support for
your advertising campaigns and marketing plans?
Structure: Does your organizational structure support adaptations to changes in environment in
response to your campaign?
Strategy: Does the strategy fit with the vision and mission of your organization?
Shared values: Does the strategy go hand in hand with the shared values of not only your target
customer segment but also of that of the implementers?
Skill: Do you have the suitable skilled workforce to carry out the campaign successfully?
Staff: Are your staff equipped to deliver your strategy (location wise, access to technical
resources)
Style: Does the campaign thematically fit with the style of your other campaigns?
References
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