MODULE 4

Making a Business case for a Document Library: Digital document types, Corporate Data
warehouses. Advertising and Marketing: The new age of Information Based Marketing,
advertising on Internet, charting the Online marketing process, Market Research

Making a Business case for a Document Library:

What Is A Document Library?
A document library is a collection of files, documents, or records that are systematically
organized and stored in a digital format.
Your business can create different types of document libraries to manage and organize your
documents.
A document can be:
 A downloadable file stored in your site’s media library – e.g. a PDF, image, or PowerPoint
presentation.
 Any downloadable file stored on a third-party platform like Dropbox, Google Drive,
Microsoft SharePoint, or Box.
 A resource that is available for people to read directly on your website, without having to
download anything.
 Any resource that you embed directly into your website – e.g. a flipbook or an embedded
Google Drive document.
 A link to a web page, either on your own website or on a different website.
Common types of document libraries include the following:
 Employee Document Library – This library is for storing and managing employee-related
documents, such as employment contracts, performance evaluations, time off requests, and
HR policies. An employee document library is usually only accessible to HR staff and the
individual employee.
 Marketing Document Library – This library is for storing and managing marketing-related
documents, such as marketing plans, branding guidelines, social media templates, and case
studies. The marketing document library is usually accessible by the marketing team and
other relevant staff members.
 Sales Document Library – This library is for storing and managing sales-related documents,
such as product information, pricing sheets, sales scripts, and customer case studies. The
 sales document library is usually accessible by the sales team and other relevant staff
members.
 Finance Document Library – This library is for storing and managing financial documents,
such as invoices, receipts, tax records, and financial reports. The finance document library is
usually only accessible to the finance team and upper management.
 Legal Document Library – This library is for storing and managing legal documents, such
as contracts, patents, trademarks, and regulatory compliance documents. The legal document
library is usually only accessible to the legal team and upper management.
 Project Document Library – This library is for storing and managing project-related
documents, such as project plans, timelines, budgets, and status reports. The project
document library is usually accessible by the project team and other relevant staff members.
 Knowledge Base – A knowledge base is a document library that stores information,
resources, and documentation to help employees or customers find the information they need
quickly and efficiently. A knowledge base can include articles, how-to guides, FAQs, and
troubleshooting guides.
 Training Library – A training library is a document library that provides employees with
access to training materials, videos, and other resources to help them develop new skills and
improve their job performance.
 Proposal Library – A proposal library is a document library that stores proposals, pitches,
and presentations that can be used as templates for future projects.
 Policy and Procedure Library – A policy and procedure library is a document library that
stores the policies and procedures of an organization, making them accessible to all
employees.
 PDF Library – A PDF library is a document library that stores PDF files, making them
easily accessible to employees or customers. A PDF library can include manuals, user guides,
reports, and other documents in PDF format.
 Newsletter Directory – A newsletter directory is a document library that stores past issues of
company newsletters. It can be useful for employees who want to refer to previous
newsletters or for new employees who want to get up to speed on the company’s news and
culture.
The type of document library you create will depend on the specific needs of your business
and the type of documents your business wants to manage.
Each type of library can have its own access restrictions, allowing only relevant staff
members to access and manage the documents.
 Document Library Uses
Here are just some examples of ways businesses can use a document library:
 An IT support company creates a knowledge base with articles and guides to help its clients
troubleshoot common technical issues.
 An engineering firm creates a project library for a new building construction project, storing
all relevant documents including architectural designs, blueprints, and progress reports.
 A sales team creates a training library with videos and online courses to help new hires
develop their sales skills and learn about the company’s products and services.
 A marketing agency creates a proposal library with sample proposals, pitches, and
presentations that can be customized and reused for future clients.
 An HR department creates a policy and procedure library with the company’s code of
conduct, HR policies, and benefits information.
 A software development company creates a PDF library with user manuals and technical
documentation for their software products.
 A marketing team creates a newsletter directory with past issues of their monthly newsletter,
which contains updates on company events and projects, employee spotlights, and industry
news.
Benefits Of Having A Document Library
A well-organized document library can provide many benefits, including:
 Easy access to critical information: With a document library, you can quickly retrieve the
documents you need, reducing the time and effort required to locate critical information.
 Collaboration: Document libraries provide a centralized location where team members can
collaborate, share ideas, and work together on projects.
 Increased productivity: Document libraries help to eliminate duplication of efforts, reduce
errors and redundancies, and streamline workflows, resulting in increased productivity.
 Enhanced security: Document libraries can provide secure access control, limiting access to
sensitive information to only authorized personnel.
 Improved regulatory compliance: By using a document library to organize and store
records, organizations can demonstrate compliance with legal, regulatory, and industry
standards.
How to Store Information About Your Documents
Organizing your documents in a systematic and efficient way is essential to maximize the
benefits of having a document library.
 Here are some tips on how to store information about your documents to make them easier to
find and manage:
Create A Naming Convention
Developing a naming convention for your documents is an essential first step in organizing
them.
A consistent naming convention helps to ensure that all documents are named logically and
that files can be easily located.
For example, using a standard format like “YYYYMMDD_Title” (Year, Month, Day, Title)
can be a helpful way to create meaningful filenames.
Organize Documents Into Categories
Organizing documents into categories can make them easier to locate and manage.
Categories could include clients, projects, products, departments, or any other logical
grouping that makes sense for your organization.
Make sure to keep the categories manageable and not too broad or too specific.
Use Metadata To Tag Documents
Metadata provides additional information about a document beyond its filename. It can
include author, date created, keywords, description, and more.
Tagging your documents with metadata makes them easier to find and retrieve later on.
Many file types allow metadata to be added to the file itself, making it easier to manage.
By developing a consistent naming convention, organizing your documents into categories,
and using metadata to tag them, you can make it easier to locate and manage your documents.
The more organized and accessible your document library is, the more efficient and
productive you can be.
For more ways to organize your documentation, see our lesson on Content Organization
Common File Types For Document Libraries
When building a document library, it is essential to consider what file types you want to
include and how you plan to handle them.
Document libraries can contain a wide variety of file types, including:
 Word processing documents (e.g., .docx, .doc)
 Spreadsheets (e.g., .xlsx, .xls)
 Presentations (e.g., .pptx, .ppt)
 PDF files
 Images (e.g., .jpeg, .png, .gif)
 Audio and video files (e.g., .mp3, .mp4)
Handling Different File Types
Different file types require different handling.
For example, images and videos may require thumbnail previews, while text documents may
require a search function.
Consider using a document library tool that can handle different file types, such
as Document Library Pro, which supports a wide variety of file types and provides
advanced features for managing and organizing them (see further below).
Another consideration when dealing with file types is the size of the files.
Large files can be more challenging to manage and store, so it is essential to have a plan for
managing larger files. This could include compressing files or using cloud storage
solutions to manage and store larger files.
It is also essential to consider the level of security required for different file types. Sensitive
files should be stored in a secure location and access should be restricted to authorized
personnel.
Consider using a document library tool that supports access control features, so you can
ensure that sensitive files are protected.
By using a tool that can manage a wide variety of file types and support advanced features,
you can ensure that your document library is easy to use, secure, and efficient.
How To Build A Document Library
Organizations of all shapes and sizes use WordPress for their company websites. Many need
to share documents, newsletters, or other resources online with the general public or for
internal use.
If your site runs on WordPress and you’re looking to build a document library that lets you
add or import documents of any file type and list them in a searchable, filterable document
library on the front end, consider using a plugin like Document Library Pro.
Document Library Pro
Document Library Pro is a professional document library plugin for WordPress users.
While there are many WordPress file management and media library plugins for the
WordPress admin, few can create a searchable front-end document library.
Document Library Pro is a professional document library plugin for WordPress that allows
businesses and organizations to create a robust document management system or document
directory in minutes and display these in an easy-to-find format without any technical
knowledge.
 The plugin makes document library management easy, helping to keep your documentation
organized, create a resources hub or a publications database, share these resources, and
present your documents in a searchable front-end document library.
Document Library Pro lets you display any type of document or resource on your WordPress
website. (Image sourced from plugin website.)
Let’s briefly cover the following areas of using this plugin to build your document library in
WordPress:
 Overview of plugin features
 Installation and configuration steps
 Adding or importing documents of any file type
 Listing documents in a searchable, filterable document library on the front end
OVERVIEW OF DOCUMENT LIBRARY PRO FEATURES
Document Library Pro is a powerful tool for building a document library and offers several
features for quickly adding and managing documents on a WordPress site, including:
 Support for multiple file types
 Front-end document submission and import
 Customizable document templates
 Search, sort, and filter options
 Access control and user roles
 Detailed documentation and support
A key feature of the plugin is its ability to instantly list documents in a searchable, sortable
table with filters, or alternatively in a tiled grid layout, making it easy for users to find the
documents they need quickly.
Document Library Pro makes it easy for users to find the documents they need quickly.
(Image sourced from plugin website.)
INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION STEPS
To install and configure Document Library Pro, follow these steps:
 Install and activate the Document Library Pro plugin on your WordPress site. (If you need
help with this step, see this WordPress plugin installation tutorial).
 Configure your document library settings, including document categories, access control, and
user roles.
 Add or import documents to your document library. Document Library Pro supports a wide
range of file types, including PDFs, images, videos, and more.
 Customize your document library display by selecting a document template and customizing
the front-end layout.
 Use the search, sort, and filter options to make it easy for users to find the documents they
need.
ADDING OR IMPORTING DOCUMENTS OF ANY FILE TYPE
Document Library Pro literally supports any file type that can be stored in the WordPress
Media Library. It even allows users to link to documents hosted externally on third-party
websites like Dropbox, Office 365, or YouTube.
Moreover, Document Library Pro allows you to embed documents, audio, and video directly
on your website. This lets you display documents on your site instead of just providing
download links. The plugin even provides embedded music and video players which your site
users can play on the main document library page.
Additionally, the plugin offers flexible download links that allow users to choose whether to
show download buttons, text links, or file-type icons on the main document library page. You
can choose whether to provide instant downloads or a separate page for each document.
Having the ability to display any type of document on a WordPress website (including a wide
range of document file types such as PDFs, DOCs, XLS, PPTs, EPUBs, Google Docs &
Sheets, videos, and more) can add a lot of value and functionality to your site.
You can add documents in several ways, including manual uploading, bulk CSV uploads, or
using drag and drop to add multiple files to the WordPress Media Library.
The plugin also allows you to add extra information about each document, such as a title,
excerpt, full description, and image, to make the document library more accessible.
Additionally, it can calculate and display other important details automatically, such as the
file size, file type, date, and last modified date.
LIST DOCUMENTS IN A SEARCHABLE, FILTERABLE
DOCUMENT LIBRARY
You can organize and display corporate documents such as contact lists, data sets, financial
spreadsheets, forms, how-to guides, handbooks, instructions, legal documents, license
agreements, lists, manuals, policies and procedures, reports, stationery, templates, terms and
conditions, white papers, and worksheets.
Additionally, you can display promotional documents like case studies, flyers, leaflets, and
marketing materials on your website.
An added benefit of using WordPress with this plugin is the versatility of displaying industry-
specific documents such as blueprints, manuscripts, sheet music, maps, signage, and personal
 documents like flipbooks, downloadable kids activities, leisure guides, nutrition guides,
recipes, and even treasure hunts. You can even create a WordPress audio or video gallery to
display photos, music, and videos, which can act as a resource or document gallery for your
site.
USING THE PLUGIN
To get started with Document Library Pro, all you need to do is add your documents to the
plugin’s ‘Documents’ section in the WordPress admin area.
Once you’ve added your documents, the plugin will automatically display them in a
searchable document library on the front end of your website.
The plugin offers several ways to add documents to your library, including manual
uploading, selecting files from the Media Library, drag-and-drop, and bulk import from CSV.
It supports any file type, including PDF, JPG, DOCx, and more. You can choose what
information to display in the document library, such as summaries, file types, file sizes,
categories, and more.
Organizing your documents in a document library is essential for efficient document
management.
The plugin offers two ways to categorize your documents: categories and tags. You can
create a hierarchical structure of categories and sub-categories or add labels or tags to each
document.
You can even create custom taxonomies to use as well as tags if you require multiple types of
labels.
Document Library Pro lets you add categories, tags, descriptions, and more to each file in
your document library. (Image sourced from plugin website.)
With a well-organized document library, users can easily find the documents they need, read
them online or download them, and share them with others.
You can even embed multimedia content, such as a page-turning flip book or an embedded
Google Drive document.
The plugin’s documentation section provides tutorials on how to get the most out of using the
plugin, including :
 Creating a document library page
 Customizing the display of documents
 Using search, sort, and filter features to make the library easy to navigate
 Making your document library private
 Using access control to restrict access to the document library
 Configuring user roles and permissions
 Setting up a staff intranet document library
With a wide range of features, including support for multiple file types, front-end document
submission and import, advanced search, sort, and filter options, customizable display
options, and embedded media players, the Document Library Pro plugin makes it easy to
build a powerful document library.

Digital document types:

What is a digital document?
A digital document is one that is paperless in its original form, like an invoice that’s sent as a
PDF file (via email). Digital document solutions allow both the sender and the recipient to
easily access whatever insights are being shared, which means it’s also easier to enter
relevant information into your agency’s preferred ERP system or other business software.
Digital document vs electronic document: what’s the difference?
Although ‘digital documents’ and ‘electronic documents’ might seem like the same thing,
these two aren’t actually synonymous. Simply put, an electronic document contains static
data that’s transferred from one computer to the next (without any edits or changes made in
the process). Examples of electronic documents include emails, digital purchase receipts, and
digital images.
Digital documents, on the other hand, are more collaborative in nature. Think of digital
documents as ‘living’ files, in that they can be edited, updated, and moved through workplace
processes with ease. The flexibility of digital documents — like invoices and personnel
records — gives them a leg up as compared to electronic documents, and makes them cleaner
to work with than one-dimensional paper files.
5 examples of digital documents
Digital documents serve a variety of purposes, though some of the most common examples
include personnel records, legal documents, internal communications, applications, and
invoices. Each of these files has its own specific features and functionality, all of which are
made more accessible (and less complex) when they’re converted into a digital format.
1. Personnel records
Personnel records are files that pertain to the employees at your organization, and are
typically managed by the HR department. In general, personnel records include details about
an employee’s application, job description, and their unique salary data. Specific examples
include hiring documents, performance reviews, and compensation records (like W-4s,
beneficiary forms, and so on). The best way to maintain your agency’s personnel records is
through digital documentation, as this method makes sure all private employee information is
well-protected.
2. Legal documents
The truth is, personnel records and legal documents are likely to overlap at some point.
That’s because items like non-disclosure agreements, background checks, and medical
records are all employee-related, while also being legal in nature. The benefits to digitizing
these records are wide-reaching, but they include: increased efficiency (since digital records
are stored in a searchable database), reduced costs (thanks to significantly less storage space),
and a more seamless experience for the client (which they’ve come to expect from the legal
industry).
3. Internal communications
Internal communications is a bit of a ‘catch-all’ phrase that’s used to describe a number of
team connections and collaboration within your office place. Examples of internal
information exchange can range from employee handbooks, to top-down memos, to crisis
communications, and more. Digital document management helps nurture and promote your
agency’s greater internal communication strategy, by streamlining intra-office
communications and being able to share information with fellow employees in mere seconds.
4. Applications
As a potential employer, you should aim to make the employment application process as
straightforward as possible. This means prospective employees know exactly how and where
to apply, while at the same time, your HR department has an easy time filtering the incoming
applications (and finding the best person for the job). Digital application forms really upgrade
this entire process, by making it much simpler for the HR team to find qualified individuals,
and making it quicker for job seekers to find roles that are suited to their skillset.
5. Invoices
With digital invoicing, there’s no need to scan individual documents into your system,
translating to notable time saved to be used on other value-added projects. In addition, digital
invoices ensure all details — such as invoice number, due date, and amount — are always
correct. And as for cost savings, with digital invoicing you no longer need to spend money on
printing, packaging, and postage, which also means you’re likely to receive payment faster
(since the invoices go directly to the recipient’s online bank or similar financial account).
Manage digital documents using the cloud
Cloud-based document management helps agencies organize their digital content in a more
efficient manner. With cloud solutions, all your digital files are stored in one centralized
location, and can be accessed in the cloud at any time, from anywhere you are. On top of that,
utilizing cloud technology helps your agency readily comply with all of its ongoing retention
schedules.
Image API’s cloud content management, digital imaging services, and digital process
automation is designed to deliver measurable value and sustainable results at the speed of
digital. And with your most important documents conveniently uploaded to the cloud, you’ll
find yourself in great company, since many agree cloud services are the safest, most effective
way to manage all of your past, present, and future documents.
By teaming up with Image API, your agency can do away with its stacks of paperwork and
clunky filing cabinets, and instead enjoy all the advantages of the modern, digital landscape.

Corporate Data warehouses:

What Is a Data Warehouse and How Can You Use It for eCommerce?
Data and analytics have become essential to maintain eCommerce business growth and
compete with other brands. Analytics tools allow companies to monitor and analyze business
performance using reports and dashboards and gather valuable insights. But with large
amounts of complex data, companies often run into the problem of storage and analysis.
Data warehouses (DWH) help utilize these analytics tools by storing and managing large
amounts of data, including historical data from various sources. The data is efficiently stored,
and hundreds of users can access and analyze any query results simultaneously with no
hassle.
What is a data warehouse?
A data warehouse is a central system used for effectively storing and managing large sets of
business data—a combination of current and historical data—from multiple sources to help
companies collect insights and make data-informed business decisions.
Compared to any other database that allows for data storage and retrieval, a data warehouse is
a particular type of comprehensive digital repository that combines data from individual
sources, creating a complete overview and reorganizing the information into a consistent
format for easy extraction and analytics.
 How do data warehouses work?
Now that we’ve answered the question of what is data warehouse, let’s discuss how they
work. As data enters the data warehouse, it is assessed based on how structured it is,
processed, organized, and transformed for analysis. It is then made available for use within
the DWH.

Data warehouse architecture consists of three tiers:

1. The bottom tier of the database server in which the data is stored and loaded
2. The middle tier for accessing and analyzing the data
3. The top tier with reporting and data mining tools to present results
A typical data warehouse architecture includes the following key components:
 Central database – a standard relational database to store and manage data that serves as the
basis of the data warehouse.
 ETL tools – ETL stands for extraction, loading, and transformation. Data is pulled from the
central database, transformed to align with other information, and prepared for efficient
analysis.
 Access tools – tools to interact with your data, be it analysis, queries, reporting, or data
mining, as well as tools for visualizing and presenting data to other users. It is also possible to
integrate more sophisticated analytics tools and applications that operate using AI algorithms.
 Metadata – in other words, it’s data about your data in the warehouse to add context about
the source, location, values, and other attributes.
All of these elements are part of one system within data warehouse architecture engineered
for fast access to any query results and efficient in-depth data analysis.
An eCommerce data warehouse can contain multiple databases. Within each of those, data is
organized into tables, rows, and columns, optimized for analytical queries throughout the
whole data warehouse.
Data warehouse vs. data lake
 Both data lakes and data warehouses are commonly used for storing huge data; however, the
terms are not interchangeable, and there are clear differences between a data warehouse and a
data lake. A data lake is a large pool of unstructured data with no clear purpose. A data
warehouse is a repository for pre-processed, structured, filtered data.
What data goes into a data warehouse?
There are various types of data derived from a wide range of sources you can store in a data
warehouse, and data warehouses can easily handle managing large amounts of different data.
However, to avoid high costs, we suggest planning what kind of data you want to store and
for how long rather than going for the ‘the more, the better’ approach.
This data can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured and flow from sources such as
customer-facing or internal applications, external systems, and more. Here are some
examples of what goes into a data warehouse:
 Google Analytics (raw and unsampled data)
 Ad platforms (campaign performance, cost)
 Marketing data (stats from Mailchimp, Hubspot, and other platforms)
 Backend data (e.g., order and customer data)
 Store’s warehouse data (stock, shipping information)
 etc.
Data warehousing tools
Before, businesses had to build complex infrastructures to create an eCommerce data
warehouse. With the progression in cloud technology and automated tools, the effort and cost
put into retail data warehousing are remarkably minimized.
The cloud-based data warehouse platforms are flexible, fast, cost-effective if used
thoughtfully, and highly scalable. Here are some of the most well-known data warehouse
platforms that companies choose to store and analyze their data:
 Google BigQuery
 Snowflake
 Amazon Redshift
 Microsoft Azure Synapse
 Teradata
 Amazon DynamoDB
Take note that for businesses already used to other Google products such as Google
Analytics, Google Ads, Google Data Studio, going with Google BigQuery will ensure
seamless integrations and a familiar interface, but all of the above is a decent choice overall.
 How to use a data warehouse for your business?
Businesses that leverage data warehouses have an advantage in getting the right information
for all critical decisions and making more accurate predictions regarding product
development, marketing, pricing strategies, production time, historical analysis, forecasting,
and customer satisfaction to drive continuous business growth. We’ll discuss a specific data
warehouse example later in the article.
Data warehouse considerations
Data ingestion frequency
Based on the desired freshness of data, it is vital to differentiate two distinct approaches for
data ingestion:
 Batch – data is being uploaded into a warehouse in batches after a predefined period, e.g., on
an hourly or daily basis.
 Streaming – there is a continuous flow of data, allowing instant access to real-time
information.
Data pipeline
Depending on the number of resources you can allocate to the pipeline development, you can
set it up to get data into the warehouse directly or via third-party vendors.
In the first data warehouse example, those can be manual data uploads, as well as cron jobs
that would push data into the chosen storage place on a schedule. Note that the latter requires
developer input which would automate the process.
When it comes to the second option, the same process can be automated with tools in the
market designed specifically to establish these sorts of connections between apps and services
without you having to rely on developers, such as Zapier and Hevo. Undoubtedly, this adds
another component to your pipeline, but it can become quite handy when eliminating the
burden of having to manage all the heavy lifting yourself.
Pricing
Based on the selected warehousing option, the cost breakdown per individual aspect can vary,
but the key aspects are similar across various platforms:
 Data streaming – unlike batch data uploads, the streaming solution is considered to be a
separate service that requires additional monetary investment.
 Data storage – the more data stored, the higher incurred costs. This can also encompass the
difference between active and long-term storage.
 Querying – calculated based on the amount of data processed as a result of a query (SQL
commands).
Although on-demand (pay-as-you-go) pricing is the most frequently encountered and
promoted pricing model, some warehouses offer flat-rate pricing in case you wish to account
for a predictable monthly cost within a certain budget. Furthermore, it’s worth checking what
kind of free tiers platforms in the market offer to estimate how much money will be excluded
from your monthly/annual bills.
Data warehouse for eCommerce: a practical example
When the data pipeline is established successfully, it’s time to make use of your data.
Despite having additional costs, when used wisely and appropriately, streaming solutions can
prove to be truly valuable to your business, especially used in conjunction with a BI tool. For
example, you can link your Google Analytics data to the BigQuery warehouse for free, as it is
available for every Google Analytics 4 user. Then, you can proceed with another free tool
from the Google stack – Google Data Studio.
By formulating your query accordingly, you can extract key business metrics from the
relevant Intraday table within seconds and not worry about the staleness of data. Those KPIs
can represent both traffic- and eCommerce-related measurements, like sessions, transactions,
revenue, particular product purchases. Some custom events can also be configured to capture
all user interactions that are important to your business.
With regards to eCommerce stores, such a metric can be product in-store availability checks.
These insights allow you to immediately act upon the information you see in dashboards by
enabling you to see how popular particular products are. It gains pivotal importance during
special occasions like Christmas and Black Friday.
You can even go a step further and configure custom alerts for performance drops and data
anomalies to get notified about some suspiciously low conversion rate values immediately.
Sometimes such cases can indicate technical issues that cannot be deferred and should be
dealt with as soon as possible to prevent monetary loss. Once again, there is no need to use
costly tools to get this job done—Google Sheets and Apps Script combined with the power of
BigQuery can handle this task.
Data warehouse benefits
According to Bill Inmon, the founder of data warehousing technology, data warehouses are
best characterized as subject-oriented, non-volatile, time-variant, and able to integrate
different data types from various sources.
The main benefit, hands-down, is storing, analyzing, and extracting value from large amounts
of data while keeping access to historical data for record-keeping of past trends and
decisions. Here’s a list of other benefits of having an eCommerce data warehouse:
 Complete information—with data warehousing, decision-makers have single-view access to
data from various sources with a wide set of features to perform analysis on this data
 Fast queries—data warehouses ensure rapid data retrieval and analysis of large amounts of
consolidated data without developer input
 Data quality—data warehousing systems transform all data into a consistent format,
delivering high-quality, accurate data at all times
 Scaling flexibility—with cloud data warehousing, it is possible to purchase close to unlimited
data storage, dynamically scale it up or down, and use it from anywhere
 New tech—cloud data warehouses allow you to integrate new technologies with ease, such as
machine learning and AI

Advertising and Marketing:

What is ecommerce digital advertising?
Ecommerce digital advertising refers to the promotion of your ecommerce website and
products using paid online channels and digital technology. With ecommerce digital
advertising, you can create data-driven campaigns that expand your reach and encourage
consumers to convert into paying customers.
What types of ecommerce digital ads are there?
When you invest in digital advertising for ecommerce websites, there are several types of
ads you can choose from depending on which online channels and consumers you want to
target.
Here are four types of ecommerce digital advertisements:
1. Search
With over 70% of consumers researching companies online before deciding to make a
purchase, search engines have significant potential to boost your leads and sales. Fortunately,
with search advertising, or pay-per-click (PPC) ads, you can effectively promote your
ecommerce website on search engines like Google.
With paid search ads, you’ll bid on specific keywords and phrases that your target audience
searches online. With an optimal bidding strategy, plus a high Quality Score and Ad Rank,
your ad will display at the top of the search results each time a user searches for those
keywords and phrases.
As a result, you’ll earn more web traffic and sales for your ecommerce website.
 2. Display
If you want your ads to have more visual elements, then display ads could be an excellent
choice for your ecommerce website.
Display ads contain visual elements such as:
 Images
 Videos
 Infographics
 Banners
 Buttons
 And more!
Display ads can appear across websites, apps, and social media. When 90% of users say that
videos help them make a purchasing decision, display advertising can really help you drive
more sales for your business.
3. Social
Do you want to promote your ecommerce website to more than five billion active users?
Then social media advertisements could be just the solution you need.
With social media ads, you can promote your ecommerce website and products on
several social media platforms, such as:
 Facebook
 LinkedIn
 Twitter
 Instagram
 And more!
Social media ads enable you to create text, image, and video ads to get your brand in front of
more consumers. Plus, you can also take advantage of social media ad targeting features.
That means you can create ads that will display on users’ newsfeeds based on their interests,
purchasing history, demographics, and more.
4. Influencer
Advertising your ecommerce website with influencers can also be an excellent way to boost
your brand awareness and expand your reach. That’s because 92% of consumers trust
recommendations from influencers over promotions from a brand.
Influencers are social media users who have a large following. When you use influencers for
advertising your ecommerce website, you can get your brand in front of more consumers by
promoting it to the influencer’s audience.
 When you choose an influencer within your niche, you can reach more members of your target
audience and increase conversions and sales for your business.
For example, if your ecommerce website sells beauty products, you might want to consider
partnering with an influencer who does make-up tutorials and can show off your products.
How does ecommerce digital advertising work?
When you use traditional advertising methods, you promote your ecommerce website to a
large audience of consumers who may or may not be interested in the products and services
you offer. Traditional advertising also lacks data and insights into the performance of your
campaigns.
On the other hand, ecommerce digital advertising works differently. With digital
advertisements, you can target the consumers who are most likely to purchase your products,
increasing your sales and revenue in the process.
For example, you can create ads that target consumers based on their:
 Interests
 Demographics
 Hobbies
 Purchasing history
 And more!
Digital advertising for ecommerce websites also comes with lots of data. That means you can
easily measure the success of your campaigns and use data to improve and inform new
strategies. And as a result, you’ll earn an impressive return on investment (ROI) for your
business.
What is the importance of digital advertising for ecommerce websites?
Now that you know the answer to “what is ecommerce digital advertising,” we’ll dive into
how it can drive results for your business.
Here are three significant benefits that show the importance of digital advertising for
ecommerce websites:
1. Increased brand awareness
If you want to boost brand awareness for your ecommerce website, investing in digital ads is a
must.
Digital advertising enables you to reach more consumers through online channels, getting your
brand in front of thousands of active users on search engines, social media, and beyond.
With the right digital advertising strategy for your ecommerce website, you can help more
consumers find your business online by creating ads that appear at the top of search results and
on users’ social media newsfeeds.
2. Earn a higher ROI
Perhaps one of the benefits of ecommerce digital advertising is that you can earn an
impressive ROI(Return on investment) for your marketing efforts. Unlike traditional
advertising, you can easily view which digital ad campaigns drive the best results for your
business.
Plus, you can view essential data about your audience, conversion rate, and more. As a result,
you can create data-driven strategies that will drive serious sales and revenue for your
ecommerce website.
3. Attract more high-quality leads
Attracting the consumers who are most likely to purchase your products and services is the
key to unlocking more conversions and sales for your business. Fortunately, ecommerce
digital advertising can help you attract high-quality leads.
As we discussed above, digital ads enable you to target specific consumers based on their
interests, demographics, and more.
That means you create personalized marketing messages that will resonate with your target
audience, attracting more leads and sales for your ecommerce website.
How to create an ecommerce digital advertising strategy that drives revenue for your business
Are you wondering how to create a revenue-driving digital advertising strategy for your
ecommerce website? We’ve got you covered.
Here are three easy steps you can follow to create an ecommerce digital advertising strategy
that will drive sales and revenue for your business:
1. Show off the benefits of your brand and products
If you want to encourage more consumers to click on your ads and make purchases, then
you’ll need to show off the benefits of choosing your brand and products over your
competitors.
Consider your target audience’s pain points, and then use your ads to show how your products
can help solve their problems and provide them with solutions.
By including the benefits of choosing your brand and products, you can make your ad more
compelling and help you earn more sales as a result.
2. Write stellar ad copy
 Your ad copy is one of the most crucial elements of your digital advertisement. It helps you
effectively communicate with your target audience and provide them with more information
about your business and products.
Here are a few tips to help you write stellar ad copy:
 Write informative and attention-grabbing titles
 Use headings and subheadings to guide readers throughout the copy
 Use visual elements, like images and videos, to break up large sections of text
 Use the word “you” to address your audience directly
 Appeal to your audience’s interests and needs
By writing stellar ad copy, you can grab users’ attention, create an ad that resonates with them,
and keep them on your website longer.
3. Use calls to action (CTAs)
If you want consumers to perform an action on your digital ads, then including CTAs is a
must. CTAs help guide users to take the next step after viewing your ad, whether that’s
browsing your products, signing up for your emails, or making a purchase.
Your CTA must catch your audience’s eye, so viewers notice and click on it. For example,
you can use bright colors that stand out but still match the color scheme on your website.
You’ll also want to include phrases that communicate exactly what you would like users to do.
Here are a few examples of phrases you can use for your CTA:
 “Browse our products”
 “Download our free guide”
 “Sign up for our emails”
 “Buy now”
By including CTAs in your ecommerce digital advertising campaign, you can encourage
consumers to take the next step, increasing your leads and conversions in the process.

The new age of Information Based Marketing:

The new age of information-based marketing differentiate interactive marketing into four
areas:
1.Retailers vs manufacturers
The role of Retailers and manufacturers are fast reversing in electronic commerce. Retailer’s
vs Manufacturers have the following methods:
Market research and customer prospecting
Market presence method
Product or services building method
Information-based products pricing and priority method

2.Target and micromarketing

Electronic commerce, technology has put target and micromarketing within the research of small
business. It gives information to the micro marketers not only about its own business but also
consumer’s information. Consumer target is two-way flow of communication between seller and
buyer. Direct mail and telemarketing are two fast growing ways to micro market. Technology is an
essential tool in micromarketing. There are two main types of micromarketing:
Direct-relationship micromarketing is aimed at stimulating sales at retail establishments through
direct contacts with consumers.
Direct-order micromarketing is focused on selling products directly to consumers in their homes or
businesses.
3.Small business vs large business:
The key distinction between small and large business remains access to national and international
marketing for advertising purposes.
4.Regulatory and legal implications of cyberspace marketing:
Today, exorbitant advertising cost represents the barrier to reaching the customer effectively.
Internet and other networks plays good role in advertising. The major difference between the
internet and other I-way advertising media are ownership and membership fees. Due to the
empowering effect of internet-facilitated advertising however, the balance of power between large
and small companies may change in future.

Advertising on Internet:

As web technologies evolved in the 1990s, internet advertising appeared as a virtual

equivalent to traditional marketing methods like TV and radio ads, newspaper advertising,
billboards, etc. In 2019 marketers expect that companies will spend more money on digital
advertising than on traditional ads.
Internet Advertising Advantages and Disadvantages
There are more than four billion internet users all over the world. This gives a huge boost to
internet advertising. People look for products by using search engines, following their
favorite brands in social media, and subscribing to their campaigns via email and push
notifications. Advertising opportunities are enormous, but using them correctly is not that
easy. So, let's have a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of internet advertising.
Advantages of internet advertising
 Easy global coverage. Nowadays, people have a habit of searching for information
about products and services via search engines like Google, Bing, and others. Internet
advertising is a way to demonstrate your offers in front of over 4 billion web users
around the globe. You can easily target the entire world via the Internet.
 Affordable for any budget. According to Seriously Simple Marketing, the minimum
cost to reach an audience of 2,000 is three times cheaper than traditional advertising
methods, so any company from a small family business to a huge enterprise can
utilize online ads and get the most out of their financial resources.
 Drives traffic to a website. The more visitors you get to the site, the more potential
customers you have, which will result in increased sales. Internet advertising aims to
attract users’ attention and send them to your website. The offers displayed in the
digital ads should arouse curiosity and give people a good reason for clicking through
your site.
 Allows targeting. Unlike traditional marketing media that advertises to everyone
without filtering, internet advertising tailors the message to a specifically targeted
audience — people who are most likely to convert into customers. For instance, a
travel equipment company may use social media ads for advertising to users who are
keen on travel, encouraging likes and shares.
 Enables retargeting. Internet advertisements are a way to say, “hey, looks like a
couple of days ago you checked out this toaster. I’ve got a marvelous one for you
here!” If many prospects visit your household appliances online store without buying
anything, remind them about your brand with banner ads displayed on websites they
browse.
 It allows you to create various touchpoints with your audience. Internet
advertising helps you to appear in the right place at the right time to communicate
with your audience. If you own a small bakery, use socials like Instagram and
Pinterest to demonstrate the products. To share news, and build long-lasting
relationships with your audience, reinforce them with email marketing. By mixing
 different types of digital advertising wisely, you can show that your company is
always present and ready to be of service.
 It is measurable. Unlike offline marketing, where the cost and effectiveness are
somewhat approximate, you can precisely track the return on your efforts and internet
marketing efficiency with web analytics platforms like Google Analytics.
Disadvantages of internet advertising
The main challenges associated with advertising online include fierce competition, the cost of
mistakes, complicated analytics, and ad blindness. Let’s have a closer look.
 High competition. Of course, this depends on your niche, but if you haven't invented
something new, you'll have to compete for clients' attention. This market is
oversaturated, especially for eCommerce businesses, so you need to put your
customers' needs upfront and regularly improve your product to make it competitive.
 Mistakes are expensive. Targeting wrong people, selecting highly competitive
keywords, and leaving your ad campaign running after turning it off are the most
common mistakes that can cost you a fortune. To eliminate these mistakes, you need
either a top specialist or a lot of experience. Both variants require investments.
 Complicated analytics. To analyze the performance of your ads, you need a third-
party platform like Google Analytics and some experience to interpret the results
correctly. Medium-sized enterprises and big brands have analysts to make the ads
more targeted and effective.
 Ad blindness. This term is related to banner blindness. Users see advertising almost
every time they open a web page. For this reason, they simply ignore banners without
even noticing them. To fight this, make sure that your banners target the right people
who need your offer.
What is the difference between advertising and marketing?
Advertising is part of marketing. To make it clear, let’s define both terms.
Marketing — a process of promoting your products to the target audience. It includes market
research, identifying your buyer persona, and analysis. It involves activities that bring your
offer to clients.
Advertising — one of those activities that helps spread the word about your brand.
Advertising is one marketing element. Others include public relations, sales promotion, direct
selling, personal selling.
So, advertising is part of marketing, while marketing is not exclusively advertising.
Types of Internet Advertising

 Search Engine Marketing

 Email Marketing
 Social Media Ads
 Display Ads
 Native Advertising
 Video Advertising
 Web Push
 Mobile Advertising
The Internet offers vast opportunities to connect with potential customers, so let’s review
some of the most influential types of internet advertising on the market.
Search Engine Marketing
A search bar is the starting point of the users’ buyer journey. Entering a keyword, people
focus mainly on the first page results. Search engine marketing is all about getting your
webpages to the top of the SERP (search engine results page), whether in an organic or paid
way.
Google Ads displays paid results based on the ad rank auction. Companies name their price
for a particular keyword, while Google analyzes the quality and relevancy of the content.
Here is the formula of the ad rank:
Ad rank = cost-per-click bid × quality score.
Social Media Ads
This means advertising on socials like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest for B2C,
and LinkedIn for B2B. Companies tailor their news and promotions to the target audience via
social media in two ways:
 Organically. If you produce kitchenware, you can post valuable content like hacks,
exciting ways of using your products, or some recipes to encourage shares and build
an attractive brand image.
 Paid. In this case, you can use social media functionality for business by showing
promotional posts targeted to your audience based on age, gender, favorite activities,
and other things they have in common.
Display Ads
40% of Americans avoid banner ads, wallpapers, pop-ups, flash, and video ads with ad-
blocking software due to the unsolicited nature of display advertising. Furthermore, many
non-blockers unconsciously ignore the information in the ads because of a psychological
phenomenon called “banner blindness.” Since the mid-1990s, display advertising has gained
a negative reputation for being annoying media. Unless ads are highly relevant to the user,
they are largely ignored or worse, totally invisible via ad-blockers.
Website owners with massive traffic to their site want to monetize it, so they sell some of
their space with Google AdSense, while the advertisers buy it with Google Ads. Google
shows relevant ads based on two pricing approaches: CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per
thousand views), and allows companies to retarget their promotions.
Native Advertising
In a way, this is a non-irritative alternative to the display ads. Companies pay
popular sites like BuzzFeed, Bored Panda, and the New York Times for placing promotion
materials in their publications. As long as it happens in an entertaining and casual manner,
the readers don’t realize they’ve actually been advertised to — that’s why this phenomenon is
called “native.”
Video Advertising
As the name suggests, these ads are in a video format and placed on services like YouTube,
Vimeo, DailyMotion, and Vine. This is an expensive type of advertising but also an effective
one, since high-quality videos may go viral. A video advertising campaign called “Save The
Ocean” encourages people to join the company that aims to reduce water pollution.
Web Push
This technology allows you to grab users’ attention whenever they are online. These
messages appear in the corner of your screen, and a click on it redirects a user to a particular
webpage. For example, a coffee shop can send you a morning notification about the 20%
discount for making an order before 10 am. Users subscribe to push notifications to stay in
touch with the brand and be the first to know the news and updates.
Mobile Advertising
This type of advertising appears on smartphones and tablets. Companies can advertise
with SMS after the user opts-in or with display ads in the browser optimized for mobile
devices. If you run a shoe shop, mobile ads are especially good for advertising to the local
audiences with the time-sensitive offers. You can create SMS campaigns in no time with
SendPulse, and their open rate is extremely high: up to 98%.
How can I advertise for free on the Internet?
Small businesses falsely believe that any type of online advertising is too expensive for them.
We want to dispel this myth. There’re lots of effective advertising formats that require no
investment. Check them out.
1. Optimize your site for search engines. People all over the world are doing Google
searches every second. They are looking for news, products, recipes, manuals,
housekeeping hints, and much more. You can satisfy their interest and bring in new
customers. Conduct some basic keyword research and pick up low-competition
queries to start your SEO. On our blog, we outlined an SEO strategy that will bring
your site to the top of the search.
2. Send email campaigns. With their help, you can educate your customers, promote
your products, share news and updates, keep clients informed about their orders, and
increase brand recognition. All this and more is possible for free with SendPulse
Email Service. If you have up to 500 subscribers on your mailing list, you can send
them 15,000 emails every month for free.
3. Write guest posts. Find authoritative blogs with a large audience that may be
interested in your products. Offer them a valuable piece of content, share tips, provide
case studies, and give advice. Link back to your website, and you’ll give a boost to
your domain authority. This way, you’ll communicate your message to the target
audience and increase your brand awareness.
4. Utilize the power of social media. There’re at least two reasons that you should use
them: most of the platforms are free, and people look for brands on socials. If you’re
on a tight budget, advertising campaigns are not a must. Create your brand's profile,
add photos and videos of your products, share news on recent updates, and ask for
customer feedback. In addition, you can create a chatbot for Facebook Messenger to
answer clients’ FAQ and help them place their order. SendPulse offers an intuitive
and free chatbot builder.
5. Start your blog. A blog is a place where you can demonstrate your expertise and
promote your brand at the same time. Post regularly to share news about your
company, educate your audience, give expert tips, and show some behind-the-scenes.
You can even earn money from your blog by posting high-quality content from other
companies that may be useful for your audience.

How much does internet advertising cost?

 Search engine ads
 Email marketing
 Social media
 Display ads
 Native ads
 Video advertising
 Web push ads
 Search engine ads. The average cost per click across all industries is $2.32. This
price depends on the keyword volume — how many times a month people search for
a specific word or phrase, the level of competition, meaning how many companies use
this keyword, and how high the bid for the ad rank based auction.
 Email marketing. The average price for 2,000 subscribers start at $27, 5,000 — $47,
10,000 — $69 and 50,000 — $253. You can send up to 15,000 emails to 500
subscribers each month for free with SendPulse. The service allows you to
create email templates and send trigger emails, and lots of other handy features.
 Social media. Depending on the industry, Facebook's average CPC is $1.86, and
CPM is $11.20. On Instagram, the average cost-per-click is between $0.50 - $1.00. In
more competitive industries like apparel or law, the cost of ads can reach $3.00 per
click.
 Display ads. The ad’s size and its placement on the webpage form the pricing
together with the display period and the average amount of visitors. You shouldn’t
necessarily choose Google Ads — you can use other services like Microsoft
Advertising, Quora, AdRoll, etc., or contact website owners directly.
 Native ads. The main reason to utilize native advertising is the large amount of traffic
that the company placing ads drives to its website. It is the most expensive type of
online advertising because it demands high-quality content from the advertiser, hence
professional copywriting, storytelling, editing, and design. It is highly efficient,
though, due to the easy-to-digest nature of native ads.
 Video advertising. Companies pay YouTube on a pay-per-view basis. Typically,
video ads cost between $0.10 and $0.30 per view, which means that you will pay
$1,000 for 10,000 people to watch your ad. Another meaningful factor is video
production. The cost here depends on how many people work on the video and how
much they charge.
  Web push ads. You can utilize this feature for sending rapid promotions and updates
for free in SendPulse.
 Mobile marketing. The cost for each SMS is $0.022 in the USA. SendPulse allows
sending SMS on 800 networks in over 200 countries.

Internet Advertising Tips

1. Analyze your ROI

2. Segment your audience
3. Choose the best media for a specific business
4. Use social media platforms that are popular
5. Be creative with your ads
6. Use a clear call to action
7. Make mobile-friendly ads
 Analyze your ROI. It is easy to ensure your efforts are worth a while with internet
marketing. Check all the possible metrics depending on the type of digital marketing
you use. Analyze open rate and CTR in email marketing, and use Google Analytics
for your social marketing efforts and search engine marketing.
 Segment your audience. Separate your audience into different groups with
something in common like age, gender, and location, and find the right approach for
all of them. If you create a display ad campaign for clothing, make sure the message
you tailor to women differs from the one for men.
 Choose the best media for a specific business. If you make and sell vegan food, use
socials for promoting and receiving orders. Appearance in the local directories in
Google search results may also address potential clients to you when they google
“vegan food near me,” for instance.
 Use social media platforms that are popular. If your audience consists mainly of
young people 14-30 years old, Instagram is likely the most commonplace for their
communication with each other. Facebook is preferable for adults, so the best practice
here is to examine your audience, their habits, and global tendencies to make the right
choice.
 Be creative with your ads. Internet advertising is about catching people’s attention,
so make your ads expressive and relevant. Bolster your creativity with bright colors
and huge headlines, but avoid using all caps.
  Use a clear call to action. There's little time to get your message across to the
audience, so make it clear what you want. Use a short and unambiguous CTA like
“Book now,” “Learn more,” “Grab the promo code,” etc., depending on the business
and the advertising goal.
 Make mobile-friendly ads. Preview all the ads you produce on a mobile phone to
make sure they work since the majority of site visits are registered from smartphones.

Charting the Online marketing process:

In order for businesses to be competitive in an ever-evolving digital landscape, the

significance of a well-crafted strategy cannot be overstated. Akin to how a map
empowers travellers to navigate unfamiliar territories, a digital marketing strategy
equips businesses with a roadmap to navigate the complex online world.
By incorporating various essential elements such as target audience analysis, goal setting,
competitor analysis, budget allocation, and defining key performance indicators (KPIs), a
well-defined strategy helps to align all marketing efforts towards a common vision, ensuring
focused and purposeful actions.
Throughout this article, we’ll explore the multifaceted nature of strategy in digital marketing
and highlight the advantages of employing a comprehensive platform like HubSpot to
seamlessly integrate and manage various marketing channels. So, let’s delve deeper into the
power of strategy and its implementation through HubSpot, as we embark on this insightful
exploration of modern marketing practices.
The Importance of Strategy in Digital
Marketing

Having a well-defined strategy is the cornerstone of success. A strategic approach sets the
direction, aligns efforts, and empowers businesses to make informed decisions in their pursuit
of marketing goals.
Without a clear strategy, businesses often resort to ad hoc marketing initiatives that lack
coherence and fail to contribute to a unified vision. This scattergun approach leads to
disjointed brand messaging and dilutes the impact of marketing efforts.
A strategy-less marketing approach may result in misallocation of resources, where time and
money are spent on campaigns that yield little to no returns. Valuable resources are
squandered on ineffective endeavours that do not contribute to overall business objectives.
A well-defined strategy on the other hand helps businesses identify and prioritise marketing
initiatives based on their relevance to the overall goals. This ensures that efforts are focused
on activities that align with the company's long-term vision, maximising the impact of
marketing campaigns.
These businesses can allocate their resources - financial, human, and time - into activities that
have the highest potential for success, optimising the return on investment.
An effective strategy sets specific and measurable goals, enabling businesses to track and
evaluate the success of their marketing efforts. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are
established, allowing for data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
A well-crafted digital marketing strategy acts as a compass, guiding businesses through the
complexities of the digital landscape. It provides clarity of purpose, a roadmap for execution,
and a framework for evaluating progress.

Leveraging HubSpot for a Holistic Strategy

With its diverse range of technology tools and all-in-one capabilities, HubSpot offers
businesses an opportunity to implement a comprehensive and holistic digital marketing
strategy. These tools include:
 Inbound Marketing Capabilities
 Content Creation and Management
 Social Media Management
 Email Marketing Automation
 Lead Generation and Nurturing
 Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

8 Steps to Creating an Effective Digital Strategy

Creating a successful digital marketing strategy requires careful planning, a deep
understanding of your target audience, and a data-driven approach. By combining these
elements, businesses can craft a robust and effective digital strategy that maximises their
online presence and achieves their marketing goals.
Let's explore the key steps to create a digital strategy with real impact:

Step 1: Define Clear Goals

Start by setting clear and specific goals for your digital marketing efforts. These goals should
align with your overall business objectives and be measurable.
Whether it's increasing website traffic, generating leads, improving conversion rates, or
enhancing brand awareness, having well-defined goals provides a clear direction for your
strategy.

Step 2: Understand Your Target Audience

In-depth knowledge of your target audience is crucial for crafting a successful strategy.
Conduct thorough market research and gather insights into your audience's preferences,
needs, pain points, and online behaviours. Use this information to create detailed buyer
personas that represent your ideal customers.
Step 3: Map the Buyer's Journey
Map out the different stages of your buyer's journey, from awareness to consideration and
decision-making. Understand the content and interactions that resonate with prospects at each
stage.
Tailor your messaging and marketing efforts to guide prospects smoothly through the buyer's
journey, ultimately leading to conversion.

Step 4: Develop Compelling Content

Content is the cornerstone of any digital strategy. Create valuable, relevant, and engaging
content that addresses your audience's pain points and provides solutions.
Utilise a mix of formats such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and eBooks to cater to
different preferences. Regularly update and optimise your content to keep it fresh and
relevant.

Step 5: Embrace Multichannel Marketing

Diversify your marketing efforts by leveraging multiple digital channels. Utilise social media
platforms, email marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), paid advertising, and other
channels that align with your audience's preferences.
Ensure consistency in your messaging and branding across all channels.

Step 6: Leverage Marketing Automation

Marketing automation tools, like those offered by HubSpot, can streamline your marketing
processes and enhance efficiency.
 Automate repetitive tasks such as lead nurturing, email sequences, and follow-up
communications. This automation frees up time for your team to focus on high-impact
activities.

Step 7: Monitor and Analyse Performance

Regularly monitor the performance of your digital marketing efforts. Use analytics tools to
track key metrics, such as website traffic, conversion rates, email open rates, and social media
engagement.
Analyse the data to gain insights into what works well and identify areas for improvement.

Step 8: Adapt and Optimise

Stay agile and be ready to adapt your strategy based on performance data and market trends.
Continuously test and optimise your campaigns to improve results. A willingness to
experiment and embrace change will ensure your strategy remains effective and relevant in
the ever-changing digital landscape.
By following these steps and harnessing the capabilities of platforms like HubSpot,
businesses can create an effective digital marketing strategy that drives meaningful results. A
well-crafted strategy, supported by data-driven insights and tailored to your audience's needs,
will position your business for success in the competitive online realm.

Market Research
What You Need to Know Before Entering a New Market
Our market research focused on five main areas:
1. Country overview
2. eCommerce trends
3. Competitor analysis
4. Social media analysis
5. Consumer survey
What is market research?
Market research allows a company to determine the viability of a product or service by
gathering information about the needs and preferences of its potential customers. It is an
important component of a successful marketing strategy and crucial in keeping the
company’s offerings relevant and competitive.
What information can you expect to get from market research?
 Conducting market research should give you a good sense of your target market by providing
answers to the following questions:
 Demand: Is there a desire for your product or service?
 Market size: How many people would be interested in your offering?
 Economic indicators: What is the income range and employment rate of your prospective
customers?
 Location: Where do your target customers live, and can you reach them?
 Market saturation: How many similar options are already available to consumers?
 Pricing: What do potential customers pay for these alternatives?
Let’s dive into the main areas of market research that you ought to make sure you don’t
miss.
The 5 Main Areas of Market Research
Country Overview
This area of eCommerce market research provides a high-level perspective of the target
market. It is where we gather the following information about a territory:
1. GDP per capita, inflation rate
2. Average monthly income
3. Population size, demographics
4. Main populated regions

Target market population distribution by age and gender in 2020

Information about the buying power of potential customers is vital to enabling a business to
effectively price and sell their products. GDP per capita and income level are good indicators
of how much buying power consumers have in a given market.
Knowledge of the demographic of the target market will help our client better understand
opportunities and limitations related to the customers they are trying to reach. The better they
know your customers, the better they can develop strategies to appeal to them and get them to
buy their products or services.
Ecommerce Trends

Most commonly bought products online in the target market in 2020

This section of the eCommerce market research is where we look closely at the factors that
matter to our client as an eCommerce business, including the following:
1. Market size
 Growth rate compared to previous periods
 Predicted growth
2. Online consumer insights
 Drivers and barriers for shopping online
 Shopping frequency
 Average purchase amount
 Mobile ecommerce use/growth
 Local online shopping events
 Delivery preferences (methods and delivery time preferences)
 Popular payment methods
3. Digital consumption overview
 Online penetration
 Use of social media
 Popular browsers and devices
4. Popular sports in target market (since our client is in the business of sporting goods)
5. Most trusted brands in the particular industry

Preferred payment methods in the target country for online shopping in 2020
The data we gather in this section will allow our client to know where to position themselves
as they enter the market and which areas to leverage in their marketing strategy.
Want additional insights? Here’s Reinis Groskops, scandiweb’s Head of Growth, at the Meet
Magento Baltics 2022 conference discussing areas of the customer experience that need to be
localized when considering expanding globally to new markets.
Competitor Analysis
Competitive analysis is about knowing the competitors of our client so they can implement
better business strategies than what other companies are already doing. It involves
researching the competitors’ products as well as their sales and marketing tactics.
A good way to conduct competitive analysis when doing your online business research is by
benchmarking against competitors in terms of:
1. Product categories: For our client, we compared apparel and equipment, based on sports
activity, as separate groups against competitors’ offerings to find unique differences between
product ranges.
2. Price differences
3. Shipping terms and costs (especially the availability of free shipping)
4. Return policy
5. Payment methods
6. Online vs offline presence: This is optional but knowing whether competitors are online-only
retailers or with brick-and-mortar stores can help explain the differences in delivery costs.
7. Unique selling proposition (USP) used on their website
8. Promotional activities currently highlighted on their website
9. Loyalty program
10. Differences between desktop and mobile experience
11. Regional differences: This can be done by comparing brands that have international
eCommerce stores to determine if there are country-specific website layouts, offers,
marketing activities, or product ranges.

Social Media Analysis

Social media use by 26- to 35-year-old users in Q3 2020
A great way to gain insight into what types of content and campaigns consumers are actually
interested in is to look at how competitors are engaging with customers online and how
responsive their followers are across social media channels.
When doing the social media analysis, we highlight the differences in user engagement and
marketing activities among competitors while also taking into account which of them are
local companies with physical retail stores and/or have loyalty programs and which are
online-only businesses.
We first take a general look at the use of social media in the territory our client wants to
enter. And then we dig deeper by studying the following about our client’s competitors:
1. Social media channels
 Number of followers
 Engagement rate
 Frequency of posts
 Average likes and comments on a single post
2. Content strategy per channel
 Types of posts
 Variations in post style
 Types of content
3. Use of additional functionality
 Shoppable posts/stories
 Facebook store
 Others
4. Marketing activities
 Involvement of micro-influencers, macro-influencers, local celebrities, or brand ambassadors
 Use of user-generated content (UGC)
 Running of contests
Social media analysis is an essential part of eCommerce market research that allows us to
uncover the competitor marketing strategies that our client could consider when entering the
new market, such as using micro-influencers, UGC, and contests.
Consumer Survey
Doing a consumer survey helps us gather information about the behavior of the potential
customers of our client in the target market as well as factors that influence their buying
decision related to products and services offered by our client, sporting goods in this case.
By doing this survey, we can compare the data we gathered from our research against real
user information, providing valuable insights into aspects that matter to our client, i.e.,
consumer spending habits, shopping frequency, preferences when shopping online, delivery
concerns, and other factors that influence buying decisions.
After doing a consumer survey for this particular client, we found that a wide assortment of
products and better prices were the most critical aspects for buyers to shop at a preferred
online retailer. Other major aspects influencing consumer choice are related to delivery,
namely free delivery, fast delivery, and extended return policy.

Specifically, we found that the competitive stores offered free delivery for certain order
amounts and free returns with longer periods. It is worth mentioning that 65% of the
respondents to a survey carried out by International Post Corporation in 2020 cited “free
delivery” as the most important factor that affected their decision to buy online.
Five-second Testing
Conducting 5-second tests help us know the potential customer’s first impression of our
client’s website. The information we gather here will allow our client to make improvements
in terms of UI and design that will be more attractive to consumers. We ask the following
questions:
1. What do you think this website sells?
2. What do you remember from this website?
3. What’s your first impression of the site?
4. How would you describe the design after viewing this page?
5. Where would you navigate further?