Session 06.pdf

# Digital marketing roadmap and strategies This section outlines the foundational elements and diverse strategies integral to a digital marketing roadmap. ### 1.1 The digital marketing roadmap A digital marketing roadmap encompasses a structured plan for engaging customers online, beginning with the core digital asset: the website. It then extends to various marketing channels and approaches [3](#page=3). #### 1.1.1 Core components of the digital marketing roadmap * **Website:** The central hub for online presence and customer interaction [3](#page=3). * **Traditional online marketing:** Encompasses established digital channels [3](#page=3). * **Search engine marketing:** Optimizing for and advertising on search engines. * **Display advertising:** Visual advertisements placed on websites. * **Email marketing:** Direct communication via email. * **Affiliate marketing:** Partnering with others to promote products. * **Social marketing:** Leveraging social platforms for engagement [3](#page=3). * Social networks * Blogs * Visual content platforms * Video platforms * Gaming environments * Metaverse and NFT (Non-Fungible Token) spaces * **Mobile marketing:** Reaching users on mobile devices [3](#page=3). * Mobile websites * Mobile applications * **Local marketing:** Targeting geographically specific audiences [3](#page=3). * Geotargeting * Daily deal sites * **Offline marketing:** Traditional media channels used in conjunction with digital efforts [3](#page=3). * Television * Newspapers * Magazines * Radio ### 1.2 Other online marketing strategies Beyond the core roadmap components, several advanced strategies focus on customer engagement, retention, and optimized pricing. #### 1.2.1 Customer retention strategies Effective customer retention aims to maintain existing customer relationships and encourage repeat business through personalized approaches [4](#page=4). * **One-to-one marketing and personalization:** Tailoring marketing messages and offers to individual customer preferences and behaviors [4](#page=4). * **Retargeting:** Displaying advertisements to users who have previously interacted with a website or app. * **Behavioral targeting:** Utilizing data from various sources to target specific user behaviors [4](#page=4). * **Data sources include:** Search engine queries, clickstream history, social network data, and integration of offline personal data [4](#page=4). * **Effectiveness:** While promising, its effectiveness is still under evaluation, and privacy concerns exist [4](#page=4). * **Customization:** Allowing customers to modify products or services to their needs. * **Changing the product:** Offering options for customers to alter product features. * **Customer co-production:** Involving customers in the creation or development of products [5](#page=5). * **Customer service:** Providing support and assistance to customers. * **FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions):** Offering readily available answers to common queries. * **Real-time customer service chat systems:** Enabling immediate assistance through online chat. * **Automated response systems:** Using technology to handle routine customer inquiries [5](#page=5). #### 1.2.2 Pricing strategies Pricing is a critical element of the overall marketing strategy, with numerous online-specific approaches [6](#page=6). * **Traditional pricing:** Based on fixed costs, variable costs, and understanding the demand curve [6](#page=6). * **Price discrimination:** Charging different prices to different customer segments for the same product or service. * **Free and freemium:** Offering products or services for free to build market awareness, with premium versions available for a fee [7](#page=7). * **Versioning:** Creating multiple versions of a product and selling them to different market segments at varying price points [7](#page=7). * **Bundling:** Offering two or more products together at a reduced price compared to purchasing them individually [7](#page=7). * **Dynamic pricing:** Adjusting prices in real-time based on demand, supply, and other market factors [7](#page=7). * Auctions * Yield management * Surge pricing * Flash marketing #### 1.2.3 The "Long Tail" strategy The internet and e-commerce enable the profitable sale of niche or obscure products that individually have low demand [8](#page=8). * **Revenue generation:** Substantial revenue can be generated due to minimal marketing costs and near-zero inventory costs for these products [8](#page=8). * **Enabling factors:** Search engines and recommendation engines play a crucial role in connecting customers with these less common items [8](#page=8). * **Concept Origin:** Popularized by Chris Anderson in his 2006 book, "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More" [8](#page=8). > **Tip:** Understanding the interplay between traditional marketing channels and digital strategies is key to building a comprehensive and effective digital marketing roadmap. > **Example:** A software company might use a freemium model (offering a basic free version) to attract a large user base and then upsell premium features. This falls under both "Free and freemium" and "Versioning" pricing strategies [7](#page=7). --- # Online marketing technologies and data management This section delves into the technological infrastructure that enables and shapes online marketing, examining how internet capabilities enhance marketing communications and how various data sources and management systems are employed to understand and engage customers [9](#page=9). ### 2.1 The internet's influence on marketing The internet significantly impacts marketing by creating an "always-on" mobile environment that expands marketing opportunities. It increases the information intensity of the marketplace, meaning more detailed information is readily available to consumers and marketers. Furthermore, the internet enhances the richness, or depth and breadth of content, and the scope, or range of audience reached, of marketing communications [9](#page=9). ### 2.2 Data collection technologies Several technologies are used to collect data that informs online marketing strategies. #### 2.2.1 Web transaction logs Web transaction logs are built into web server software and record user activity on a website. These logs are a rich source of marketing data, especially when combined with information from registration forms and shopping cart databases. They help answer crucial questions about user behavior, such as identifying major patterns of interest and purchase, and understanding the paths users take through a website after landing on the homepage [10](#page=10). #### 2.2.2 Cookies and other tracking files Various tracking mechanisms are employed to monitor user behavior online: * **Cookies:** Small text files stored on a user's browser that remember information about their visits to websites [11](#page=11). * **Flash cookies:** A type of cookie associated with Adobe Flash Player, capable of storing more data than standard cookies [11](#page=11). * **Web beacons ("bugs"):** Tiny, often invisible images embedded in web pages or emails that track user activity [11](#page=11). * **Tracking headers (supercookies):** Techniques that use HTTP headers or other browser information to create persistent identifiers that are difficult to clear [11](#page=11). Other tracking methods include: * **Deterministic cross-device tracking:** Identifying a user across multiple devices based on logged-in accounts or verified information [11](#page=11). * **Probabilistic cross-device tracking:** Inferring that a user is the same person across devices based on patterns of usage, IP addresses, and other anonymous data points [11](#page=11). ### 2.3 Data management and analysis technologies Effectively managing and analyzing the vast amounts of data generated online requires sophisticated systems. #### 2.3.1 Databases * **Database:** A structured collection of data organized into fields, records, and files [12](#page=12). * **Relational database:** A type of database that organizes data into two-dimensional tables, with rows representing records and columns representing fields [12](#page=12). > **Example:** A relational database might store customer information in a table with columns for customer ID, name, email address, and purchase history, where each row represents a unique customer [13](#page=13). * **Database Management System (DBMS):** Software used to create, maintain, and access databases efficiently [12](#page=12). * **Structured Query Language (SQL):** The industry-standard language used to query and manipulate data within relational databases [12](#page=12). #### 2.3.2 Data warehouses, data marts, and data lakes * **Data warehouse:** A centralized repository that consolidates a firm's transactional and customer data for offline analysis by marketers and site managers [14](#page=14). * **Data mart:** A subset of a data warehouse that contains summarized or highly focused portions of an organization's data, tailored for specific analytical needs [14](#page=14). * **Data lake:** A repository designed to store raw, unstructured, or structured data that has not yet been processed or analyzed [14](#page=14). #### 2.3.3 Data mining and big data * **Data mining:** The application of analytical techniques to discover patterns in data, model customer behavior, and develop customer profiles [14](#page=14). * **Big data:** Refers to data sets of such a large volume (in the petabyte or exabyte range) and complexity, including web traffic, email, social media, and content, that traditional DBMS are unable to process them effectively [15](#page=15). > **Tip:** Big data requires specialized technologies and analytical approaches to extract valuable insights. * **Hadoop:** An open-source software framework designed for processing large volumes of data of any type, including unstructured data, using distributed computing. It enables parallel processing across clusters of computers, making it suitable for handling the scale of big data [15](#page=15). --- # Marketing automation, CRM, and metrics This topic explores the interconnected systems of marketing automation and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) used to manage customer interactions and marketing processes, alongside the key metrics for evaluating online advertising and marketing campaign performance. ### 3.1 Marketing automation and CRM systems Marketing automation systems are designed to track the various stages of lead generation. Complementing these are Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, which focus on managing relationships with customers after a purchase has been made and involve creating detailed customer profiles. The data collected within CRM systems is invaluable for developing and selling additional products, identifying highly profitable customers, and optimizing the delivery of services [16](#page=16). ### 3.2 Online marketing metrics Evaluating the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns relies on a variety of metrics that can be broadly categorized: #### 3.2.1 Audience size and market share metrics These metrics provide insights into the reach and visibility of marketing efforts. * **Impressions**: The total number of times an advertisement or content is displayed [18](#page=18). * **Click-through rate (CTR)**: The percentage of users who click on a link or advertisement after seeing it [18](#page=18). * **Page views**: The total number of times a web page has been viewed [18](#page=18). * **Viewability rate**: The percentage of ad impressions that are actually viewable by users [18](#page=18). * **Stickiness**: A measure of how long users remain engaged with a website or application [18](#page=18). * **Loyalty**: Indicates the degree to which customers repeatedly purchase from a brand [18](#page=18). * **Reach**: The total number of unique individuals who have seen an advertisement or content [18](#page=18). * **Recency**: Measures how recently a customer has interacted with a brand or made a purchase [18](#page=18). #### 3.2.2 Conversion to customer metrics These metrics focus on the process of turning potential customers into actual buyers. * **Acquisition rate**: The rate at which new customers are acquired [18](#page=18). * **Conversion rate**: The percentage of users who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase [18](#page=18). * **Browse-to-buy ratio**: The ratio of users who browse a website to those who make a purchase [18](#page=18). * **Cart conversion rate**: The percentage of shopping carts that result in a completed purchase [18](#page=18). * **Abandonment rate**: The percentage of users who start a process (e.g., add items to a cart) but do not complete it [18](#page=18). #### 3.2.3 Video ad metrics Specific to video advertising, these metrics assess engagement and completion. * **View time**: The average duration users spend watching a video advertisement [18](#page=18). * **Completion rate**: The percentage of users who watch a video advertisement to its end [18](#page=18). #### 3.2.4 E-mail campaign metrics These metrics are used to evaluate the performance of email marketing efforts. * **Open rate**: The percentage of recipients who open an email [18](#page=18). * **Delivery rate**: The percentage of emails successfully delivered to recipients' inboxes [18](#page=18). * **Click-through rate (CTR)**: The percentage of recipients who click on a link within an email [18](#page=18). * **Bounce-back rate**: The percentage of emails that could not be delivered due to issues like invalid addresses [18](#page=18). ### 3.3 Evaluating online advertising effectiveness The effectiveness of online advertising can be measured using metrics like Return on Investment (ROI), which assesses the profitability of ad campaigns. However, a significant challenge is the difficulty in cross-platform attribution, making it hard to determine which channels contributed to a sale. Historically, search engine ads and permission-based email campaigns have shown the highest click-through rates. Rich media and video advertisements tend to have high interaction rates [20](#page=20). > **Tip:** Online channels often compare favorably with traditional media in terms of effectiveness, and the most powerful marketing campaigns typically employ a multi-channel approach [20](#page=20). ### 3.4 Costs of online advertising Online advertising involves various pricing models: * **Barter**: Exchange of services or goods without monetary transaction. * **Cost per thousand (CPM)**: Price paid for one thousand advertising impressions [21](#page=21). * **Cost per click (CPC)**: Price paid for each click on an advertisement [21](#page=21). * **Cost per action (CPA)**: Price paid for a specific desired action, such as a sale or sign-up [21](#page=21). * **Hybrid**: A combination of different pricing models. * **Sponsorship**: Paying to have branding associated with content or an event. A key measurement issue is correlating online marketing efforts to both online and offline sales. While online marketing can appear more expensive on a CPM basis, it is generally more efficient in producing sales. **Effective cost-per-thousand (eCPM)** is a metric used to compare the value of different advertising placements, considering factors beyond just raw impressions [21](#page=21). ### 3.5 Marketing analytics Marketing analytics involves software that analyzes data at each stage of the customer conversion process, encompassing awareness, engagement, interaction, purchase activity, and loyalty/post-purchase phases. This analysis helps managers to [22](#page=22): * Build detailed customer profiles [22](#page=22). * Measure the impact of marketing campaigns [22](#page=22). * Optimize the Return on Investment (ROI) for website and marketing efforts [22](#page=22). Marketing analytics provides crucial insights into the online purchasing process, allowing for data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement of marketing strategies [23](#page=23). --- ## Common mistakes to avoid - Review all topics thoroughly before exams - Pay attention to formulas and key definitions - Practice with examples provided in each section - Don't memorize without understanding the underlying concepts

| Term | Definition | |------|------------| | Omnichannel | A marketing approach that provides customers with a seamless and integrated shopping experience across all available channels and touchpoints, both online and offline. | | Digital marketing | The practice of promoting products and services using digital distribution channels to reach consumers effectively, encompassing various online strategies and technologies. | | E-commerce marketing | The process of promoting goods and services for sale through online channels, focusing on strategies to drive traffic, conversions, and customer loyalty in a digital marketplace. | | Digital marketing roadmap | A strategic plan that outlines the steps, channels, and tactics a business will employ to achieve its digital marketing objectives, guiding efforts from awareness to conversion and retention. | | Search engine marketing (SEM) | A digital marketing strategy used to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs), typically involving paid advertising (pay-per-click) and search engine optimization (SEO). | | Display advertising | A form of online advertising that uses visual graphical advertisements like banners, ads, or other visual elements to convey a message and attract an audience. | | Affiliate marketing | A performance-based marketing strategy where a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. | | Social marketing | The application of marketing principles to influence behaviors that benefit individuals and communities, often utilizing social media platforms to engage target audiences. | | Metaverse | A persistent, online 3D universe that combines multiple different virtual spaces, allowing users to interact with each other and digital objects, often used for social interaction and commerce. | | NFT (Non-Fungible Token) | A unique digital asset that represents ownership of a specific item, such as digital art or collectibles, recorded on a blockchain and cannot be replicated or interchanged. | | Mobile marketing | Marketing activities specifically designed to reach a target audience on their mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, through SMS, apps, mobile websites, and social media. | | Geotargeting | A strategy used in advertising and content delivery that targets users based on their geographic location, delivered through IP addresses or GPS signals. | | Customer retention | The activities and strategies businesses employ to keep their existing customers engaged and loyal over time, often through superior service, loyalty programs, and personalized communication. | | Personalization | Tailoring marketing messages, product recommendations, or user experiences to individual customers based on their past behavior, preferences, and demographic information. | | Retargeting | A form of online advertising that allows marketers to show ads to people who have previously visited their website or used their app, encouraging them to return and complete a purchase. | | Behavioral targeting | An advertising strategy that uses data about a user's past online activities, such as websites visited or searches made, to deliver advertisements relevant to their interests. | | Customization | Modifying a product or service to meet the specific needs or preferences of an individual customer, offering a more personalized solution. | | Customer co-production | A process where customers actively participate in the creation or development of a product or service, contributing their own ideas or efforts. | | FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) | A compilation of common questions and their answers related to a product, service, or topic, designed to provide quick information and support to users. | | Dynamic pricing | A pricing strategy where businesses set flexible prices for products or services based on current market demands, competitor pricing, and consumer willingness to pay. | | Auctions | A sales process where goods or services are sold to the highest bidder, often used for unique items or in situations of high demand. | | Yield management | A strategy for optimizing revenue by predicting consumer behavior and adjusting prices for products and services, often used in industries like airlines and hotels. | | Surge pricing | A model of variable pricing where prices increase dynamically based on real-time demand, typically seen in ride-sharing services during peak hours. | | Flash marketing | A short-term promotional strategy that offers deep discounts for a limited time or quantity, creating a sense of urgency for consumers to purchase quickly. | | Long tail | A business strategy that focuses on selling a large number of unique items with relatively small quantities sold of each, as opposed to selling a small number of popular items in large quantities. | | Web transaction logs | Files generated by web servers that record detailed information about every request made to the server, including user activity, IP addresses, and pages visited. | | Cookies | Small text files stored on a user's computer by websites they visit, used to remember information about the user, such as login details, preferences, and browsing history. | | Flash cookies (Local Shared Objects) | Similar to browser cookies but stored by Adobe Flash Player, used to store user preferences and settings for Flash applications, often more persistent than regular cookies. | | Web beacons ("bugs") | Small, invisible images or objects embedded in web pages or emails that can track user activity, such as page views or email opens, often used for analytics and advertising. | | Tracking headers (supercookies) | Techniques that can be used to track users across websites and devices, often by embedding unique identifiers in HTTP headers or other persistent data. | | Deterministic cross-device tracking | A method of tracking users across multiple devices by linking them through shared identifiers like logged-in accounts or device IDs. | | Probabilistic cross-device tracking | A method of tracking users across multiple devices based on statistical probabilities and patterns of usage, without direct identifiers. | | Database | An organized collection of structured information, or data, typically stored electronically in a computer system, designed for efficient retrieval and management. | | Relational database | A type of database that stores data in tables, with relationships defined between these tables, allowing for complex queries and data integrity. | | DBMS (Database Management System) | Software used to create, maintain, and manage databases, providing tools for data storage, retrieval, security, and integrity. | | SQL (Structured Query Language) | A standard programming language used for managing and manipulating relational databases, enabling users to query, insert, update, and delete data. | | Data warehouse | A large, centralized repository that stores historical and current data from various sources within an organization, optimized for analysis and reporting. | | Data mart | A subset of a data warehouse that is focused on a specific business line or department, providing targeted data for analysis and decision-making. | | Data lake | A centralized repository that allows you to store all your structured and unstructured data at any scale, without having to first structure the data, and without a predefined schema. | | Data mining | The process of discovering patterns, anomalies, and correlations in large datasets to predict outcomes, identify trends, and extract valuable information for business intelligence. | | Big data | Extremely large datasets that are too complex for traditional data-processing application software to analyze, characterized by volume, velocity, and variety. | | Hadoop | An open-source framework for distributed storage and processing of large datasets across clusters of computers, designed to handle big data efficiently. | | Marketing automation systems | Software platforms that automate repetitive marketing tasks such as email marketing, social media posting, and lead nurturing, enabling more efficient and personalized campaigns. | | CRM (Customer Relationship Management) | A technology for managing all of a company's relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers, aiming to improve business relationships. | | Impressions | The number of times an advertisement is displayed on a website or in an app, regardless of whether it was clicked or seen by the user. | | Click-through rate (CTR) | The ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view a page, email, or advertisement; a common metric for ad performance. | | Page views | The total number of times a particular page on a website has been viewed by users. | | Viewability rate | The percentage of ad impressions that are actually seen by users, meeting specific criteria for visibility. | | Stickiness | A measure of how well a website or application can hold a user's attention and encourage them to return, often related to engagement and user experience. | | Loyalty | The degree to which a customer is committed to a brand, product, or service and continues to make repeat purchases. | | Reach | The total number of unique individuals who are exposed to a particular message or advertisement. | | Recency | A metric that measures how recently a customer has interacted with a brand or made a purchase, often used to segment customers and target marketing efforts. | | Acquisition rate | The rate at which a company gains new customers over a specific period. | | Conversion rate | The percentage of users who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form. | | Browse-to-buy ratio | The ratio of users who view products to those who actually make a purchase, indicating the effectiveness of the product presentation and sales funnel. | | Cart conversion rate | The percentage of shopping carts that result in a completed purchase. | | Abandonment rate | The percentage of users who start a process (like filling a shopping cart or a form) but do not complete it. | | Video ad metrics | Key performance indicators used to evaluate the effectiveness of video advertisements, such as view time, completion rate, and engagement. | | View time | The duration for which a video advertisement is watched by a user. | | Completion rate | The percentage of users who watch a video advertisement all the way through to the end. | | E-mail campaign metrics | Performance indicators used to assess the success of email marketing efforts, including open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates. | | Open rate | The percentage of email recipients who open a given email. | | Delivery rate | The percentage of emails sent that successfully reach the recipient's inbox. | | Bounce-back rate | The percentage of emails that cannot be delivered to the recipient's inbox, usually due to an invalid email address or full inbox. | | ROI (Return on Investment) | A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. | | Cross-platform attribution | The process of assigning credit for a conversion to the various marketing touchpoints a customer interacts with across different channels and devices. | | Rich media | Online advertisements that include advanced features such as video, audio, or other elements that encourage user interaction. | | Sponsorship | A form of marketing where a company provides financial support for an event, program, or content in exchange for brand visibility and association. | | CPM (Cost Per Thousand) | A pricing model in online advertising where advertisers pay a fee for every one thousand impressions of their ad. | | CPC (Cost Per Click) | A pricing model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. | | CPA (Cost Per Action) | A pricing model where advertisers pay only when a specific action is completed by the user, such as a purchase or a form submission. | | eCPM (Effective Cost Per Thousand) | An adjusted CPM metric that calculates the cost per thousand impressions for a specific ad unit or campaign, considering various revenue streams. | | Marketing analytics | The process of analyzing marketing data to understand customer behavior, measure campaign performance, and optimize marketing strategies for better results. |