Digital Marketing Excellence - 1

I started to read a book about digital marketing recently. Since I am trying to get the certificate GAIQ, I figured understanding the concept of digital marketing would be meaningful. As technology is developed, The importance of digital media is increasing. There is no denying that every marketer, at least good marketers, should be knowledgeable about digital marketing and media. This is why I chose the book. As it has over 500 pages, I am gonna choose key contents that I think is important and write a review so that I don't forget.

* Introduction to digital marketing.

Digital Marketing is also marketing. Just adding 'digital' in front of marketing doesn't change the essence of it. So, basically the whole digital process can be explained with SOSTAC(Situation Anlaysis, Objective, Strategy, Tactics, Actions, Control) like the way we use to develop a marketing plan.

If the essence of digital marketing is not different from traditional marketing, what is the reason why we develop strategies and theories about marketing specialized in the digital media and name it digital marketing? The answer is we are being highly connected through the digital media unprecedentedly fast. A new medium appears consistently and exploiting the opportunity to utilize the media is the destiny for marketers. Digital marketers need to constantly evaluate the tremendous range of platforms and find ways to exploit them as they evolve. I think this is why we emphasize marketing for the digital media by naming it 'Digital Marketing'.

On the contrary to the traditional world, a person can be connected with other people without much effort on the platform in the digital world. As a result, the two models 'customer to customer' (C2C) and 'customer to business' (C2B) have come to the fore in digital marketing. A dramatic growth in C2C interactions has been fueled by the growth of social networks such as Facebook or Instagram. These are now key to reaching many customers through business or brand pages and advocacy via key influencers on these platforms. Social interactions are now so important that some companies are reducing consumption of other forms of digital media and traditional media.

In addition to the C2C model, the internet made C2B model such as group buying model and user-generated content (UGC) model. We can be easily connected to business bilaterally as much as we can connect with other people nowadays. Based on this situation, the book says "digital marketing is best considered as how digital marketing tools like web sites, CRM, systems and databases can be used to get closer to customers to be able to identify, anticipate and satisfy their needs efficiently and effectively."

All processes are important in digital marketing. I think, however, the objectives of digital marketing is particularly important as a beginner of digital marketing as understanding the reason why I do something is always important regardless of whatever I do. So I want to put emphasis on the objectives of digital marketing in this book review.

Before developing a digital marketing strategy, the objective of digital marketing should be decided as you can figure out 'how to get there' once you have defined and quantified 'where you are going'. The objectives falls into five things called '5Ss', which is Sell, Serve, Speak, Save, and Sizzle.

Sell is about growing sales. That is, it is to use internet as a sales tool. I think it is the most basic objective of digital marketing. Companies can make more money with clever online strategy as they don't have to be bound to physical places. Through internet, they can get to new markets and reach particular segments with e-commerce markets or their own web sites. However, there is one thing that you need to take notice of, which is online can also contribute to sales indirectly.

Shoppers browse online, collecting information, prices and special offers before visiting stores and showrooms or picking up he phone to negotiate better deals. According to research in Germany in 2010, consumers who research online and buy online was just 22% out of the entire respondents. To figure out the indirect contribution of online channels, companies use web analytics systems such as Google Analytics. By tagging value events appropriately, they can figure out if their goals are being achieved. It can probably give them chances to optimize their channel and communication strategies.

Serve is about adding value. That is it is to use the internet as a customer service tool by helping customers to improve their experience and add value to their experience on the internet. With proper contents, companies can add value for customers at different stages of the buying process, whether pre-sales, during the sale or post-sales support. One example in the book is Marks & Spencer. Its web site tests its visitors' knowledge of labels and grapes. And if, having chosen a wine, you are unsure of what to eat, Its web site offers free recipes. Like this, by providing meaningful contents for consumers, a company can nurture good relationships with them.

And Serve does not only correspond to B2C markets. It is also important in B2B market. For instance, GE Power Systems, according to the book, have created a web-based tool called a 'turbine optimizer' which enables operators of any GE turbine too measure and improve their machine's efficiency by comparing its performance against any similar turbines anywhere in the world. In light of these examples, the books says "added value, extra service becomes part of the product or service." That is, web sites can become part of a product or service. I agree with that as a web site can influence the whole brand asset.

Speak is about getting closer to customers by using the internet as a communication tool. Traditional media are predominantly push media (don't be confused with push strategy) where the interaction with the customer is limited as communication is unilateral. In digital media, however, it is often the customer who initiates contact with a brand and who is seeking information or an experience through visiting a web site or company outpost. In other words it is pull mechanism and inbound marketing. Inbound marketing can reduce wastage of budget as it is targeting prospects who are proactive and self-selecting with defined need. On the other hand, it could be also weakness since marketers may have less control than in traditional communications.

To pull and attract consumers, appropriate and good contents are necessary. According to the book, following elements of contents marketing need to be managed.

Content engagement - which types of content ,such as simple information, a guide, a game and so on, will engage the audience.

Content media - what will be the format of the contents? For example, plain text, audio, video

Content syndication - whether content will be syndicated to different types of partner sits through feeds, APIs, microformats, or direct submission by email.

Content participation - the degree of participation of the content

Content access platforms - what device are gonna be used for the content to be delivered to audience.

In addition to managing those elements appropriately, It is important to use right channels for online marketers in terms of the objective of Speak. Online marketers get to have a fantastic range of communication tools (Search Engine Marketing(SEM), Online PR, Online partnerships, Interactive advertising, Opt-in email, Social media marketing) and they have to be good at choosing right options for their targets and contents to be successful as online marketers.

Save is really simple. As the word means, it is to save costs of service, promotions, print and post and so on and increase profits on transactions using the internet for cost reduction. Digital marketing saves money in many different ways. For instance, it can help many businesses to save budget for managing call center. Some companies save hundreds of millions of dollars every year now through their web-based customer services. Sending an emails for right targets through analysis can make huge savings possible than sending posts indiscriminately. In addition, many businesses negotiate better deals online because they can get better option online. Of all the benefits of digital marketing, Save is one of the easiest benefits to observe in any business case.

Last but not least, Sizzle means using the internet as a brand building tool so that a company extend its brand online and reinforce brand values in a totally new medium. Brands are important as they build trust, recognition, and relationships between the buyer and the supplier. sometimes brand imagery and perceptions is the only real differentiator between products. There is no doubt that digital marketing can help to build the brand. A series of successful digital marketing practices can help build relationships with customers by enhancing their experience on the internet, though it is bad digital marketing such as sloppy web sites, slow or non email responses, and failing to keep its promise about security and confidentiality that can seriously damage the brand. In terms of brand experience, Serve is strongly connected to Sizzle. In this respect, I think the objectives are not completely separate. They are definitely connected in some way.

As mentioned before, you can figure out 'how to get there' better once you have defined and quantified 'where you are going'. Objectives should be expressed in a quantified form so that you can know whether it is achieved or not. And digital strategy must define a company's right approach to achieving its digital marketing objectives. it should include the range of tactical digital tools and a revised marketing mix. After a strategy is come up with, tactics should be develop appropriately.
Tactics require an understanding of what each digital marketing tool can and can't do. Tactics may also involve where and how each tool is physically used, whether with a desktop or mobile landing page or via social media. Each one is a mini project requiring careful planning and good project management skills combined with a tactical 'nous' and creativity.

As you know marketing is not one time thing. It is a consistently repetitive process. Even after practicing marketing tactics, good marketers constantly want to improve by consistently asking themselves which tools are giving the best return on investment and why? therefore developing a good system of digital analytics (formerly web analytics) is vital for controlling your digital communications. Using digital analytics means applying tools like Google Analytics to help you check whether your objectives are being achieved; it should be also used for ongoing improvement. Digital analytics also provide tactical insights such as the opportunity of seeing what are the most popular pages and so on. I would say tapping into digital analytics properly has become essential in digital marketing.

Concluding the chapter, the book says "digital marketing will continue to grow despite the vast array of sloppy sites and services. Winner will address these issues. Winner will plan strategically for both the evolutionary stages and the specific digital marketing objectives: Sell, Serve, Speak, Save and Sizzle." It is only properly prepared one that can be successful with digital marketing in this hyper-connected world. I want to be the one who exploit this opportunity, this is why I am studying.

To be continued...