Digital marketing is the
marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the
Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other
digital medium.[1] Digital marketing channels are systems based on the internet
that can create, accelerate, and transmit product value from producer to the
terminal consumer by digital networks.[2][3]
Digital marketing's development
since the 1990s and 2000s has changed the way brands and businesses use
technology for marketing.[4] As digital platforms are increasingly incorporated
into marketing plans and everyday life,[5] and as people use digital devices
instead of visiting physical shops,[6][7] digital marketing campaigns are
becoming more prevalent and efficient.
Digital marketing methods such as
search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content
marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing,
data-driven marketing,[8] e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social
media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, Display advertising, e–books, and
optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to
non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile
phones (SMS and MMS), callback, and on-hold mobile ring tones.[9] The extension
to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online
marketing, another catch-all term for the marketing methods mentioned above
which occur online.
History
The development of digital
marketing is inseparable from technology development. One of the key points in
the start of was in 1971, where Ray Tomlinson sent the very first email and his
technology set the platform to allow people to send and receive files through
different machines.[10] However, the more recognisable period as being the
start of Digital Marketing is 1990 as this was where the Archie search engine
was created as an index for FTP sites. In the 1980s, the storage capacity of
computer was already big enough to store huge volumes of customer information.
Companies started choosing online techniques, such as database marketing,
rather than limited list broker.[11] This kind of databases allowed companies
to track customers' information more effectively, thus transforming the
relationship between buyer and seller. However, the manual process was not so
efficient.
In the 1990s, the term Digital
Marketing was first coined,.[12] With the debut of server/client architecture
and the popularity of personal computers, the Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) applications became a significant part of marketing technology.[citation
needed] Fierce competition forced vendors to include more service into their
software, for example, marketing, sales and service applications. Marketers
were also able to own huge online customer data by eCRM software after the
Internet was born. Companies could update the data of customer needs and obtain
the priorities of their experience. This led to the first clickable banner ad
being going live in 1994, which was the "You Will" campaign by
AT&T and over the first four months of it going live, 44% of all people who
saw it clicked on the ad.[13]
In the 2000s, with more and more
Internet users and the birth of iPhone, customers started searching products
and making decisions about their needs online first, instead of consulting a
salesperson, which created a new problem for the marketing department of a
company. In addition, a survey in 2000 in the United Kingdom found that most
retailers had not registered their own domain address.[14] These problems made
marketers find the digital ways for market development.
In 2007, the concept of marketing
automation was raised to solve the problem above. Marketing automation helped
companies segment customers, launch multichannel marketing campaigns and
provide personalized information for customers. However, the speed of its
adaptability to consumer devices was not fast enough.
Digital marketing became more
sophisticated in the 2000s and the 2010s, when[15][16] the proliferation of
devices' capable of accessing digital media led to sudden growth.[17] Statistics
produced in 2012 and 2013 showed that digital marketing was still
growing.[18][19] With the development of social media in the 2000s, such as
LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, consumers became highly dependent on
digital electronics in daily lives. Therefore, they expected a seamless user
experience across different channels for searching product's information. The
change of customer behavior improved the diversification of marketing
technology.[20]
Digital marketing is also
referred to as 'online marketing', 'internet marketing' or 'web marketing'. The
term digital marketing has grown in popularity over time. In the USA online
marketing is still a popular term. In Italy, digital marketing is referred to
as web marketing. Worldwide digital marketing has become the most common term,
especially after the year 2013.[21]
Digital media growth was
estimated at 4.5 trillion online ads served annually with digital media spend
at 48% growth in 2010.[22] An increasing portion of advertising stems from businesses
employing Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) to tailor advertising for
internet users, but OBA raises concern of consumer privacy and data
protection.[17]
New non-linear marketing approach
To engage customers retailers
have shifted from the linear marketing approach of one-way communication to a
value exchange model of mutual dialogue and benefit-sharing between provider
and consumer.[23] Exchanges are more non-linear, free flowing, and both
one-to-many or one-on-one.[7] The spread of information and awareness can occur
across numerous channels, such as the blogosphere, YouTube, Facebook,
Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and a variety of other platforms. Online
communities and social networks allow individuals to easily create content and
publicly publish their opinions, experiences, and thoughts and feelings about
many topics and products, hyper-accelerating the diffusion of information.[24]
The Nielsen Global Connected
Commerce Survey conducted interviews in 26 countries to observe how consumers
are using the Internet to make shopping decisions in stores and online. Online
shoppers are increasingly looking to purchase internationally, with over 50% in
the study who purchased online in the last six months stating they bought from
an overseas retailer.[25]
Using an omni-channel strategy is
becoming increasingly important for enterprises who must adapt to the changing
expectations of consumers who want ever-more sophisticated offerings throughout
the purchasing journey. Retailers are increasingly focusing on their online
presence, including online shops that operate alongside existing store-based
outlets. The "endless aisle" within the retail space can lead
consumers to purchase products online that fit their needs while retailers do
not have to carry the inventory within the physical location of the store.
Solely Internet-based retailers are also entering the market; some are
establishing corresponding store-based outlets to provide personal services,
professional help, and tangible experiences with their products.[26]
An omni-channel approach not only
benefits consumers but also benefits business bottom line: Research suggests
that customers spend more than double when purchasing through an omni-channel
retailer as opposed to a single-channel retailer, and are often more loyal.
This could be due to the ease of purchase and the wider availability of
products.[26]
Customers are often researching
online and then buying in stores and also browsing in stores and then searching
for other options online. Online customer research into products is
particularly popular for higher-priced items as well as consumable goods like
groceries and makeup. Consumers are increasingly using the Internet to look up
product information, compare prices, and search for deals and promotions.[23]
Use in the digital era
There are a number of ways brands
can use digital marketing to benefit their marketing efforts. The use of
digital marketing in the digital era not only allows for brands to market their
products and services, but also allows for online customer support through 24/7
services to make customers feel supported and valued. The use of social media
interaction allows brands to receive both positive and negative feedback from
their customers as well as determining what media platforms work well for them.
As such, digital marketing has become an increased advantage for brands and
businesses. It is now common for consumers to post feedback online through
social media sources, blogs and websites on their experience with a product or
brand.[27] It has become increasingly popular for businesses to use and
encourage these conversations through their social media channels to have
direct contact with the customers and manage the feedback they receive
appropriately.
Word of mouth communications and
peer-to-peer dialogue often have a greater effect on customers, since they are
not sent directly from the company and are therefore not planned. Customers are
more likely to trust other customers’ experiences.[24] Examples can be that social
media users share food products and meal experiences highlighting certain
brands and franchises. This was noted in a study on Instagram, where
researchers observed that adolescent Instagram users' posted images of
food-related experiences within their social networks, providing free advertising
for the products.[28]
It is increasingly advantageous
for companies to use social media platforms to connect with their customers and
create these dialogues and discussions. The potential reach of social media is
indicated by the fact that in 2015, each month the Facebook app had more than
126 million average unique users and YouTube had over 97 million average unique
users.[29]
Brand awareness
Ease of access
A key objective is engaging
digital marketing customers and allowing them to interact with the brand
through servicing and delivery of digital media. Information is easy to access
at a fast rate through the use of digital communications. Users with access to
the Internet can use many digital mediums, such as Facebook, YouTube, Forums,
and Email etc. Through Digital communications it creates a multi-communication
channel where information can be quickly shared around the world by anyone
without any regard to who they are.[30] Social segregation plays no part
through social mediums due to lack of face to face communication and
information being wide spread instead to a selective audience. This interactive
nature allows consumers create conversation in which the targeted audience is
able to ask questions about the brand and get familiar with it which
traditional forms of Marketing may not offer.[31]
Competitive advantage
By using Internet platforms,
businesses can create competitive advantage through various means. To reach the
maximum potential of digital marketing, firms use social media as its main tool
to create a channel of information. Through this a business can create a system
in which they are able to pinpoint behavioral patterns of clients and feedback
on their needs.[32] This means of content has shown to have a larger
impingement on those who have a long-standing relationship with the firm and
with consumers who are relatively active social media users. Relative to this,
creating a social media page will further increase relation quality between new
consumers and existing consumers as well as consistent brand reinforcement
therefore improving brand awareness resulting in a possible rise for consumers
up the Brand Awareness Pyramid.[33] Although there may be inconstancy with
product images;[34] maintaining a successful social media presence requires a
business to be consistent in interactions through creating a two way feed of
information; firms consider their content based on the feedback received through
this channel, this is a result of the environment being dynamic due to the
global nature of the internet.[31] Effective use of digital marketing can
result in relatively lowered costs in relation to traditional means of
marketing; Lowered external service costs, advertising costs, promotion costs,
processing costs, interface design costs and control costs.[34]
Effectiveness
Brand awareness has been proven
to work with more effectiveness in countries that are high in uncertainty
avoidance, also these countries that have uncertainty avoidance; social media
marketing works effectively. Yet brands must be careful not to be excessive on
the use of this type of marketing, as well as solely relying on it as it may
have implications that could negatively harness their image. Brands that
represent themselves in an anthropomorphizing manner are more likely to succeed
in situations where a brand is marketing to this demographic. "Since
social media use can enhance the knowledge of the brand and thus decrease the
uncertainty, it is possible that people with high uncertainty avoidance, such
as the French, will particularly appreciate the high social media interaction
with an anthropomorphized brand." Moreover, digital platform provides an
ease to the brand and its customers to interact directly and exchange their
motives virtually.[35]
Developments and strategies
One of the major changes that
occurred in traditional marketing was the "emergence of digital
marketing" (Patrutiu Baltes, Loredana, 2015), this led to the reinvention
of marketing strategies in order to adapt to this major change in traditional
marketing (Patrutiu Baltes, Loredana, 2015) .
As digital marketing is dependent
on technology which is ever-evolving and fast-changing, the same features
should be expected from digital marketing developments and strategies. This
portion is an attempt to qualify or segregate the notable highlights existing
and being used as of press time.[when?]
Segmentation: more focus has been placed on segmentation within
digital marketing, in order to target specific markets in both
business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors.
Influencer marketing: Important
nodes are identified within related communities, known as influencers. This is
becoming an important concept in digital targeting. It is possible to reach
influencers via paid advertising, such as Facebook Advertising or Google
Adwords campaigns, or through sophisticated sCRM (social customer relationship
management) software, such as SAP C4C, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage CRM and
Salesforce CRM. Many universities now focus, at Masters level, on engagement
strategies for influencers.
To summarize, Pull digital
marketing is characterized by consumers actively seeking marketing content
while Push digital marketing occurs when marketers send messages without that
content being actively sought by the recipients.
Online behavioural advertising is
the practice of collecting information about a user's online activity over
time, "on a particular device and across different, unrelated websites, in
order to deliver advertisements tailored to that user's interests and
preferences [36][37]
Collaborative Environment: A
collaborative environment can be set up between the organization, the
technology service provider, and the digital agencies to optimize effort,
resource sharing, reusability and communications.[38] Additionally,
organizations are inviting their customers to help them better understand how
to service them. This source of data is called User Generated Content. Much of
this is acquired via company websites where the organization invites people to
share ideas that are then evaluated by other users of the site. The most
popular ideas are evaluated and implemented in some form. Using this method of
acquiring data and developing new products can foster the organizations
relationship with their customer as well as spawn ideas that would otherwise be
overlooked. UGC is low-cost advertising as it is directly from the consumers
and can save advertising costs for the organization.
Data-driven advertising: Users
generate a lot of data in every step they take on the path of customer journey
and Brands can now use that data to activate their known audience with
data-driven programmatic media buying. Without exposing customers' privacy,
users' Data can be collected from digital channels (e.g.: when customer visits
a website, reads an e-mail, or launches and interact with brand's mobile app),
brands can also collect data from real world customer interactions, such as
brick and mortar stores visits and from CRM and Sales engines datasets. Also
known as People-based marketing or addressable media, Data-driven advertising
is empowering brands to find their loyal customers in their audience and
deliver in real time a much more personal communication, highly relevant to
each customers' moment and actions.[39]
An important consideration today
while deciding on a strategy is that the digital tools have democratized the
promotional landscape.
5. Remarketing: Remarketing plays
a major role in digital marketing. This tactic allows marketers to publish
targeted ads in front of an interest category or a defined audience, generally
called searchers in web speak, they have either searched for particular
products or services or visited a website for some purpose.
6. Game advertising: Game ads are
advertisements that exist within computer or video games. One of the most
common examples of in-game advertising is billboards appearing in sports games.
In-game ads also might appear as brand-name products like guns, cars, or
clothing that exist as gaming status symbols.
The new digital era has enabled
brands to selectively target their customers that may potentially be interested
in their brand or based on previous browsing interests. Businesses can now use
social media to select the age range, location, gender and interests of whom
they would like their targeted post to be seen by. Furthermore, based on a
customer's recent search history they can be ‘followed’ on the internet so they
see advertisements from similar brands, products and services,[40] This allows
businesses to target the specific customers that they know and feel will most
benefit from their product or service, something that had limited capabilities
up until the digital era.
Ineffective forms of digital marketing
Digital marketing activity is
still growing across the world according to the headline global marketing
index. A study published in September 2018, found that global outlays on
digital marketing tactics are approaching $100 billion.[41] Digital media
continues to rapidly grow; while the marketing budgets are expanding,
traditional media is declining (World Economics, 2015).[42] Digital media helps
brands reach consumers to engage with their product or service in a
personalised way. Five areas, which are outlined as current industry practices
that are often ineffective are prioritizing clicks, balancing search and
display, understanding mobiles, targeting, viewability, brand safety and
invalid traffic, and cross-platform measurement (Whiteside, 2016).[43] Why
these practices are ineffective and some ways around making these aspects
effective are discussed surrounding the following points.
Prioritizing clicks
Prioritizing clicks refers to
display click ads, although advantageous by being ‘simple, fast and
inexpensive’ rates for display ads in 2016 is only 0.10 percent in the United
States. This means one in a thousand click ads are relevant therefore having
little effect. This displays that marketing companies should not just use click
ads to evaluate the effectiveness of display advertisements (Whiteside,
2016).[43]
Balancing search and display
Balancing search and display for
digital display ads are important; marketers tend to look at the last search
and attribute all of the effectiveness to this. This then disregards other
marketing efforts, which establish brand value within the consumers mind.
ComScore determined through drawing on data online, produced by over one
hundred multichannel retailers that digital display marketing poses strengths
when compared with or positioned alongside, paid search (Whiteside, 2016).[43]
This is why it is advised that when someone clicks on a display ad the company
opens a landing page, not its home page. A landing page typically has something
to draw the customer in to search beyond this page. Things such as free offers
that the consumer can obtain through giving the company contact information so
that they can use retargeting communication strategies (Square2Marketing,
2012).[44] Commonly marketers see increased sales among people exposed to a
search ad. But the fact of how many people you can reach with a display
campaign compared to a search campaign should be considered. Multichannel
retailers have an increased reach if the display is considered in synergy with
search campaigns. Overall both search and display aspects are valued as display
campaigns build awareness for the brand so that more people are likely to click
on these digital ads when running a search campaign (Whiteside, 2016).[43]
Understanding Mobiles: Understanding mobile devices is a
significant aspect of digital marketing because smartphones and tablets are now
responsible for 64% of the time US consumers are online (Whiteside, 2016).[43]
Apps provide a big opportunity as well as challenge for the marketers because
firstly the app needs to be downloaded and secondly the person needs to
actually use it. This may be difficult as ‘half the time spent on smartphone
apps occurs on the individuals single most used app, and almost 85% of their
time on the top four rated apps’ (Whiteside, 2016).[43] Mobile advertising can
assist in achieving a variety of commercial objectives and it is effective due
to taking over the entire screen, and voice or status is likely to be
considered highly; although the message must not be seen or thought of as
intrusive (Whiteside, 2016).[43] Disadvantages of digital media used on mobile
devices also include limited creative capabilities, and reach. Although there
are many positive aspects including the users entitlement to select product
information, digital media creating a flexible message platform and there is
potential for direct selling (Belch & Belch, 2012).[45]
Cross-platform measurement: The number of marketing channels
continues to expand, as measurement practices are growing in complexity. A
cross-platform view must be used to unify audience measurement and media
planning. Market researchers need to understand how the Omni-channel affects
consumer's behaviour, although when advertisements are on a consumer's device
this does not get measured. Significant aspects to cross-platform measurement
involves de-duplication and understanding that you have reached an incremental
level with another platform, rather than delivering more impressions against
people that have previously been reached (Whiteside, 2016).[43] An example is ‘ESPN
and comScore partnered on Project Blueprint discovering the sports broadcaster
achieved a 21% increase in unduplicated daily reach thanks to digital
advertising’ (Whiteside, 2016).[43] Television and radio industries are the
electronic media, which competes with digital and other technological
advertising. Yet television advertising is not directly competing with online
digital advertising due to being able to cross platform with digital
technology. Radio also gains power through cross platforms, in online streaming
content. Television and radio continue to persuade and affect the audience,
across multiple platforms (Fill, Hughes, & De Franceso, 2013).[46]
Targeting, viewability, brand safety and invalid traffic:
Targeting, viewability, brand safety and invalid traffic all are aspects used
by marketers to help advocate digital advertising. Cookies are a form of
digital advertising, which are tracking tools within desktop devices; causing
difficulty, with shortcomings including deletion by web browsers, the inability
to sort between multiple users of a device, inaccurate estimates for unique
visitors, overstating reach, understanding frequency, problems with ad servers,
which cannot distinguish between when cookies have been deleted and when
consumers have not previously been exposed to an ad. Due to the inaccuracies
influenced by cookies, demographics in the target market are low and vary
(Whiteside, 2016).[43] Another element, which is affected within digital
marketing, is ‘viewabilty’ or whether the ad was actually seen by the consumer.
Many ads are not seen by a consumer and may never reach the right demographic
segment. Brand safety is another issue of whether or not the ad was produced in
the context of being unethical or having offensive content. Recognizing fraud
when an ad is exposed is another challenge marketers face. This relates to
invalid traffic as premium sites are more effective at detecting fraudulent
traffic, although non-premium sites are more so the problem (Whiteside,
2016).[43]
Channels
Digital marketing is facilitated
by multiple channels, As an advertiser one's core objective is to find channels
which result in maximum two-way communication and a better overall ROI for the
brand. There are multiple digital marketing channels available namely;[47]
Affiliate marketing - Affiliate marketing is perceived to not be
considered a safe, reliable and easy means of marketing through online
platform. This is due to a lack of reliability in terms of affiliates that can
produce the demanded number of new customers. As a result of this risk and bad
affiliates it leaves the brand prone to exploitation in terms of claiming
commission that isn't honestly acquired. Legal means may offer some protection
against this, yet there are limitations in recovering any losses or investment.
Despite this, affiliate marketing allows the brand to market towards smaller
publishers, and websites with smaller traffic. Brands that choose to use this
marketing often should beware of such risks involved and look to associate with
affiliates in which rules are laid down between the parties involved to assure
and minimize the risk involved.[48]
Display advertising - As the term implies, online display
advertising deals with showcasing promotional messages or ideas to the consumer
on the internet. This includes a wide range of advertisements like advertising
blogs, networks, interstitial ads, contextual data, ads on the search engines,
classified or dynamic advertisement etc. The method can target specific
audience tuning in from different types of locals to view a particular
advertisement, the variations can be found as the most productive element of
this method.
Email marketing - Email marketing in comparison to other forms of
digital marketing is considered cheap; it is also a way to rapidly communicate
a message such as their value proposition to existing or potential customers.
Yet this channel of communication may be perceived by recipients to be
bothersome and irritating especially to new or potential customers, therefore
the success of email marketing is reliant on the language and visual appeal
applied. In terms of visual appeal, there are indications that using
graphics/visuals that are relevant to the message which is attempting to be
sent, yet less visual graphics to be applied with initial emails are more
effective in-turn creating a relatively personal feel to the email. In terms of
language, the style is the main factor in determining how captivating the email
is. Using casual tone invokes a warmer and gentle and inviting feel to the
email in comparison to a formal style. For combinations; it's suggested that to
maximize effectiveness; using no graphics/visual alongside casual language. In
contrast using no visual appeal and a formal language style is seen as the least
effective method.[49]
Search engine marketing - Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form
of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing
their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid
advertising. SEM may incorporate Search engine optimization, which adjusts or
rewrites website content and site architecture to achieve a higher ranking in
search engine results pages to enhance pay per click (PPC) listings.
Social Media Marketing - The term 'Digital Marketing' has a number
of marketing facets as it supports different channels used in and among these,
comes the Social Media. When we use social media channels ( Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, etc.) to market a product or service, the
strategy is called Social Media Marketing. It is a procedure wherein strategies
are made and executed to draw in traffic for a website or to gain attention of
buyers over the web using different social media platforms.
Social networking service - A social networking is an online
platform which people use to build social networks or social relations with
other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities,
backgrounds or real-life connections
In-game advertising - In-Game advertising is defined as
"inclusion of products or brands within a digital game."[50] The game
allows brands or products to place ads within their game, either in a subtle
manner or in the form of an advertisement banner. There are many factors that
exist in whether brands are successful in their advertising of their
brand/product, these being: Type of game, technical platform, 3-D and 4-D
technology, game genre, congruity of brand and game, prominence of advertising
within the game. Individual factors consist of attitudes towards placement
advertisements, game involvement, product involvement, flow or entertainment.
The attitude towards the advertising also takes into account not only the
message shown but also the attitude towards the game. Dependent of how
enjoyable the game is will determine how the brand is perceived, meaning if the
game isn't very enjoyable the consumer may subconsciously have a negative
attitude towards the brand/product being advertised. In terms of Integrated
Marketing Communication "integration of advertising in digital games into
the general advertising, communication, and marketing strategy of the
firm"[50] is an important as it results in a more clarity about the
brand/product and creates a larger overall effect.
Online public relations
Video advertising - This type of
advertising in terms of digital/online means are advertisements that play on
online videos e.g. YouTube videos. This type of marketing has seen an increase
in popularity over time.[51] Online Video Advertising usually consists of three
types: Pre-Roll advertisements which play before the video is watched, Mid-Roll
advertisements which play during the video, or Post-Roll advertisements which
play after the video is watched.[52] Post-roll advertisements were shown to
have better brand recognition in relation to the other types, where-as
"ad-context congruity/incongruity plays an important role in reinforcing
ad memorability".[51] Due to selective attention from viewers, there is
the likelihood that the message may not be received.[53] The main advantage of
video advertising is that it disrupts the viewing experience of the video and
therefore there is a difficulty in attempting to avoid them. How a consumer
interacts with online video advertising can come down to three stages: Pre attention,
attention, and behavioural decision.[54] These online advertisements give the
brand/business options and choices. These consist of length, position, adjacent
video content which all directly affect the effectiveness of the produced
advertisement time,[51] therefore manipulating these variables will yield
different results. Length of the advertisement has shown to affect memorability
where-as longer duration resulted in increased brand recognition.[51] This type
of advertising, due to its nature of interruption of the viewer, it is likely
that the consumer may feel as if their experience is being interrupted or
invaded, creating negative perception of the brand.[51] These advertisements
are also available to be shared by the viewers, adding to the attractiveness of
this platform. Sharing these videos can be equated to the online version of
word by mouth marketing, extending number of people reached.[55] Sharing videos
creates six different outcomes: these being "pleasure, affection,
inclusion, escape, relaxation, and control".[51] As well, videos that have
entertainment value are more likely to be shared, yet pleasure is the strongest
motivator to pass videos on. Creating a ‘viral’ trend from mass amount of a
brands advertisement can maximize the outcome of an online video advert whether
it be positive or a negative outcome.
It is important for a firm to
reach out to consumers and create a two-way communication model, as digital
marketing allows consumers to give back feed back to the firm on a community
based site or straight directly to the firm via email.[26] Firms should seek
this long term communication relationship by using multiple forms of channels
and using promotional strategies related to their target consumer as well as
word-of mouth marketing.[26]
Self-regulation
The ICC Code has integrated rules
that apply to marketing communications using digital interactive media
throughout the guidelines. There is also an entirely updated section dealing
with issues specific to digital interactive media techniques and platforms.
Code self-regulation on use of digital interactive media includes:
1. Clear
and transparent mechanisms to enable consumers to choose not to have their data
collected for advertising or marketing purposes;
2. Clear
indication that a social network site is commercial and is under the control or
influence of a marketer;
3. Limits
are set so that marketers communicate directly only when there are reasonable
grounds to believe that the consumer has an interest in what is being offered;
4. Respect
for the rules and standards of acceptable commercial behavior in social networks
and the posting of marketing messages only when the forum or site has clearly
indicated its willingness to receive them;
5. Special
attention and protection for children.[56]
Advantages and limitations
The whole idea of digital
marketing can be a very important aspect in the overall communication between
the consumer and the organization. This is due to digital marketing being able
to reach vast numbers of potential consumers at one time.[57]
Another advantage of digital
marketing is that consumers are exposed to the brand and the product that is
being advertised directly. To clarify the advertisement is easy to access as
well it can be accessed any time any place.[57]
However, with digital marketing
there are some setbacks to this type of strategy. One major setback that is
identified, is that Digital marketing is highly dependent on the internet. This
can be considered as a setback because the internet may not be accessible in
certain areas or consumers may have poor internet connection.[57]
As well as digital marketing
being highly dependent on the Internet is that it is subject to a lot of
clutter, so it marketers may find it hard to make their advertisements stand
out, as well as get consumers to start conversations about an organizations
brand image or products.
As digital marketing continues to
grow and develop, brands take great advantage of using technology and the
Internet as a successful way to communicate with its clients and allows them to
increase the reach of who they can interact with and how they go about doing
so,.[4] There are however disadvantages that are not commonly looked into due
to how much a business relies on it. It is important for marketers to take into
consideration both advantages and disadvantages of digital marketing when
considering their marketing strategy and business goals.
An advantage of digital marketing
is that the reach is so large that there are no limitations on the geographical
reach it can have. This allows companies to become international and expand
their customer reach to other countries other than the country it is based or
originates from.
As mentioned earlier, technology
and the internet allows for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service for customers
as well as enabling them to shop online at any hour of that day or night, not
just when the shops are over and across the whole world. This is a huge
advantage for retailers to use it and direct customers from the store to its
online store. It has also opened up an opportunity for companies to only be
online based rather than having an outlet or store due to the popularity and
capabilities of digital marketing.
Another advantage is that digital
marketing is easy to be measured allowing businesses to know the reach that
their marketing is making, whether the digital marketing is working or not and
the amount of activity and conversation that is involved.
With brands using the Internet
space to reach their target customers; digital marketing has become a
beneficial career option as well. At present, companies are more into hiring
individuals familiar in implementing digital marketing strategies and this has
led the stream to become a preferred choice amongst individuals inspiring
institutes to come up and offer professional courses in Digital Marketing.
Disadvantage of Digital Marketing
A disadvantage of digital
advertising is the large amount of competing goods and services that are also
using the same digital marketing strategies. For example, when someone searches
for a specific product from a specific company online, if a similar company
uses targeted advertising online then they can appear on the customer's home
page, allowing the customer to look at alternative options for a cheaper price
or better quality of the same product or a quicker way of finding what they
want online.
Some companies can be portrayed
by customers negatively as some consumers lack trust online due to the amount
of advertising that appears on websites and social media that can be considered
frauds. This can affect their image and reputation and make them out to look
like a dishonest brand.
Another disadvantage is that even
an individual or small group of people can harm image of an established brand.
For instance Dopplegnager is a term that is used to disapprove an image about a
certain brand that is spread by anti-brand activists, bloggers, and opinion
leaders. The word Doppelganger is a combination of two German words Doppel
(double) and Ganger (walker), thus it means double walker or as in English it
is said alter ego. Generally brand creates images for itself to emotionally
appeal to their customers. However some would disagree with this image and make
alterations to this image and present in funny or cynical way, hence distorting
the brand image, hence creating a Doppelganger image, blog or content (Rindfleisch,
2016).
Two other practical limitations
can be seen in the case of digital marketing. One,digital marketing is useful
for specific categories of products,meaning only consumer goods can be
propagated through digital channels.Industrial goods and pharmaceutical
products can not be marketed through digital channels. Secondly, digital
marketing disseminates only the information to the prospects most of whom do
not have the purchasing authority/power. And hence the reflection of digital
marketing into real sales volume is skeptical.[citation needed]
Measuring The Effectiveness of Digital Marketing Campaigns
Although the ultimate criteria to
evaluate any business initiative should be its return on investment or any
other financial metrics in general, the evaluation criteria and metrics for the
digital marketing campaigns can be discussed in more details.
The criteria and metrics can be
classified according to its type and time span. Regarding the type, we can
either evaluate these campaigns "Quantitatively" or
"Qualitatively". Quantitative metrics may include "Sales
Volume" and "Revenue Increase/Decrease". While qualitative
metrics may include the enhanced "Brand awareness, image and health"
as well as the "relationship with the customers".
Shifting the focus to the time
span, we may need to measure some "Interim Metrics", which give us
some insight during the journey itself, as well as we need to measure some
"Final Metrics" at the end of the journey to inform use if the
overall initiative was successful or not. As an example, most of social media
metrics and indicators such as likes, shares and engagement comments may be
classified as interim metrics while the final increase/decrease in sales volume
is clearly from the final category.
The correlation between these
categories should exist. Otherwise, a disappointing results may happen at the
end in – spite of the illusion of success perceived early during the project.
Strategy
Planning
Digital marketing planning is a
term used in marketing management. It describes the first stage of forming a
digital marketing strategy for the wider digital marketing system. The
difference between digital and traditional marketing planning is that it uses
digitally based communication tools and technology such as Social, Web, Mobile,
Scannable Surface.[58][59] Nevertheless, both are aligned with the vision, the
mission of the company and the overarching business strategy.[60]
Stages of planning
Using Dr Dave Chaffey's approach,
the digital marketing planning (DMP) has three main stages: Opportunity,
Strategy and Action. He suggests that any business looking to implement a
successful digital marketing strategy must structure their plan by looking at
opportunity, strategy and action. This generic strategic approach often has phases
of situation review, goal setting, strategy formulation, resource allocation
and monitoring.[60]
1) Opportunity
To create an effective DMP, a
business first needs to review the marketplace and set 'SMART' (Specific,
Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-Bound) objectives.[61] They can set
SMART objectives by reviewing the current benchmarks and key performance
indicators (KPIs) of the company and competitors. It is pertinent that the
analytics used for the KPIs be customised to the type, objectives, mission and
vision of the company.[62][63]
Companies can scan for marketing
and sales opportunities by reviewing their own outreach as well as influencer
outreach. This means they have competitive advantage because they are able to
analyse their co-marketers influence and brand associations.[64]
To cease opportunity, the firm
should summarize their current customers' personas and purchase journey from
this they are able to deduce their digital marketing capability. This means
they need to form a clear picture of where they are currently and how many
resources they can allocate for their digital marketing strategy i.e. labour,
time etc. By summarizing the purchase journey, they can also recognise gaps and
growth for future marketing opportunities that will either meet objectives or
propose new objectives and increase profit.
2) Strategy
To create a planned digital
strategy, the company must review their digital proposition (what you are
offering to consumers) and communicate it using digital customer targeting
techniques. So, they must define online value proposition (OVP), this means the
company must express clearly what they are offering customers online e.g. brand
positioning.
The company should also
(re)select target market segments and personas and define digital targeting
approaches.
After doing this effectively, it
is important to review the marketing mix for online options. The marketing mix
comprises the 4Ps – Product, Price, Promotion and Place.[65][66] Some academics
have added three additional elements to the traditional 4Ps of marketing
Process, Place and Physical appearance making it 7Ps of marketing.[67]
3) Action
The third and final stage
requires the firm to set a budget and management systems; these must be
measurable touchpoints, such as audience reached across all digital platforms.
Furthermore, marketers must ensure the budget and management systems are
integrating the paid, owned and earned media of the company.[68] The Action and
final stage of planning also requires the company to set in place measurable
content creation e.g. oral, visual or written online media.[69]
After confirming the digital
marketing plan, a scheduled format of digital communications (e.g. Gantt Chart)
should be encoded throughout the internal operations of the company. This
ensures that all platforms used fall in line and complement each other for the
succeeding stages of digital marketing strategy.
Understanding the Market
One way marketers can reach out
to consumers, and understand their thought process is through what is called an
empathy map. An empathy map is a four step process. The first step is through
asking questions that the consumer would be thinking in their demographic. The
second step is to describe the feelings that the consumer may be having. The
third step is to think about what the consumer would say in their situation.
The final step is to imagine what the consumer will try to do based on the
other three steps. This map is so marketing teams can put themselves in their
target demographics shoes.[70] Web Analytics are also a very important way to
understand consumers. They show the habits that people have online for each
website.[71] One particular form of these analytics is predictive analytics
which helps marketers figure out what route consumers are on. This uses the
information gathered from other analytics, and then creates different
predictions of what people will do so that companies can strategize on what to
do next, according to the peoples trends.[72]
Sharing economy
The "sharing economy"
refers to an economic pattern that aims to obtain a resource that is not fully
utilized.[73] Nowadays, the sharing economy has had an unimagined effect on
many traditional elements including labor, industry, and distribution
system.[73] This effect is not negligible that some industries are obviously
under threat.[73][74] The sharing economy is influencing the traditional
marketing channels by changing the nature of some specific concept including
ownership, assets, and recruitment.[74]
Digital marketing channels and
traditional marketing channels are similar in function that the value of the
product or service is passed from the original producer to the end user by a
kind of supply chain.[75] For instance, a typical digital marketing channel is
email. Organization can update the activity or promotion information to the
user by subscribing the newsletter mail that happened in consuming. In addition
to this typical approach, the built-in control, efficiency and low cost of
digital marketing channels is an essential features in the application of sharing
economy.[75]
See also
Digital marketing engineer
Digital marketing system
Digital marketing channels in the
sharing economy
Distributed presence
Interactive marketing
Mobile marketing
Online advertising
Pay per click
Social media marketing
Visual marketing
Customer Data Platform
User intent
References
^ "Definition of digital
marketing". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 29 November
2017. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
^ "Domains of Digital
Marketing Channels in the Sharing Economy". Journal of Marketing Channels.
doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346977.
^ Heikki, Karjaluoto. "The
usage of digital marketing channels in SMEs". Journal of Small Business
and Enterprise Development. 22 (4): 633–651.
^ Jump up to: a b "EBSCO
Publishing Service Selection Page". Eds.b.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 10
January 2018.
^ Nielsen (10 March 2016).
"Digital Advertising is Rising in Canada, Requiring More Sophisticated
Measures of Success". Nielsen. Nielsen. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
^ Nielsen (20 January 2016). "Connected
Commerce is Creating Buyers Without Border". Nielsen Global. Nielsen
Global. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Dahlen, Micael
(2010). Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach. Chichester, West
Sussex UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. p. 36.
^ How To Embrace The Five Steps
Of Data-Driven Marketing Published by Forbes, October 17, 2013; accessed 17
January, 2017
^ "Digital Marketing".
Techopedia. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
^ hello_world. "First
Network Email sent by Ray Tomlinson". www.computinghistory.co.uk.
Retrieved 9 March 2018.
^ Schoenbachler, Denise D.;
Gordon, Geoffrey L.; Foley, Dawn; Spellman, Linda (1997). "Understanding
consumer database marketing". Journal of Consumer Marketing. 15 (1): 5–19.
doi:10.1108/07363769710155820.
^ Clark, Dorie (11 November
2012), The End of the Expert: Why No One in Marketing Knows What They're Doing,
Forbes, archived from the original on 4 November 2013
^ McCambley, Joe (2013-12-12).
"The first ever banner ad: why did it work so well?". The Guardian.
The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
^ Hart, Cathy; Doherty, Neil;
Ellis‐Chadwick, Fiona (2000-09-01). "Retailer adoption of the Internet –
Implications for retail marketing". European Journal of Marketing. 34 (8):
954–974. doi:10.1108/03090560010331441. ISSN 0309-0566.
^ "Ad agency joins up with
AOL for marketing surveys". Retrieved 2015-03-11.
^ Kates, Matthew (17 April 2013),
Making digital and traditional marketing work together, Econsultancy, archived
from the original on 25 November 2013
^ Jump up to: a b "Digital
Marketing Communication". iccwbo.org. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ Brinkley, Claire (18 October
2012), Digital marketing is growing in Australia, but so is the skills gap,
Econsultancy, archived from the original on 21 October 2012
^ eMarketer (25 September 2013),
Worldwide Ad Growth Buoyed by Digital, Mobile Adoption, eMarketer, archived
from the original on 12 November 2013
^ "Connected Commerce Is
Creating Buyers Without Borders". Nielsen Global. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
^ Google, Trends. "Google
Trends". Google Inc. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^ "Digital Marketing
Communication". International Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 12 September
2017.
^ Jump up to: a b Nielsen (3
February 2016). "What Are Connected Shoppers Doing and Not Doing
Online". Nielsen Global. Nielsen Global. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Maw-Liann Shyu;
Wan-Ju Chiang; Wen-Yuan Chien; Sheng-Liang Wang (1 July 2015). "Key
Success Factors In Digital Marketing In Service Industry and the Development
Strategies: A Case Study On Fleur DE Chine At Sun Moon Lake" (PDF). The
International Journal of Organizational Innovation.
^ Nielsen (20 January 2016).
"Connected Commerce is Creating Buyers Without Borders". Nielsen
Global. Nielsen Global. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Tiago,
Maria Teresa Pinheiro Melo Borges;Veríssimo, José Manuel Cristóvão (2014).
"Digital Marketing and Social Media; Why Bother?". INBAM, Business
Horizons.
^ "EBSCO Publishing Service
Selection Page". Eds.a.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
^ Holmberg, C et al. (2016).
Adolescents' presentation of food in social media: An explorative study.
Appetite. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2016.01.009. 1;99:121-129. PMID 26792765.
^ Nielsen (17 December 2015).
"Tops of 2015: Digital". Nielsen Insights Media and Entertainment.
Nielsen. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
^ Sakas, D. P., Dimitrios, N. K.,
& Kavoura, A. (2015). The Development of Facebook's Competitive Advantage
for Brand Awareness. Procedia Economics And Finance, 24(International
Conference on Applied Economics (ICOAE) 2015, 2–4 July 2015, Kazan, Russia),
589-597. doi:10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00642-5
^ Jump up to: a b Öztürk, C. M.
(Ed.) (2013) Dijital İletişim ve Yeni Medya, Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayını: 2956,
Eskişehir.
^ Mogoş, R. "Digital
Marketing for Identifying Customers' Preferences -- A Solution for SMEs in
Obtaining Competitive Advantages". International Journal of Economic
Practices & Theories. 5 (3): 240–247.
^ Kumar, A.; Bezawada, R.;
Rishika, R.; Janakiraman, R.; Kannan, P. K. (2016). "From Social to Sale:
The Effects of Firm-Generated Content in Social Media on Customer
Behavior". Journal of Marketing. 80 (1): 7–25. doi:10.1509/jm.14.0249.
^ Jump up to: a b Van Niekerk, A
(2007). "Strategic management of media assets for optimizing market
communication strategies, obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage and
maximizing return on investment: An empirical study". Journal of Digital
Asset Management. 3 (2): 89–98. doi:10.1057/palgrave.dam.3650070.
^ Hudson, S., Huang, L., Roth, M.
S., & Madden, T. J. (2016). The influence of social media interactions on
consumer–brand relationships: A three-country study of brand perceptions and
marketing behaviors. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 3327-41.
doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2015.06.004
^ "654 oba resource guide
final" (PDF). codescentre.com.
^ Gibbs, Samuel (18 September
2015). "Facebook's new opt-out for tracking ads is not enough, says privacy
expert". The Guardian – via The Guardian.
^ "whitepaper-collaborating
with digital agency" (PDF). hcltech.com.
^ "People-based marketing is
the strategy of the future, new report claims". Retrieved 2016-09-26.
^ Kim, Angella J.; Johnson, Kim
K.P. (2016). "Power of consumers using social media: Examining the
influences of brand-related user-generated content on Facebook". Computers
in Human Behavior. 58: 98–108. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.047.
^ Editorial, Reuters.
"Global spending on digital marketing nears $100 billion: study".
U.S. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
^ World Economics (June 2015).
"Digital and Mobile Continues to Dominate Share of Marketing
Budgets". Warc.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j
k Whiteside, S (January 2016). "Five digital marketing lessons from
comScore". Warc.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
^ Square2Marketing (2012).
"Online advertising: Google AdWords & pay-per-click". YouTube.
Retrieved 10 January 2018.
^ Belch, E; Belch, A (2012).
Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communication perspective
((9th ed) ed.). New York,NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
^ Fill, C; Hughes, G; De
Franceso, S (2013). Advertising strategy, creativity and media. London, UK:
Pearson.
^ Pratik Dholakiya (14 April
2015). "3 Digital Marketing Channels That Work for Every Advertiser".
Entrepreneur. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ Edelman, B.; Brandi, W. (2015).
"Risk, Information, and Incentives in Online Affiliate Marketing".
Journal of Marketing Research. 52 (1): 1–12. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.589.9857.
doi:10.1509/jmr.13.0472.
^ Dapko, J. L.; Artis, A. B.
(2014). "Less is More: An Exploratory Analysis of Optimal Visual Appeal
and Linguistic Style Combinations in a Salesperson's Initial-Contact E-mail to
Millennial Buyers Within Marketing Channels". Journal of Marketing
Channels. 21 (4): 254–267. doi:10.1080/1046669X.2014.945358.
^ Jump up to: a b Terlutter, R.;
Capella, M. L. (2013). "The Gamification of Advertising: Analysis and
Research Directions of In-Game Advertising, Advergames, and Advertising in
Social Network Games". Journal of Advertising. 42 (2/3): 95–112.
doi:10.1080/00913367.2013.774610.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Li, H.;
Lo, H. (2015). "Do You Recognize Its Brand? The Effectiveness of Online
In-Stream Video Advertisements". Journal of Advertising. 44 (3): 208–218.
doi:10.1080/00913367.2014.956376.
^ PricewaterhouseCoopers (2013),
"2012 Internet Advertising Revenue Full-Year Report," April,
http://www.iab.net/media/file/IABInternet
AdvertisingRevenueReportFY2012POSTED.pdf/
^ Basil, Michael D (1994).
"Multiple Resource Theory I: Application to Television Viewing".
Communication Research. 21 (2): 177–207. doi:10.1177/009365094021002003.
^ Chatterjee, Patrali (2001),
"Beyond CPMs and Clickthroughs: Understanding Consumer Interaction with
Web Advertising," in Internet Marketing Research: Theory and Practice, Ook
Lee, ed., Hershey, PA: Idea Group, 209–16.
^ Lee, J.; Ham, C.; Kim, M.
(2013). "Why People Pass Along Online Video Advertising: From the
Perspectives of the Interpersonal Communication Motives Scale and the Theory of
Reasoned Action". Journal of Interactive Advertising. 13 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1080/15252019.2013.768048.
^ "ICC Code, Digital
Interactive Media - ICC Codes Centre". codescentre.com. Retrieved 17
October 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c INBAM,
Business Horizons (May 2015). "Digital Marketing for Identifying
Customers' Preferences -- A Solution for SMEs in Obtaining Competitive
Advantages". International Journal of Economic Practices & Theories.
^ Dodson, I (2016). The art of
digital marketing : the definitive guide to creating strategic, targeted and
measurable online campaigns. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN 9781119265702.
^ ryan, D (2014). Understanding
Digital Marketing : Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation.
Kogan Page. ISBN 9780749471026.
^ Jump up to: a b Chaffey, Dave;
Ellis-Chadwick, Fiona (2012). Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and
Practice. Harlow: Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0273746225.
^ Fill, C. (2006). Marketing
communications. 1st ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall, pp.372-373.
^ Parmenter, D. (2007). Key
performance indicators. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
^ Marr, B. (2012). Key
performance indicators. 1st ed. Harlow, England ; ; New York: Pearson Financial
Times Pub.
^ French, A. and Smith, G.
(2013). Measuring brand association strength: a consumer based brand equity
approach. European Journal of Marketing, 47(8), pp.1356-1367.
^ McCarthy, E.J. (1964), Basic
Marketing, Richard D. Irwin, Homewood, IL.
^ Mercer, D. (1999). Marketing.
1st ed. Oxford [u.a.]: Blackwell.
^ Booms, B.H. and Bitner, M.J.,
1981. Marketing strategies and organization structures for service firms.
Marketing of services, 25(3), pp.47-52
^ Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick,
F. (2012). Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. 1st ed.
Harlow: Pearson Education.
^ Ryan, D. (2014). Understanding
Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation Ed.
3. 1st ed. Kogan Page.
^ Schiele, Kristen; Chen, Steven
(2018-03-26). "Design Thinking and Digital Marketing Skills in Marketing
Education: A Module on Building Mobile Applications". Marketing Education
Review. 28 (3): 150–154. doi:10.1080/10528008.2018.1448283. ISSN 1052-8008.
^ Staton, Mark G. (2015-12-07).
"Improving Student Job Placement and Assessment Through the Use of Digital
Marketing Certification Programs". Marketing Education Review. 26 (1):
20–24. doi:10.1080/10528008.2015.1091665. ISSN 1052-8008.
^ Liu, Xia; Burns, Alvin C.
(2018-01-02). "Designing a Marketing Analytics Course for the Digital
Age". Marketing Education Review. 28 (1): 28–40.
doi:10.1080/10528008.2017.1421049. ISSN 1052-8008.
^ Jump up to: a b c Kyle,
Huggins. "Seismic Shifts in the Sharing Economy: Shaking Up Marketing
Channels and Supply Chains". Journal of Marketing Channels. 24 (3).
doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346973.
^ Jump up to: a b "The
Sharing Economy: Opportunities and Challenges for Marketing Channels and Supply
Chains". Journal of Marketing Channels. 24 (1–2).
doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346970.
^ Jump up to: a b Thomas, Martin.
"Domains of Digital Marketing Channels in the Sharing Economy".
Journal of Marketing Channels. 24 (27). doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346977.
