Digital Marketing Midterm

Paid media

Reach you buy. Cost is linear in budget and stops when spend stops.

Owned media

Channels you control and fill yourself (website, email list, social accounts). Yours to fill, but nobody has to look.

Earned media

Attention that comes from other people deciding to spread your content. Shares beget shares.

Marketing funnel stages (in order)

Aware, Consider, Evaluate, Buy

Why the funnel is still useful

You can attach a count and a rate to every stage, not because of its shape.

Origin of the funnel idea

Attention-interest-desire-action ladder by E. St. Elmo Lewis (1898); the "funnel" name from William Townsend (1924).

Funnel vs. journey loop

The funnel assumes one direction where options are only removed. The loop is circular: brands are added mid-journey, and buyers' posted experiences feed the next buyer's research.

Why the journey is a loop

Buyers add new options mid-journey, keep reading reviews after buying, and post their own experience where the next buyer finds it.

Responsive design

The display automatically responds and adjusts to your device, screen, or browser size.

Responsive design vs. mobile friendly

Responsive: the layout technically reflows. Mobile friendly: actually pleasant on a phone (thumb-size targets, readable text, short forms).

Mobile first

A different starting point, not a bigger circle around the others. Design for the phone first, then adapt up to desktop.

Does mobile first equal mobile friendly?

No. Mobile first, responsive design, and mobile friendly are three distinct ideas.

Why page loading speed matters

It influences Google ranking for both paid and organic search, and slow pages lose visitors to competitors.

Mobile abandonment stat (Google)

53% of mobile users abandon sites that take over 3 seconds to load.

Common causes of slow pages

Redundant coding, and image size and format.

Simple fix for slow images

Use formats like JPEG or WebP; compress with a tool like imagecompressor.com. Test pages free at pagespeed.web.dev.

The 1-3-6 test: what it evaluates

How effective your messaging is online: can users immediately know what they can do on the site, and do content and design work together?

Businesses' #1 struggle with social media marketing

Measurement (measuring ROI).

Top 4 social media challenges (in order)

1. Measuring ROI, 2. Publishing content, 3. Developing a strategy, 4. Tying social to business goals

CMO Survey Spring 2025: social media share of budget

11.3% of marketing budgets.

CMO Survey Spring 2025: contribution to firm performance

Only 3.4% of marketing leaders say it contributes very highly; 40% say below average.

CMOs' rating of social media's contribution to profits

3.3 out of 7.

Is social media a ROI driver?

In general no, especially for paid campaigns.

Conversion rates by channel (as cited)

Google Ads about 2.45%; email highest (8.9% in the U.S.); social media lower (under 2.45%).

What engages consumers and generates WOM?

Good content, regardless of where it is posted.

Why social media campaigns succeed

Because of high-quality content (fun, interesting, meaningful, useful), not because of the social platform. Social is just where success is easier to observe and measure.

Wrong starting point for social strategy

Platform-first thinking ("So many users on Facebook, we need to be there!").

Right questions for social strategy

What content will your target customer like? What will you create (format, genre, topic, length)? How often will you post? How will you interact with users?

Three ways to categorize online ads

Platform, format, and pricing.

Ad platforms

Search engine, social media, website, email, and (emerging) AI assistants.

Ad formats

Text, image, animation, video, interactive.

Ad pricing categories

Organic (free, so not really an ad) and paid.

Search ads: when the ad meets you and strength

You are asking for something; strength is intent stated in your own words (about $5 per click).

Social ads: when the ad meets you and strength

You are scrolling for entertainment; strength is discovery and precision audiences ($8 to $12 per 1,000 views).

Website/app (display) ads: strength and price

Reach across more than a billion sites; about $3 to $6 per 1,000 views.

Email as an ad platform

The sender owns the list, not the send.

Impression pricing model

Pay for each ad display. Cost per impression (CPI) or cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM).

Click pricing model

Pay for each click. Cost per click / pay per click (CPC, PPC).

Conversion pricing model

Pay for each target conversion. Cost per conversion / cost per acquisition (CPA).

Lead or order pricing model

Pay each time a user fills out a form or makes a purchase. Cost per lead (CPL) or cost per order (CPO).

Time pricing model

Pay for the ad to display unlimited times in a set period, often with a guaranteed minimum of impressions. Cost per day (CPD).

Ad funnel chain

Impressions × CTR = Clicks; Clicks × CVR = Conversions; Conversions × order value = Revenue.

CTR (click-through rate)

The share of impressions that get clicked.

CVR (conversion rate)

The share of clicks that end in the action you wanted.

Who holds the risk under CPM, CPC, CPA?

CPM: the advertiser. CPC: shared. CPA: the seller of the ad.

The one idea behind pricing models

Every pricing model is a price for the same campaign quoted at a different funnel stage. Multiply or divide by the rate between stages to translate. Moving the price point down the funnel moves risk from advertiser to ad seller.

Formula: CPC from CPM

CPC = CPM ÷ (1,000 × CTR)

Formula: CPA from CPC

CPA = CPC ÷ CVR

Formula: ROAS

ROAS = revenue ÷ spend

Formula: CPM from CPC

CPM = CPC × CTR × 1,000

Example campaign: $4 CPM, 100,000 impressions

Spend $400; 0.5% CTR gives 500 clicks; 2% CVR gives 10 orders; $60 per order gives $600 revenue.

Example campaign: the four prices

CPM $4.00; CPC $0.80; CPA $40.00; ROAS 1.5

Break-even CTR between CPM and CPC offers

Break-even CTR = CPM ÷ (1,000 × CPC). For $4 CPM vs. $0.80 CPC: 4 ÷ 800 = 0.5%.

Take CPM or CPC deal?

Above the break-even CTR, take CPM (cheaper). Below it, take CPC (you only pay for the few clicks you get).

Why a publisher offers both CPM and CPC

It knows its average CTR. It prefers CPM from underperforming advertisers and CPC from advertisers who beat the average. Whoever knows the rate better wins.

Decision rule: new vs. proven creative

New creative with no history is a CPC buy. A proven ad that pulls above the site average is a CPM buy.

Max CPC formula

Max CPC = CVR × margin per sale (0.02 × $25 = $0.50)

Max CPM formula

Max CPM = 1,000 × CTR × CVR × margin (1,000 × 0.005 × 0.02 × $25 = $2.50)

Max CPA formula

Max CPA = margin per sale ($25 in the example)

Why ROAS of 1.5 was misleading

Revenue is not margin. At $40 per order on $25 margin, each sale lost $15.

Ways to fix an unprofitable campaign

Negotiate CPM down to $2.50 or less; raise CTR to 0.8% (holding CVR); raise CVR to 3.2% (holding CTR); or count repeat purchases (break-even lifetime margin $40).

Break-even CTR formula (profitability)

CPM ÷ (1,000 × CVR × margin) = 4 ÷ (1,000 × 0.02 × 25) = 0.8%

Break-even CVR formula (profitability)

CPM ÷ (1,000 × CTR × margin) = 4 ÷ (1,000 × 0.005 × 25) = 3.2%

CPM: what gets gamed and the defence

Gamed: impressions nobody saw (below the fold, stacked, bots); about 1 in 5 display impressions fails viewability. Defence: pay only for viewable impressions and buy through verified inventory.

Viewability standard

50% of pixels visible for one second (Media Rating Council).

CPC: what gets gamed and the defence

Gamed: click fraud and accidental taps (about 1 in 10 invalid on search, higher on apps). Defence: filter invalid traffic, watch bounce rate by placement, refuse placements with clicks but no time on site.

CPA: what gets gamed and the defence

Gamed: claiming credit for sales that would have happened anyway (cannibalization, last-click grabbing, coupon detours). Defence: measure incrementality, not attributed sales.

Six ways to target consumers online

Demographic, geographic, time, psychographic, contextual, behavioral.

Demographic targeting

Based on age, gender, etc.

Geographic targeting

Based on user location.

Time targeting

Based on what time and day to show ads.

Psychographic targeting

Based on interests, habits, attitudes, emotions, and preferences.

Contextual targeting

Based on what content is on the page, app, or platform.

Behavioral targeting

Based on the user's past behaviors.

The two most powerful targeting tools

Contextual and behavioral, because they target intent, and intent is when money changes hands.

Conversion rate: social vs. search

Demographic/interest audiences on feed platforms convert about 1% of clicks; search converts about 7.5% (around 7x).

Diagnostic: contextual or behavioral?

Would the next visitor to this exact page see this exact ad? Yes means contextual. No (it followed you there) means behavioral.

SERP

Search Engine Results Page.

SEM (in the SERP)

Paid search results: the results marked "Ad" at the top, bought by keyword bidding.

SEO (in the SERP)

Organic search results: earned by being judged the best answer; nobody pays per click.

How Google actually searches

It searches its stored copy (index) of the web, not the live web. Googlebot crawls, then stores.

Three questions behind every ranking

Can a crawler reach the page? Did a record get stored? Does that record beat the other records when someone types the query?

Google's five ranking factor families

Meaning of the query, relevance of the page, quality of the content, usability of the page, context and settings.

Meaning of the query

Spelling, synonyms, category, intent, and whether the question wants something fresh. Google rewrites your words first.

Relevance of the page

Whether the words on the page and the answer behind them match what was asked. The signal you control most directly.

Quality of the content

Signals that others treat you as a source; links from trusted sites are the original and hardest-to-fake version.

Usability of the page

Renders on a phone, loads fast, served over https, does not bury content under a popup.

Context and settings

Location, language, device, past activity. It is why checking your own rank by searching is unreliable.

Is there a single SEO ranking factor?

No. Hundreds of signals are combined per query in real time, and anyone selling "the" factor is selling one signal.

SEO Pyramid layers (bottom to top)

1. Accessible, quality content; 2. Keyword research and targeting; 3. Link building; 4. Social.

SEO Pyramid base layer must-haves

Unique text content, internal link architecture, bot accessibility, sitemaps, URL structure, server response codes, plus non-duplicate content.

SEO Pyramid: keyword research and targeting layer

Keyword brainstorming and on-page targeting (titles, metas, URLs, H1, text, internal anchor text).

SEO Pyramid: link building layer

Manual requests and link creation; scalable, content-based link strategies.

SEO Pyramid: social layer

On-site user engagement features and social media/viral marketing.

Diagnose: excellent content, not indexed, no links to it

Base layer problem: bot accessibility and internal link architecture (crawlers can't find the page).

Diagnose: one blog post at three URLs, none ranks

Base layer problem: duplicate content and URL structure (tracking parameters).

Diagnose: whole site vanished after a redesign

Base layer problem: crawler access and server response codes/URL structure (e.g., blocked bots, broken redirects).

Six places to use keywords for SEO

Page copy, page URL, title tag, meta description, descriptive anchor text, image alt attribute.

Good page URL for SEO

Short, readable words joined by hyphens, no parameter soup.

Good title tag for SEO

Unique per page, keyword first, under 60 characters, written to earn the click.