Digital Marketing: Online, Social, and Mobile

Chapter 3: Digital Marketing: Online, Social, and Mobile

Evolution of Communication and Marketing

• Traditional Mass Communication (Non-Digital Media)
  • Includes print (newspapers, magazines), TV, and radio.
  • Also encompasses mail and telemarketing.
• Digital Marketing
  • Encompasses online, social, and mobile platforms.
  • The way we communicate has changed significantly and will continue to evolve.

The Digital Shift: Time & Advertising Revenue

• Increased Mobile & Social Media Consumption
  • People spend a significant amount of time on mobile and social platforms, often referred to as "Me time."
  • Activities include socializing, accomplishing tasks, preparing, discovering new things, and expressing oneself.
  • On average, individuals spend $3.5$ hours of screen time per day.
  • Some research indicates teenagers might spend up to ~$9$ hours of screen time daily.
• Global Digital Advertising Growth
  • Global digital advertising revenue is projected to reach $880$ Billion by $2028$.
  • Digital advertising is increasingly eclipsing traditional forms of advertising.
  • Trend Analysis (Based on Financial Times Data, ex. US political advertising):
    • Digital ad revenue has shown consistent rapid growth, while traditional segments like TV, Audio, Newspapers, and Magazines have flattened or declined.
    • In $2024$, digital ad revenue was forecasted at $662.12$ Billion.
• New Media Platforms as Election Victors (WSJ 11-9-2024 Example)
  • The $2024$ presidential race highlighted the emergence of a new media landscape.
  • Traditional gatekeepers of political discourse (TV networks, newspapers) are shrinking in influence.
  • Americans are turning to more diverse outlets for information.
  • Podcast Rise:
    • The percentage of people listening to podcasts monthly has more than tripled in a decade.
    • Initially primarily audio, video podcasts are gaining popularity, especially on platforms like YouTube (e.g., Joe Rogan's interview with Donald Trump garnered over $45$ million YouTube views and $25$ million listens on other platforms).
  • Aging TV Viewership: TV viewers are getting older, and cable and broadcast viewing share is declining.
  • Social Media for News: More than half of TikTok users regularly get news from the platform, with close to $40\%$ of $18-29$ year olds regularly getting news from TikTok.

The 4E Framework of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is more efficient and cost-effective than traditional non-digital marketing in engaging customers.

1. Excite Customers with Relevant Offers
   • Use digital offers to generate excitement.
   • Example: Lush Cosmetics encourages customers to post pictures using their products with #LushLife for a chance to be featured on their official page.
2. Educate Them About the Offering
   • Inform customers about the value and benefits of products/services.
   • Digital marketing is highly effective for promoting ideas.
   • Example: The #KnowYourLemons campaign used images of lemons to educate women about the $12$ shapes and lumps to look for during breast self-exams, also offering a free app for self-exam guidance.
3. Help Them Experience Products or Services
   • Digital marketing provides experience-based information.
   • Example: Sephora maintains a YouTube channel with dedicated videos offering product recommendations for specific occasions and showcasing product use.
4. Give Them an Opportunity to Engage with the Firm’s Digital Marketing Activities
   • Encourage customers to use social media tools like blogging and microblogging.
   • Offer ways for customers to actively engage with the firm's products, services, and their social networks.
   • Positive Engagement: Positively engaged consumers are typically more profitable, purchasing $20\%$ to $40\%$ more than less engaged customers.
   • Negative Engagement: Negative engagement has the potential to be even more damaging than positive engagement is beneficial.

The 7C Online Marketing Framework

This framework outlines seven critical elements for devising an online marketing strategy and designing digital platforms.

1. Core Goals
   • The foundation of any marketing strategy.
   • Online marketing goals must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
   • Example of a SMART goal: "We need to raise the conversion rate for our landing page by $15\%$ within the next five months by redesigning the landing page and updating the copy."
2. Contextual Elements
   • Design elements like consistent color and font.
   • Easy navigation.
   • Must be in alignment with the target market.
   • Example: LEGO’s website design is aligned with its young target market.
3. Content
   • Includes text, graphics, video, and audio.
   • Must be aligned with the target market and brand positioning.
   • Keywords: Devise appropriate keywords to improve organic search (search results that are not paid advertisements).
   • Keyword choice should be based on brand positioning.
4. Community
   • Allow customers to interact with each other and the firm.
   • Blogs (Weblogs):
     • Personal blogs
     • Professional blogs
     • Corporate blogs (e.g., Etsy Journal).
   • Microblogs: Platforms like X (formerly Twitter) (e.g., Stephen Curry, Under Armour).
5. Communication
   • Provide mechanisms for customers to communicate with the firm (e.g., live chat, instant message, telephone, email).
   • Live Chat vs. Chatbots:
     • Live Chat: Requires a human agent for real-time responses, best for personal approaches like customer support or sales.
     • Chatbots: Can operate with minimal or no human intervention, best for automating simple tasks, answering FAQs, or providing information.
6. Commerce
   • Customers require a range of online purchase options.
   • Channels: Website purchases and mobile app purchases.
   • Usage: Desktop usage is generally greater, and conversion rates are higher for online purchases.
   • Loyalty: The most loyal customers often use multiple channels.
   • Apple App Store Commission:
     • For digital items (apps, coins, music, books, videos), Apple charges a $30\%$ commission for in-app purchases.
     • For physical items (food, books, Blu-ray Discs, real-life services like taxi or delivery), there is no commission for in-app purchases.
7. Connection
   • Aims to get customers to interact and connect with the firm continuously and positively.
   • Connection is synonymous with engagement.
   • Example: BarkBox connects with customers through clear call-to-action buttons like “Create the perfect box” and “Subscribe for monthly dog joy.”

The Wheel of Social Media Engagement

Social media, though challenging to manage, significantly impacts business.

1. Information Effect
   • Social media generates and circulates a vast amount of information about the firm and its brands.
   • Firm Actions: Firms should strive to understand ongoing conversations and actively feed relevant information (e.g., interjecting humorous advertisements).
2. Connected Effect
   • Social media fulfills humans' innate need to connect with other people.
3. Network Effect
   • Social media can spread news and information instantaneously globally, amplifying reach.
4. Dynamic Effect
   • Information is exchanged among network participants through back-and-forth communications, creating a dynamic dialogue.
5. Timeliness Effect
   • Social media focuses on timely and current issues.
   • Firm Actions: Firms must engage with customers at the right place and time. Responding in a timely manner can significantly impact customers’ buying intentions.

Social Media Engagement Process

Firms engage customers through a systematic process:

1. Listen
   • Involves systematic monitoring, often utilizing social media monitoring tools.
   • Helps determine digital marketing objectives and strategies.
   • Sentiment Analysis: Allows marketers to analyze and determine consumer attitudes and preferences by focusing on the polarity of text (positive, negative, neutral) and detecting specific feelings (angry, happy, sad), or urgency.
   • Example: Zappos uses insights from listening to customers to design strategies that emphasize what customers like most. Sentiment analysis on topics like "Robotaxi" can reveal public perception on technology, safety, and service aspects.
2. Analyze
   • Focuses on understanding metrics such as the amount of traffic, who the visitors are, where they come from, and how they interact.
3. Do (Implement)
   • Even the best analysis is useless if firms fail to implement their learnings from social and mobile media activity.
   • This stage involves developing and implementing campaigns using social media or other marketing actions, and using aggregated data for personalized offers and trend understanding.

Influencer Marketing

• Definition: A marketing strategy that leverages opinion leaders, popular on social media, to deliver marketing messages to a targeted audience.
• Firms either hire or encourage these well-known individuals to promote brand messages to their networks of followers.
• Example: Big-time influencers like Ariana Grande can command substantial fees for sponsored posts due to their millions of followers.

Assessing the Efficacy of Influencers

1. Relevance
   • Encompasses the alignment between the influencer, their followers (target audience), and the brand/message.
2. Reach
   • Refers to the percentage of a target population exposed to a specific marketing communication at least once.
   • Example: Selena Gomez can reach millions of potential Coca-Cola customers with an Instagram post.
3. Response
   • Once followers engage with the message, the brand needs them to take further actions that benefit the brand (e.g., clicks, purchases, sharing).
4. Return (ROI)
   • Measures the return on investment from influencer marketing efforts.

Key Digital Marketing Concepts Review (Quiz Questions)

• The 4 Es in digital marketing are: Excite, Educate, Experience, Engage.
• An ad asking followers to post pictures with a product for a prize is designed to engage the customer with the company’s digital platform.
• Firms should not react only to positive conversations while ignoring negative ones in social media; they should respond to both in a timely manner.
• Digital content includes text, graphics, and video; must align with target market and positioning; and should use appropriate keywords to improve both organic and paid search results.
• Sentiment analysis analyzes customer comments to determine attitudes and preferences.