Some of the questions in the assessment are as follows:
- What is Digital Marketing
- How was Digital Marketing is Helpful in Marketing
- Customer's Attract Through Digital Marketing
INTRODUCTION
Digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts company put and which involves need of internet and electronic devices. Digital marketing is defined as the use of number of digital tactics and channels used by marketers to connect with the customers and spread word about the offering of their respective organisation. This report is developed in context of Oak Cash & Carry, which was established in 2000 and headquartered in Banbury, Oxfordshire. This is a small and medium sized company operating from last 19 years with less than 60 employees and dealing in wholesale sector. The company make sales and operates in grocery items serving to wholesale customer and dealing with retailers (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). This Assignment Assistance covers thorough understanding of digital marketing landscape along with a comparison of online and offline channels of marketing. Then the report holds critical analysis of marketing tool available to marketers such as hardware and software. Moreover, omni-channel of marketing is elaborated which renders the best shopping experience to customers from the first touchpoint to the last. A strategic marketing plan is developed using omni-channel framework and for building multichannel capabilities. Furthermore, at the end, measurement techniques are evaluated in digital marketing and recommendations are given in order to improve performance of digital marketing and make its appropriate use.
Digital marketing landscape and compare online and offline marketing concepts.
Digital Marketing Landscape- It refers to an ongoing evolving state of digital media and promotional activities that includes video production, pay -per click advertising, search engine optimization, content marketing , podcasting, social media marketing, online reputation management, influencer marketing, search engine marketing, mobile applications, e-mail marketing and web development. It keeps changing according to the emerging trends follows in the country. Oak cash & carry Banbury use digital media for promoting and selling groceries through number of people and this contain less cost and it also convenient to customers that they buy goods 24*7 and visit online store at anytime (Kannan, 2017).
Comparison between online and offline marketing
Basis |
Online marketing |
Offline marketing |
Meaning |
It refers to that where products are advertise or sell via social media,blogging, email marketing and deliver message about brand through web to number of customers. |
Offline marketing refers to traditional marketing involve various mediums like physical ads., digital signage, retail items, direct mail, magazines and newspaper to create awareness between the consumers. |
Cost |
It is less costly then offline marketing because it involve cost in optimized website i.e. search engine optimization or giving ads via social media or search engines (Baltes, 2015). |
It is costly for organisation because it spend lot of funds to maintain stock, pay rents and other bills to advertise or promote brand and offerings involves TV, radio or newspaper etc. |
Convenience- 24*7 |
There is no hindrance to online marketing because consumer will visit company web anytime or purchase goods or services 24*7. therefore there is no time limit. |
In offline marketing customers only visit and purchase products when outlet is opened. Services are not provided them 24*7 or 365 days. |
Exposure |
Online marketing reaches globally and gets maximum vulnerability. |
Offline marketing has its own limit and never promise to vulnerability (de Ruyter, Keeling and Ngo, 2018). |
Personalisation |
In this customers buying histories are tracked so it is easy to give a specific offer to specific category customers. This will help in maximization of profits. |
Here, this method is difficult to apply and it is sometimes used by small shop or retail counter to retain their regular customers. |
Key consumer trends and insights that fuelling the growth of digital marketing.
As digitalisation evolve every year, marketing manager always be active towards the changes that occur and adapt by using various techniques to stay in the market. Oak cash & carry Banbury, thinks to expand their business to earn highest return and growth. For this digital analyst suggest them to digitalised their products and services by using various new technology that often occur in the market (Todor, 2016). To attract more and more customers globally and improve their relation with their existing and new customers. There are different trends that fuelling the growth of digital marketing that are described below.
- Smarter Chat- Using chatbots is a essential means of communication in customer service. It plays a great role in understanding consumers and it allows marketing manager to capture large audience without doing so much. In Oak cash & carry Banbury, digital analyst want to use chatbots ( via. Official Website) so that they easily connect with their customers where they ask questions and solve the problem. Therefore it also help manger to know current taste and preferences of the potential customers.
- Artificial intelligence- It is a simulation of human intelligence concerned with smart machines that is capable of performing task like humans. It is a combination of algorithmic retailing, machine learning and deep learning (Jorvinen and Taiminen, 2016). Digital analyst of Oak cash & carry Banbury working with AI to improve pricing, promotion in its circulars, fulfil orders and forecasting inventory needs by using innovative technique to deliver schedule people and complete orders to make their business efficient and proficient.
- Live Videos-More Stories - It is now possible and very easy because of Instagram, you-tube and Facebook which is fastest growing and remarkable waves in recent few years. It is an effective tool to generate number of customers. In Oak cash & carry Banbury , digital analyst create a own official page on social media site to promote their business by using live videos of their products which create a great impressions on the viewers mind and also it improve the relation with customers (Yejas, 2016).
- Email- marketing - It is the smarter way to connect with large audience by sending emails for their offerings. In context of Oak cash & carry Banbury, digital analyst choose email marketing for the people who are subscribers and active on that list. For emailing HTML based email are not suitable because it contains graphics that may increase potential spam because of this company use plain text emails address to improve the user rates.
Oak and cash Banbury wants to became the UK fastest growing sector and industry that offers wide range of opportunities and challenges by using digital marketing. The great opportunity that comes in digital marketing landscape is that the organisation promote their offerings by using various online methods like social media, pay-per click, web development and search engine optimization and increase proficiency and efficiency. It is an effective way of communication to target a large number of audience at the same time (Taiminen and Karjaluoto, 2015). Because of digital marketing landscape consumers can shop 24*7 or 365 days whenever they want to purchase product and services. Organisation face challenges in digital marketing landscape that a group of people or a individual person harm the brand image through doppelgnger which will affect the sells of the organisation.
Key digital tools available to marketers in contrast to brick and mortar and other physical channelsBrick and mortar is a term referring to the traditional street-side business offering goods and serveries to consumers face-to-face through and office or store. This is basically making sales and earning of revenue by being physically present in-front of the consumers. In this section digital tools and hardware are suggested for Oak cash & curry by which they can make their presence in marketplace. Through potential use of these tools company can make their presence in marketplace, engage with more people and make huge sales.
- Social media platform- A very commonly used platform for digital marketing is social media. Internet is becoming a huge part of day to day of individuals which gave rise to social media. Nowadays, social media channels or platforms can bring huge results towards companies in relation with marketing their products and service (Rahman, 2015). Through developing presence on different social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook etc. Oak cash & carry can reach to maximum number of population and spreading word about their products and services, which they are offering to people.
- Design tool- Another aspect is design tool, it is a common while company is producing their advertisements and other content like social media posts and blogs. Digital marketing depends upon designs and the attractiveness of the campaign. Therefore, best design tool such as Photoshop, helps in developing an effective marketing design. Oak cash & carry can make use of different design tool for making their marketing advertisements attractive enough gathering most peoples attention and changing them into potential buyers (Staton, 2016).
- Email marketing tool- Another very effective tool belonging to digital marketing is email marketing. This refers to developing email campaign, through which all products which company are offering are enclosed and amplify, encouraging more people to engage with the brand. Oak cash & carry can make use of this tool for increasing awareness in public about their organisation, introducing them to entity and encouraging more interest of individuals.
E-commerce is also known a internet commerce or electronic commerce, it is tool for making sales and buying goods online by using internet or electronic mediums. Money transfers for respective goods and services are also, done through using electronic channels or e-commerce platforms. E-commerce specifically refers to transaction of products and services which organisations are offering to public (Jarvinen and Karjaluoto, 2015). Digital marketing and e-commerce work hand in hand as digital marketing is a concept of promoting goods and services online through making use of effective digital channels. e-commerce is making sales online and digital marketing is promoting goods online through different channels and platforms. Both these concepts provide better results to company in comparison to physical channels. Nowadays, digital marketing is penetrating into every business sector and primary reason behind the success and effectiveness of this phenomena is rapidly evolving business practices and huge changes taking place in industry. Digital marketing tool are helping e-commerce to grow and attain success. Therefore, Oak cash & carry is keen to enter into e-commerce and make their presence into digital world. For supporting the same the development in e-commerce channels and physical channels are discussed below in next section along with highlighting their difference.
E-commerce has completely modified the process of shopping and making sales or purchase. Earlier the sources of e-commerce were just messages and email marketing but with evolving time and development taking place in digital world new platforms of e-commerce are developed. These channels of e-commerce more evolved and personalised rendering better experiences to people and business owners. New developed e-commerce tools are social media sites, personalised websites or applications etc. through these channels more sales numbers can be acquired by the company which will result in higher profits of entity. On the other hand, physical channels of marketing also have evolved and developed improved opportunities for organisation to make sales and purchases (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2016). In older times posters or pamphlets were used for marketing offerings of organisation and with changing time and frequent changes taking place in external environment new tools are introduced. These channels are hoardings, door-to door marketing using digital media etc. is developed which is enabling organisation to attain potential results and be more effective.
Critical analysis of digital tool both hardware and software for meeting marketing requirementsIn above section key digital tools are discussed which are present for Oak cash & carry. Company can adopt them according to their operations in order to make effective use of updated digital marketing channels for making effective presence in marketplace, enhance their sales and earn better profits. Oak cash & carry can adopt social media platforms for conducting marketing activities and reaching to wider section of society. Email marketing is also a very effective tool through which they can keep all clients informed about the changes taking place and inform new people about their operations for changing them in potential buyers. As these marketing channels holds huge benefits for entity the only issue related to it is the cost involved in these actions are huge, moreover Oak cash & carry is entering the digital world. All these action are new for the organisation, therefore, the company will take more time in developing such engines changing the operation into time consuming process initially.
Critical analysis of digital marketing landscape and its impacts on growth of e-commerceDigital marketing landscape plays a major role in the growth of e-commerce. In context of Oak cash & carry Banbury, digital marketing analyst evaluate the growth of their business by using online marketing and how they out from crowd (Nikunen and et. al., 2017). It made a positive impact on earning proficiency by using digital methods like social media, chatbots and email marketing which plays a important role to showcase ads in front of large customers and help in retain them. Here customers move towards the digitalisation because of comfort and it is less time consuming. It also increased brand image and improved brand loyalty. It also create a negative impact on the growth of e-commerce because it is very costly and there is a fear of vulnerability. Organisation need to ensure that they appoint a skill staff having right knowledge so they carry out digital marketing with success.
Developing a digital marketing planCompany overview
Oak cash & carry is grocery wholesale organisation which is operating in UK. The company is small enterprise dealing in limited locations through their physical stores and agents. Oak cash & carry was established in year 2000, currently company only has 58 employees. Company is using traditional method for marketing its goods and making sales, but due to changing market situations and business practices these old practices are no more profitable for the organisation. Therefore, in order to mitigate the risk of failure of operations company is planning to enter digital world (Yasmin, Tasneem and Fatema, 2015). In order to do so, Oak cash & carry is introducing its own online application for making sales and also making use of its website and other social media platforms for marketing its products and services.
Vision
Oak cash & carry is a wholesale business enterprise who's vision is to grow and survive in marketplace. The company has a long term objective of expanding its operations and its accessibility. The organisation wants to be stable, earn enough profits and increase its customer base.
Mission
The short-term objective of Oak cash & carry is to make use of updated technology and using digital marketing techniques to enter in to digital world for increasing their sales. Also, entity want to establish its presence in both physical and digital marketplace.
Objectives
- To increase sales by 10% in next 6 months.
- To increase customer base by 5% in next 6 months.
- To increase profits by 15% in one year.
STP
- Segmentation- It is a process of dividing the population into small groups according to their characteristics and features. Segmenting population helps company to set its targets and sever best products to a particular segment or their targeted market. Oak cash & carry has segmented its marketplace according to behavioural segmentation approach (Key 2017).
- Targeting- The target of Oak cash & carry is to attract wider population and specially those who are techno friendly. Nowadays, people are technology prone and need comfort, therefore, company has targeted groups who prefer to make purchase online rather than visiting stores.
- Positioning- For positioning itself in marketplace company will make use of digital technology and marketing tools, such as social media, email marketing etc. This positioning methods are used for introducing new online purchasing and selling application.
Funds
Particulars |
Amount($'000) |
Recruitment&Selection |
10 |
Advertisements |
5 |
Equipments |
4.5 |
Application developer fee |
8.5 |
TOTAL |
28 |
Omni-channel of marketing was introduced in market in 2010, it is a marketing technique which is about continuing a consumers shopping experience amongst multiple platforms. Omni-channel of marketing is available to customers on all different platforms from traditional method of Brick and Mortars to the digital world of emails, online shopping and messages. Omni-channel of marketing is basically an idea of using all channels to create one unified experience for customers (Stephen, 2016). This channel involves all methods traditional store to store methods, online experience, digital channels and in-store channels.
At its early stages omni-channel of marketing was not adopted and preferred by organisations. But with passed times now entity has strong reliance on omni-channel for success and growth. Th company rely on this channels of marketing, as according to the study and some marketers organisations using this form of marketing has seen growth such as their customer base increased and become loyal, their transaction size increased and huge profits flowed towards them. In recent times, marketing and business people call omni-channel marketing a must for brand and retailing sectors, bringing huge benefits for company's rendering best experiences to customers.
Applying tool and techniques to plan for preparing end-to-end omni-channel marketing campaign
The omni-channel marketing is a customer centric campaign, therefore, in case of Oak cash & carry company this campaign is depending upon rendering ease and comfort to customer. In this campaign marketing team of Oak cash & carry will make use of emails, in-store promotion, webpages and social media to promote their offering in public creating awareness. Through omni-channel marketing campaign Oak cash & carry will promote its new online selling website, by which company can remove middleman and directly make sales to end users. Also, retailers can make purchases online as it removes their hassle of going to physical store and buying goods (Karjaluoto, Ulkuniemi and Mustonen, 2015). This e-commerce operations enables Oak cash & carry to increase their sales and result in higher profit units.
Evaluating measurement techniques and performance metrics in digital marketing
Once all digital plans and campaigns are applied by Oak cash & carry, now company will take steps to measure the results and evaluate their performance metrics. For doing so several methods can be used by it which are as follows and explained below:
Measurement techniques:
- Online sales- One of the most effective way of testing and measuring the impacts of applying new marketing plans and channels evaluating online sales. The effectiveness of marketing channels can be measured by tracking the online sales units.
- Online-to-store sales- Sometimes people gather information online but prefers to buy goods in person. In such situation online-to-store method is used to measure effectiveness of digital marketing and e-commerce. Oak cash & carry can ask for feedback to people about how they get to know about the store.
Performance metrics:
- Traffic metric- For checking and keeping track about the performance of digital marketing traffic metric enables entity to do so. Oak cash & carry can analyse the flow of traffic on their websites to and keep track for measuring the appropriateness and effectiveness of their website.
- Revenue metric- At the end, the most effective performance measurement factor is revenue which enables organisation to measure the success of digital marketing campaign (Saura, Palos-S¡nchez and Cerd Surez, 2017). The profitability of the company can be measured in accordance with higher revenue.
Providing Recommendation for improving digital marketing performance
Oak cash & carry is an organisation has recently entered into digital world earlier it was just using traditional methods of marketing and business. Now company has entered into e-commerce and digital marketing as their sales are reduced and traditional methods are no more helpful for the entity. Oak cash & carry is using multi-channel marketing for serving the customers. This is goal oriented technique of marketing tool in which organisation work according to the goal in order to achieve all its objectives and aims. Since, omni-channel or marketing is the resulting in one of the best techniques from past few years this tool is rendering best results to companies. This form of marketing is recommended to Oak cash & carry for its operations and conducting marketing activities (Boelsen-Robinson, Backholer and Peeters, 2015). Omni-channel of marketing helps entity to establish best marketing in all channels either online or offline and enable customers best shopping experience.
Critical evaluation of application of key digital measurement techniques and performance metrics used in digital marketing
In above section few measurement techniques and performance metrics are suggested for company to Oak cash & carry to evaluates and analyse their digital performances. These techniques and tool are very effective for entity enabling them to known their performance levels. These techniques are also useful in making improvements and adopting better marketing strategies. Such as online sales are measured by Oak cash & carry managers which gives them clarity about their performance and helped them in analysing that if they reach to set objectives of increasing sales or not. Revenue metric is used for knowing exact increase in revenue units after introducing online application. Only drawback is the company has to make some arrangements bifurcate and analyse these results by using these measures and tools.
Developing a coherent and logical digital marketing strategy and implying it in organisational context
Trough omni-channel of marketing company can make and develop most effective strategies for marketing its goods and services. Oak cash & carry can make use of this tool for conducting marketing actions for both its physical stores and new e-commerce business (Vien, 2015). The entity can be very effective using digital marketing tools and serving in best effective manner to all consumers, also changing potential buyer into customers by attracting them and rendering good quality products.
CONCLUSION
The above report concludes that digital marketing is an essential tool for every organisation in order to run their operations effectively in current changing scenario. Digital marketing is new and attractive form of marketing goods and services of entity in order to cover maximum population and increasing sales. A comparative table is created showing the difference between online and offline marketing and their effectiveness. Consumer trends and insights also plays vital role in enhancing the growth of e-commerce. Along with the results generated, some digital marketing tool such as social media platforms and email marketing are suggested to company through which they can make their presence in wider marketplace and be more effective. E-commerce and physical channels of marketing are als developing with help of digital marketing resulting in better presence of company in marketplace and better sales units. At the end, a digital marketing plan is developed which is creating multi-channel capabilities in organisation. Omni-channel of marketing is explained, applying its tool and techniques for producing an omni-channel marketing campaign. These developed plan are evaluated through performance metrics and measurement techniques, for improving and developing better plans.
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