LSI

LSI that functions as an acronym for 'Latent Semantic Indexing' is defined as a mathematical mechanism that emerged during the later 1980s and serves as an efficient method of information retrieval. The approach used for scanning unstructured data associated with various documents is a particular technique known as 'singular value decomposition,' and thus helps to define the relationships between different types of concepts associated with the data. Thus, the approach is defined as the one that focuses on discovering latent or secret associations between meanings or terms to aid in understanding enhancement, or known as indexing. LSI also helps to understand the essence of the vocabulary used that is limited to the context underlying it. The use of this approach also leads to identifying the different forms of hierarchical categories or sets that help to organize the various concepts and phrases. Initially LSI was used on mostly small sets or groups of different static documents.

With regard to the application of LSI in SEO, it is assumed that the LSI helps in defining and recognizing the various forms of synonyms by the search engines. It follows, therefore, that if a large number of synonyms are used in any text it will allow the search engine to interpret the material in an efficient manner. The search engine 's interpretation of the contents hopefully helps to produce higher ranks for the pages and the target queries.

Content Explorer

The Google Analytics-based report associated with content drilldown ideally reflects the fashion in which visitors' attention is ideally distributed and also wasted in some cases. It also focuses on metrics that measure the degree of viewer interaction based on a navigation route from a page to a directory. It acts as a drill-down exercise in that the user first reaches the directory and then goes digging down for more details to be discovered. The drilldown quality report is primarily used for different purposes which are highlighted as follows:

● It helps in the identification of seldom read or viewed content. 

● It also helps to identify content that doesn't get the attention needed. 

● In addition, information drilldown also helps to detect website marking and even navigation errors. 

● It also helps to highlight material over which, in previous cases, the appeal was not accepted. 

● Again, the process of drilling content often leads to the detection of content that is appropriate to block visitors and web spiders.

Ideally, the content-associated drilldown report helps webmasters evaluate the fashion or user behavior in terms of navigating or drilling down from top web pages or web directories to down pages on the sites concerned.

The Content Drilldown Report essentially contains numerous elements outlined as follows: 

•  Pageviews: In terms of Pageviews the report represents the frequency at which the users accessed or updated the web pages. Another list of Unique Pageviews is given here, too.
• Total time spent on the website: this serves as an important metric in that it allows to explain accurately the amount of time users spent on various sites. A comparison of the times the users spend along the different web pages associated with specific keywords thus contributes to understanding the content relevance of the web pages. Ideally the presence of desirable and appealing material leads both to attracting and maintaining tourists to the websites concerned.
• Bounce rate: The bounce rate defines the degree or bounce rate of users or viewers on the web pages due to the lack of relevant content. Therefore, the presence of a higher bounce rate itself reflects the lack of substantive, quality and appropriate content and thus creates incentives for the same to attract and retain the viewers.
• Percentage exits: The percentage exits factor closely measures the number of visitors leaving the website in a given time. The percentage level of exits accounts primarily because of two different cases. For the first example, where the users are found to have achieved the target or met the target of visiting the website then leaving the website is considered a successful outcome. Nonetheless, in cases where users prefer to leave a particular website from the funnel pages without achieving the consultation targets, the same that reflect on the nature of navigation issues that need to be resolved in an ideal manner.
• $Index: Ultimately, the Dollar Index essentially measures the worth of the web page in terms of calculating and assessing the ability to drive the user base by meeting the individual objectives associated with visiting the web pages and even by performing an e-commerce transaction. Here, interest is calculated in terms of achieving the different objectives or in terms of e-commerce transactions being fulfilled.

In the following illustration the Content Drilldown reflects:

Inverted Pyramid in SEO

Inverted Pyramid as the phrase goes is identified as an effective writing style for news related documents that focuses on documenting the conclusion at the very outset, on the top of the pyramid which is followed by more specific details and information and then it percolates down to reflect further background information associated with the issue. The writers of web contents tend to follow the inverted pyramid style where they first focus on generating summarised contents at the top of the pyramid and thereby generate further details and other background information in a subsequent fashion either on the same page or are essentially linked to other subsidiary pages. The inverted pyramid as a writing style earns demand in that it helps visitors to the site gain a first-hand information in a detailed manner about the event. The bottom of the inverted pyramid essentially focuses on generating answers to specific questions like ‘who is involved/affected?’, ‘what has/had happened?’, ‘when and where the same has happened?’ and also ‘why the event has happened?’ and finally ‘how the event happened?’. The middle part of the pyramid aims to address important or significant details associated to the issue or event and finally the inverted top cone focuses on understanding and evaluating the general or background information pertaining to the event. The aspect of Inverted Pyramid earns significance regards to digital media in that the same helps in effective retention of the user base or the reader of the online documents. In fact, the use of the Inverted Pyramid contributes in helping the users or readers draw potential information while drilling down the different paragraphs of the online content. In that, the use of the inverted pyramid ideally ensures the protection of significant contents from being lost the same is found to be increasingly used in cases of news reporting and also undertaken as a standard procedure associated to press releases. The readers of contents delivered on online platforms like that of digital media are all the more interested in accessing and reading the contents in a faster and easier fashion compared to the accessing of traditional media platforms. Working based on the use of inverted pyramid actively helps the readers in gaining access to quality information at the very starting which in turn helps in satiating one’s quest for knowledge and thereby restrains the individual in switching over to other information providers or platforms. Thus, the application of the inverted pyramid ideally contributes in reducing the switching costs based on carrying out of operations on the digital platform.

 

The incorporation of the Inverted Pyramid gains needed significance especially in regards to meeting the objectives of digital marketing. Herein, the webmaster is required to focus on understanding the behavioural and reading needs of the targeted users and thereby in designing of contents that ideally help in meeting their information needs and expectations. Further, the application of the Inverted Pyramid also contributes in attracting and retaining the users for a longer period in that they need to drill down the inverted triangle for arriving at the background information. Likewise, the inverted pyramid model can also be applied associated to the different paragraphs which would help the users in retrieving salient and relevant information generated along the different paragraphs. Use of different types of headings based on the use of the inverted pyramid model further helps in making the document catchy and attractive for influencing the mind-set of the readers. In the field of SEO, the use of Inverted Pyramid ideally helps the contents for earning of higher page ranks associated to different search engines like Google and Bing. Existence of poorly structured contents thus fails not only to attract the readers but also in retaining such in that they readily switch over to such websites that would help them in gaining of needed information. The longer the time the users tend to stay with a website or any other online content the greater becomes the chances of the website or SEO content pages of earning higher page ranks. Further, the search engines also help in the generation of an inverted pyramid based on effectively studying user behaviour in terms of the links they intend to click associated to different topics or keywords, their length of stay and time of quitting associated to different web pages. Information furnished on the above grounds thus actively contributes in providing quality information regarding designing of the Inverted Pyramid.  

The application of the Inverted Pyramid in development of SEO content also helps in the generation and listing of potential keywords. The incorporation of relevant contents ideally reflects the existence of relevant keywords along the main headings and also along at the inception of the different texts. The use of relevant keywords along the content ideally contributes in attracting the search engine crawlers for highlighting the sites that ideally matches with the keywords generated by the users for carrying out the searches.

POEM

POEM stands as the acronym for paid, owned and earned media that earns association to different types of media pertaining to the dimension of marketing communications. The POEM Model earns significance in that the same contributes in carrying out strategic thinking regarding the planning and development of marketing communication based mix associated to social media platforms. Further, the POEM framework in use ideally helps the digital marketers and also the business leaders understand and plan out the fashion regarding employment and allocation media resources for generating quality results in the long run. POEM as a model bears its origin during 2009 owing to the endeavour of Daniel Goodall based on writing a blog post in Wordpress. The different types of media used under each of the three categories viz. Paid, Owned and Earned are reflected as follows:  

  Paid media is associated to different kinds of online advertisements posted along social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and likewise, Media buying activities associated with the buying of space for submitting advertisements along online and digital platforms and also activities associated to Email marketing. Such marketing activities are identified as push marketing or outbound marketing in that these marketing activities are forced to be presented before users. The Paid Media platforms are put to use mainly for jumping over to start the use of owned media platforms.  

  Owned media encompasses the different types of media like blogs, social networking profiles like Facebook and LinkedIn that are owned by users which also includes owned websites. Likewise, the different mobile sites, generation of brochures and likewise other collaterals also fall under the purview of owned media. The owned media activities are constituted mainly for retention of earned media. The use of owned media encourages the undertaking of different types of organic and other pull marketing based techniques that are underlined as follows:  

1. Application of an effective technique like Search Engine Optimization or SEO ideally contributes in earning of high page rankings along the different search engine result pages. 

 2. Use of Social Media Optimisation or SMO that encourages the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn for interacting with prospective and targeted customers and also in building of effective social communities along the different networks. It also involves activities like inviting and adding of friends, tagging, rendering of likes and other emotions associated with the posts and other additional comments.  

3. Finally, the Content Marketing or CM platforms are incorporated for submission of effective and high quality contents in a repeated fashion. Some popular examples of such CM platforms are like MensXP and also ScoopWhoop. 

 

  Earned media incorporates the generation of word-of-mouth messages that are evaluated to be cost-free in nature and other types of online media employed by external websites and other external bloggers. The platforms are used for generation of creative and innovative contents such that the same helps in engaging users by both attracting and retaining them for longer periods. The earned media practices can be effectively summarised in terms of carrying out activities associated to conversation, sharing of documents and also in engaging users for viewing the contents rendered in owned media. The publicising of owned media on social media platforms and also in carrying out the user engagement practices ideally contributes in driving down of costs and also in enhancing the effectiveness level. 

The POEM Framework as elucidated above is reflected below in the following illustration: 

The Five Stage AACRO Model used in Digital Marketing

The AACRO Model associated to digital marketing was formulated by Seven Boats. The model generated by Seven Boats is proved to have the potential in helping business institutions generate more number of sales leads, while also contributes as an effective factor for carrying out of branding activities to generate increased ROI (Return on Investment) in terms of the amount invested associated to conducting of brand and marketing campaigns. The AACRO Model stands as the acronym for five different stages that in turn constitute the model viz. Activation, Acquisition, Conversion, Retention and finally Acquisition. The same is reflected as follows:  

The Five Stage AACRO Model potentially reflects the five different stages of digital marketing like Activation that focuses on incorporating tactics for helping in drawing the attention of mass audiences and that too with minimal effort; Acquisition stage essentially focuses on the application of techniques needed for enhancing the involvement of target customers and thereby aims in getting hold of the desired web traffic to the website; Conversion stage of the model essentially aims at converting potential leads into prospective customers that would take interest in purchasing and availing the product or service marketed by the digital firm; Retention stage of the model is more akin in employing of methods for generating greater customer engagement and thereby in building lasting relationships with them so that they feel interested in returning back to the web pages for carrying out future purchases and other transactions and finally the Optimization stage that essentially focuses on the incorporation of tools or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that would help in not only measuring the results or outcomes along the different stages but also works in enhancing the performance of the firm.  

The Five Stage AACRO Model has earned considerable amount of demand in the digital marketplace such that it contributes in generating measured results for the different companies. The above process rightly contributes in enhancing the digital marketing based operations in a structured fashion thereby helping in the generation of results that are scalable in nature. Moreover, the AACRO Model earns significance in that the same can be employed by other companies and business agencies for designing of potential campaigns associated to digital marketing coupled with an effective model for reporting. The AACRO Model gains usage regards to companies in that it helps them in earning a reduction in the level of cost overheads associated to resources while on the other hand contributes in the generation of measurable results based on the use of relevant KPIs and also the measure of ROIs regarding the activities initiated. Again, the five stage model gains significance in that it contributes in reducing manpower hours, use of the resource base and chances of emergence of potential errors on a large scale. The implementation of the five level model gains effectiveness in that the same is carried out based along different steps regarding identification of effective strategies, planning of different activities, carrying out the planned execution of the identified strategies and associated activities and thereby in monitoring the progress and outcomes based on set targets and finally in terms of suggesting needed improvements in such (AACRO, 2018).  The AACRO Model is found to be widely used by different industries either in a regular or monthly fashion for carrying out quality brand building activities associated to the digital platform. The model earns considerable demand in the industrial sector in that the same encompasses a series of different steps coupled with different tools and also formulas which in turn makes the system scientific in nature. Moreover, the usage of the AACRO Model ideally contributes in carrying out the digital marketing functions in a systematic and structured fashion such that the standards set by it ideally found applicability along different industries. The automation of the different steps associated to the AACRO Model ideally helps the business institutions in saving considerable amount of cost and time (AACRO, 2018). 

The different tactics involved along the different stages of the AACRO Model are reflected along the following illustrations: 

Understanding Search Engine Optimization

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 

Search Engine Optimization or SEO as it is commonly known is identified as an ongoing practice that helps the users of search engines arrive at end results of their queries. Again, SEO is also identified as a potential investment undertaken by the firm for generating needed returns within an effective period. SEO is also identified as an effective way for carrying out the online promotion of business offerings made by a company and also the company brand. Again, SEO is identified as an effective process for driving sales from the target customers based on generating needed conversions and sales leads 

2. Features of SEO 

Identification of a content as SEO Content requires the same to ideally match some essential features that are outlined as follows: 

● Quality is identified as one of the most significant parameters that is required to mark a content as a SEO content. The generation of quality content not only helps in attracting the mind-set of readers but also helps the web page to earn higher rankings in the search engines like Google and Bing. Customers desire to gain access to quality content that would help them in retrieving salient, reliable and updated information for taking needed decisions.  

● Further, the content written also needs to help the reader retrieve the meaning of it in a highly decipherable fashion such that it leads to clarity of understanding and thereby can be used for future research and information hunting purposes. Use of technical jargon is a must ‘no’ regarding the generation of effective contents. A jargon free content is evaluated to help in both ease of reading and also helps in greater understanding. Google has in its place a set of complex algorithms that help in judging the readability of the content based on a set of scales and other statistical methods. Thus, an effectively readable content helps in gaining a higher page ranking on Google.  

● Another effective feature of a good SEO writing is identified in terms of keyword density. Usage of a keyword in high density happens to affect the quality of the content and thus needs to be strictly avoided by the writer. In fact, stuffing of keywords in content is also not considered by Google as a good feature and this leads to lower page rankings. Keyword density is estimated based on the use of a specific formula that divides the total number of times the keyword is applied in the document by the total number of words in the document and then multiplies the result by 100. This reflects that keyword density is estimated in terms of a percentage that ideally helps in determining and scaling the potential of the SEO document in achieving higher rankings in the search engines. The right amount of keyword density is taken to vary within a range of 1 to 3 percent which is also approved by Google.  

● A good SEO content is identified as such that is reliable and authentic in nature. The contents written in a SEO needs to be totally original and fresh and not copied from some sources. Existence of duplicate or plagiarized content in turn happens to affect the page rankings and thus needs to be strictly avoided by the content writer. If the matter written in the SEO article or document is proved to have been duplicated or plagiarized, either in total or in parts it would tend to attract penalty for the same. A content to be read and recommended thus needs to be original in approach in that the same makes the reader rely on it.  

● Finally, SEO content needs to be proofread in a specific fashion before deciding on to publish the same. Existence of grammatical errors and also other types of syntax errors happens to affect the quality of the content and thus needs to be identified and removed by the writer. Google also works based on specific algorithms that help in the automatic detection of grammatical errors and also wrong spellings. Existence of quantifiable number of errors in turn makes the document unhealthy for which it tends to attract lower page rankings in Google. Again, the existence of large number of errors in the SEO article also happens to affect the readability of the same to the target audience in that they would fail to gain an effective understanding of the central theme and meaning the document tends to convey.

3. Significance of SEO 

SEO activities carried out in-house generate a potential advantage in terms of helping the users gain access to content as and when needed based on the carrying out of relevant searches. The ingraining of SEO based content preparation into the company culture ideally signifies the generation of a set of best practices and thereby in generating guidelines to follow such for content development purposes. Likewise, the preparation of in-house SEO ideally helps in enhancing the accountability of the users regarding the preparation of effective contents. Preparation of in-house SEO is also needed to be carried out in terms of retaining familiarity with the core objectives and values of carrying out the business. The same encourages the preparation of relevant contents. The generation of SEO contents in an in-house fashion promotes greater leverage in implementing the same quickly. Again, the generation of in-house SEO practices is also taken to encourage the existence of a whistle-blower that undertakes the main responsibility of ensuring that the contents prepared ideally match the scope or objectives for which the same is generated. The persons responsible for evaluating the scope of the documents are also encouraged to raise a flag in cases where the same has drifted from its main scope. Finally, the generation of in-house SEO rightly encourages the identification of an SEO expert that can be accessed easily regarding generation and updating of content. Again the acknowledgement of an in-house SEO expert rightly contributes in continually prioritizing on their activities for the generation of effective turnarounds on a timely basis. 

Developing a Digital Plan

The development of a digital marketing plan is essentially required to be based along different steps that are outlined as follows. 

● Carrying out a situational analysis of the company is considered to be the first step that is required to be carried out by the digital marketer for focusing on developing a digital plan. The situational analysis can be carried out based on the employment of SWOT Analysis that acts as an effective strategic tool contributing in understanding the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the company from the internal standpoint and opportunities and threats faced by the company associated with the external environment where it tends to operate.  

● Subsequently the digital marketer having conducted the SWOT Analysis of the company is required to focus on identification of SMART Objectives for the digital marketing endeavour. The SMART Objectives would help in defining the target objectives in terms of specificity, measurability, attainability, degree of relevancy and finally whether the same can be accomplished within a given time framework.  

● The framing of the digital marketing strategy requires the digital marketer to focus on carrying out an effective segmentation of the larger consumer market in terms of consumer demographics and psychographics. The needs, preference patterns and attributes of the customers need to be effectively evaluated by the digital marketer. Following the consumer segmentation, the digital marketer is thereby required in effectively positioning the product or service to the target market. The digital marketer is thereby required to understand the favourable channels of communication preferred by the customers and thereby apply the same in reaching the information to the target audiences. A plethora of different social networking platforms like social media networks, blogs and also electronic mailing channels need to be used in an extensive fashion for reaching the information to a wide range of audiences. Likewise, the digital marketer is also required to focus on the framing of different types of contents that would effectively suit the preference patterns and information needs of the customer with also the different social networking platforms.

● The digital marketer is also required to focus on the development of effective social media based marketing campaigns and electronic marketing campaigns with also carrying out paid advertising activities and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) activities in an integrated fashion for helping in attracting considerable numbers of users and thereby converting them to generate sales leads. Herein, tools associated to marketing automation need to be used by the digital marketer for helping in the automation of the different types of marketing campaigns.  

● Finally, the digital marketer is required to focus on the incorporation of different types of KPIs that would help in measuring and reflecting on the efficacy of the digital marketing endeavours undertaken by the firm. Different types of data visualization tools like dashboards and infographics can be incorporated by the digital marketer that helps in evaluating the effectiveness of the digital marketing campaigns on a real-time basis. Likewise, the Return on Investment or ROI can also be estimated based on the revenue earnings gained associated to the investments generated for carrying out the marketing campaigns.   

User Experience

User Experience or UX is dealt with the fashion that the users can tend to gain access to different pages, find, and access and also review different types of products and services marketed by the company via the application of the digital platform. User Experience is considered to be crucial for helping in both attracting customers and also helping in the generation of adequate conversions thereby leading to a growth of sales revenues. In the current period, the increased use of mobile phones by the users require the digital marketers to work in an effective fashion for helping their users gain an effective searching and navigating experience. The customers observe that an effective user experience gained by them based on interacting with the company through the use of the mobile interface has further encouraged their visits to the website. Further, the aspect of user experience does not get restricted to the degree of usability of the information gained by the users from the relevant web pages. It rather focuses on probing further to understand the fashion in which a brand speaks or presents it before the target users and gains success in conveying quality information to the users in an effective fashion. The relevancy and authenticity of the contents presented over the digital platforms further contribute in enhancing the level of user experience. It is held that contents that are SEO friendly and tend to drive user engagement are held to generate a greater degree of user experience.  

UX is effectively identified as an amalgamation of diverse set of principles ranging from visual design, information architecture, interaction enabled design, usability of the web page, user search and finally the content strategy. Building up of an effective user experience stands as a mandatory principle for the digital marketing firms in that the same contributes in developing effective relationships and interactions with the users or customers and thereby helps in the increasing of customer loyalty.

User Behaviour and Navigation

1. User Behaviour 

Search engines performing over a period of time has become able in introducing different methods for analysing the relevancy of the different contents based on the manner of interaction carried out by the users associated to the contents. Quality stands as a significant factor that are needed to be maintained by the search engines in that other parameters for ranking signals like page optimization and also the back links can tend to be subject to manipulation. The significant user behaviour signals that are used are identified as follows: 

 

● Engagement of the user with the different contents: In cases where tends to click on a specific search result and then again returns back to the search engine for repeating the search, then the search engine becomes able to detect the repetitive search behaviour of the user. In case where the same happens in a repeated manner for a site it tends to down-weigh the assessment of the search value.  

● Bookmarking: Search engines can easily help in detecting bookmarks especially linked to favourites. The same counts to be an effective ranking signal for the search engines.  

● Social Sharing: Search engines like Google and Bing have both acknowledged the fact that the shares can be used by them on different social networks and also can detect whether the sharing is carried out by an influential section of social networkers. Social media networks like Facebook tends to use datasets based on past user behaviour for showing advertisements to those people within the target audience that are most likely to perform the action that is desired by the company viz. visiting the sites, availing offers and promotions, viewing the offerings and also making needed purchases. Facebook helps in tracking of different types of user behaviours like their shopping trends, the digital devices like Smartphones and tablets used by them and also whether the customers tend to own assets like house and vehicles. 

2. User Navigation 

Regarding the aspect of user navigation, the ‘flow’ parameter is attached due significance in that the same helps in easily deciding on the degree of flexibility and easiness gained by the users in terms of navigating from one web page to the other in search of relevant information. The navigation experiences and quality of information gained by the users tend to influence their frequency of visiting the sites.  

The ease of use gained by a user is determined based on mainly four different factors like structure, page layout, navigation and interaction. Navigation is associated with the movement of the user from one particular web page to another based on the support gained from different navigational tools like that of menus and also hyperlinks. 

Aligning of Internet with Business Objectives

 The activities carried out based on the application of the digital and social media platforms gain significance in that the same are aligned with the business objectives of the firm. The objectives of applying the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube need to be effectively aligned with the objectives of the firm for helping in the generation of needed returns. In other words, the social media and other digital marketing activities are needed to be carried out in an integrated fashion with the corporate objectives rather than being carried out in an isolated fashion that fails to yield needed results.

  

The main objectives of aligning the internet or digital marketing with the business objectives are reflected as follows.

  

● To understand the manner in which the pursuing of the digital goals ideally helps in the fulfilment of the strategic and also the marketing objectives of the organization.  

● To create an Engagement Value Scale or EVS that focuses on valuing each of the different digital goals in regards to the fulfilment of institutional objectives.  

● Identify Key Performance Indicators or KPIs that contribute in evaluating both the market impact and also the efficiency of the digital marketing endeavours and also tries to understand the relevance of the strategies from the viewpoint of the customers.   

● Further, different steps are needed to be undertaken for effectively aligning the digital marketing goals with the strategy of the organization as a whole. The six different steps are outlined as identification of strategic themes, defining strategic objectives, defining marketing objectives, digital goals, application of EVS and finally highlighting KPIs. The six steps are detailed as under. 

● The initial step is to identity around two to three strategic themes that contribute in generating foundations for meeting the organizational strategy of the firm.  

● Keeping with respect to the different strategic themes the business managers focus on the identification of the different set of strategic objectives. The fulfilment of diverse set of strategic objectives pertaining to different business functions ideally contribute to the fulfilment of the strategic themes. The identification and execution of the strategic objectives need to be carried out in a differentiated fashion respect to other competitor firms for sustaining needed competitiveness. 

● Further, the goal of the digital marketer is required to focus on identifying the marketing objectives of the institution and thereby in integrating the same with the organizational objectives. The integration of the marketing with the business/institutional objectives are required to be carried out in such a fashion as they would mutually help in driving success in the long run. In cases where the strategic business objectives of the firm is to enhance the revenue the corresponding marketing objective would tend to focus on augmenting the number of prospective marketing leads. Similarly, where the strategic business objectives of the firm is to enhance the lifetime value of the consumers the corresponding marketing objectives resonates as augmenting knowledge base of consumer needs and expectations coupled with gaining knowledge regarding consumer behaviour, purchasing habits and also their purchasing decision making behaviour.  

● The evaluation of the measure of the degree of customer engagement is carried out based on estimating the level of impact of the digital marketing goal on its objectives. It is identified as the Engagement Value or EV. Thus, an EV of a digital goal ideally helps in understanding its degree of effectiveness in meeting the marketing and also the strategic objectives of the organization. The digital goals of an e-commerce firm essentially encompass key parameters like ‘Add to basket’, ‘Add to wish list’, ‘Sign up for offer/promotion’ and also ‘Order completion’. For each of the different digital goals separate weightage can be assigned by marketers in terms of evaluating its impact in fulfilling strategic business objectives like revenue enhancement.

● Engagement Value Scales or EVS is developed in terms of constructing a pyramid that reflects the different types of digital goals from top to bottom based on their impact on fulfilling the diverse strategic objectives of the firm. The top of the pyramid reflects the most effective digital goal followed by other goals in terms of fulfilling the organizational and business objectives. 

● Finally, a set of different types of KPIs or Key Performance Indicators need to be outlined that ideally help in estimating the level of effectiveness of the strategic marketing initiatives in fulfilling business objectives. Click-Through Rate or CTR is identified as an effective KPI that contribute in understanding and evaluating the efficacy of the marketing campaigns. It contributes in evaluating the degree of relevance of the advertisements published on the digital platform compared to the keywords used by the users for purposes of searching. Again, Conversion Rate or CR is also identified as an effective KPI that ideally helps in evaluating the success of the digital campaigns and the manner in which they tend to fulfil the business and marketing objectives of the firm. Similarly, Click-per-Customer or CPC acts as an effective KPI that helps in judging the significance of the digital campaigns. It aims to determine whether the firm is earning an effective value in terms of clicks on an average. 

Different case studies of companies involved in digital and social media marketing activities can be rightly dealt with for effectively understanding the above aspect.

1. The Case of Dove 

1.1. About the Campaign 

A campaign known as the ‘Self Esteem Fund’ was launched by Dove during 2006. The objective of Dove’s Campaign was to encourage Canadian women to get actively involved with the company’s mission of generating and enhancing the level of self-esteem amongst young girls. The campaign launched by Dove ideally targeted a set of target audiences comprising of mothers, mentors, educators, trainers and also other agencies that would help the firm in accessing a large section of women audiences in the larger target market for effectively spreading its message concerning, ‘Real Beauty’. The main objective of the campaign was to bring about positive changes in the minds of around 70,000 women residing in Canada. Aligning of online media was carried out by Dove associated to the carrying out of the campaign with a specific objective associated with encouraging Canadian mothers to potentially think about the self-esteem of their daughters and thereby in influencing their mind-set to get actively involved in using the Self-Esteem Fund Resources and Tools rendered by Dove in the website campaignforrealbeauty.ca.  

The campaigning activity was carried out by Dove based on the production of two different films, ‘Daughters’ and ‘Evolution’ with support provided by Ogilvy and Mather. The films were developed by Dove for encouraging large scale attendance of women in the Self-Esteem workshops and also to drive user and visitor engagement in the site, campaignforrealbeauty.ca. 
The first movie, ‘Daughters’ ideally portrayed different daughters about the pressures felt by them based on the need to be both pretty and also slim in looks. The film also reflected the point-of-view of the mothers from an empathetic standpoint regarding the pressures felt by their daughters for overemphasizing on the aspect of their physical appearances. The film, ‘Daughters’ borne a specific message outlined as, ‘Things won’t change until we change them’. 
The second movie, ‘Evolution’ featured a young and pretty girl standing in front of a mirror. The image of the girl is further enhanced by a team of makeup artists and hairdressers to make her look quite ‘modellized’. Subsequently, the girl’s image is totally hair brushed to show the final image of the girl as totally different from the initial image created by the touch of professionals. The film depicted a specific message outlined as, ‘No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted’.  

1.2. Objectives of the Online Strategy for the Campaign

 The online strategy pursued by Dove for the above campaign was developed in a multi-layer format and was carried out to fulfil the following underlined objectives:

● The campaign was carried out for helping in the generation of needed awareness regarding the self-esteem tools and resources rendered by Dove online.

● To focus on launching a teaser that would be a one-minute movie. Previously, Dove had launched a 15-second movie trailer that was made viral based on streaming on mass and also by essentially targeting women’s websites mainly belonging to Canada. The launch of the trailers was carried out to focus on the necessity of ‘Dove Self-Esteem Fund’ and also for encouraging the flow of traffic to the site, campaignforrealbeauty.ca for viewing the full movie.

● To develop a series of customized e-newsletters that were mainly targeted at niche target audiences like mothers and female mentors to help in introducing tools and resources for building of self-esteem as rendered by Dove.

● The movies were shot and also made viral for fulfilling certain specific objectives like attracting and driving of users to render visits to the website, campaignforrealbeauty.ca.  and also in encouraging large numbers of users to enrol themselves at ‘Real Beauty workshops’ that were to be carried out along 15 diverse locations based in Canada.   

                             1.3. The Campaigning Activity 

  During September 2006, the video, ‘Daughters’ was posted by Dove on the social media platform, YouTube. Along with making the video viral on YouTube different campaigns associated with email marketing and also creating online banners were also carried out by the firm. Likewise, during October 2006, the second video, ‘Evolution’ was also made viral by Dove based on its posting on YouTube while also through the development of online marketing campaigns based on the use of email marketing and through the use of online banners.  

1.4. Key Results 

The carrying out of the online campaign reflected effective results for Dove underlined as follows:  

● During the final quarter of 2006, the average number of visits on a daily basis to Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ increased from 1,378 to around 16,785 that reflected an increase by 1,118 percent.  

● Canadians with English and French accent responded in a different fashion to the online campaigning. Canadians with English accent were observed to respond more actively to the message rendered by the ‘Evolution’ movie while those having French accent were observed to respond greatly to the message rendered by the ‘Daughters’ movie.  

    

● Results of newsletters were observed to be higher associated to niche sites which in turn reflected the increased level of trust on the different niche sites and also the growth of interactivity by the user groups.  

● The campaign borne success in that it generated both immediate and a stronger impact for which the same was extended on a global scale.  

● Out of the total emails delivered for both the movies, ‘Daughters’ and ‘Evolution’ it was observed that around 33 percent of the emails were opened by the target users while around 13 and 11 percent of them were clicked respectively. 

2. The Case of FK Distribution 

2.1. The Business Problem 

FK Distribution operating as a leading distributor of print advertisements based in Denmark was suffering from a potential problem in that the maximum number of print advertisements of around 1.9 million distributed twice every week to households based in the region was observed to have been declined by the customers.  

2.2. The Transition

FK Distribution focused on bringing around a turnaround in its existing business model in terms of incorporating the elements of creativity and also in working based on networking and connectivity. The new business model of FK Distribution works based on a pull approach compared to the existing push approach. In the pull approach, the print advertising distribution company started generating print advertisements to the customers based on their specific needs rather than to focus on pushing significant number of generic advertisements. The application of the pull model gained success owing to the incorporation of digital marketing strategies. Personalized distribution of print advertising as being carried out by FK Distribution currently not only contributes in meeting the personalized needs and expectations of the customer but also helps the firm in meeting its strategic objectives of revenue enhancement based on distribution volumes of print advertisements.  

The transformation was made possible by FK Distribution in terms of exploring the fashion in which the application of digital marketing would help in developing an effective connection with the different households availing the advertisements. A digital system was also constructed that contributed in aligning the needs of the customer with the digital marketing goals and business objectives of the firm. The innovative and creative digital marketing system enabled by FK Distribution replacing its old website ideally encouraged the householders or the visitors to furnish an online profile that helped in providing information concerning the relevance of the different types of advertisements. Further, the new digital system also helped FK Distribution in understanding and retrieving information concerning customer profiles, preference patterns and also the customer engagement levels. Moreover, responsive web designs were employed by the firm to help the customers in both accessing and also in updating their preferences from a plethora of different devices like laptops, desktops, Smartphones or from other types of customized app platforms based on their own convenience. The management of FK Distribution also carries out an effective note of the preferred channel used by the different customers for updating the profiles.  

The transformation made enabled by FK Distribution helped the householders on a considerable scale to visit the new website and thereby make selection of relevant advertisements and also effective offers that differed in an area wise fashion.

  

2.3. Key Results

Estimates made by the management of FK Distribution reflects that in the previous case when the company depended on the push model for distribution of print advertisements, around 30 percent of the distributed advertisements met the trash can than being read by customers. Researchers employed by the firm now reflect that in the current scenario where the customers focus on creating profiles and selecting advertisements they are more likely to be read than to be thrown off or dumped. The growth of distribution of personalized and relevant ads has also attracted around 80 advertisers that have signed up with the company. Growth of connectivity for FK Distribution with its customers has increased in that the company management can interact with the customers through the use of their preferred channels and also focus on distributing the advertisements based on the employment of customized apps. Increase in connectivity between FK Distribution with its prospective customers has helped in greater understanding of the needs and preference patterns of the diverse households and also contributed in enhancing the level of consumer relationships.

2.4. New Goals

FK Distribution further focuses on giving greater access to customers to churn different types of digital advertisements. A mobile app is developed by the company with also a dedicated website which would help the customers in selecting both advertisements and also other marketing and promotional campaigns depending on their relevance compared to their personal needs and expectations. Further, the new app is also developed to help customers browse along a host of promotions and offers as rendered by different retailers on a time-to-time basis. Customers thus are now not required of visiting the different individual websites of the retailers for gaining an understanding of the different types of offers and promotions in that they can gain access to quantifiable amount of information based on accessing the website. 

Fundamental Strategies in Digital Marketing

The fundamental strategies that can be undertaken by a marketer regards to the ambit of digital marketing are identified as follows. 

 

1. SEO 

Enabled Tool Effective SEO support is required in digital marketing for achieving higher page rankings on search engines like Google compared to other competitor firms. Firms thereby focus on gaining adequate support from SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts that help in generating quality contents thereby helping the former in gaining needed success in terms of attracting web traffic, driving sales leads and conversions and thereby in enhancing sales. 

2. SEM 

Activities In terms of SEM (Search Engine Marketing) activities different types of activities can be organized that may range from displaying advertisements associated to graphic display, generation of video ads on social media platforms like YouTube, search ads that are essentially text based in nature and also apps designed for the mobile platform. The activities associated regarding SEM identified above are some of the paid advertising methods that are conducted to generate greater number of Search Engine Results Page or SERPs. In terms of Paid Ads, the use of the social media platforms like Facebook can also be extensively carried out in that the same helps the business institutions in posting considerable number of paid ads. However, the selection and use of the SEM activity needs to be carried out based on evaluating the business framework for which it is undertaken and also the consumer categories that are targeted by the firms.  

3. Content Marketing 

Contents that tend to add value to effective audiences and also such that can help in marketing a business either in a direct or indirect fashion is ideally identified as content marketing. Content marketing activities are constituted either in longer formats like writing of blogs, articles and also electronic books while in shorter formats it can encompass updates made on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Again, Conversation Sharing is also identified as a form of Content Marketing activity that are used for sharing of content via social media platforms like Twitter or also posting of informational content on different online forums. Regards to Content Marketing, the contents rendered are needed to be unique, relevant and also are needed to bear needed consistency to help in adding value to the users and also in promoting the brand image to the larger set of audiences. 

  

4. Remarketing 

Remarketing acts as another effective digital marketing strategy that is pursued for engaging prospective customers that initially failed to respond to the banner based advertisements. Remarketing is carried out in terms of first tracking the non-responsive prospects based on the use of cookies and thereby in developing advertisements and publishing them on different sites. Again, the digital marketer can also focus on developing new advertisements for the company website such that the same can help in targeting new and prospective users. In that, remarketing requires the digital marketer to better understand the needs and expectations of the customers and thereby in generating advertisements it helps in driving greater customer engagement while also contributes in enhancing the level of brand awareness and conversions. 

  

5. Enhancing Responsiveness in Web Designs 

The responsiveness level of the web designs needs to be increased based on the incorporation of responsive programming such that the websites tend to get developed in diverse formats to suit the screen size of the digital devices like Smartphones, tablets and even Smartwatches along with the standardized formats meant for laptops and computers. The application of ‘Responsive Web Designs’ contributes in helping a firm digitally market the product, service and the company brand to a larger audience and thereby enables greater penetration. 

  

6. Email Marketing 

The electronic mail which was considered prior as only a mode for carrying out of electronic communication with potential stakeholders now serves as an effective tool for developing brand awareness about a product or service brand or the company brand to a larger target audience. Generation of advertisements through the use of emails act as an effective mode for generating increased awareness about the company and the offerings amongst the target customers. Again, the application of email marketing is also carried out for driving greater conversions and also in generating sales leads. Further, the carrying out of click-to-call based email communication ideally contributes in exciting customers to interact with the call centre units for gaining further information before deciding on to availing the offer. Again, the application of email marketing also contributes in helping the customers gain an effective idea regarding product and service attributes and also the patterns and benefits of usage of the same. It thus helps in driving greater customer engagement and thereby in accelerating sales. Customer or user engagement can also be increased based on the use of email communication in terms of rendering quality information to the users regarding the products and services. A car company can drive greater consumer engagement in terms of informing the customers about the various protections and driving tips they need to take during the winter season. Email marketing carried out based on the above respects ideally help in enhancing the level of customer loyalty.  

7. Social Media Marketing 

Social Media Marketing is identified as an effective digital marketing strategy that is undertaken by the digital marketers for both understanding of the consumer characteristics and attributes and thereby in engaging them based on the application of diverse social media platforms. Activities carried out in the ambit of social media marketing are best carried out based on engaging such social media that are relevant to the target users or the buying communities. The digital marketer focusing on the use of social media marketing is required to develop relevant messages that both suit the social media platforms for which they are designed and also the information needs of the users. Customer engagement in driven in social media marketing based on not only posting of different types of social media messages in the form of video, text and pictures in a combination or singly based on the nature of the platform but also in actively responding on a real-time basis to the queries and issues of customers posted on the interactive social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.   

8. Influencer Marketing 

In influencer marketing the digital marketer focuses on the incorporation of the support rendered by industry influencers for largely promoting the product or services to target users. The application of influencers in influencer marketing helps the companies gain the support of people that have an established presence in the social communities and also represent a large number of followers. Working based on the use of influencer marketing is ideally observed in generating greater conversions than that of direct advertisements. Further, the use of influencer marketing also contributes in not only generating greater brand awareness but also in increasing the level of trust of the customers on the product or service brands and also in attracting the mind-set of target audiences.

9. Video Marketing 

Video Marketing is identified in terms of posting of video contents based along social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube that helps in drawing the attention of large number of target audiences. Audio-Visual posts carried out in the form of video significantly contribute in the generation of live testimonials of customers associated with the use of a product or service brand. It helps in driving greater customer engagement where users are encouraged to post their comments, suggestions and likes associated to the video posts. 

Foundations of an Effective Digital Marketing Strategy

The digital marketer is essentially required to focus on outlining the key or essential components that would contribute in formulating an effective digital marketing strategy. 

● Firstly, the business managers in collaboration with the digital marketers are required to evaluate whether the business institution is readily in-built to work based on a digital marketing framework. They are required to evaluate whether the products and services sold by them can be effectively promoted in an online fashion. Again, the existence of the right kind of tools and infrastructures needed for conducting digital marketing programs are also required to be evaluated in an effective fashion. The objectives of the digital marketing plans and programs are evaluated to gain success in that the same are synchronized and integrated with the business and institutional objectives and processes. Herein, in cases of mismatch of existing business processes with the digital marketing programs the business managers are required to focus on bringing about key changes in the former aspects and also aim in making the staff get duly equipped in handling such changes. 

● The second crucial component that needs to be dealt with while designing of digital marketing strategy is identified as competition. Herein, it is crucial for the business managers to identify the key competitors of the business operating both in an online and offline fashion. Further, it is required to understand the key differences in the digital marketing activities carried out by competitors with that carried out by them and thereby focus on incorporating the new and effective strategies used by them. In the face of competition, the digital marketer is also required to focus on differentiating the online product and service offerings compared to the competitors in that the same helps in attracting potential customers. 

  

● Thirdly, the digital marketer is also required to have a clear understanding of the prospective customers and also their needs and expectations from the firm. Further, the business managers are required to identify and evaluate whether they would be focusing on the same consumer demographics for both the physical or virtual sphere and whether they would be shifting entirely on targeting new consumer categories. In terms of customer evaluation, the manner in which customers use the digital technology platforms and also the manner in which the same platforms can be harnessed by the business firms for attracting, converting and retaining customers also needs to be rightly evaluated.  

● Fourthly, the business managers are required to set and define effective goals in a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound manner associated to their strategizing of digital marketing platforms. The goals identified need to be synchronized with the business and organizational goals for generating key results.  

● Finally, a set of Key Performance Indicators or KPIs need to be put in place that contributes in evaluating whether the activities undertaken have the potential in meeting the set targets and objectives both pertaining to business and business organization at large.   

Deciding on a Digital Marketing Strategy

The decision needed to be undertaken by a firm for undertaking a digital marketing strategy essentially rests on two basic premises that are underlined as follows.

● In the first case, the business managers need to evaluate and know that whether the target customers are already carrying out research about products and services in an online sphere before making purchase decisions or are planning to do so in the near future. If the evaluation reflects that customers are already present online, then it is for certain that the business institution needs to work in formulating a strategy for its digital marketing initiatives. 

● Secondly, the business managers tend to evaluate whether the products and services brands they market are essentially suited for the digital marketplace. For maximum cases the answer turns to be ‘yes’ in that it considerably rests on the first premise. In that there exist potential numbers of customers for the product or service in the virtual sphere the same denotes that the product or service brands would inadvertently be marketed online or through the digital platform.

Need for framing Digital Marketing Strategies

The importance of preparing a digital marketing strategy can be understood from a simple fact that a company in the absence of an effective digital marketing strategic plan would tend to suffer from the hinting on to the right opportunity at the right time. Losing of opportunities in the greater marketplace would tend to make the company suffer from loss of potential business. Further, the formulation of digital marketing strategies helps the business institutions in making decisions in an informed and concerted fashion and also to make efforts in a streamlined fashion for meeting of business objectives. The efficacy of framing a digital marketing strategy is best understood in terms of understanding and gauging the impact of the continually evolving digital marketplace on the business activities and also on the relationship between the firm with its prospective customers. Again, the lack of an effective user engagement and retention framework owing to the absence of a potential digital marketing platform would invariably give away to competitors that can gain based on the division in terms of digital competencies. The development of a potential digital marketing framework would help the company in networking with customers spread over a global marketplace and also across different time zones. The employment of the digital marketing platform in a planned fashion also helps in the framing of effective marketing messages that are essentially meant in targeting niche consumer segments based along wider international markets. The emergence and use of internet on a large scale ideally helps both the consumers and the business institutions in terms of gaining wider control and access to greater information regards to the consumers while also aiding the firms in employing different types of tools, tactics and also diverse techniques for both reaching out and also in engaging a wider audience. The digital marketers focusing on formulating the right type of digital marketing strategy are needed to understand the manner in which the customers use different kinds of digital tools and also the way the same needs to be used by the business for relationship building purposes with different stakeholders. 

Need for Digital Marketing

Companies focus on carrying out digital marketing activities for essentially fulfilling five different objectives that are highlighted as follows: 

 

● Activities associated with digital marketing ideally help in enhancing the sales volumes and thereby in generating greater revenues and profit margins. Sales volumes are aptly increased in case of digital marketing in that the same helps in large scale distribution of products across international boundaries while also contribute in effectively promoting the product to the target customers.

  

● Further, digital marketing ideally helps in generating value additions to the customers in that they can easily access the websites for gaining quality information before taking any purchasing decision. Likewise, the generation of discounts and coupons in an online fashion further contributes in adding value to the customers.

  

● The digital marketing platforms ideally help the company management in maintaining an effective touch with the customers. The platforms serve in tracking and identifying prospective customers and thereby in interacting with them based on the use of questions for understanding their needs and aspirations. The same helps in developing an effective product catalogue in a customized fashion while also in critically learning about their attributes and interests. Growth of interaction with customers and also acting in a consumer responsive fashion based on the application of the digital marketing platforms in turn help in driving and augmenting customer loyalty.  

● Working based on a digital marketing platform also helps the business organizations to carry out cost-savings in an effective fashion. Considerable amount of costs associated to services, printing of promotional documents and other administrative costs can be saved in an extensive fashion based on the employment of digital marketing processes. Saving on an extensive fashion would help the firm enhance the profit margins.  

● Further, the employment of the digital marketing platform ideally helps in extending the company and product brand over the online sphere and also in reinforcing brand values.  

The above enlisted objectives for carrying out a digital marketing activity can be essentially summarized in terms of Five Ss encompassing elements like ‘Sell, Serve, Speak, Save and Sizzle’. 

4Ps in Web Marketing

The application of 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion) in the case of Web Marketing is identified as follows: 

1. Product 

The website of the company is identified as the principal product in the virtual sphere for the online firm that potentially helps in highlighting the brand to the target customers. The main focus of developing the website is to create awareness in the minds of customers about the website and the offerings rendered by the company. It helps in creating an interest in them and thereby act in persuading them to get a detailed understanding of the diverse product and service offerings made by the firm online.

  

2. Price 

The commercial sites are identified as price elements related to the different assortments of the physical products marketed by the firm. More so the website of the company and the product and service websites are identified by the prospective customer as a cost factor owing to transaction costs pertaining to internet connectivity and also the time and opportunity cost involved with it. Though the aforesaid costs mentioned are lower compared to the same incurred by the customers in terms of carrying out the activity physically yet the customers would tend to be interested in comparing the online costs incurred for accessing the website of the firm with that of its competitors. In case, where the customer finds that the price for the competitors is low compared to the initial firm the same would encourage the customer to switch over to the competitor brand.

3. Place 

The company websites serve as significant platforms for carrying out interactions and transactions between diverse stakeholders like the firm, customers and vendors in an online fashion. Different types of transactions either commercial or non-commercial in nature are carried out by the stakeholders on the website where it acts as an effective counter and outlet for conducting the transactions. Again, the websites also contribute in helping in the online distribution of different types of digital products ordered by the customers like digital music, online services, information and other software products. 

 

4. Promotion 

The website acts as an effective medium for promoting different types of promotional content online to target customers spread over international markets. Communication carried out on the virtual platform ideally help in emotionally impacting the mind-set of the customers and thus acts as a driving force in both attracting and retaining target customers.

An Understanding of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is identified as one of the current business practices of marketing products and services via the online platform based on the application of internet enabled devices and other such electronic and digital mediums. Digital Marketing is also identified by other names as online or web marketing. In that, Digital Marketing as an emerging concept is identified to encompass diverse variables like electronic mailing, blogging, video and voice broadcasting, instant and also wireless messaging platforms. Again, Digital Marketing is also identified based on other names like electronic commerce, e-business and mobile commerce. Another important aspect of Digital Marketing is identified in terms of its consumer responsiveness that is not observed in the case of traditional marketing media like that of broadcasting, print and outdoor advertising platforms.