Digital marketing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative
essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument
about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (August 2017)
(Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Digital marketing is the component of marketing that utilizes internet and online based digital
technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to
promote products and services.[1][2] Its development during the 1990s and 2000s, changed the way
brands and businesses use technology for marketing.[3] As digital platforms became increasingly
incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life,[4] and as people increasingly use digital
devices instead of visiting physical shops,[5][6] digital marketing campaigns have become
prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine
marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign
marketing, data-driven marketing,[7] e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social
media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e–books, and optical disks and
games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that
provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones (SMS and MMS), callback, and on-hold
mobile ring tones.[8] The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from
online marketing.[9]

Contents
 1 History
 2 New non-linear marketing approach
 3 Use in the digital era
 4 Brand awareness
o 4.1 Ease of access
o 4.2 Competitive advantage
o 4.3 Effectiveness
 5 Developments and strategies
 6 Ineffective forms of digital marketing
o 6.1 Prioritizing clicks
o 6.2 Balancing search and display
o 6.3 Channels
o 6.4 Self-regulation
 7 Strategy
o 7.1 Planning
o 7.2 Stages of planning
  7.2.1 1) Opportunity
 7.2.2 2) Strategy
 7.2.3 3) Action
o 7.3 Understanding the Market
 8 Sharing economy
 9 See also
 10 References
 11 Further reading

History
The development of digital marketing is inseparable from technology development. One of the
key points in the start of was in 1971, where Ray Tomlinson sent the very first email and his
technology set the platform to allow people to send and receive files through different machines.
[10]
However, the more recognisable period as being the start of Digital Marketing is 1990 as this
was where the Archie search engine was created as an index for FTP sites. In the 1980s, the
storage capacity of computer was already big enough to store huge volumes of customer
information. Companies started choosing online techniques, such as database marketing, rather
than limited list broker.[11] These kinds of databases allowed companies to track customers'
information more effectively, thus transforming the relationship between buyer and seller.
However, the manual process was not as efficient.

In the 1990s, the term Digital Marketing was first coined,.[12] With the debut of server/client
architecture and the popularity of personal computers, the Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) applications became a significant factor in marketing technology.[citation needed] Fierce
competition forced vendors to include more service into their software, for example, marketing,
sales and service applications. Marketers were also able to own huge online customer data by
eCRM software after the Internet was born. Companies could update the data of customer needs
and obtain the priorities of their experience. This led to the first clickable banner ad being going
live in 1994, which was the "You Will" campaign by AT&T and over the first four months of it
going live, 44% of all people who saw it clicked on the ad.[13][14]

In the 2000s, with increasing numbers of Internet users and the birth of iPhone, customers began
searching products and making decisions about their needs online first, instead of consulting a
salesperson, which created a new problem for the marketing department of a company.[15] In
addition, a survey in 2000 in the United Kingdom found that most retailers had not registered
their own domain address.[16] These problems encouraged marketers to find new ways to
integrate digital technology into market development.

In 2007, marketing automation was developed as a response to the ever evolving marketing
climate. Marketing automation is the process by which software is used to automate conventional
marketing processes.[17] Marketing automation helped companies segment customers, launch
multichannel marketing campaigns, and provide personalized information for customers.[17]
However, the speed of its adaptability to consumer devices was not fast enough.
Digital marketing became more sophisticated in the 2000s and the 2010s, when[18][19] the
proliferation of devices' capable of accessing digital media led to sudden growth.[20] Statistics
produced in 2012 and 2013 showed that digital marketing was still growing.[21][22] With the
development of social media in the 2000s, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter,
consumers became highly dependent on digital electronics in daily lives. Therefore, they
expected a seamless user experience across different channels for searching product's
information. The change of customer behavior improved the diversification of marketing
technology.[23]

Digital marketing is also referred to as 'online marketing', 'internet marketing' or 'web marketing'.
The term digital marketing has grown in popularity over time. In the USA online marketing is
still a popular term. In Italy, digital marketing is referred to as web marketing. Worldwide digital
marketing has become the most common term, especially after the year 2013.[24]

Digital media growth was estimated at 4.5 trillion online ads served annually with digital media
spend at 48% growth in 2010.[25] An increasing portion of advertising stems from businesses
employing Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) to tailor advertising for internet users, but
OBA raises concern of consumer privacy and data protection.[20]

New non-linear marketing approach

To engage customers retailers have shifted from the linear marketing approach of one-way
communication to a value exchange model of mutual dialogue and benefit-sharing between
provider and consumer.[26] Exchanges are more non-linear, free flowing, and both one-to-many or
one-on-one.[6] The spread of information and awareness can occur across numerous channels,
such as the blogosphere, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and a variety of
other platforms. Online communities and social networks allow individuals to easily create
content and publicly publish their opinions, experiences, and thoughts and feelings about many
topics and products, hyper-accelerating the diffusion of information.[27]

The Nielsen Global Connected Commerce Survey conducted interviews in 26 countries to

observe how consumers are using the Internet to make shopping decisions in stores and online.
Online shoppers are increasingly looking to purchase internationally, with over 50% in the study
who purchased online in the last six months stating they bought from an overseas retailer.[28]

Using an omni-channel strategy is becoming increasingly important for enterprises who must
adapt to the changing expectations of consumers who want ever-more sophisticated offerings
throughout the purchasing journey. Omni-channel retailing involves analyzing consumer
behavior from a broad perspective, and studying what influences buying habits.[29] Retailers are
increasingly focusing on their online presence, including online shops that operate alongside
existing store-based outlets. The "endless aisle" within the retail space can lead consumers to
purchase products online that fit their needs while retailers do not have to carry the inventory
within the physical location of the store. Solely Internet-based retailers are also entering the
market; some are establishing corresponding store-based outlets to provide personal services,
professional help, and tangible experiences with their products.[30]
An omni-channel approach not only benefits consumers but also benefits business bottom line:
Research suggests that customers spend more than double when purchasing through an omni-
channel retailer as opposed to a single-channel retailer, and are often more loyal. This could be
due to the ease of purchase and the wider availability of products.[30]

Customers are often researching online and then buying in stores and also browsing in stores and
then searching for other options online. Online customer research into products is particularly
popular for higher-priced items as well as consumable goods like groceries and makeup.
Consumers are increasingly using the Internet to look up product information, compare prices,
and search for deals and promotions.[26]

Use in the digital era

There are a number of ways brands can use digital marketing to benefit their marketing efforts.
The use of digital marketing in the digital era not only allows for brands to market their products
and services, but also allows for online customer support through 24/7 services to make
customers feel supported and valued. The use of social media interaction allows brands to
receive both positive and negative feedback from their customers as well as determining what
media platforms work well for them. As such, digital marketing has become an increased
advantage for brands and businesses. It is now common for consumers to post feedback online
through social media sources, blogs and websites on their experience with a product or brand.[31]
It has become increasingly popular for businesses to use and encourage these conversations
through their social media channels to have direct contact with the customers and manage the
feedback they receive appropriately.

Word of mouth communications and peer-to-peer dialogue often have a greater effect on
customers, since they are not sent directly from the company and are therefore not planned.
Customers are more likely to trust other customers’ experiences.[27] Examples can be that social
media users share food products and meal experiences highlighting certain brands and
franchises. This was noted in a study on Instagram, where researchers observed that adolescent
Instagram users' posted images of food-related experiences within their social networks,
providing free advertising for the products.[32]

It is increasingly advantageous for companies to use social media platforms to connect with their
customers and create these dialogues and discussions. The potential reach of social media is
indicated by the fact that in 2015, each month the Facebook app had more than 126 million
average unique users and YouTube had over 97 million average unique users.[33]

Brand awareness
Ease of access

A key objective is engaging digital marketing customers and allowing them to interact with the
brand through servicing and delivery of digital media. Information is easy to access at a fast rate
through the use of digital communications. Users with access to the Internet can use many digital
mediums, such as Facebook, YouTube, Forums, and Email etc. Through Digital communications
it creates a multi-communication channel where information can be quickly shared around the
world by anyone without any regard to who they are.[34] Social segregation plays no part through
social mediums due to lack of face to face communication and information being wide spread
instead to a selective audience. This interactive nature allows consumers create conversation in
which the targeted audience is able to ask questions about the brand and get familiar with it
which traditional forms of Marketing may not offer.[35]

Competitive advantage

By using Internet platforms, businesses can create competitive advantage through various means.
To reach the maximum potential of digital marketing, firms use social media as its main tool to
create a channel of information. Through this a business can create a system in which they are
able to pinpoint behavioral patterns of clients and feedback on their needs.[36] This means of
content has shown to have a larger impingement on those who have a long-standing relationship
with the firm and with consumers who are relatively active social media users. Relative to this,
creating a social media page will further increase relation quality between new consumers and
existing consumers as well as consistent brand reinforcement therefore improving brand
awareness resulting in a possible rise for consumers up the Brand Awareness Pyramid.[37]
Although there may be inconstancy with product images;[38] maintaining a successful social
media presence requires a business to be consistent in interactions through creating a two way
feed of information; firms consider their content based on the feedback received through this
channel, this is a result of the environment being dynamic due to the global nature of the internet.
[35]
Effective use of digital marketing can result in relatively lowered costs in relation to
traditional means of marketing; Lowered external service costs, advertising costs, promotion
costs, processing costs, interface design costs and control costs.[38]

Effectiveness

Brand awareness has been proven to work with more effectiveness in countries that are high in
uncertainty avoidance, also these countries that have uncertainty avoidance; social media
marketing works effectively. Yet brands must be careful not to be excessive on the use of this
type of marketing, as well as solely relying on it as it may have implications that could
negatively harness their image. Brands that represent themselves in an anthropomorphizing
manner are more likely to succeed in situations where a brand is marketing to this demographic.
"Since social media use can enhance the knowledge of the brand and thus decrease the
uncertainty, it is possible that people with high uncertainty avoidance, such as the French, will
particularly appreciate the high social media interaction with an anthropomorphized brand."
Moreover, digital platform provides an ease to the brand and its customers to interact directly
and exchange their motives virtually.[39]

Developments and strategies

One of the major changes that occurred in traditional marketing was the "emergence of digital
marketing" (Patrutiu Baltes, Loredana, 2015), this led to the reinvention of marketing strategies
in order to adapt to this major change in traditional marketing (Patrutiu Baltes, Loredana, 2015).
As digital marketing is dependent on technology which is ever-evolving and fast-changing, the
same features should be expected from digital marketing developments and strategies. This
portion is an attempt to qualify or segregate the notable highlights existing and being used as of
press time.[when?]

 Segmentation: More focus has been placed on segmentation within digital marketing, in
order to target specific markets in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer
sectors.
 Influencer marketing: Important nodes are identified within related communities,
known as influencers. This is becoming an important concept in digital targeting.[40]
Influencers allow brands to take advantage of social media and the large audiences
available on many of these platforms.[40] It is possible to reach influencers via paid
advertising, such as Facebook Advertising or Google Adwords campaigns, or through
sophisticated sCRM (social customer relationship management) software, such as SAP
C4C, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage CRM and Salesforce CRM. Many universities now
focus, at Masters level, on engagement strategies for influencers.

To summarize, Pull digital marketing is characterized by consumers actively seeking marketing

content while Push digital marketing occurs when marketers send messages without that content
being actively sought by the recipients.

 Online behavioural advertising is the practice of collecting information about a user's

online activity over time, "on a particular device and across different, unrelated websites,
in order to deliver advertisements tailored to that user's interests and preferences[41][42]
 Collaborative Environment: A collaborative environment can be set up between the
organization, the technology service provider, and the digital agencies to optimize effort,
resource sharing, reusability and communications.[43] Additionally, organizations are
inviting their customers to help them better understand how to service them. This source
of data is called User Generated Content. Much of this is acquired via company websites
where the organization invites people to share ideas that are then evaluated by other users
of the site. The most popular ideas are evaluated and implemented in some form. Using
this method of acquiring data and developing new products can foster the organizations
relationship with their customer as well as spawn ideas that would otherwise be
overlooked. UGC is low-cost advertising as it is directly from the consumers and can
save advertising costs for the organisation.
 Data-driven advertising: Users generate a lot of data in every step they take on the path
of customer journey and brands can now use that data to activate their known audience
with data-driven programmatic media buying. Without exposing customers' privacy,
users' data can be collected from digital channels (e.g.: when customer visits a website,
reads an e-mail, or launches and interact with brand's mobile app), brands can also collect
data from real world customer interactions, such as brick and mortar stores visits and
from CRM and sales engines datasets. Also known as people-based marketing or
addressable media, data-driven advertising is empowering brands to find their loyal
customers in their audience and deliver in real time a much more personal
communication, highly relevant to each customers' moment and actions.[44]
An important consideration today while deciding on a strategy is that the digital tools have
democratized the promotional landscape.

 Remarketing: Remarketing plays a major role in digital marketing. This tactic allows
marketers to publish targeted ads in front of an interest category or a defined audience,
generally called searchers in web speak, they have either searched for particular products
or services or visited a website for some purpose.
 Game advertising: Game ads are advertisements that exist within computer or video
games. One of the most common examples of in-game advertising is billboards appearing
in sports games. In-game ads also might appear as brand-name products like guns, cars,
or clothing that exist as gaming status symbols.

The new digital era has enabled brands to selectively target their customers that may potentially
be interested in their brand or based on previous browsing interests. Businesses can now use
social media to select the age range, location, gender and interests of whom they would like their
targeted post to be seen by. Furthermore, based on a customer's recent search history they can be
‘followed’ on the internet so they see advertisements from similar brands, products and services,
[45]
This allows businesses to target the specific customers that they know and feel will most
benefit from their product or service, something that had limited capabilities up until the digital
era.

Ineffective forms of digital marketing

Digital marketing activity is still growing across the world according to the headline global
marketing index. A study published in September 2018, found that global outlays on digital
marketing tactics are approaching $100 billion.[46] Digital media continues to rapidly grow; while
the marketing budgets are expanding, traditional media is declining (World Economics, 2015).[47]
Digital media helps brands reach consumers to engage with their product or service in a
personalised way. Five areas, which are outlined as current industry practices that are often
ineffective are prioritizing clicks, balancing search and display, understanding mobiles, targeting,
viewability, brand safety and invalid traffic, and cross-platform measurement (Whiteside, 2016).
[48]
Why these practices are ineffective and some ways around making these aspects effective are
discussed surrounding the following points.

Prioritizing clicks

Prioritizing clicks refers to display click ads, although advantageous by being ‘simple, fast and
inexpensive’ rates for display ads in 2016 is only 0.10 percent in the United States. This means
one in a thousand click ads are relevant therefore having little effect. This displays that
marketing companies should not just use click ads to evaluate the effectiveness of display
advertisements (Whiteside, 2016).[48]

Balancing search and display

Balancing search and display for digital display ads are important; marketers tend to look at the
last search and attribute all of the effectiveness to this. This, in turn, disregards other marketing
efforts, which establish brand value within the consumers mind. ComScore determined through
drawing on data online, produced by over one hundred multichannel retailers that digital display
marketing poses strengths when compared with or positioned alongside, paid search (Whiteside,
2016).[48] This is why it is advised that when someone clicks on a display ad the company opens a
landing page, not its home page. A landing page typically has something to draw the customer in
to search beyond this page. Things such as free offers that the consumer can obtain through
giving the company contact information so that they can use retargeting communication
strategies (Square2Marketing, 2012).[49] Commonly marketers see increased sales among people
exposed to a search ad. But the fact of how many people you can reach with a display campaign
compared to a search campaign should be considered. Multichannel retailers have an increased
reach if the display is considered in synergy with search campaigns. Overall both search and
display aspects are valued as display campaigns build awareness for the brand so that more
people are likely to click on these digital ads when running a search campaign (Whiteside, 2016).
[48]

Understanding Mobiles: Understanding mobile devices is a significant aspect of digital

marketing because smartphones and tablets are now responsible for 64% of the time US
consumers are online (Whiteside, 2016).[48] Apps provide a big opportunity as well as challenge
for the marketers because firstly the app needs to be downloaded and secondly the person needs
to actually use it. This may be difficult as ‘half the time spent on smartphone apps occurs on the
individuals single most used app, and almost 85% of their time on the top four rated apps’
(Whiteside, 2016).[48] Mobile advertising can assist in achieving a variety of commercial
objectives and it is effective due to taking over the entire screen, and voice or status is likely to
be considered highly; although the message must not be seen or thought of as intrusive
(Whiteside, 2016).[48] Disadvantages of digital media used on mobile devices also include limited
creative capabilities, and reach. Although there are many positive aspects including the users
entitlement to select product information, digital media creating a flexible message platform and
there is potential for direct selling (Belch & Belch, 2012).[50]

Cross-platform measurement: The number of marketing channels continues to expand, as

measurement practices are growing in complexity. A cross-platform view must be used to unify
audience measurement and media planning. Market researchers need to understand how the
Omni-channel affects consumer's behaviour, although when advertisements are on a consumer's
device this does not get measured. Significant aspects to cross-platform measurement involves
deduplication and understanding that you have reached an incremental level with another
platform, rather than delivering more impressions against people that have previously been
reached (Whiteside, 2016).[48] An example is ‘ESPN and comScore partnered on Project
Blueprint discovering the sports broadcaster achieved a 21% increase in unduplicated daily reach
thanks to digital advertising’ (Whiteside, 2016).[48] Television and radio industries are the
electronic media, which competes with digital and other technological advertising. Yet television
advertising is not directly competing with online digital advertising due to being able to cross
platform with digital technology. Radio also gains power through cross platforms, in online
streaming content. Television and radio continue to persuade and affect the audience, across
multiple platforms (Fill, Hughes, & De Franceso, 2013).[51]
Targeting, viewability, brand safety and invalid traffic: Targeting, viewability, brand safety
and invalid traffic all are aspects used by marketers to help advocate digital advertising. Cookies
are a form of digital advertising, which are tracking tools within desktop devices; causing
difficulty, with shortcomings including deletion by web browsers, the inability to sort between
multiple users of a device, inaccurate estimates for unique visitors, overstating reach,
understanding frequency, problems with ad servers, which cannot distinguish between when
cookies have been deleted and when consumers have not previously been exposed to an ad. Due
to the inaccuracies influenced by cookies, demographics in the target market are low and vary
(Whiteside, 2016).[48] Another element, which is affected within digital marketing, is ‘viewabilty’
or whether the ad was actually seen by the consumer. Many ads are not seen by a consumer and
may never reach the right demographic segment. Brand safety is another issue of whether or not
the ad was produced in the context of being unethical or having offensive content. Recognizing
fraud when an ad is exposed is another challenge marketers face. This relates to invalid traffic as
premium sites are more effective at detecting fraudulent traffic, although non-premium sites are
more so the problem (Whiteside, 2016).[48]

Channels

Digital Marketing Channels are systems based on the Internet that can create, accelerate, and
transmit product value from producer to a consumer terminal, through digital networks.[52][53]
Digital marketing is facilitated by multiple Digital Marketing channels, As an advertiser one's
core objective is to find channels which result in maximum two-way communication and a better
overall ROI for the brand. There are multiple digital marketing channels available namely;[54]

1. Affiliate marketing - Affiliate marketing is perceived to not be considered a safe, reliable

and easy means of marketing through online platform. This is due to a lack of reliability
in terms of affiliates that can produce the demanded number of new customers. As a
result of this risk and bad affiliates it leaves the brand prone to exploitation in terms of
claiming commission that isn't honestly acquired. Legal means may offer some protection
against this, yet there are limitations in recovering any losses or investment. Despite this,
affiliate marketing allows the brand to market towards smaller publishers, and websites
with smaller traffic. Brands that choose to use this marketing often should beware of such
risks involved and look to associate with affiliates in which rules are laid down between
the parties involved to assure and minimize the risk involved.[55]
2. Display advertising - As the term implies, online display advertising deals with
showcasing promotional messages or ideas to the consumer on the internet. This includes
a wide range of advertisements like advertising blogs, networks, interstitial ads,
contextual data, ads on the search engines, classified or dynamic advertisement etc. The
method can target specific audience tuning in from different types of locals to view a
particular advertisement, the variations can be found as the most productive element of
this method.
3. Email marketing - Email marketing in comparison to other forms of digital marketing is
considered cheap; it is also a way to rapidly communicate a message such as their value
proposition to existing or potential customers. Yet this channel of communication may be
perceived by recipients to be bothersome and irritating especially to new or potential
customers, therefore the success of email marketing is reliant on the language and visual
 appeal applied. In terms of visual appeal, there are indications that using graphics/visuals
that are relevant to the message which is attempting to be sent, yet less visual graphics to
be applied with initial emails are more effective in-turn creating a relatively personal feel
to the email. In terms of language, the style is the main factor in determining how
captivating the email is. Using casual tone invokes a warmer and gentle and inviting feel
to the email in comparison to a formal style. For combinations; it's suggested that to
maximize effectiveness; using no graphics/visual alongside casual language. In contrast
using no visual appeal and a formal language style is seen as the least effective method.
[56]

4. Search engine marketing - Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet

marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search
engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising. SEM may incorporate
Search engine optimization, which adjusts or rewrites website content and site
architecture to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results pages to enhance pay per
click (PPC) listings.
5. Social Media Marketing - The term 'Digital Marketing' has a number of marketing facets
as it supports different channels used in and among these, comes the Social Media. When
we use social media channels ( Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, etc.) to
market a product or service, the strategy is called Social Media Marketing. It is a
procedure wherein strategies are made and executed to draw in traffic for a website or to
gain attention of buyers over the web using different social media platforms.
6. Social networking service - A social networking service is an online platform which
people use to build social networks or social relations with other people who share
similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections
7. In-game advertising - In-Game advertising is defined as "inclusion of products or brands
within a digital game."[57] The game allows brands or products to place ads within their
game, either in a subtle manner or in the form of an advertisement banner. There are
many factors that exist in whether brands are successful in their advertising of their
brand/product, these being: Type of game, technical platform, 3-D and 4-D technology,
game genre, congruity of brand and game, prominence of advertising within the game.
Individual factors consist of attitudes towards placement advertisements, game
involvement, product involvement, flow or entertainment. The attitude towards the
advertising also takes into account not only the message shown but also the attitude
towards the game. Dependent of how enjoyable the game is will determine how the brand
is perceived, meaning if the game isn't very enjoyable the consumer may subconsciously
have a negative attitude towards the brand/product being advertised. In terms of
Integrated Marketing Communication "integration of advertising in digital games into the
general advertising, communication, and marketing strategy of the firm"[57] is an
important as it results in a more clarity about the brand/product and creates a larger
overall effect.
8. Online public relations
o Video advertising - This type of advertising in terms of digital/online means are
advertisements that play on online videos e.g. YouTube videos. This type of
marketing has seen an increase in popularity over time.[58] Online Video
Advertising usually consists of three types: Pre-Roll advertisements which play
before the video is watched, Mid-Roll advertisements which play during the
 video, or Post-Roll advertisements which play after the video is watched.[59] Post-
roll advertisements were shown to have better brand recognition in relation to the
other types, where-as "ad-context congruity/incongruity plays an important role in
reinforcing ad memorability".[58] Due to selective attention from viewers, there is
the likelihood that the message may not be received.[60] The main advantage of
video advertising is that it disrupts the viewing experience of the video and
therefore there is a difficulty in attempting to avoid them. How a consumer
interacts with online video advertising can come down to three stages: Pre
attention, attention, and behavioural decision.[61] These online advertisements give
the brand/business options and choices. These consist of length, position, adjacent
video content which all directly affect the effectiveness of the produced
advertisement time,[58] therefore manipulating these variables will yield different
results. Length of the advertisement has shown to affect memorability where-as
longer duration resulted in increased brand recognition.[58] This type of
advertising, due to its nature of interruption of the viewer, it is likely that the
consumer may feel as if their experience is being interrupted or invaded, creating
negative perception of the brand.[58] These advertisements are also available to be
shared by the viewers, adding to the attractiveness of this platform. Sharing these
videos can be equated to the online version of word by mouth marketing,
extending number of people reached.[62] Sharing videos creates six different
outcomes: these being "pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, and
control".[58] As well, videos that have entertainment value are more likely to be
shared, yet pleasure is the strongest motivator to pass videos on. Creating a ‘viral’
trend from mass amount of a brands advertisement can maximize the outcome of
an online video advert whether it be positive or a negative outcome.

It is important for a firm to reach out to consumers and create a two-way communication model,
as digital marketing allows consumers to give back feed back to the firm on a community based
site or straight directly to the firm via email.[30] Firms should seek this long term communication
relationship by using multiple forms of channels and using promotional strategies related to their
target consumer as well as word-of mouth marketing.[30]

Self-regulation

The ICC Code has integrated rules that apply to marketing communications using digital
interactive media throughout the guidelines. There is also an entirely updated section dealing
with issues specific to digital interactive media techniques and platforms. Code self-regulation
on use of digital interactive media includes:

 Clear and transparent mechanisms to enable consumers to choose not to have their data
collected for advertising or marketing purposes;
 Clear indication that a social network site is commercial and is under the control or
influence of a marketer;
 Limits are set so that marketers communicate directly only when there are reasonable
grounds to believe that the consumer has an interest in what is being offered;
  Respect for the rules and standards of acceptable commercial behavior in social networks
and the posting of marketing messages only when the forum or site has clearly indicated
its willingness to receive them;
 Special attention and protection for children.[63]

Strategy
Planning

Digital marketing planning is a term used in marketing management. It describes the first stage
of forming a digital marketing strategy for the wider digital marketing system. The difference
between digital and traditional marketing planning is that it uses digitally based communication
tools and technology such as Social, Web, Mobile, Scannable Surface.[64][65] Nevertheless, both
are aligned with the vision, the mission of the company and the overarching business strategy.[66]

Stages of planning

Using Dr Dave Chaffey's approach, the digital marketing planning (DMP) has three main stages:
Opportunity, Strategy and Action. He suggests that any business looking to implement a
successful digital marketing strategy must structure their plan by looking at opportunity, strategy
and action. This generic strategic approach often has phases of situation review, goal setting,
strategy formulation, resource allocation and monitoring.[66]

1) Opportunity

To create an effective DMP, a business first needs to review the marketplace and set 'SMART'
(Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-Bound) objectives.[67] They can set
SMART objectives by reviewing the current benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPIs)
of the company and competitors. It is pertinent that the analytics used for the KPIs be customised
to the type, objectives, mission and vision of the company.[68][69]

Companies can scan for marketing and sales opportunities by reviewing their own outreach as
well as influencer outreach. This means they have competitive advantage because they are able
to analyse their co-marketers influence and brand associations.[70]

To cease opportunity, the firm should summarize their current customers' personas and purchase
journey from this they are able to deduce their digital marketing capability. This means they need
to form a clear picture of where they are currently and how many resources they can allocate for
their digital marketing strategy i.e. labour, time etc. By summarizing the purchase journey, they
can also recognise gaps and growth for future marketing opportunities that will either meet
objectives or propose new objectives and increase profit.

2) Strategy
To create a planned digital strategy, the company must review their digital proposition (what you
are offering to consumers) and communicate it using digital customer targeting techniques. So,
they must define online value proposition (OVP), this means the company must express clearly
what they are offering customers online e.g. brand positioning.

The company should also (re)select target market segments and personas and define digital
targeting approaches.

After doing this effectively, it is important to review the marketing mix for online options. The
marketing mix comprises the 4Ps – Product, Price, Promotion and Place.[71][72] Some academics
have added three additional elements to the traditional 4Ps of marketing Process, Place and
Physical appearance making it 7Ps of marketing.[73]

3) Action

The third and final stage requires the firm to set a budget and management systems; these must
be measurable touchpoints, such as audience reached across all digital platforms. Furthermore,
marketers must ensure the budget and management systems are integrating the paid, owned and
earned media of the company.[74] The Action and final stage of planning also requires the
company to set in place measurable content creation e.g. oral, visual or written online media.[75]

After confirming the digital marketing plan, a scheduled format of digital communications (e.g.
Gantt Chart) should be encoded throughout the internal operations of the company. This ensures
that all platforms used fall in line and complement each other for the succeeding stages of digital
marketing strategy.

Understanding the Market

One way marketers can reach out to consumers, and understand their thought process is through
what is called an empathy map. An empathy map is a four step process. The first step is through
asking questions that the consumer would be thinking in their demographic. The second step is to
describe the feelings that the consumer may be having. The third step is to think about what the
consumer would say in their situation. The final step is to imagine what the consumer will try to
do based on the other three steps. This map is so marketing teams can put themselves in their
target demographics shoes.[76] Web Analytics are also a very important way to understand
consumers. They show the habits that people have online for each website.[77] One particular
form of these analytics is predictive analytics which helps marketers figure out what route
consumers are on. This uses the information gathered from other analytics, and then creates
different predictions of what people will do so that companies can strategize on what to do next,
according to the peoples trends.[78]

Sharing economy
The "sharing economy" refers to an economic pattern that aims to obtain a resource that is not
fully utilized.[79] Nowadays, the sharing economy has had an unimagined effect on many
traditional elements including labor, industry, and distribution system.[79] This effect is not
negligible that some industries are obviously under threat.[79][80] The sharing economy is
influencing the traditional marketing channels by changing the nature of some specific concept
including ownership, assets, and recruitment.[80]

Digital marketing channels and traditional marketing channels are similar in function that the
value of the product or service is passed from the original producer to the end user by a kind of
supply chain.[81] For instance, a typical digital marketing channel is email. Organization can
update the activity or promotion information to the user by subscribing the newsletter mail that
happened in consuming. In addition to this typical approach, the built-in control, efficiency and
low cost of digital marketing channels is an essential features in the application of sharing
economy.[81]

See also
 Digital marketing engineer
 Digital marketing system
 Digital marketing channels in the sharing economy
 Distributed presence
 Interactive marketing
 Mobile marketing
 Online advertising
 Pay per click
 Social media marketing
 Visual marketing
 Customer Data Platform
 User intent

References
1.

 "Definition of digital marketing". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 29

November 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  "The Four Faces of Digital Marketing". American Marketing Association. Retrieved 22
August 2019.
  "EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page". Eds.b.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 10
January 2018.[permanent dead link]
  Nielsen (10 March 2016). "Digital Advertising is Rising in Canada, Requiring More
Sophisticated Measures of Success". Nielsen. Nielsen. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  Nielsen (20 January 2016). "Connected Commerce is Creating Buyers Without Border".
Nielsen Global. Nielsen Global. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  Dahlen, Micael (2010). Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach.
Chichester, West Sussex UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. p. 36.
  How To Embrace The Five Steps Of Data-Driven Marketing Published by Forbes,
October 17, 2013; accessed 17 January, 2017
  "Digital Marketing". Techopedia. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  "Digital Marketing Systems and Techniques". Warwick. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  hello_world. "First Network Email sent by Ray Tomlinson".
www.computinghistory.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  Schoenbachler, Denise D.; Gordon, Geoffrey L.; Foley, Dawn; Spellman, Linda (1997).
"Understanding consumer database marketing". Journal of Consumer Marketing. 15 (1): 5–19.
doi:10.1108/07363769710155820.
  Clark, Dorie (11 November 2012), "The End of the Expert: Why No One in Marketing
Knows What They're Doing", Forbes, archived from the original on 4 November 2013
  McCambley, Joe (2013-12-12). "The first ever banner ad: why did it work so well?". The
Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  Curran, James; Fenton, Natalie; Freedman, Des (2016-02-05). "Misunderstanding the
Internet". doi:10.4324/9781315695624.
  Kannan, P.K.; Li, Hongshuang “Alice” (March 2017). "Digital marketing: A framework,
review and research agenda". International Journal of Research in Marketing. 34 (1): 22–45.
doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.11.006. ISSN 0167-8116.
  Hart, Cathy; Doherty, Neil; Ellis‐Chadwick, Fiona (2000-09-01). "Retailer adoption of
the Internet – Implications for retail marketing". European Journal of Marketing. 34 (8): 954–
974. doi:10.1108/03090560010331441. ISSN 0309-0566.
  Balmer, John M.T. (May 2009). Balmer, John M.T. (ed.). "Corporate marketing:
apocalypse, advent and epiphany". Management Decision. 47 (4): 544–572.
doi:10.1108/00251740910959413. ISSN 0025-1747.
  "Ad agency joins up with AOL for marketing surveys". Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  Kates, Matthew (17 April 2013), Making digital and traditional marketing work together,
Econsultancy, archived from the original on 25 November 2013
  "Digital Marketing Communication". iccwbo.org. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  Brinkley, Claire (18 October 2012), Digital marketing is growing in Australia, but so is
the skills gap, Econsultancy, archived from the original on 21 October 2012
  eMarketer (25 September 2013), Worldwide Ad Growth Buoyed by Digital, Mobile
Adoption, eMarketer, archived from the original on 12 November 2013
  "Connected Commerce Is Creating Buyers Without Borders". Nielsen Global. Retrieved
6 March 2018.
  Google, Trends. "Google Trends". Google Inc. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  "Digital Marketing Communication". International Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 12
September 2017.
  Nielsen (3 February 2016). "What Are Connected Shoppers Doing and Not Doing
Online". Nielsen Global. Nielsen Global. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  Maw-Liann Shyu; Wan-Ju Chiang; Wen-Yuan Chien; Sheng-Liang Wang (1 July 2015).
"Key Success Factors In Digital Marketing In Service Industry and the Development Strategies:
A Case Study On Fleur DE Chine At Sun Moon Lake" (PDF). The International Journal of
Organizational Innovation.
  Nielsen (20 January 2016). "Connected Commerce is Creating Buyers Without Borders".
Nielsen Global. Nielsen Global. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  Verhoef, Peter C.; Kannan, P.K.; Inman, J. Jeffrey (June 2015). "From Multi-Channel
Retailing to Omni-Channel Retailing". Journal of Retailing. 91 (2): 174–181.
doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2015.02.005. ISSN 0022-4359.
  Tiago, Maria Teresa Pinheiro Melo Borges;Veríssimo, José Manuel Cristóvão (2014).
"Digital Marketing and Social Media; Why Bother?". INBAM, Business Horizons.
  "EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page". Eds.a.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 10
January 2018.
  Holmberg, C et al. (2016). Adolescents' presentation of food in social media: An
explorative study. Appetite. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2016.01.009. 1;99:121-129. PMID 26792765.
  Nielsen (17 December 2015). "Tops of 2015: Digital". Nielsen Insights Media and
Entertainment. Nielsen. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  Sakas, D. P., Dimitrios, N. K., & Kavoura, A. (2015). The Development of Facebook's
Competitive Advantage for Brand Awareness. Procedia Economics And Finance,
24(International Conference on Applied Economics (ICOAE) 2015, 2–4 July 2015, Kazan,
Russia), 589-597. doi:10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00642-5
  Öztürk, C. M. (Ed.) (2013) Dijital İletişim ve Yeni Medya, Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayını:
2956, Eskişehir.
  Mogoş, R. "Digital Marketing for Identifying Customers' Preferences -- A Solution for
SMEs in Obtaining Competitive Advantages". International Journal of Economic Practices &
Theories. 5 (3): 240–247.
  Kumar, A.; Bezawada, R.; Rishika, R.; Janakiraman, R.; Kannan, P. K. (2016). "From
Social to Sale: The Effects of Firm-Generated Content in Social Media on Customer Behavior".
Journal of Marketing. 80 (1): 7–25. doi:10.1509/jm.14.0249.
  Van Niekerk, A (2007). "Strategic management of media assets for optimizing market
communication strategies, obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage and maximizing return
on investment: An empirical study". Journal of Digital Asset Management. 3 (2): 89–98.
doi:10.1057/palgrave.dam.3650070.
  Hudson, S., Huang, L., Roth, M. S., & Madden, T. J. (2016). The influence of social
media interactions on consumer–brand relationships: A three-country study of brand perceptions
and marketing behaviors. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 3327-41.
doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2015.06.004
  Stubb, Carolina; Nyström, Anna-Greta; Colliander, Jonas (2019-05-07). "Influencer
marketing: The impact of disclosing sponsorship compensation justification on sponsored
content effectiveness". Journal of Communication Management. 23 (2): 109–122.
doi:10.1108/JCOM-11-2018-0119. ISSN 1363-254X.
  "654 oba resource guide final" (PDF). codescentre.com.
  Gibbs, Samuel (18 September 2015). "Facebook's new opt-out for tracking ads is not
enough, says privacy expert". The Guardian.
  "whitepaper-collaborating with digital agency" (PDF). hcltech.com.
  "People-based marketing is the strategy of the future, new report claims". Retrieved
2016-09-26.
  Kim, Angella J.; Johnson, Kim K.P. (2016). "Power of consumers using social media:
Examining the influences of brand-related user-generated content on Facebook". Computers in
Human Behavior. 58: 98–108. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.047.
  Editorial, Reuters. "Global spending on digital marketing nears $100 billion: study".
U.S. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  World Economics (June 2015). "Digital and Mobile Continues to Dominate Share of
Marketing Budgets". Warc.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  Whiteside, S (January 2016). "Five digital marketing lessons from comScore".
Warc.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  Square2Marketing (2012). "Online advertising: Google AdWords & pay-per-click".
YouTube. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  Belch, E; Belch, A (2012). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing
communication perspective ((9th ed) ed.). New York,NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
  Fill, C; Hughes, G; De Franceso, S (2013). Advertising strategy, creativity and media.
London, UK: Pearson.
  Key, Thomas Martin (2017). "Domains of Digital Marketing Channels in the Sharing
Economy". Journal of Marketing Channels. 24 (1–2): 27–38.
doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346977.
  Heikki, Karjaluoto (2015). "The usage of digital marketing channels in SMEs". Journal
of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 22 (4): 633–651. doi:10.1108/JSBED-05-2013-
0073.
  Pratik Dholakiya (14 April 2015). "3 Digital Marketing Channels That Work for Every
Advertiser". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  Edelman, B.; Brandi, W. (2015). "Risk, Information, and Incentives in Online Affiliate
Marketing". Journal of Marketing Research. 52 (1): 1–12. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.589.9857.
doi:10.1509/jmr.13.0472.
  Dapko, J. L.; Artis, A. B. (2014). "Less is More: An Exploratory Analysis of Optimal
Visual Appeal and Linguistic Style Combinations in a Salesperson's Initial-Contact E-mail to
Millennial Buyers Within Marketing Channels". Journal of Marketing Channels. 21 (4): 254–
267. doi:10.1080/1046669X.2014.945358.
  Terlutter, R.; Capella, M. L. (2013). "The Gamification of Advertising: Analysis and
Research Directions of In-Game Advertising, Advergames, and Advertising in Social Network
Games". Journal of Advertising. 42 (2/3): 95–112. doi:10.1080/00913367.2013.774610.
  Li, H.; Lo, H. (2015). "Do You Recognize Its Brand? The Effectiveness of Online In-
Stream Video Advertisements". Journal of Advertising. 44 (3): 208–218.
doi:10.1080/00913367.2014.956376.
  PricewaterhouseCoopers (2013), "2012 Internet Advertising Revenue Full-Year Report,"
April, http://www.iab.net/media/file/IABInternet
AdvertisingRevenueReportFY2012POSTED.pdf/
  Basil, Michael D (1994). "Multiple Resource Theory I: Application to Television
Viewing". Communication Research. 21 (2): 177–207. doi:10.1177/009365094021002003.
  Chatterjee, Patrali (2001), "Beyond CPMs and Clickthroughs: Understanding Consumer
Interaction with Web Advertising," in Internet Marketing Research: Theory and Practice, Ook
Lee, ed., Hershey, PA: Idea Group, 209–16.
  Lee, J.; Ham, C.; Kim, M. (2013). "Why People Pass Along Online Video Advertising:
From the Perspectives of the Interpersonal Communication Motives Scale and the Theory of
Reasoned Action". Journal of Interactive Advertising. 13 (1): 1–13.
doi:10.1080/15252019.2013.768048.
  "ICC Code, Digital Interactive Media - ICC Codes Centre". codescentre.com. Retrieved
17 October 2015.
  Dodson, I (2016). The art of digital marketing : the definitive guide to creating strategic,
targeted and measurable online campaigns. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
ISBN 9781119265702.
  ryan, D (2014). Understanding Digital Marketing : Marketing Strategies for Engaging
the Digital Generation. Kogan Page. ISBN  9780749471026.
  Chaffey, Dave; Ellis-Chadwick, Fiona (2012). Digital Marketing: Strategy,
Implementation and Practice. Harlow: Pearson Education. ISBN  978-0273746225.
  Fill, C. (2006). Marketing communications. 1st ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall, pp.372-
373.
  Parmenter, D. (2007). Key performance indicators. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley &
Sons.
  Marr, B. (2012). Key performance indicators. 1st ed. Harlow, England ; ; New York:
Pearson Financial Times Pub.
  French, A. and Smith, G. (2013). Measuring brand association strength: a consumer
based brand equity approach. European Journal of Marketing, 47(8), pp.1356-1367.
  McCarthy, E.J. (1964), Basic Marketing, Richard D. Irwin, Homewood, IL.
  Mercer, D. (1999). Marketing. 1st ed. Oxford [u.a.]: Blackwell.
  Booms, B.H. and Bitner, M.J., 1981. Marketing strategies and organization structures for
service firms. Marketing of services, 25(3), pp.47-52
  Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012). Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation
and Practice. 1st ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.
  Ryan, D. (2014). Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging
the Digital Generation Ed. 3. 1st ed. Kogan Page.
  Schiele, Kristen; Chen, Steven (2018-03-26). "Design Thinking and Digital Marketing
Skills in Marketing Education: A Module on Building Mobile Applications". Marketing
Education Review. 28 (3): 150–154. doi:10.1080/10528008.2018.1448283. ISSN 1052-8008.
  Staton, Mark G. (2015-12-07). "Improving Student Job Placement and Assessment
Through the Use of Digital Marketing Certification Programs". Marketing Education Review.
26 (1): 20–24. doi:10.1080/10528008.2015.1091665. ISSN 1052-8008.
  Liu, Xia; Burns, Alvin C. (2018-01-02). "Designing a Marketing Analytics Course for the
Digital Age". Marketing Education Review. 28 (1): 28–40.
doi:10.1080/10528008.2017.1421049. ISSN 1052-8008.
  Kyle, Huggins (2017). "Seismic Shifts in the Sharing Economy: Shaking Up Marketing
Channels and Supply Chains". Journal of Marketing Channels. 24 (3): 3–12.
doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346973.
  Herndon, Neil C. (2017). "The Sharing Economy: Opportunities and Challenges for
Marketing Channels and Supply Chains". Journal of Marketing Channels. 24 (1–2): 1–2.
doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346970.
 Thomas, Martin (2017). "Domains of Digital Marketing Channels in the Sharing Economy".
Journal of Marketing Channels. 24 (27): 27–38. doi:10.1080/1046669X.2017.1346977.