Week 1: Digital Marketing Overview and Strategy

Lesson 1: Digital Insights

Importance of Digital Marketing:
 Advanced customer targeting
 More accurate measurement and attribution
 Potential for greater efficiencies (e.g., cost per lead)
 Opportunity for massive scalable brand advocacy
 Consumers' active presence across digital channels

Key Digital Statistics:

 Global: 60% connected to Internet, 50% active social media users
 US: 87% access Internet, 70% active social media users
 Mobile phones leading device for web traffic
 COVID-19 impact: Increased interest in "how-to" and instructional content
 Social media usage exceeds 2 hours per day in many countries

Lesson 2: Budget Shifts

 Digital advertising surpassing traditional forms
 Digital ad spending expected to exceed TV spending soon
 Marketers reallocating budgets to improve KPIs (reach, effectiveness, efficiency)

Lesson 3: Key Digital Marketing Capabilities

1. Multiple distribution channels for reaching target audiences
2. Accurate and real-time measurement of results
3. Data-driven decision making and optimization
4. Advanced search capabilities (e.g., Google's predictive search)
5. Multi-device connectivity
6. User-generated content and influencer marketing
7. Social media platforms for consumer engagement

Lesson 4: Marketing Strategy

Core Definitions:
 Marketing: Creation and satisfaction of demand for a product/service
 Digital Marketing: Using internet and digital channels to drive demand
 Strategy: Ideas outlining how a product/brand will achieve objectives
 Tactic: Specific action or method contributing to achieving a goal
GOST Hierarchy:
 Goals
 Objectives
 Strategies
 Tactics
5 C's Framework:
1. Customers (central focus)
 2. Company
3. Competitors
4. Collaborators
5. Context
Customer Marketing Cycle:
1. Awareness
2. Interest/Engagement
3. Acquisition
4. Segmentation
5. Retention
6. Support/Advocacy
Customer Personas and Buyer Journey:
 Personas: Semi-fictional depictions of target audience
 Buyer Journey: Discovery, Consideration, Decision
Marketing Mix: 5 P's
1. Price
2. Product
3. Promotion
4. Place
5. People
Porter's Five Forces
(Used for competitive analysis)

Digital Marketing Strategy Framework:

1. Define digital marketing mission and roles
2. Assess and prioritize digital channels
3. Plan customer interactions across the buyer journey
4. Establish measurement and optimization processes
Remember that your company website is a core element of digital strategy, existing within an
ecosystem of platforms and traffic drivers.

Week 2: Display Advertising

Lesson 1: Trends in Display Advertising Spending
 Introduction to Display Advertising:
 Emphasis on differences between traditional and digital marketing.
 Focus on display advertising and its role in digital marketing.
 Spending Trends:
 Traditional channels (TV, print, radio) are declining in market share.
 Digital advertising is increasing, with digital projected to overtake TV soon.
 COVID-19 impacted marketing behaviors, influencing spending projections.
 Programmatic Advertising:
 Programmatic ad buying uses software for efficiency.
 Allows more time for optimization and improvement of ads.
Lesson 2: Goals of Display Advertising
 Potential Goals:
 Building brand awareness
 Increasing share of voice
 Creating consumer demand
 Informing consumers
 Building brand loyalty
 Driving response and sales
 Click-Through Rates (CTR):
 Average CTR on Google's Display Network is low (0.46%).
 Important to align goals with expected consumer behaviors.
Lesson 3: Display Ad Formats and Capabilities
 Ad Formats:
 Banner ads, pop-ups, interstitials, floating ads, wallpaper ads.
 Importance of aligning ad types with business goals and consumer behavior.
 Targeting and Relevance:
 Contextual relevance on websites and targeting on social media.
 Use of demographic, behavioral, and geographic data for targeting.
 Ad Networks:
 Serve as intermediaries between advertisers and websites.
 Manage pricing, geo-targeting, and analytics.
Lesson 4: Payment Models and Tracking
 Payment Models:
 CPM (Cost per Mille): Pay per thousand impressions.
 CPC (Cost per Click): Pay only when the ad is clicked.
 CPA (Cost per Acquisition): Pay when a specific action is taken.
 Tracking Data:
 Importance of collecting data to inform business decisions.
Lesson 5: Display Ad Best Practices
 Improving Engagement:
 Use interactive elements to increase user engagement.
 Examples include Pringles' call-to-action ads and Volkswagen's interactive
components.

Week 3: Paid Search Advertising

Lesson 1: Paid Search Fundamentals

 Core Terminology:
 PPC (Pay Per Click): Advertisers pay each time their ad is clicked.
 SERP (Search Engine Results Page): The page displaying search results.
 CTR (Click Through Rate): Total clicks divided by the number of ad impressions,
expressed as a percentage.
 Landing Page: The first page a user lands on after clicking an ad, which should
align with user expectations.
  Focus on Google:
 Google dominates the search market, so the course focuses on it, though other
engines like Bing and Yahoo are also relevant.
 Search Results Layout Changes:
 Google has shifted from a two-column to a one-column layout, reflecting a
mobile-first strategy.
 Search results now often feature shopping carousels and fewer text ads.
Lesson 2: Search Campaign Structure
 Ad Components:
 Headline: Expanded text ads allow for more content with two headline sections.
 Display URL and Path: Shows the domain and can include up to two paths for
clarity.
 Description: Engaging and informative copy with a call to action, limited to 80
characters.
 Ad Extensions:
 Enhance ads with additional information like location, call buttons, sitelinks,
callouts, price, and app extensions.
Lesson 3: Ad Rank Factors
 Key Factors Influencing Ad Rank:
 CTR behavior, bidding model, quality score components.
 Quality score is influenced by keyword alignment, ad copy relevance, landing
page quality, and historical CTR.
 Quality Score Components:
 Keyword alignment with search terms.
 Relevance of ad copy to search terms.
 Landing page relevance to search terms.
 Historical CTR performance.
Lesson 4: Search Campaign Planning
 Keyword Research:
 Focus on relevance, search volume, cost analysis.
 Consider branded, generic, related, and competitor terms.
 Long Tail of Search:
 Target specific phrases with lower volume but higher conversion potential.
Lesson 5: Keyword Targeting
 Match Types:
 Broad match, phrase match, exact match, negative match.
 Targeting Capabilities:
 Geo-targeting based on location and language.
 Behavioral and demographic targeting.
Lesson 6: Launching a Campaign
 Steps for Launching:
 Define business goals and KPIs.
 Establish budget and conduct keyword research.
 Create ads with targeted copy and activate campaigns.
Lesson 7: Breakeven Point and Cost Analysis
 Financial Analysis Components:
 Determine CPC, conversion rate, revenue per sale, profit margin.
 Breakeven Point (BEP) Calculation:
 BEP CPC is calculated by multiplying profit margin by conversion rate. Spending
below this point generates profit.

Week 5: Search Engine Optimization

Lesson 1: SEO Basics
 Definition and Importance:
 SEO is the process of improving a website's visibility in organic search results.
 Organic links on page one of the SERP account for over 70% of all clicks.
 SEO differs from paid search in that it doesn't involve direct advertising costs.
 Organic vs. Paid Search:
 Organic results are not paid for and appear below the paid ads on the SERP.
 Achieving high rankings in organic search can take months.
 Local Search:
 Local search results are displayed using a different algorithm and can be
influenced by claiming business locations through Google My Business.
Lesson 2: SEO Rank Factors
 Key Ranking Signals:
 Relevance, quality, popularity, user experience, and authority.
 Google uses over 200 factors in its ranking algorithm.
 On-Page vs. Off-Page Factors:
 On-page: keyword density, meta tags, site performance.
 Off-page: external links, social media mentions.
 Rand Fishkin's SEO Pyramid:
 Emphasizes crawl accessibility, compelling content, and keyword optimization as
foundational elements.
Lesson 3: On-Page SEO Best Practices
 Website Structure:
 Hierarchical organization with main categories and subcategories.
 Image Optimization:
 Use alt tags for accessibility and SEO, include relevant keywords in image
filenames.
 HTML Tags:
 Title tags should include primary keywords early; meta descriptions should be
compelling and include CTAs.
 Featured Snippets:
 Structured content to align with Google's snippet format can increase visibility.
Lesson 4: Off-Page SEO Best Practices
 Backlinks:
 Quality and quantity of backlinks are crucial for ranking.
 Building Backlinks:
  Create valuable content or tools that others want to link to.
 Anchor Text:
 Use concise, relevant anchor text to reflect the target page's content accurately.
Lesson 5: Social & Mobile SEO
 Social Media Impact:
 Links shared on social media can influence PageRank.
 Mobile Optimization:
 Majority of searches are mobile; sites must be mobile-friendly to avoid penalties
(e.g., Mobilegeddon update).
Lesson 6: SEO Keyword Research Process
 Keyword Research Steps:
 Brainstorm relevant keywords aligned with business goals and customer journey.
 Assessing Keywords:
 Evaluate search volume, conversion likelihood, and competition strength.