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Digital Media Marketing Strategy The world of digital media is changing at a phenomenal pace. Technologies are constantly evolving and the way people are using them are transforming not only how we access information but also how we communicate and interact with each other on a global scale. Companies and organizations have adopted the use of digital media to market their products. Majority of companies and organizations across the globe seeking to maintain a competitive advantage while increasing their profit margins have lately embraced digital marketing. In definition, digital marketing is the promotion of brands or products via one or more forms of electronic media (Do, 2013). Digital marketing involves the use of channels and methods that enable an organization to analyze marketing campaigns while understanding what works and what does not work in real time. However, to succeed in digital marketing, companies must employ certain tactics or strategies that work hence granting them a firm foundation for online marketing. Companies must formulate some strategies that take into consideration different aspects in order to survive. One of the best-known frameworks for developing digital marketing strategies that can best work if applied in all companies is the SOSTAC framework. SOSTAC stands for six elements, which are Situation analysis, Objective, Strategy, Tactics, Actions and Control. Through the Situational analysis, companies in digital marketing must analyze the e-environment where elements such as competitors, market trends, resources and company limits amongst others are analyzed. Secondly, there is the aspect of Objectives in which companies must pursue to acquire, retain and satisfy customers. Next are the Strategies of achieving such followed by the Tactics such as marketing mix and timeline schedules of achieving company goals. After the tactics part, we have the Actions segment dealing with the plans put in place dealing with issues such as who does what and when. Lastly, we have the Control segment where monitoring the performance of the plan such as using web analytics or customer feedbacks are used (Smith, 2011). Many strategies in digital marketing exist. However, social media marketing is one of the most embraced strategies used by majority of companies dealing in digital marketing. Social media is easy to use and can reach majority of people at the click of the button hence becoming one of the most preferred method employed by companies dealing in online or digital marketing. However, there is a need to asses or look into a situational assessment or environmental scan that companies engaged in digital marketing must consider. A. Situational Assessment / Environmental Scan – the broad view Competitive Landscape Digital marketing is a competitive field with new entrants on almost daily basis due to fairly low capital requirements and ease of access to distribution channels (Raghunathan & Sarkar, 2016). In digital marketing, there is nothing worse than losing the game to a mediocre competitor since they are savvy in terms of online presence amongst others. The threat of new entrants in the market who offer content with unimaginable speeds has a likelihood of pushing some companies engaged in digital marketing out of business. Some of the primary competitors include companies such as 3M, Alexander Street Press and AOL amongst others engaging in content creation, search and analytics and distribution and delivery amongst others (Raghunathan & Sarkar, 2016). Competitive advantage can then be increased by serving or adding value to the internet such as speed, growing sales to attract business, speaking directly with consumers, saving and sizzling or extending online brand (Chaffey & Smith, 2006). Regulatory In many countries across the globe, digital marketing is regulated by a number of legislative rules put in place. The three levels of government such as the National government, the Federal government and local or municipal governments all have laws that govern digital marketing. Some regulations include Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading and Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive. Managers, especially in digital marketing should therefore have sufficient knowledge in legal practices that may affect their businesses (Hosea, 2016). Economic Factors Both international and domestic digital marketing firms are affected by dynamic economic conditions that are prevalent in the market. Online marketers may be affected directly or indirectly by a strong or a weak economy. For instance, the newspaper industry has been reeling for the better part of the decade as consumers turn into online channels for information. This trend results in job losses amongst others. Such economic changes may have a big impact on digital marketing as the need to adapt to latest marketing trends may be necessary (Do, 2013). Social Trends Consumer behavior decisions are lately increasing while becoming more complex in nature. Lately, it is being reported that there are drastic changes on how consumers use digital media and technology requiring firms that offer digital content to change so as to suit customer demands. It is argued that mobile usage is on the increase. The usage of mobile apps is also on the increase hence affecting how firms and companies dealing in digital marketing operate. For this reason, companies such as AOL are also adapting to how they offer their services in order to suit or fit in the market (Dibb, 2014). Technological Factors Common technology issues can affect firms dealing in digital marketing. Instances such as servers being down to software and browser issues causing banner adverts and website to load slowly or not to load at all my affect strategies put across by businesses in digital marketing. For instance, companies dealing in video marketing need equipments such as digital cameras, audio recording equipments, lights and expertise familiar with such equipments (Wei & Xiao, 2012). Natural Factors There are some natural and unforeseen factors that may have a negative impact on digital marketing. As we may be aware, nearly all businesses are exposed to some level of risk and when natural disasters strike, such businesses are faced with unexpected and damaging situations. Electricity lines may be destroyed or servers damaged hence affecting online marketing at a wider scale (Dibb, 2014). B. SWOT Analysis Strengths / Weaknesses – internal assessment Opportunities / Threats – external assessment Even though the world is moving towards digital marketing, it has been reported that digital marketing is an area constantly facing challenges. A SWOT analysis is an integral part of any business or marketing plan. When creating a digital marketing plan, a SWOT analysis is one of the most essential steps. A SWOT analysis will highlight the necessary steps that will position digital marketing companies at greater heights of success. A SWOT analysis is an in-depth analysis of bringing out the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of a company. Here, we are going to analyze SWOT mechanisms that digital marketing companies need know. Strengths There are some internal attributes that can work as strengths for companies in digital marketing. Well-optimized websites, opted-in emails, dedicated employees, engaged social media accounts and well-defined consistent strategies may be advantageous (Do, 2013). Weaknesses Some internal factors that can be against a positive outcome include lack of budgets, lack of time to carry out strategies, outdated websites, slow web pages and lack of employee dedication (Do, 2013). Opportunities External aspects that can be capitalized for a success in a given strategy include high engagement with campaigns, positive reviews from customers and having a positive relationship with influencers of social media (Do, 2013). Threats There are some outside forces that can harm digital marketing. For instance, high competition for online spaces, engaging with users who have ad blockers, negative reviews and significant amount of time spent in keeping up with latest trends may be a threat (Do, 2013). C. Problem Statement A successful digital marketing platform is said to both a vision and a strategy that marketing firms have to adapt to. In an era characterized by technological advancements, marketing teams still have a lot of trouble adapting to strategies best suited for digital marketing (Betka et al, 2016). In fact, recent released reports indicate that majority of companies do not have sufficient resources for digital marketing. In addition, majority of them do not explore channels meant to reach wide audiences hence affecting their businesses. To avoid such, companies must adapt a vision and a strategy towards that vision for digital marketing to be a success (Ryan & Jones, 2009). D. Alternatives There are other alternatives other than social media marketing that companies dealing in digital marketing can choose to pursue. They include: •	Search engine marketing- These refer to actions meant to encourage or promote click-through to several websites from search sites such as Yahoo, MSN and Google amongst others (McDonald, 2014). •	Online PR- This refers to use of online platforms such as blogs and social networks to maximize interactions with the public. •	Opt-in email marketing- Here, online marketing is done by sending emails to a list of people who have agreed to subscribe into a given company’s mailing list. •	Interactive advertising- Interactive advertising involves the use of banners and rich media advertisements published in websites for purposes of interactive marketing. Such online tools are used to attract click-through to specific target sites (Chaffey & Smith, 2011). E Criteria/Evaluation As indicated before, digital marketing strategies have been embraced by majority of firms and companies across the globe. However, it is a good idea to take some time and regularly evaluate how well the strategy such as social media marketing is performing. There are several ways of doing it. For instance, increased profit margins directly linked to online marketing of certain products are one of the criteria. Others include evaluating the number of social shares that the above alternative receives, the size of customer fan base, inbound website visitors from social networks, staff turnover rates, customer feedback and reviews and high market share amongst others (Maw-Liann et al, 2015).

F Analysis of the Alternatives Search engine marketing has been praised for being free and more trustworthy. However, they appear to lack control and while requiring long-term investment. Online PR on the other hand is cost effective, has instant gratification and can be made to target a specific group. However, it offers too many choices, which have a poor scope and poor measurability. Opt-in email marketing are praised for building relationships, faster to produce, demonstrate expertise and create brand awareness. However, they lack personal touch, needs time to produce and may not be read. Interactive adverts are exceptional in raising advertiser interest while bringing more money into the economy. However, they dilute the value of advertising and ignore revenue as a metric value (Do, 2013). G. Recommendation Majority of strategies chosen by companies dealing in digital marketing are those ones meant to ensure that it is easy to build traffic, acquire users and retain users or customers (Do, 2013). However, as indicated above, search engine marketing seems to be the preferred based on its ability to result in user attraction and user retention (Do, 2013). H. Action Plan Firms dealing in digital marketing have to ensure that they have staffs that are knowledgeable enough to build site content on its early days. In addition, they must ensure that they have marketing staff that will be tasked with creating a marketing plan while ensuring that they perform marketing activities. Additionally, firms should have groups tasked with finding contact information of target audience, groups tasked with writing and posting articles, groups that share articles on social media networks and blogs and comment on articles amongst others (Do, 2013). I. Contingency Plan Not all plans or strategies can work. Some are bound to fail in the long run. Firms dealing in digital marketing should therefore have a fall-back plan or plan B incase the ones put in place fail or do not produce the intended results. It is argued that social media crisis communication has lately become an area of concern for companies dealing in digital marketing (Patrutiu, 2015). However, the plan to action to respond should be simple and straight forward. A team of experts should be assembled to determine where the problem is while seeking to create content that satisfies the customer. Conclusion To conclude, digital marketing is one of the latest trends being adopted by majority of companies across the globe. As we have seen above, companies are in a struggle to achieve competitive advantage while striving to increase the profitability ratios. Additionally, latest technological trends are here with us. The evolution of mobile phones, mobile applications, blogs, social sites and the media amongst others have had an impact on how companies operate. Such trends have led to a sharp increase in digital marketing as it is possible to reach millions of people with a clock of a button. More importantly, social media marketing seems to be the preferred strategy of digital marketing applicable in majority of firms. Overall, better digital marketing strategies have been the reason why some companies have been so successful. References Betka, J., Chatwani, R., Kim, P., Phillips, M., Esber, D., & Gregg, B. (2016). Discussions on digital: The new world of marketing. Mckinsey Quarterly, 1-7. Chaffey, D., & Smith, P. (2008). Emarketing Excellence: planning and optimizing your digital marketing. Routledge. Dibb, S. (2014). Up, up and away: social marketing breaks free. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(11-12), 1159-1185. Do, C. (2013). Digital Marketing Plan for a News Agency. 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Rowley, J. (2008). Understanding Digital Content Marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 24(5/6), 517-540. Ryan, D., & Jones, C. (2009). Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. London: Kogan Page. Smith, P. (2011). The SOSTAC Guide - to writing the perfect plan. PR Smith; 5(1), 1-67. Wei, L., & Xiao, J. (2012). Factors affecting the take-off of innovative technologies: evidence from digital cameras. Applied Economics, 44(32), 4143-4152