Digital Marketing

Module-1:
Q: What is Digital Marketing?
Ans: Digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the
internet. Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email,
and their websites to connect with current and prospective customers.
● Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and
at the right time. Today, that means you need to meet them where they are already
spending time: on the internet. Enter digital marketing — in other words, any form of
marketing that exists online.
● Digital marketing is defined by the use of numerous digital tactics and channels to
connect with customers where they spend much of their time: online. From the website
itself to a business’s online branding assets — digital advertising, email marketing,
online brochures, and beyond — there’s a spectrum of tactics that fall under the
umbrella of “digital marketing.”
Q: Why Digital marketing?

Traditional versus Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is very different from traditional marketing in multiple ways. While traditional
marketing is spray and pray, wherein a marketer spreads the message among many audiences
and hopes that some will be in the market to buy the product, digital marketing can be targeted
to specific audiences who have interest in the product and hence are already in the market to
buy those products. There is a saying in mass media - 'Half of advertising is waste. But I don't
know which half'. Digital overcomes this limitation of mass media as it eliminates wastage.
Digital marketing is about maximizing efficiency. Since it is possible to measure performance of
digital marketing in real time, there is ample scope to tweak the campaigns and improve ROI.
Marketers can do A/B testing to find the most effective messages, images, ads, targeting, and
layout. In digital, there is always scope for improvement. While mass media is priced on rate
card basis for 10 second spot on TV or column centimeter for newspaper, digital is priced based
on auction. Instead of fixed rate card, marketers bid in auction and price is determined based on
bid as well as quality score. Hence, there is fair price discovery that happens in digital. Digital
marketing creates a level playing field for all marketers as it does not distinguish between small
and large businesses. The entry barrier is low as one can engage in digital marketing even with
little budget. The media rates are same for small as well as big businesses. The cost of failure is
low in digital marketing. Even if the campaign does not work, you will know immediately and can
take corrective action. You may lose only a small amount if your plan fails. Hence, it is a smart
strategy to be bit edgy and try new ideas and different mediums of digital marketing to check out
what works for you and what does not. Digital marketing is like walking in the fog. Visibility is
there only for the first 10 meters. If you want more visibility, you must walk the first 10 meters to
be able to see the next 10. Hence, instead of waiting for the perfect plan or blueprint, you should
start digital marketing and learn on the go. Instead of perfecting your strategy from day one, it is
better to make 1 per cent improvement every day and at the end of the year you will have 365
per cent improvement. In digital, you should go slowly; commit small resources to an idea or
campaign or content. If it works then put more resources behind it. Hence, instead of firing
cannon balls, you should fire gunshots in digital marketing and test the waters.
Here are the Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends:
1. AI in Marketing
2. Augmented Reality
3. Voice Search Optimization
4. Personalization
5. Automated & Personalized Email Marketing
6. Marketing Automation
7. Micro-Influencers
8. Video Marketing
9. YouTube Shorts
10. User-Generated Content
Evolution of Digital Marketing:
1.1990 - The term "Digital Marketing" was coined.
Launch of ARCHIE (first search engine)
2.1993 - First clickable Web-Ad banner.
Hotwire.com (first commercial website) was the first website to display banner Ads.
3.1994 - Launch of Yahoo and first e-commerce transaction over NetMarket.
Amazon e-commerce was established.
4.1995 – eBay site was established.
5. 1996 – launch of smaller search engines like HotBot, LookSmart and Alexa.
6. 1997- Launch of first social media site- SixDegrees.com
7. 1998- Birth of Google
Microsoft launched MSN
Yahoo launched Yahoo! Web search
8. 2000 – Internet bubble bursts.
SixDegrees.com shuts down.
Smaller search engines wiped out.
Google established Adwords to help marketers in advertising their products and services.
9. 2001- First Mobile marketing campaign launched by Universal Music.
10. 2002 - Launch of LinkedIn.
11. 2003 - Release of WordPress and launch of MySpace.
Release of Google Adsense.
12. 2004 - Launch of Gmail.
Google goes public.
Facebook goes live.
Orkut was launched.
13.2005 - Launch of YouTube.
14.2006 - Microsoft launched MS Live search.
Launch of Twitter and Google Admob.
Amazon's e-commerce sales crossed $10 billion( split testing) in marketing.
15.2007 - Launch of Tumblr
Web Streaming service Hulu was founded.
Launch of i-phone.
16.2008 - China overtook US in number of Internet users.
Launch of Spotify
Groupon goes live.
17.2009 - Google's Affiliate network shutdown.
18.2010 - Launch of Google Buzz after Google Wave shutdown.
Whats app was launched.
19.2011 - Google Buzz shutdown.
Launch of Google+ and Google Panda.
20.2013 - Yahoo acquired Tumblr.
21.2014 - Facebook acquires Whats app.
Orkut is dissolved.
22.2015 - Snapchat launched " Discover" features.
23.2016 to 2019 - AI based technology,Voice search,Chatbots and Virtual assistants.
24.2019 - Google+ left the market
25.2021 – 99% of digital marketers use social media sites for marketing purposes
26.2023 – AI Chatbots like ChatGPT have taken over the internet.
Some important terms:
● Split testing:- Also known as A/B testing.
A/B testing, also known as split testing , is a marketing experiment wherein you split your
audience to test a number of variations of a campaign and determine which performs
better.
It is also known as Multivariate testing.
This test is conducted to improve website,ad campaign.
● Google AdWords :- Google Ads is a product that you can use to promote your business,
help sell products or services, raise awareness, and increase traffic to your website.
Google AdWord is a platform where the publisher have to pay some amountto Google
Ad. So that it places the ad. On the top of the SERP (Search Engine Result Page).
● Google Adsense:-AdSense is a free-of-charge, simple way to earn money by displaying
ads next to your online content.
It is a wide platform. In this Google pays to the publisher for advertisement.It helps in
monitising a website and earn money.
 ● Google Admob :- It is a mobile advertising platform. It is a narrow platform as the
advertisements are published in smart phones only. AdMob is a mobile advertising
subsidiary of Google, originally founded by Omar Hamoui. The name AdMob is a
portmanteau for "advertising on mobile".
● Tumblr:- It's is a Micro blogging platform
● Google Wave:- Online Editing Tool
● Google Panda:- It is a software or algorithm in Google used to filter good and bad quality
websites.
DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY
1. The Consumer Decision Journey
In today's world, consumers, even after the purchase, remain engaged and promote the
purchased product amongst their friends, family or colleagues if they are satisfied with the
product. The basic AIDA model of marketing applies to digital marketing too, for consumer
decision process. AIDA is an acronym that stands for A-Awareness, I-Interest, D-Desire, A-
Action. The consumer moves through successive stages in the buying process.
Awareness
It is the first step in the buying process and the most important. Without awareness, the
consumer will not consider the brand for purchase. Digital marketing can play an important role
in creating awareness and some channels of digital marketing are more apt for it. There is
display advertising on websites, social media such as Facebook, Linkedln and YouTube.
Interest
It is not enough for a marketer that a consumer is aware of the brand. Consumers must be
interested in the brand. They must want to know more about the brand, be intrigued by it. This is
only known as 'consideration stage'. Consumers must consider the brand for purchase and it
must be included in their consideration set. In the funnel model, 'interest' stage has large
number of brands. Consumers consider the brands that they have heard about in traditional
channels or on social media or have seen their friends using it. Interest can be sparked by
running highly creative campaigns that break the clutter and stand out. Interesting posts
highlighting the unique benefits of the brand can also spark interest. Highly emotional
messaging can also create emotional connect triggering interest''.
Desire
New media makes it easy for consumers to evaluate the competing choices using inputs from
reviewers, peers, retailers, influencers, specialists, marketer and competitors. Smart marketers
assist consumers in the evaluation process by providing comparative analysis, economic value
calculations, collecting feedback, reviews and ratings and guiding consumers to the channels
which can help them in making choices. De Beers, for example, educates consumers about
what criteria to look for while selecting diamond. It emphasizes on four Cs - Carat, Colour,
Clarity and Cut. Some digital channels that are more apt for this stage are community forums,
blogs and review rating sites. Based on evaluation of different brands, consumers develop
preference for certain brands and they become part of the choice set. This set has much fewer
numbers of brands than awareness set or consideration set.
Action
In this stage, consumers purchase the product that they desire and prefer. This stage generates
revenues for the brand and is the outcome every marketer desires. Having conveniently located
retail outlets or online purchase facility will help the consumers in making the purchase. The
website should have smooth navigation so that consumers can easily find products that they are
looking for at the right price and at the right time. Consumers may drop off at any stage as they
may not like the design of the site or it may be slow to load or they may not find the right variant
of the product or may be seeking discounts or payment may not go through. Marketer must
ensure that all hurdles are removed. In the digital marketing, marketers have a plethora of
channels to choose from - search engines, websites, blogs, social networks, mobiles,
applications, forums. Depending on the stage of the consumer buying cycle, marketers can
choose the most appropriate channels.
2. The P-O-E-M Framework
A good framework that can help you organize your digital marketing strategy is Paid, Owned,
and Earned Media.
Paid media : includes sponsored advertisements in different channels of digital marketing such
as search engines, websites, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. They include campaigns run
through different platforms such as Google AdWords and Campaign Manager of Facebook,
Linkedln, and Twitter. It also includes campaigns run through ad networks or Demand Side
Platforms (DSPs).
Owned media: is like an asset of the company i.e., the company has the ownership of these
media. It includes company's official website, microsite, and social media pages such as
facebook page, LinkedIn page, YouTube channel and Twitter handle. It also includes mobile
apps or blogs, and also the original content created by the company such as videos, images,
infographics and posts.
Earned media: is organic and unpaid. It includes publicity that is generated through
recommendations and word of mouth. It also includes social media engagement such as likes,
shares, comments, replies, re tweets, favorites, etc. Earned media is generated by users and
hence is more credible and has the power to give exponential reach to the marketer. Earned
media accrues only when users like the content and engage with it. The combination of 'owned,
earned, paid media' is regarded as one of the best practices in digital marketing. There should
be a balance between all media and it should not be lopsided towards one. It means, as a
brand, you should not focus only on one media and ignore others. For instance, it is not a good
strategy to depend largely on paid ads and not focus on earned media. Focus is related to
budget allocation. A simple thumb rule is to divide the budget equally between paid and
owned/earned media. This is a best practice which means that you must allocate 50 per cent of
your digital marketing budget to create content for your digital assets and getting engagement,
and remaining 50 per cent on running paid ads. Though the owned and earned media are
organic and hence more credible and provide higher quality traffic, they take longer time to
show results. Hence, owned and earned media should be part of your long-term strategy.
Paid media, on the other hand, will increase your reach, impressions in the short term but once
you stop running paid ads, you may not get repeated engagement or traction. Hence, the best
practice is to strike a balance between long-term and short-term mediums. Moreover, while
marketer may not have control on whether fans will engage with content or not organically, paid
media guarantees certain reach and impressions. Typically, in India, marketers tend to focus
more on paid media and less on investing in creating quality content; and budget is sometimes
as high as 75 per cent for paid media. The distribution of budget is also a function of the stage
of the brand in its lifecycle. If the brand is in the introduction stage, it needs more awareness
which requires more reach and impressions and that too within a short period as the brand
cannot wait for long to build awareness. Hence, more budgets can be allocated at the
introduction stage to paid media. However, if the brand is already known and is in the maturity
or growth stage, it will have steady stream of customers engaging and buying, and hence need
not rely on paid ads to great extent. Thus, more budgets can be allocated to owned/earned
media to drive engagement and loyalty.

4Cs of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing's development since the 1990s and 2000s has changed the way brands and
businesses us technology for marketing. As digital platforms are increasingly incorporated into
marketing plans and everyday life, and as people use digital devices more and more, to
accompany the 4Cs of classical marketing, Aditya Soni of Flipkart proposed Content, Cost,
Channel and Creativity as the 4Cs.A fifth C viz Collaboration be added since Consumer 2.0 is
constantly communicating and collaborating with one another.
i. Content
Content is the real king in the digital world. Make sure that Content you create is
worthy of “consumption” and “being shared” (in that order). Ease of consumption is a
factor of how much intrigue you can create in the simplest manner possible which
can be recreated easily. Ability to recreate your content is important - it allows
consumers to talk about it and discuss it with others.
ii. Cost
Cost per Click. Cost per Mille. Cost per Install. Cost per Action. Cost per Lead. Cost
per Day… Today’s digital advertising is filled with many different pricing options. A
few years before, there only used to be two options: CPC (cost per click) & CPM
(cost per 1000 impressions). Now there are dozens. Pricing options have important
implications on your budgeting strategy. While CPC, CPX seems to be gaining much
popularity in the recent past traditional CPM pricing will never go away. Many
campaigns are focused more on branding than ROI, in which impressions and reach
are important measures of campaign success. However, progress is being made on
alternatives and refinements to existing models, such as CPVM (cost-per-viewable
impression).Choose the right option by going back to your core marketing objective &
make sure that you stick to your objective
iii. Channel
There are in-numerous digital marketing channels out there. Having clarity of what
channels needs to be used comes out with overall organizational / marketing
objective. Below is “The Content Distribution Matrix” by Dave Chaffey which I
stumbled upon surfing the internet. The info graphic is a ready reckoner for
marketers to make prudent decision while deciding their channel mix.
iv. Creativity
 Perhaps the most difficult of the Cs. World of digital marketing is still nascent and
every year amazing breakthrough ideas come & promise to revolutionize the
ecosystem. Be creative not only in content you create for the audience but also be
aware about the different creative ways of taking the same to them. Creativity is not
restricted to design. Yes design is important, but also make sure that what you
create is interesting, exciting and appealing. Every year the consumer is maturing
and increasing the kind of content s/he is ready to consume on the internet.
Digital Marketing Landscape
The digital marketing landscape is a constantly evolving state of digital media and advertising
including social media marketing, influencer marketing, pay - per -click advertising, search
engine marketing, search engine optimization, content marketing, web development, email
marketing, video production, podcasting, online reputation management, and mobile
applications.
The components of Digital marketing landscape:
a) Search Engine Optimization(SEO)
b) Search Engine Marketing(SEM)
c) Sales funnel
d) Social media marketing
e) Pod casting
f) Affiliate marketing
g) Content marketing
h) Web analytics
i) Conversion rate optimization(CRO)
j) Email marketing
k) Influencer marketing
l) Pay- per- click(PPC) Advertisement
m) Blogging
 Search engine optimization: It is organic search. Here, publisher need not pay to
Google Ad. For higher visibility as the website is so popular that it is placed at the top of
the SERP. In this case Ad. is not mentioned.
 Search engine marketing: It is paid search. Here, publisher pay to google ad. to get
higher visibility. In this case Ad. is mentioned.
 Sales funnel: It is visual representation of consumer purchase journey.
The consumer buying process depends on AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action).
 Social media marketing: Marketing techniques that uses the platform of social media
network to sale their product.
 Podcasting: Audio streaming service
 Web analytics: Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of
web data to understand and optimize web usage. It helps to know the web traffic or how
many customers/viewers have visited the website.
 Conversion rate optimization (CRO): It is the process of increasing the percentage of
users or website visitors to take a desired action (such as buying a product or leaving
contact details). More is the conversion more is the profit.
  Influencer marketing: Influencer marketing involves brands collaborating with online
influencers to market products and services. It is a way of promoting your product taking
the help of influencers or celebrities through online media.
Key Drivers of Digital Marketing
 Identify the target customer
 Monitor an review
 Inbound marketing
 Content optimization
 Evoke emotion
 Craft the message
 Understanding the consumer behavior
 Pick the right platform for right people
Digital consumer and communities
Today’s consumer is more cognizant of the marketing messages all around them, leaving them
more likely to tune out advertisements or other forms of marketing communication.
According to Seth Godin (author of Permission Marketing) today’s consumer receives roughly
one million marketing messages a year on average.
 Overwhelmed consumers are becoming adept at tuning out marketing messages.
 Business and marketing professionals refer to this saturation as “clutter”.
 Digital marketers turn to technology to help reach target consumers. The goal for digital
marketers is to focus on interactive elements, encouraging consumers to participate in
the marketing process through various marketing means such as Internet marketing,
Mobile marketing, Social marketing, Viral marketing.
 The dynamics of the digital marketing industry is rapidly growing beyond conventional
methods such as advertising and influencer reach. As several businesses and modes of
consumer ship are shifting online, it has become imperative to stay on top of trends,
discover new marketing strategies and hack innovative tactics. With the emergence of AI-
driven technologies, the online space is becoming an evolving ecosystem where screen
time yields money.
 What is fuelling on-demand marketing is the continued, symbiotic evolution of technology
and consumer expectations. Already, search technologies have made product
information ubiquitous; social media encourages consumers to share, compare and rate
experiences; and mobile devices add a ‘wherever’ dimension to the digital environment.
Baby Boomers:
Baby boomers were born between 1944 and 1964. They're current between 55-75 years old.
Gen X: Gen X was born between 1965 - 1979 and are currently between 40-54 years old.
Gen Y: Gen Y, or Millennials, were born between 1980 and 1994. They are currently between
25-39 years old. Gen Y.1 = 25-29 years old Gen Y.2 = 29-39. Gen Z: Gen Z is the newest
generation to be named and those who were born between 1995 and 2015. They are
currently between 4-24 years old.
Who are digital consumers?
People who use technology to buy and sell products and services are known as digital
consumers. They are the same people who walk into your business, order on a telephone, or
 request for a discount. These are normal people like us. For an instance, an internet user
who is reading article from webpage.

GENERATION Y-EXPECTATIONS AND INFLUENCE

This section explores the characteristics and personality of Gen Y, the challenges they pose
for organizations, and their evolving expectations. Organization that have succeeded in
engaging with Gen Y know that, along with accelerating the adoption of new digital
technology, this generation also poses additional challenges due to their evolving
expectations. This Generation is best perceived not only as a uniform group but also as an
evolving mind-set. The demands and expectations of this group are trending upwards an to
older generation, which makes them all the more important to take note of. Generation Y,
today, is the catalyst and the incubators of change, and each day their influence is growing in
consumer and corporate environments implying that the organizations must learn to engage
effectively now, or risk being eliminated from the game. To attract this young generation, both
as consumers and as employees, a company cannot just look good -it has to be good. This
generation want it all, but above all, it seeks transparency. It is no longer practical for
organizations to state one thing and be another as the digital data trail provides this
generation with the methods and tools to spread their opinion about a brand virally and with
unimagined consequences. This has significant implications for brand reputation
management and customer loyalty. This generation want to ensure that the organizations it
engages with are genuine and not a hologram or mirage with a Marketing front' that belies
their reality Authentic, direct, and personal engagements are even more important than
advertising to reach this generation. Above all, Generation Y is no longer content with the old
corporate and political model. It demands transformational change, and where they cannot
find it, they look to invent it themselves. According to research conducted by Ernst and
Young, other Gen Y expectations include the following:
 Collaborative, networked learning : The average user spends 55 minutes a day on
Facebook
 fast, easy ,and fun communication : Gen Y adults spend 15+hours a week on the
Internet
 Visible peer recommendations in decision making : 80% of the consumers believe
peer recommendations, but only 14 %trust advertisements
 Immediate feedback : 34%of bloggers post opinions about products and brands
 Environmentally aware: 96% of Gen Y want an environmentally aware workplace
 Flexibility: A total of 56% of Gen Y prefers to work flexibly and chooses when to work
and 79%prefers to be mobile rather than static workers. Gen Y already represents
over a quarter of the world's population and the proportion is growing.
Not only will the members of Gen Y be among the most powerful consumers in history; as they
enter the workforce, their impact there will be equally impossible to ignore. They display the
same lack of patience as employees as they show as consumers, and companies must address
their evolving expectations to avoid high recruitment and churn costs. What is more, this
generation has significant ideas and is willing to share them company-wide; They represent a
useful resource every company should listen to.
Netizen’s influence
 Digital-savvy consumers are well informed: the internet has been around for quite a time
and people now have learned how to fully utilize its power. As people become more
aware of the modern communication technology, they use it more efficiently. This means
marketers have to give their best in order to win well-informed prospects.
 They want relevant and quick information: excessive information and a variety of options
have made people accustomed to getting the right and hazard-free solutions within
seconds. For example, if your website is not responsive or slow, the visitors are likely to
bounce back and move on to the next option. It is the instant gratification that makes a
visitor love your site. So, while you build a website for your business, make sure that it
provides engaging material and highly relevant information.
 They share a lot: online consumers have unlimited opportunities and platforms where
they can talk about their experiences, share valuable information, ask for
recommendations, provide reviews, and leave comments. In other words, user-
generated content plays a crucial role in your online success and promotion.
 Opinion leaders or influencers warrant a special mention when it comes to
understanding digital consumers in particular and digital marketing in general. They use
the power of internet to promote the products and services that they admire. They have
already established their authority in the hearts of digital consumers. This is the reason
why influencers are important people for online marketers. People pay attention to what
they say or write.
One way to understand your online consumers is to build meaningful relationships with
influencers in your industry. When you engage with influencers in a positive way, you
recruit a team of influential advocates who can completely revolutionize the way you
communicate and engage with your prospects and customers.
Following are some of the signs of influencers:
 They have considerably large social circle with millions of fans
 They make an excessive use of social platforms like blogs, social channels,
forums, and online communities to talk about their experiences of different
products and services.
 When they recommend a product or service, people follow them almost blindly.
 They are experts in what they do.
Identify the influencers within your industry, understand their way of working, and connect with
them in order to boost up your digital marketing campaigns. Do not just go for a random
influencer who has nothing to do with your industry. That would certainly be a waste of time.
Some people think connecting with celebrities would be of great help. In fact, it is does not worth
your time or money.
Keep in mind that even great marketing minds would struggle to sell a product that does not
deliver value. One of the lessons we can learn from Steve Jobs is his motto to ‘build insanely
great products’. When you focus on building great products, you do not have to spend so much
time struggling to understand the behavior of your digital consumers. If your products or
services do not deliver what you promise, your online buyers will not hesitate to share the
unsatisfactory experiences. Therefore, build the very foundation of your online business on
great products.
Promotion does the rest
Once you have built the best you can, it’s time to promote it both online and across the off-line
platforms in order to place your products in front of the target audience. Following are some of
the essential techniques to promote things online:

Website is central: website plays a crucial role in all of your digital marketing endeavors. It is the
place to which all of your digital activities will direct your prospects. Digital consumers do not
tolerate an ill-organized, slow, and visually poor site. This means your site should be able to
grab the attention of visitors. Precisely speaking, your website is your online conversion engine.
Test and optimize: successful marketers test and optimize every marketing effort that they
make. Search engine optimization is one of the techniques to improve the visibility of a website
in SERPs. Digital consumers do not have time to find you if your site is buried deep down the
SERPs.
Marketing: mobile marketing, email marketing, and paid marketing are some of the tools you
can use to promote your business effectively. Email marketing or paid marketing might not be
suitable for your business. However, mobile marketing is absolutely essential for any modern
business. You will find most of your digital consumers on mobile devices.
Make things simple
Keeping things simple would help you build a meaningful digital customer journey.
Following are some of the questions to help you develop a better understanding of your digital
customers:
What kind of digital devices your customers use to visit your website?
Is your website optimized for those devices?
What is it that drives your customers to make buying decisions?
What social channels are your prospects using?
Social media provides a great opportunity to understand and engage with your online
customers. Websites like Facebook and Twitter provide an unparalleled opportunity to reach out
to your potential digital audience.
It is not hard to understand digital consumers. Understanding your digital consumers would be
the beginning of your online success.

Prepared by-
Puspanjali Mishra
MBA Faculty, IMIT.