Marketing An Introduction, Bab 15

M a rk e tin g
A n In tro d u c tio n
Fifteenth Edition
Global Edition
O GARY ARM STRONG

University of North Carolina
O P H IL IP K O T L E R
N orthw estern University
with
O M A R C O L IV E R O P R E S N IK
St. Gallen M anagem ent Institute
©
Pearson
H a rlo w , England * L o n d o n * N ew Y o rk • B o s to n * San F rancisco * T o ro n to * S ydney • D u hai * S in g a p o re * H ong Kong
Tokyo • Seoul • Taipei ■ New D elhi ■ Cape Tow n ■ Sao Paulo • M exico City ■ M adrid ■ A m s te rd a m ■ M un ic h • Paris ■ M ila n
14 Digital Marketing
O b je c tiv e s O u tlin e
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -1 D e fin e digital marketing a n d d is c u s s its ra p id g r o w th a n d
b e n e fits to c u s t o m e r s a n d c o m p a n ie s .
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -2 D is c u s s t h e c o n s u m e r a n d m a r k e t re s e a r c h r e q u ir e d t o d e s ig n
a n e f fe c tiv e d ig ita l m a r k e tin g c a m p a ig n .
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -3 D i s c u s s t h e d if f e r e n t d i g i t a l c h a n n e l s a n d m e d i a a n d e x p l a in
h o w c o m p a n ie s e m p lo y t h e m t o c r e a te a n o m n i-c h a n n e l m a r k e tin g s tr a te g y .
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -4 Id e n t if y a n d d is c u s s t h e p u b lic p o lic y is s u e s p r e s e n te d b y
d ig ita l m a r k e tin g .
P r e v ie w in g th e C o n c e p ts
In p r e v i o u s c h a p t e r s , y o u e x p l o r e d t h e b a s i c s o f m a r k e t i n g . Y o u l e a r n e d t h a t t h e a i m o f
m a r k e t i n g is t o e n g a g e c u s t o m e r s a n d t o c r e a t e v a l u e f o r t h e m in o r d e r t o c a p t u r e v a l u e
f r o m t h e m in r e t u r n . G o o d m a r k e t i n g c o m p a n i e s w i n , k e e p , a n d g r o w c u s t o m e r s b y
u n d e r s ta n d in g c u s t o m e r n e e d s , d e s ig n in g c u s t o m e r v a lu e - d r iv e n m a r k e tin g s tr a te g ie s ,
c o n s tr u c tin g v a lu e -d e liv e r in g m a r k e tin g p r o g r a m s , e n g a g in g c u s to m e r s , a n d b u ild in g
c u s t o m e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s . In t h i s c h a p t e r , w e d i g d e e p e r i n t o t h e f a s t e s t - g r o w i n g f o r m o f
m a r k e tin g : d ig it a l m a r k e tin g (w h ic h in c lu d e s o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , a n d m o b ile m a r k e tin g ).
O v e r th e p a s t d e c a d e , m a r k e tin g h a s u n d e r g o n e a d r a m a tic t r a n s f o r m a t io n s p u r r e d b y th e
s u r g e in i n t e r n e t u s a g e a n d b u y in g a s w e l l a s r a p i d a d v a n c e s in d i g i t a l t e c h n o l o g i e s — f r o m
s m a r tp h o n e s , ta b le ts , a n d lo T d e v ic e s t o th e s p a t e o f o n lin e , m o b ile , a n d s o c ia l m e d ia . A s
y o u r e a d t h i s c h a p t e r , r e m e m b e r t h a t a l t h o u g h w e a d d r e s s s p e c i a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s in d ig i t a l
m a r k e tin g s t r a t e g y s e p a r a t e ly h e r e , d ig ita l m a r k e tin g m u s t b e c a r e f u lly in te g r a te d w ith
o t h e r e l e m e n t s o f m a r k e t i n g s t r a t e g y a n d t h e m a r k e t i n g m ix .
L e t ’s s t a r t b y l o o k i n g a t S a m s u n g , t h e w o r l d ’s l a r g e s t i n f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y c o m
p a n y b y r e v e n u e . T h e c o m p a n y h a s b l o s s o m e d i n t o o n e o f t h e m o s t p o w e r f u l n a m e s in
t h e t e c h i n d u s t r y . O n e o f t h e k e y r e a s o n s t o S a m s u n g ’s s u c c e s s is i t s i n t e g r a t e d m a r k e t
in g s tr a te g y , w h ic h t a k e s a d v a n ta g e o f s u r g in g d ig ita l o p p o r t u n it ie s f o r d ir e c t, u p -c lo s e -
a n d - p e r s o n a l i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h c u s t o m e r s . S a m s u n g ’s d i g i t a l d i r e c t m a r k e t i n g c a p a b i l i t y
s t r e n g t h e n s i t s b r a n d a d v o c a c y a n d e l e v a t e s i t s b r a n d lo y a lt y . T h e c o m p a n y h a s b e c o m e a
p o in t o f r e fe r e n c e f o r d ir e c t a n d d ig it a l m a r k e tin g , a n d c o n t in u e s to e n g a g e c u s to m e r s a n d
c r e a te d ir e c t, p e r s o n a liz e d c u s t o m e r r e la tio n s h ip s .
F ir s t S to p
S a m s u n g E le c tr o n ic s : E n g a g in g C u s to m e r s
G lo b a lly v ia S o c ia l M e d ia M a r k e tin g
S a m s u n g E le c tro n ic s C o. L td ., th e fla g s h ip s u b s id ia ry o f th e S a m s u n g
G ro u p , h a s b e e n th e w o r ld ’s la rg e s t in fo rm a tio n te c h n o lo g y c o m p a n y b y
re v e n u e s in c e 2 0 0 9 . T h e c o m p a n y h a s a s s e m b ly p la n ts a n d s a le s n e t
w o r k s in 8 4 c o u n trie s a n d e m p lo y s m o re th a n 3 2 0 ,0 0 0 p e o p le a ro u n d
th e w o rld . O n e o f th e k e y re a s o n s to S a m s u n g ’s o n g o in g s u c c e s s is its
m a rk e tin g s tra te g y , w h ic h it h a s g re a tly e x p a n d e d in re c e n t y e a rs to ta k e
a d v a n ta g e o f th e s u rg in g d ig ita l o p p o rtu n itie s fo r d ire c t, u p -c lo s e -a n d -
p e rs o n a l in te ra c tio n s w ith c u s to m e rs .
T o d a y , S a m s u n g ’s d ig ita l d ir e c t m a r k e tin g c a p a b ility s tr e n g th e n s
its b ra n d a d v o c a c y a n d e le v a te s its b r a n d lo y a lty . S a m s u n g ’s b r o a d -
b a s e d d ir e c t m a r k e tin g s tr a te g y e m p lo y s a w id e ra n g e o f c u ttin g -
e d g e d ig ita l t o o ls to e n g a g e c u s to m e r s . A ll o v e r th e g lo b e , S a m s u n g
h a s b e e n s u c c e s s fu l a t d r iv in g c o n s u m e r b e h a v io r f r o m a w a r e n e s s » Samsung socially enables its customers and brand ambassadors

to c o n s id e r a tio n to p u r c h a s e th r o u g h its s o c ia l m e d ia s tra te g y . In through its social media presence to network with others by fostering
2020, Sam sung E le c tr o n ic s w a s ra n k e d f ifth in I n t e r b r a n d ’s B e s t advocacy and celebration of its products and services.
G lo b a l B ra n d s , w ith a b r a n d v a lu e o f $ 6 2 .3 b illio n , w h ic h is a tw e lv e Y a a c o v D a g a n /A la m y S to c k P h o to
f o ld in c r e a s e f r o m its fir s t b r a n d e v a lu a tio n in 2 0 0 0 .

H o w H o w to b e a m o n g th e f ir s t to r e c e iv e a n d e x p lo r e t h e G a la x y
S a m s u n g ’s c u s to m e r s f o r m a c o m m u n ity a c r o s s th e c o m p a n y ’s
N o te 5. T h e r e s u lt w a s a f ilm s h o t o v e r a m a r a th o n 2 4 - h o u r p e r io d
m any w eb- and m o b ile - b a s e d p la tfo r m s — F a c e b o o k , T w itte r, a n d
t h a t s h o w e d h o w t h e s e c r e a t o r s w e r e u s in g t h e n e w p h o n e in t h e ir
Y o u T u b e — th a t in te r a c ts d ir e c tly w ith th e c o m p a n y a n d w ith o n e a n
r e s p e c t iv e p u r s u it s . S a m s u n g in g e n io u s ly a s s o c ia t e d th e p h o n e
o t h e r S a m s u n g h a s b e e n a b le to le v e ra g e t h is c o m m u n ity f o r its s o
w ith e x p e r ie n c e s r a t h e r t h a n p r e s e n t in g c u s t o m e r s w it h a lis t o f
c ia l m e d ia m a rk e tin g . It in v e s ts in p r o m o tin g a ro u n d 3 0 p e r c e n t o f its
n e w s p e c if ic a tio n s .
F a c e b o o k c o n te n t. S a m s u n g M o b ile g e ts b a c k a r o u n d 8 0 p e r c e n t o f
A n o t h e r to o l to e n h a n c e b r a n d a w a r e n e s s a n d e n g a g e c u s to m
a ll in te r a c tio n s fr o m th e p r o m o te d m a te ria l. O n a v e ra g e , t h is is 8 0 0
e r s w a s S a m s u n g M o b ile r s , a n a m b a s s a d o r s ’ p r o g r a m in 2 0 1 4 in
p e r c e n t h ig h e r in te ra c tio n ra te th a n n o r m a l o r g a n ic p o s ts . T h is a p
w h ic h a c tiv e S a m s u n g m o b ile lo y a lis ts w e r e p r o v id e d w ith S a m s u n g
p r o a c h h a s e n a b le d S a m s u n g to g e n e r a te a m u c h h ig h e r v o lu m e
d e v ic e s a h e a d o f m a r k e t re le a s e s o th e y
of e n g a g e m e n t p e r p o s t c o m p a re d to its c o m p e tito r s . S am sung
c o u ld f r e e ly t a lk a b o u t t h e ir u s e r
h a s a d o p te d th e p o lic y o f a n s w e rin g fir s t a n d la s t to t h e ir p o te n tia l
e x p e r ie n c e and p r o v id e th e ir
c u s to m e rs .
fe e d b a c k a n d in s ig h ts o n
T h e ir a p p r o a c h is in s t a r k c o n t r a s t t o t h e ir m a in c o m p e t it o r
th e a s s ig n e d d e v ic e s
A p p le , w h ic h t e n d s to b e r e la t iv e ly s ile n t a n d o n ly f o c u s e s o n
s o c ia l m e d ia w h e n t h e y h a v e a n e w la u n c h o r a m a jo r p u b lic it y u s in g t h e ir ow n so- t S a m s u n g ’s p a s s i o n f o r c r e a t i n g
c r is is . S am sung has e n c o u ra g e d an e n v ir o n m e n t o f advocacy c ia l m e d ia a c c o u n ts . s u p e r b o n lin e c u s to m e r e x p e r ie n c e s
a n d c e le b r a t io n o f its p r o d u c ts a n d s e r v ic e s a m o n g its c u s t o m M o b ile r s a re o fte n h a s m a d e it a p o s t e r c h ild f o r d ir e c t
e r s a n d b r a n d a m b a s s a d o r s th r o u g h it s s o c ia l m e d ia p r e s e n c e . o ffe r e d th e o p p o r a n d d ig ita l m a r k e tin g , a n d t h e c o m p a n y
M o r e o v e r, S am sung s u c c e s s f u lly engages c u s to m e rs g lo b a lly tu n ity to p a r tic ip a te c o n tin u e s to e n g a g e c u s to m e r s a n d
a n d d i r e c t ly v ia in f lu e n c e r s a n d k e y o p in io n le a d e r s . S a m s u n g ’s in m a r k e tin g e v e n ts c r e a te d ir e c t, p e r s o n a liz e d c u s to m e r
s o c ia l m e d ia p re s e n c e has been s tre n g th e n e d in r e c e n t y e a r s a c ro s s th e w o r ld , ^ r e la tio n s h ip s .
d u e to its e f f o r t s to la u n c h its G a la x y s m a r t p h o n e s a n d ta b le ts . such as th e IFA c o n
T o c r e a t e a w a r e n e s s a n d g e n e r a t e b u z z a b o u t t h e s e n e w G a la x y fe re n c e in B e rlin , w h ic h
d e v ic e s , S a m s u n g u s u a lly in v it e s a g r o u p o f in flu e n t ia l a n d s o is th e w o r ld ’s le a d in g tr a d e
c ia lly a c tiv e b lo g g e r s , T w it t e r a t i, and Y o u T u b e rs fo r h a n d s -o n s h o w f o r c o n s u m e r e le c tr o n ic s
s n e a k - p e e k e v e n t s b e f o r e th e la u n c h o f a n y n e w f la g s h i p d e v ic e . a n d h o m e a p p lia n c e s . A s a re s u lt,
T h e s e e v e n t s u s u a lly g e n e r a t e t h o u s a n d s o f s o c ia l m e n tio n s a n d S a m s u n g m a n a g e d to a c c o u n t f o r 2 6 .7 p e r c e n t o f th e s h a r e o f v o ic e
b lo g s , w h ic h p r o d u c e a w a r e n e s s a b o u t a n d p r e fe r e n c e f o r th e s e d u r in g IF A 2 0 1 4 . P r o d u c ts fr o m S a m s u n g s u c h a s th e G a la x y N o te 5,
n e w d e v ic e s . O n e e x a m p le is S a m s u n g ’s la u n c h o f t h e G a la x y G e a r V R , a n d th e G a la x y N o te E d g e s e c u r e d S a m s u n g ’s fir s t p la c e
N o te 5 in N e w Y o r k in 2 0 1 5 . F o r t h is o c c a s io n , S a m s u n g s e n t a n d w e r e v e r y w e ll re c e iv e d a m o n g m e d ia a n d th e la r g e r p u b lic . T h e
A u s t r a lia n f a s h io n b lo g g e r N a d ia F a ir f a x ; M a la y s ia n a c to r a n d S m a r tp h o n e a p p is a ls o f u e lin g S a m s u n g ’s s u c c e s s in th e d ig ita l
d ir e c to r J o s e p h G e r m a n i; F ilip in o d a n c e r, p ro d u c e r, a n d d ir e c m a r k e tin g a r e n a , b r in g in g c u s t o m e r s u p p o r t o n th e g o w ith s e a m
t o r G a b r ie l V a le n c ia n o ; a n d T a iw a n e s e p r o d u c e r a n d e n t e r t a in e r le s s n a v ig a tio n f o r o n lin e s u p p o r t a n d s e r v ic e tr a c k in g in fo r m a tio n fo r
465
p r o d u c ts . C u s to m e r s c a n fin d F A Q s , v id e o s , a n d e a s y - to - fo llo w s e lf h u g e d a ta b a s e , S a m s u n g c a n s e n d ta ilo re d m e s s a g e s to c u s to m e rs w h o
d ia g n o s is g u id e s . T h e a p p is d e s ig n e d to k e e p c u s to m e r s c o n n e c te d ju s t p u rc h a s e d a S a m s u n g d e v ic e o r to p e o p le w h o a re lik e ly to p u rc h a s e a
w ith S a m s u n g . S a m s u n g d e v ic e in th e n e a r fu tu re .
S a m s u n g ’s v id e o h o m e p a g e o n Y o u T u b e p ro v id e s a n o th e r p la tfo rm In a ll, S a m s u n g E le c tro n ic s h a s s u c c e s s fu lly u s e d n e w d ig ita l to o ls
to e n g a g e c u s to m e rs . It in c lu d e s v id e o s fo r e v e ry S a m s u n g p ro d u c t a n d a n d a p p r o a c h e s to e n h a n c e c u s to m e r r e la tio n s h ip s a n d b u ild a c o m
m a rk e tin g c a m p a ig n , all in o n e m a s s iv e s h o w c a s e th a t is e n g a g in g , c o m p e titiv e e d g e . In S e p te m b e r 2 0 2 1 , S a m s u n g E le c tro n ic s w o n 4 8 a w a r d s
p re h e n s iv e , a n d e a s ily a c c e s s ib le . In 2 0 1 3 , S a m s u n g w o n U n ru ly ’s “ S o c ia l a t th e In te rn a tio n a l D e s ig n E x c e lle n c e A w a r d s ( ID E A s ) in c lu d in g s e v e n
B ra n d o f th e Y e a r” w ith 7 .3 m illio n s h a re s. In 2 0 1 4 , th e c o m p a n y c a m e s ilv e rs , th re e b ro n z e s , a n d 3 8 p r o d u c ts in th e lis t o f fin a lis ts . T h e ID E A
in s e c o n d p la c e w ith 4 .3 m illio n s h a re s g a in e d b y se ve ra l v id e o s , m a in ly p r o d u c t s u b m is s io n s a re g iv e n a c o m p r e h e n s iv e e v a lu a tio n in te r m s o f
c o in c id in g w ith th e F IF A W o rld C u p , in c lu d in g “# G a la x y 1 1 : T h e T ra in in g ” d e s ig n , in n o v a tio n , a e s th e tic s , a n d b e n e fits to s o c ie ty a n d to c u s to m e rs .
(5 3 8 ,2 6 2 sh a re s ). O f c o u rs e , S a m s u n g a ls o u tilize s its w e b s ite s to c o n n e c t A w a r d s w o n b y S a m s u n g a t ID E A 2 0 2 1 in c lu d e c re a tiv e d e s ig n a c r o s s
w ith th e ir c u s to m e rs . C u s to m e rs c a n u s e th e c o m p a n y w e b s ite n o t o n ly fo r a n u m b e r o f c a te g o r ie s , fr o m e x c e lle n c e in c o n s u m e r life s ty le d e s ig n to
p ro d u c t in fo rm a tio n b u t a ls o to e n g a g e w ith S a m s u n g b y a c c e s s in g s e v in te ra c tiv e a n d a d v a n c e c o n c e p t d e s ig n .
e ra l o n lin e s e rv ic e s , in c lu d in g live c h a ts , h o w -to v id e o s , h e lp a n d tro u b le S a m s u n g E le c tr o n ic s h a s b e c o m e a p o s t e r c h ild f o r d ir e c t a n d
s h o o tin g , p ro d u c t w a rra n ty in fo rm a tio n , a n d s e rv ic e re p a ir s ta tu s u p d a te s . d ig ita l m a r k e tin g and c o n t in u e s to engage c u s to m e rs and c re
F inally, S a m s u n g m a k e s u s e o f w e b a n d m o b ile e m a il a s a n e ffe c tiv e tool a te d ir e c t, p e r s o n a liz e d c u s t o m e r r e la tio n s h ip s . S a m s u n g s o c ia lly
fo r b u ild in g lo n g -te rm , o n e -to -o n e re la tio n s h ip s w ith c a re fu lly ta rg e te d c u s e n a b le s its c u s t o m e r s a n d b r a n d a m b a s s a d o r s t h r o u g h its s o c ia l
to m e rs . S a m s u n g s u c c e s s fu lly ta ilo rs e m a ils — th e ir d e s ig n , m e s s a g e s , a n d m e d ia p r e s e n c e to n e t w o r k w ith o t h e r s b y fo s t e r in g a d v o c a c y a n d
o ffe rs — to th e c h a ra c te ris tic s a n d n e e d s o f s p e c ific c u s to m e rs . T h ro u g h its c e le b r a t io n o f its p r o d u c ts a n d s e r v ic e s . 1
n some sense, today every company is a digital company. The traditional “yellow
cab" taxi transportation and hotel industries have been dramatically transformed by
the advent of digital-based companies such as Uber and Airbnb, respectively. For
many other companies—such as Amazon and Travelocity—digital technologies comprise
the very backbone of their business models. Other companies have integrated digital with
their traditional marketing approaches. Irrespective of their industry, companies will likely
become extinct if they do not recognize and respond well to the challenges and opportunities
posed by digital transformation.
Digital developments have created a sense of urgency in marketing. The numbers of con
sumers going online globally has increased exponentially in recent times.2 Entire populations in
developing economies are rapidly transitioning from the “no phone" era to the “smartphone era,"
entirely bypassing the landline phone phase that dominated the United States and other developed
economies for decades. Of the world’s nearly 8 billion people, there are an estimated 5.2 billion
unique mobile phone users, 4.7 billion internet users, and 4.2 billion social media users.
In the United States, marketing spending on internet, mobile, and social media plat
forms has grown much faster than print and television advertising spending. For example,
digital advertising spending will increase from about $132 billion in 2019 to an estimated
$243 billion in 2024. Given this rapid growth, it is critically important that marketing man
agers understand the digital marketing process and how digital marketing can be integrated
harmoniously into their overall marketing strategies.
F i g u r e 1 4 .1 outlines the major steps in the digital marketing process. These steps
include understanding digital marketing, preparing for a digital marketing campaign,

employing digital channels in an omni-channel strategy, and addressing public policy
issues in digital marketing. We address each of these steps in turn.
Author Comment U n d e r s t a n d in g D ig it a l M a r k e t in g
The digital marketing process begins with
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -1 D e fin e digital marketing a n d d is c u s s its ra p id g r o w th a n d b e n e fits to
a fundam ental understanding o f the nature
and im portance of digital marketing c u s to m e r s a n d c o m p a n ie s .
and how it is used.

As a first step in the digital marketing process, marketers must understand the nature
and importance of digital marketing. Digital marketing uses technology-intensive plat
forms such as the internet, mobile networks and devices, and social media to engage with
individual consumers, consumer communities, and businesses. It uses these platforms
to provide information, build engagement, persuade consumers, induce brand purchase,
and ultimately drive long-term, profitable relationships.
466
C h a p t e r 1 4 : D ig it a l M a r k e t in g 467
» F i g u r e 1 4 .1 T h e D ig ita l M a r k e tin g P r o c e s s
app, or on its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube pages—to build individual brand
D i g it a l m a r k e t i n g relationships, provide insurance quotes, sell policies, and service customer accounts.
The use of technology-intensive platforms Digital marketing is the fastest-growing form of marketing, claiming a surging share of
such as the internet, mobile networks and
marketing spending and sales. For example, total digital advertising spending—spending for
devices, and social media to engage directly
advertising that appears on computers, mobile phones, tablets, and other internet-connected
with carefully targeted individual consumers,
devices—now makes up an estimated 58 percent of all U.S. advertising spending. Growing
consumer communities, and businesses.
at more than 20 percent per year, digital will claim an estimated two-thirds of all ad spending
by 2023. And as consumers spend more and more time on their tablets and smartphones, ad
spending on mobile media is exploding. By itself, mobile ad spending now accounts for 34 per
cent of all U.S. ad spending, 2 percent higher than the spending on television advertising.3
T h e N e w D ig ita l M a r k e tin g M o d e ls
To understand the key forces driving the explosive growth of digital marketing, compare
digital marketing to early forms of direct marketing, which relied primarily on printed
direct mail and catalogs. At a basic level, information can be coded in analog or digital
formats. The information in a printed catalog or direct mail piece is presented in analog
format. The nature and economics of analog formats have placed strong restrictions on
their use in marketing. For example, to issue a printed catalog, a company must buy paper
and printing equipment, print the catalog, mail or hand it out to potential customers, and
then hope that customers will respond with a phone order or store visit. And the content of
the catalog is fixed—it can’t be changed or adapted until it’s replaced by another catalog.
Digitally formatted information, in contrast, has no significant physical form or
mass. Instead of being stored and presented from a physical medium such as paper,
digital information can be stored and read from electronic media such as solid-state
drives. Unshackled as compared to analog information, it can be transported, shared,
changed, analyzed, and used for decision making across electronic networks. All this
can be done flexibly at lightning speed and at near-zero cost. For example, a digital
catalog can be prepared and distributed in almost no time. It costs no more to make
it digitally available to a million people than to a thousand, and the content can be
continually adapted as circumstances change. Finally, consumers can respond quickly
with a simple tap of a buy now button.
The technologies needed to manage and exchange digital information— such as
computers and other connected devices, database hardware and software, and digital net
works—have progressed rapidly. Such advances in digital information technologies have
propelled marketing into a digital, big data world that offers both great promise and daunt
ing challenges.
Digital marketing can factor into the company’s overall marketing strategy in multiple
ways. It can serve as a supplementary channel for selling directly to customers, as a complete
model for doing business, or as a complementary function that works with other channels
to deliver value to consumers. Many companies use digital marketing as a supplemen
tary channel for sales. Thus, most department stores, such as Macy’s or Kohl’s, sell the
468 P a r t 3: D e s ig n in g a C u s to m e r V a lu e -D r iv e n S t r a t e g y a n d M ix
majority of their merchandise off their store shelves, but they also sell directly to consum
ers through websites, digital catalogs, and mobile and social media pages.
For other companies, digital marketing serves as a complete business model. These com
panies have no brick-and-mortar presence. Instead, they deliver products to consumers via
online or mobile platforms. These companies often sell purely digital products. For example,
Netflix has built a global entertainment empire based on digital content that is self-produced,
developed by independent producers under contract, or licensed from established film studios.
» Likewise, Expedia empowers consumers to
design complex and immersive vacation experi
ences entirely online:4
Expedia Group is a huge collection of online-only

travel businesses, including such familiar brands as
Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Hotwire, trivago,
Orbitz, and HomeAway. It does business through
more than 200 travel booking sites and over 150 mo
bile websites. Its Travelocity unit was one of the first
online travel companies that let customers find and
book travel arrangements without the help of travel
agents or brokers. Now itself one of the world's larg
est travel brands, Travelocity and its famous Roaming
Gnome help customers to “Wander Wisely," making
their travel experiences both simple and memorable.
The Gnome is indeed an insightful traveler who high
» Digital marketing as a complete business model: Online travel company Expedia lights ah the great travel experiences to be had. In
Group has successfully built its entire approach to the marketplace around digital recent times, the Gnome was busy highlighting his
marketing. Its Travelocity.com unit and the famous Roaming Gnome make it easy for favorite treats from across the United States on the
customers to “Wander Wisely.” Travelocity website, including beignets from New
T ravelocity, Orleans and blue moon ice cream from Wisconsin.
Many online-only startups that have cropped up in recent years—the so-called

direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands (see Chapter 10)—have employed this business model.
These brands sell material products but avoid direct competition with established traditional
brands by selling only through online and mobile channels and shipping purchased products
directly to consumers. Examples include Dollar Shave Club and Flarry’s (razors and shaving
products), Peloton (fitness equipment and programs), and Casper (mattresses and bedding).
Using digital platforms, DTC companies can cut costs and lower prices, offer greater conve
nience, build direct relationships with customers, and deliver more personalized offerings.
Interestingly, just as traditional sellers have added digital channels, some DTC brands are
adding traditional channels. For example, consumers can now buy Flarry’s razors at most
Target, Walmart, and Costco stores. And Casper has opened its own Casper Sleep Shop loca
tions to build its brand and allow consumers to try its mattresses even if they ultimately end
up purchasing them online and having them delivered to their homes.
In yet other cases, digital platforms can perform complementary functions, taking on
specific marketing tasks that can be done more efficiently or effectively digitally. For exam
ple, Pepsi’s Mountain Dew brand markets heavily through mass-media advertising and dis
tributes and sells products through its retail partners’ channels. However, it also complements
these activities with a heavy dose of digital marketing. The brand aired blockbuster television
ads during a recent Super Bowl. But it also spent heavily on digital media to engage its pas
sionately loyal fan base in the weeks leading up to and following the big game. “Close to
40 percent of our investment [was] on digital because that’s where consumers are having con
versations," says Pepsi’s chief marketer. We spent “big dollars on the Super Bowl game day.
But that itself is not enough to have a two-way conversation with a consumer."5 Mountain
Dew also engages fans digitally though a strong website and social media presence.
B e n e fit s o f D ig ita l M a r k e tin g to B u y e r s a n d S e lle r s
Its rapid growth reflects the fact that digital marketing offers many benefits to both buyers
and sellers. Its major benefits are summarized in this section.
B u y e r B e n e fits
For buyers, digital marketing is convenient, easy, and private. It gives buyers
anywhere, anytime access to an almost unlimited assortment of goods and a wealth
of product and buying information. For example, on its website and mobile app,
Amazon.com offers more information than most consumers can digest, ranging from
continually updated top 10 product lists, extensive product descriptions, and expert
and user product reviews to recommendations based on consumers’ previous searches
and purchases.
Through digital marketing, buyers can interact with sellers via websites or mobile
apps to create exactly the configuration of information, products, or services they want,
order them on the spot, and have them delivered days or even hours later. For example,
Amazon.com offers its Prime members free same-day delivery for a select range of items.
Orders placed by noon are often delivered by 10 p.m. the same day.
In the digital marketplace, consumers often benefit from increased price competition.
Competitors are only a mouse click away, making price and product comparisons remark
ably easy for both consumers and companies. As a result, companies usually try to match
or beat competitors’ prices. This increased price competition ultimately leads to lower
prices paid by consumers. Further, consumers expect comparable prices across a com
pany’s websites and in retail stores, so changes made to the online prices are often quickly
reflected in the retail store prices.6
Finally, for consumers who want it, digital marketing through online, mobile, and
social media provides a sense of brand engagement and community—a place to share
brand information and experiences with other brand fans. For example, toy manufacturer
LEGO is renowned for its creative kits with interlocking pieces that can be assembled to
create complex designs. Participants of all ages converge on its LEGO Ideas forum (at
ideas.lego.com) to check out creations of other members, submit their own creations, and
vote on their favorite designs. LEGO turns the most popular ideas from the forum into
product kits that can be purchased and assembled.
S e lle r B e n e fits
Digital marketing also offers sellers multiple benefits. First, digital marketing can provide
a low-cost, efficient, speedy alternative for reaching markets. For many new or small
companies, going the traditional store route is not an option. It takes too much time, effort,
and financial resources to gain placement on the shelves of established store retailers.
Flowever, these companies can market their products online. For example, artists who
handcraft unique and creative goods can market them to the world on Etsy.com. Likewise,
Amazon is open to selling goods from independent companies, both large and small. In
fact, companies can open their own storefronts on Amazon.com. With software and support
from online store developers like Shopify, small companies can also consider selling
through their own websites, establishing a brand and customer base before branching out
to create a brick-and-mortar presence.
Companies can set up online forums to increase consumer engagement and improve
customer service. For example, a majority of the service problems and questions faced by
technology company Dell’s customers are resolved not by contacting the company but
on the Dell Community forum. The forum has more than 2,400 active members and over
5 million messages covering a vast array of technical problems faced by customers and
resolved by community members. The searchable database of posts is often the first stop
that Dell’s customers make to resolve their problems. The forum substantially reduces
Dell’s support costs, and Dell applies the generated knowledge to its future hardware and
software development efforts.
Digital marketing also provides marketers with the flexibility to make ongoing adjust
ments to prices and programs and to create immediate, timely, and personal engagement
and offers. For example, home-improvement retailer Lowe’s online “Flow-Tos Library’’
links consumers to hundreds of in-depth how-to videos, project planning guides, cost cal
culators, and other helpful information for almost any home project. From building a back
yard patio or installing a lawn sprinkler system to hanging drywall or even getting rid of
mice, Lowe’s offers consumers the information they need. The guides are available when
ever projects pop up and, of course, provide detailed lists of required supplies available at
a nearby Lowe’s store or on its online website.7
Companies with compelling value propositions can leverage the digital medium’s
capacity to create positive word of mouth. For example, Angi (formerly Angie’s List) is a
go-to site for reviews of service providers ranging from babysitters to landscaping contrac
tors. Developing a strong reputation on such trusted review sites can lead to new customers
and increased profitability.
Finally, digital marketing can shorten the consumer’s decision journey of consider
ing multiple brands, evaluating them, purchasing one brand, and then potentially enjoy
ing, advocating, and bonding with the brand after purchase. Depending on the product
category, this journey can span months or even years, with substantial time spent in the
consideration and evaluation phases. With digital marketing, brands can place highly per
suasive information in front of potential customers at the right place and at the right time.
This can shorten the decision process, bypassing the lengthy consideration and evalua
tion stages and making purchase decisions mentally easier to justify and more impulse-
based. For example, using Instagram Direct, a consumer might respond immediately to
this question posed beneath a picture of a stacked, mouthwatering burger: “Flungry? Send
us a ‘YES’ and you’ll get a discount coupon for your next burger.’’ A “YES" response
increases the likelihood that the consumer will buy that burger brand for the next meal
without thinking about alternative choices. It also lets the seller collect the consumer’s
email address and other information.
Digital marketing provides opportunities for real-time marketing that links brands
to important moments and trending events in consumers’ lives. Beyond moving cus
tomers through the buying process, it is a powerful tool for building ongoing engage
ment, community, and personalized relationships. Online and social media offer an
ideal platform for engaging consumers in the moment by linking brands to important
trending topics, real-world events, causes, personal occasions, or other happenings.
They provide exciting opportunities to extend customer engagement and get people
talking about a brand. ^ For example, fast-food brand Wendy’s is known for its skill
ful use of real-time social media to spark an ongoing dialogue with the brand’s fans
about anything or nothing at all:8
With more than 6,500 stores in the United States and 29 other countries, Wendy's is one of
the w orld's largest fast-food restaurant chains. Wendy's aims to become the “w orld's most
thriving and beloved restaurant brand." It claims that its
iconic square hamburgers feature fresh beef that hang
over the bun because they “d o n 't cut corners on quality."
In recent years, Wendy's has made a mark with its real
time cutting-edge social media presence, described by
one analyst as hitting “the trifecta of humor, brand aware
ness, and authenticity." Wendy's responses to its fans on
Twitter are often irreverent and hilarious. One fan asked:
wendys “How much does a Big Mac cost?" Wendy's tongue-
Last live September 7
in-cheek response: “Your dignity." Another fan asked:
“My friend wants to go to McDonalds, what should I
make 0 H
streams the same way ike fast tell him?" Wendy's response: “Find new friends." In a
a n y o n e expects fro m
ham burgers: bette r nian rap battle with rival Wingstop, Wendy's launched a five-
food joint.
track music mix, with one track even topping Shopify's
115K follow ers global viral chart. In fact, other brands frequently plead
-W endy'sTwitter (5)Wendy'sInste to be roasted by Wendy's in order to draw attention. At a
time when younger consumers are turning away from fast
F o llo w
food, Wendy's has struck an authentic chord with them
using its mix of differentiated products and engaging so
» Digital marketing: Fast-food marketer Wendy’s is known for its skillful use of cial media presence. As Wendy's Twitter headline notes:
social media, especially Twitter, to spark an ongoing real-time dialogue with the “We like our tweets the same way we like to make our
brand’s fans. hamburgers: better than anyone expects from a fast-food
D e u ts c h la n d r e fo r m /S h u tte rs to c k ; G a r y A r m s tr o n g joint."
Author Comment P r e p a r in g f o r a D ig it a l M a r k e t in g C a m p a ig n
The first step in preparing for a digital
marketing campaign involves getting to O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -2 D is c u s s t h e c o n s u m e r a n d m a r k e t r e s e a r c h r e q u ir e d t o d e s ig n a n e ffe c tiv e
know the digital custom er— in depth. d ig ita l m a r k e tin g c a m p a ig n .
Preparing for and implementing a digital marketing campaign involve the same general
steps as those required for the broader marketing campaign. Here, however, we focus on
special considerations for digital campaigns. As outlined in Figure 14.1, preparing for a
digital marketing campaign starts with developing a deep knowledge of digital consumers
and their omni-channel navigation behavior. Digital marketers then use experimentation to
test and understand what digital approaches work best.
K n o w in g th e D ig ita l C o n s u m e r
Discussions of digital marketing often quickly turn to the “gee-whiz" digital technologies
employed to influence consumers, engage them, and get them to buy the product. It’s easy
to forget that technology is only a tool. But without a deep understanding of who targeted
consumers are, what they want, and how they behave, even the latest and greatest technologies
provide only a shot in the dark. Therefore, the first step in preparing for a digital marketing
campaign involves getting to know the digital consumer—in detail.
Good marketing research can provide consumer insights that guide the design and
implementation of digital marketing campaigns. We discussed marketing research in
Chapter 4, and the concepts discussed there apply equally to digital campaigns. Here,
we look into some of the research concepts that are particularly relevant to digital
marketing.
Today’s digital marketers begin by applying advanced marketing analytics to the
D i g it a l c o n s u m e r p e r s o n a s wealth of available consumer data to develop digital consumer personas—detailed,
Detailed, nuanced, and tangible nuanced, and tangible representations of prototypical consumers to be targeted by the digi
representations of prototypical consumers to tal marketing campaign. Consumer personas are not a new concept in marketing. However,
be targeted by the digital marketing campaign. because digital marketing is information-intensive, it can pervade many activities in a con
sumer’s daily fife. Digital marketing messages can penetrate time and space barriers that
create big hurdles to conventional marketing techniques.
As just one example, location-based digital marketing can fine-tune the targeting
of marketing offers and messages to consumers based on their physical locations any
time and anywhere. For example, consumers could receive a 25-percent-off coupon for
Starbucks coffee on their phone app just by entering a circle within a 100-yard radius of a
Starbucks location. Thus, compared to conventional consumer personas, digital personas
must contain deeper details relative to how consumers seek and consume certain types
of information, their preferences for information access platforms, their location-related
habits, and other such characteristics.
Consider an entrepreneurial startup business focused on delivering premium hot and
cold coffees, teas, herbal drinks, and healthy snacks to consumers at any location—in an
office, at home, at a high school football game, or about anywhere else. The company
plans to operate out of a “ghost kitchen," one with no dining space that will sell and fulfill
only online orders. Customers can order food and beverages digitally using an app and
then have them delivered.
To pinpoint targeted customers and fully understand their needs, the coffee kitchen’s
founders may conduct some in-depth interviews and focus groups with prospective
customers and research secondary data sources. Using the insights that emerge, the
founders might develop one or more digital consumer personas, such as the one shown in
) ) F i g u r e 1 4 . 2 for hypothetical consumer Shawna Warrington. Shawna’s persona provides
a picture of her coffee and food ordering and consumption preferences. But more, it sug
gests the role that coffee and energizing foods play in her life, how a day in her life
typically unfolds, and other demographic and behavioral details that will help the coffee
kitchen startup effectively target the consumer segment that Shawna represents.
A well-prepared consumer persona captures the key traits of a targeted market
segment. Therefore, digital marketers should keep the key personas constantly in mind
BACKGROUND
• 25 years old, single, lives in San Diego, CA.
• Holds a degree in design from UC-San Francisco.
ONLINE BEHAVIORS
• Browses Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and news sites.
• Uses apps to automate her life and save time.
• Seeks good value, low prices, and coupons online.
• Follows online food and design influencers.
LIFE GOALS
• Be known as a top-notch designer in global fashion circles.
• Have the money and credibility to open her own design boutique.
• Travel extensively.
• At some stage, have a family and children.
Shawna Warrington: ‘7 need a regular shot of coffee
LIFE CONCERNS
to re-energize without leaving my office desk."
• Running out of energy and enthusiasm in her career.
• Being broke.
• Getting a good return on investment on her online MBA.
A DAY IN SHAWNA’S LIFE
• Overworked clothing designer—coffee keeps her going. KEY INFLUENCES
•Takes online MBA classes in the late evenings. • Close friends.
• Fler pet spaniel, Cookie, is an important anchor in her life. • Online reviews on Yelp!; select online influencers.
• Dines out with friends only on occasional weekends. • Architecture and design magazines.
• Small apartment with an unopened cappuccino machine.
BRANDS SHE LIKES
• Tom’s of Maine, Sephora, Tesla, Amazon.
WHAT SHE SEEKS
• A quick burst of energy as and when she wants it. WHAT WOULD MAKE HER LIFE EASIER
• The ability to truly customize her coffee. • A high-end but affordable coffee and snack delivery service.
•To experience a variety of coffees over time. • An energizing solution so she can avoid stepping out for lunch.
• No personal interaction or waiting on the phone. • A friendly, highly automated app.
• Professional, coordinated workplace delivery. • The ability to track delivery to the minute so she can plan
• To support the local community and businesses. her coffee and/or snack times with minimal waste.
» F ig u r e 1 4 .2 A D ig it a l C o n s u m e r P e r s o n a
when designing the company’s digital marketing strategy. For example, for the proposed
coffee shop, the following important insights emerge from prototypical consumer Shawna
Warrington’s digital persona:
• Shawna will want most drinks and food delivered at work. Therefore, locate close
to a business district.
• Shawna wants an efficient ordering and payment process. So make the kitchen’s
app the centerpiece of the consumer experience. The app should be easy to use,
offer food and drink customization choices, provide rapid payment and tipping
options, and allow Shawna to track her orders all the way to delivery.
• For Shawna, coffee breaks are a moment of reward and relaxation. They also offer
an opportunity to create some excitement by trying new things. To satisfy these
needs, constantly rotate the variety of food and drinks offered while also retaining
some classic favorites.
• Shawna is active on social media and often recommends products to her friends.
Therefore, launch a “refer your friend’’ campaign and consider partnering with
local online influencers.
• Shawna appreciates a green environment and supports local businesses. So em
brace and highlight a sustainable positioning. Focus on minimal and recyclable
packaging material, use sustainably sourced inputs, employ low or zero emission
delivery vehicles, highlight the startup’s local roots, and emphasize partnerships
with local nonprofit organizations.
• Shawna is willing to pay a premium price for products and experiences she values.
In response, set prices at a relatively high level. At the same time, Shawna seeks
value, so offer strategically targeted coupons and other inducements to attract new
customers and keep price-conscious consumers coming back.
A company should develop a distinct digital consumer persona for each targeted segment.
Such consumer personas serve as a touchstone for designing the digital marketing strategy—
for generating new ideas, helping to screen ideas for feasibility and relevance, and pulling
different ideas together into a coherent, consumer-focused digital marketing strategy.
U n d e r s ta n d in g C o n s u m e r O m n i-C h a n n e l N a v ig a tio n B e h a v io r
Marketers often know a lot about how consumers behave in a single marketing channel. For
example, plenty of research describes how consumers choose between brick-and-mortar
retails stores, how they choose specific brands within a store, their use of coupons, and the
influence of local advertising on shopping behavior. Similarly, marketers know a lot about
how consumers behave in digital shopping environments. Flowever, in this surging digital
Consumer omni-channel navigation age, marketers must understand consumer omni-channel navigation behavior.
behavior As discussed previously in Chapter 11 and elsewhere, modem consumers are increas
The consumer’s use of multiple marketing ingly adept at engaging multiple channels across the stages of their buying decision pro
channels, both digital and nondigital, across cess, from initial information search and identifying purchase options to making the final
stages of the consumer buying decision
purchase and postpurchase engagement. A single customer buying decision or brand
process.
experience now routinely spans marketing channels ranging from brick-and-mortar retail
stores and printed catalogs to online stores, mobile apps, and social media platforms. Such
omni-channel navigation poses challenges for marketers. To effectively market to con
sumers with the right marketing content at the right place and time, marketers must under
stand which channels consumers are using at each stage of the customer journey.
For example, consider a consumer who’s in the market for a 65-inch OLED FtDTV priced
at around $2,000. The consumer’s desire for a new TV results from seeing an ad for one
in a Sunday printed newspaper insert. The consumer next visits her local Best Buy store to
compare different TV brands, where a knowledgeable sales
person educates her on the latest OLED technology and
the strengths of the competing models. While in the store,
the consumer uses her phone to check consumer reviews
of various models and to compare prices from other retail
ers. Next, she visits a Costco store, hoping for lower prices.
Costco doesn’t have her preferred brands in stock but does
offer them online. Later that might, the consumer browses
online websites for more information about the few TVs
that remain in her choice set. After again comparing reviews
and prices across websites, she ends up ordering a 65-inch
Samsung OLED TV fromAmazon.com for $1,997. With her
Amazon Prime membership, Amazon delivers the TV with
zero shipping and setup costs the next day.
This consumer’s journey highlights several marketing
challenges presented by consumer omni-channel naviga
tion. First, tracking the consumer through the omni-chan
» Omni-channel navigation behavior: To effectively market to consumers
with the right marketing content at the right place and time, marketers
nel decision process is difficult, given that it plays out
must understand which channels consumers are using at each stage of the across different channels and physical locations. Digital
customer journey. technologies can help to track consumers. For example,
M ilk o v a s a /S h u tte rs to c k if the consumer permits, a company could use tracking
cookies to map the consumer’s online browsing behavior. It could then place ads on the
consumer’s Facebook feed and other online sites the consumer visits. Many smartphone
apps can track consumer geographical locations. For example, the TV buyer’s physical
presence at a Best Buy or Costco store could be tracked by location tracking apps on her
smartphone. Flowever, these tracking technologies are increasingly viewed as intrusive and
as an invasion of consumer privacy, leading to growing social and regulatory backlash.
A second challenge presented by consumer omni-channel navigation is that the spe
cific pattern of channel navigation varies across consumers. Therefore, a one-size-fits-all
marketing approach will not work well. As one of its strengths, however, digital market
ing allows customization and personalization on a customer-by-customer basis. Finally, the
consumer decision process varies across buying stages and digital channels. The company
must try to maximize the likelihood of purchase at each decision process stage by offering
relevant and persuasive information to consumers across stages. For example, if the deci
sion occurs within a brick-and-mortar setting, this calls for close coordination with retail
channel partners.
Companies must address these consumer omni-channel navigation challenges in two
ways. First, they must research and understand the patterns of consumer omni-channel
navigation for their brands. Second, they must embrace the concept of data fusion, inte
grating data from different sources— such as cookies, location tracking, website and
mobile navigation, credit and loyalty card usage, consumer research, and others—to build
a comprehensive picture of consumer omni-channel behavior. The resulting insights can
guide decisions related to influencing consumers with timely and relevant information.
Tracking and understanding consumer omni-channel behavior lets marketers provide
consumers with timely, relevant, and persuasive information and offers across the customer
journey, to the benefit of both the company and its customers. A key problem, however, is
finding a balance between providing customers with useful and relevant information while
also protecting consumer privacy. Marketers must be fully transparent with consumers
about what information they collect and how it is used. No data should be collected with
out the consumer’s informed consent. We will revisit consumer privacy concerns related to
digital marketing later in this chapter.
U s in g E x p e r im e n t a t io n to U n d e r s t a n d W h a t W o r k s
Digital marketing has always been quickly scalable. For example, a company that has
placed its ads in front of 100,000 consumers on various digital media can the next day
expand that reach to a million consumers at the click of a button. However, even as
digital marketing has become the marketing medium of choice for many companies, the
costs have steadily increased. For example, Facebook may charge a company more than
$1 for each consumer who clicks on an ad on its Facebook page, whether or not that click
leads to a purchase.9 Such a high “cost-per-click" can quickly add up across Facebook’s
nearly 200 million monthly active users in the United States or 2.8 billion users globally.
Thus, companies must make careful and informed decisions about where, how, and
how much they spend on digital marketing. To help make these decisions, digital mar
keters can use experimentation. For example, to assess the effects of a reduced price, a
company might drop the price of a product in an experimental group but keep it the same
in a control group. If the two groups are similar in all other aspects, the change in sales in
the experimental group captures the impact of the lowered price. The digital environment
is remarkably friendly to experimentation. With online and mobile media, marketers can
quickly and easily manipulate treatments across customer groups with readily measur
able results. They can quickly run multiple experiments in the digital space—also called
A/B testing—to identify and refine which tactics will work best before making significant
investments in them.
To conduct effective experiments, marketers must focus on three factors. First, the
hypothesis being tested must be clear. In the A/B price reduction experiment above, for
example, the marketer might hypothesize that a 25 percent drop in price will lead to at least
a 50 percent increase in sales. Next, the metrics by which the experimental variables and
outcomes are measured must be clear. For example, the marketer should clarify whether
the hypothesized 50 percent sales increase applies to units sold or to dollar revenues.
Finally, the marketer should reduce experimental “noise," or potential interactions between
the control and experimental groups. For example, if consumers in the control group get
wind of and resent the lower prices offered to the experimental group, they may reduce
their purchases and distort the experimental findings.
Experimentation in the digital marketing can be used to assess everything from
changes in pricing to the effectiveness of different online product offerings, brand
messages, or presentation formats. For example, as a leading streaming digital content
provider, Netflix must make ongoing choices about how to present content titles on
its online and mobile pages, and about which images to associate with each movie or
show offered. Netflix’s research has shown that the image displayed for a specific title
strongly affects how many and which viewers click on and view it. So Netflix constantly
uses A/B testing to assess the effectiveness of different images used with titles across
user groups. Netflix can then choose which image works best with the targeted segment
for a given title. In fact, if Netflix finds that the most effective image for a title differs
across targeted viewer segments, it can selectively display different images for that title
across the different segments.10
In summary, marketers must prepare for digital marketing campaigns by gaining a

deep knowledge of the digital consumer. They can achieve this by developing detailed and
insightful digital personas to represent targeted consumer segments and by understand
ing consumer omni-channel navigation behavior. Finally, digital formats provide an ideal
format for experimentation to test what works best in the digital marketing context before
committing significant resources.
As the next step in the digital marketing process, companies must decide which port
folio of online, social media, and mobile platforms to employ in their digital marketing and
how to use them most effectively. We explore these digital platforms next.
L IN K IN G T H E C O N C E P T S
H o ld u p a m o m e n t a n d t h in k a b o u t th e im p a c t o f d ig ita l m a r k e tin g o n y o u r life .
• T h in k a b o u t a m a jo r p u r c h a s e t h a t y o u m a d e r e c e n t ly v ia d ig ita l m a r k e tin g . W h a t d id y o u bu y,
a n d w h y d id y o u b u y it o n lin e o r th r o u g h a m o b ile s o c ia l m e d ia c h a n n e l? T h in k a b o u t a r e c e n t
m a jo r p u r c h a s e y o u m a d e in a b r ic k - a n d - m o r t a r s to r e . W h y d id y o u n o t p u r c h a s e t h a t p r o d u c t
t h r o u g h a d ig ita l c h a n n e l? B a s e d o n th e s e e x p e r ie n c e s , w h a t a d v ic e w o u ld y o u g iv e to d ig ita l
m a r k e te r s ?
• F o r th e n e x t w e e k , k e e p tr a c k o f a ll th e d ig ita l m a r k e tin g o f f e r s th a t c o m e y o u r w a y v ia e m a il a n d
m o b ile a d s , o n lin e a n d s o c ia l m e d ia p la tfo r m s , a p p s , a n d o t h e r d ig ita l p a th w a y s . T h e n a n a ly z e
th e o f f e r s b y ty p e , s o u r c e , th e w a y it w a s d e liv e r e d , a n d w h a t y o u lik e d o r d is lik e d a b o u t e a c h
o f f e r W h ic h o f f e r b e s t h it its t a r g e t ( y o u ) ? W h ic h m is s e d b y th e w id e s t m a r g in ?
f ------------------------------------------- \
Author Comment E m p lo y in g D ig it a l C h a n n e ls in a n O m n i- C h a n n e l
Based on a deep understanding o f digital
marketing and the digital consumer, it’s time S tra te g y
to think about which digital platform s the
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -3 D i s c u s s t h e d i f f e r e n t d i g i t a l c h a n n e l s a n d m e d i a a n d e x p l a in h o w
brand will use to reach these
c o m p a n ie s e m p lo y t h e m t o c r e a te a n o m n i-c h a n n e l m a r k e tin g s tr a te g y .
consumers and how.
We first examine three digital marketing platforms: online marketing, social media market
ing, and mobile marketing. These platforms capture a large proportion of digital marketing
spending. We then discuss how these platforms can be used in coordination with a com
pany’s other channels, such as catalogs and brick-and-mortar stores, to create a blended
omni-channel marketing strategy.
O n lin e M a r k e tin g
O n lin e m a r k e tin g Online marketing refers to marketing via the internet using company websites, online adver
Marketing via the internet using company tising and promotions, email marketing, online video, and blogs. We discuss each in turn.
websites, online ads and promotions, email,
online video, and blogs.
M a r k e tin g W e b s it e s a n d B r a n d C o m m u n it y W e b s ite s
As a first step in conducting online marketing, most companies create a website. Websites vary
M a r k e tin g w e b s ite greatly in purpose and content. Some websites are primarily marketing websites, designed
A website that engages consumers to move to engage customers and move them closer to a direct purchase or other marketing outcome.
them closer to a direct purchase or other For example, SHEIN, a Chinese fast fashion retailer, operates an online fashion store. Once
marketing outcome. a potential customer clicks in, SHEIN wastes no time offering various discounts and coupons
to convince them to buy their products. The site provides all the information needed for a suc
cessful transaction: clothes are available in different sizes up to 4XL, delivery is free of charge
above a certain amount, and buyers can choose from several different categories to find their
“it-pieces." Customer reviews with photos showing how the clothes fit on others and visual pre
sentations of the products in various colors facilitate the purchasing process. The well-designed
site also makes it easy for current customers to manage their orders (estimated delivery time,
status of returns and refunds), payment options, and style preferences. With bonus points for
certain actions which can later be converted into vouchers, such as logging in daily, participat
ing in in-app games, or leaving reviews, SHEIN creates an interactive user experience.11
Brand community website In contrast, brand community websites primarily aim not to sell products but to pres-
Awebsite that presents brand-related content ent brand content that engages consumers and creates customer-brand communities. Such
that engages consumers and creates a sites typically offer a rich variety of brand information, videos, blogs, activities, and other
customer community around a brand. features that build closer customer relationships and generate engagement with and between
the brand and its customers. » For example, fitness brand Peloton’s websites and apps do
much more than just sell the brand’s spin bikes, treadmills, and other equipment. They create
an online community of more than 2 million fitness enthusiasts who share Peloton experi
ences from the comfort and convenience of their own homes. Peloton brings users together
through five-streamed classes with motivational instructors in shared settings. Click into a
class and you may be barraged by virtual high-fives from
friends and fellow spinners. Beyond live group sessions, the
Peloton sites share a wellspring of community knowledge
and entertainment—videos, text, and images including edu
cational blog content, community question and answer ses
sions, user-generated content, and motivational messages.
“What makes it so incredible is the sense of community and
the way members support each other," says Peloton’s for
mer CEO. “People have met their best friends through it.’’12
Creating a website is one thing; getting people to visit
the site is another. To attract visitors, companies aggressively
promote their websites in offline print and broadcast adver
tising and through ads and finks on other sites. But today’s
web users are quick to abandon websites that don’t measure
up. At a minimum, websites should be easy to use and visu
ally appealing. Ultimately, however, websites must also be
useful. Most people prefer substance over style and function
» Branded community websites: Peloton’s websites and apps create an over flash. Thus, effective websites contain deep and use
online community of more than 2 million fitness enthusiasts who share their ful information, interactive tools that help find and evaluate
Peloton experiences. “What makes it so incredible is the sense of community content of interest, finks to related sites, relevant promotional
and the way members support each other.” offers, and entertaining features that create excitement.
M a rid a v /S h u tte rs to c k
O n lin e A d v e r tis in g
As consumers spend more and more time online, companies are shifting more of their
Online advertising marketing dollars to online advertising that appears while consumers are navigating
Advertising that appears while consumers are websites or other digital platforms. Online advertising helps build brand sales or attract
navigating websites or other digital platforms, visitors to the company’s internet, mobile, and social media sites. Online advertising has
including display ads and search-related ads. become a major promotional medium. The main forms of online advertising are online
display ads and search-related ads.
Online display ads O n lin e D is p la y A d v e r t is in g . Online display ads might appear anywhere on an internet
Digital ads that appear anywhere on an or mobile user’s screen and are often related to the information being viewed. For example,
internet or mobile user’s screen and are often while browsing espn.com or the ESPN app on a warm summer day, users might see the site
related to the information being viewed. content wrapped at the top and both sides by a large banner ad for RTIC Coolers, touting
the product’s durability and ice-keeping prowess. Clicking on the banner or on an inset
display ad nearby takes them to brand’s website.
Display ads have come a long way in recent years in terms of engaging consumers and
moving them along the path to purchase. Today’s rich media ads incorporate animation,
video, sound, and interactivity. For example, Boeing recently ran a display ad featuring a
breathtaking, rotating 3D view of the International Space Station. At the other extreme,
when Sonic restaurants wanted to create awareness and anticipation for a summer promo
tion making its shakes and ice cream slushes half price after 8 p.m., it created an online
display ad featuring a real-time daily countdown clock. The ad paired the clock with an
interactive quiz to help customers decide in advance their perfect flavor, and a store locator
helped them find the nearest Sonic restaurant. “In other words," says a Sonic marketer, “we
made it easy to say ‘yes!’ to half-price summer treats from Sonic.’’13
Companies can pay to place their online display ads in almost any digital forum,
such as social media, news-based websites, popular blogs, mobile apps, and targeted
web communities. However, buying online advertising space is a very complex process.
The advertiser wants its ads to pop up instantaneously on just the right web or mobile
page to be viewed by just the right consumer at just the right time. That’s no easy task.
The process of buying and selling digital ad space involves sophisticated software using
complex algorithms that broker ad space in real time. The automated process—called
programmatic media buying—is managed by digital ad exchanges. Programmatic digital
display ad spending now accounts for more than 88 percent of digital display advertising
across all digital platforms.14
The digital ad exchanges bring together advertisers who want to buy digital ad
space with websites and other media platforms that have space to sell. An exam
ple is the Google Display Network, a system that reaches more than 2 million web
sites and 90 percent of all internet users. The Google Display Network can help
online advertisers place display ads in carefully chosen web and mobile sites to reach
targeted audiences at key buying times.
The digital display advertising buying and selling process works like this. When
a person clicks on a website, the website puts the ad space for that web exposure up
for auction. Ads from different companies compete to appear in that spot. Through an
exchange, the advertisers bid for the space by matching their preset target audience,
exposure characteristics, and cost preferences against the characteristics of the avail
able ad space. The process may also take consumer characteristics into account, such as
geographic location or other purchased-related tracking information. The highest bid
der’s ad appears on the webpage. Incredibly, this entire process happens in an instant.
So if you’ve recently shopped for auto insurance, when you click onto the USA Today
website to catch up on the latest news, up pops a digital ad from your local State Farm
Insurance agency, just that fast.
S e a r c h -r e la te d a d s S e a r c h -R e la te d
A d v e r tis in g . Using search-related ads (or contextual advertising),
Text- and image-based ads and links appear text- and image-based ads and links appear atop or alongside search engine results
atop or alongside search engine results on on sites such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. For example, Google AdWords is a
sites such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. large pay-per-click advertising service and platform that lets advertisers display their
ads on Google’s search engine results page based on key words in the consumer’s
search. Each time a consumer does a Google search, it turns up thousands or even hun
dreds of thousands of results, both informational and commercial. Searching for “bird
houses’’ yields two sets of results. At the top is a section labeled “Ads— Shop Bird
Houses,’’ which contains ads, links, and prices for perhaps
a dozen different sellers. Next is a list of sellers with no
“Ad" designation, mixed with other informational links.
The search results also include a local map pinpointing
the locations of multiple area stores selling bird houses
and other pet supplies.
The second set of results— those not designated as
ads— are organic search results, mentions not paid for
by a company or brand. Instead, organic search results
are selected and ranked by Google’s sophisticated algo
rithms as those most useful and relevant to the search
term and searcher. Companies want their stores and
brands to appear near the top of the organic search
results of Google and other search engines. To help
make that happen, they employ a sophisticated process
called search engine optimization (SEO). This involves
» Search-related advertising: Every time a consumer does a Google or sourcing, structuring, and presenting all the company’s
other search, it turns up thousands of results, including both paid search website and mobile information in a way that the search
ads and “organic” brand-related search results. Companies must plan engine will evaluate it as relevant and useful for con
carefully for both. sumers, placing the company or brand high up in the
D A N IE L C O N S T A N T E /S h u tte rs to c k results list.
The first set of search results—those in the “Ads" section—are paid search ads. Here,
companies pay a search engine to feature their ads when consumers search for key terms
related to their stores or brands. Paid search ad space is sold in much the same way as digital
display ad space. Paid search advertisers prepared fists of key words and bid on ad placements
to appear as a sponsored fink on the results page of relevant searches. They pay the search site
only if consumers click through to their site (pay-per-click). In auction-like fashion, the search
engine chooses which ads it displays for a given search based on the relevance of the ad to
the search and the amount the advertiser is willing to pay for each ad click. The average cost
per click-through for Google Search Network keywords is between one and three dollars. The
most expensive and competitive keywords can cost $50 or more per click.15
As digital media play an ever-increasing role in consumer buying, it’s more important
than ever that businesses and brands be easily found online. Thus, paid search advertising
has become a large part of the digital advertising mix of most major brands. Large retailers
might easily spend $50 million or more per year on paid search advertising. In all, search
ad spending has surged in recent years and is expected to grow by more than 40 percent
in the next three years. It now accounts for 72 percent of all digital advertising spending.
E m a il m a r k e tin g Google reaps almost 57 percent of all U.S. search ad revenue. 16
Sending highly targeted, highly personalized,
relationship-building marketing messages via E m a il M a r k e tin g
email.
Email marketing remains an important digital marketing tool. Globally, people send out
more than 305 billion emails each day. According to one estimate, each dollar spent on
email marketing yields 42 dollars in return. About 87 percent of all marketers use email
Spam
marketing to share information with consumers. Many consumers prefer to engage with
Unsolicited, unwanted commercial email
brands by email than by direct mail, phone, text, or social media. This is particularly
messages.
the case when retail brands send relevant emails that accurately reflect consumers’
shopping preferences, locations, or purchase histories. Email is an important business-
to-business tool— 81 percent of small and medium-size businesses rely on email as
their primary customer acquisition channel. Email rates as the third most influential
information source for B-to-B buyers. What’s more, email is now an on-the-go
medium—81 percent of all emails are now opened on mobile devices. Given its low
costs and targetability, email can yield a high return on investment.17
Today’s best emails are well designed, inviting, and interactive. Email lets mar
keters send highly targeted and tightly personalized relationship-building messages.
For example, eyewear brand Warby Parker sends a sequence of nine informational
and promotional emails to home try-on customers. Each is personally addressed and
keyed to steps in the trial process, from initial registration and order confirmation to
offers of selection assistance and instructions for returning frames. “The magical part
was feeling like Warby Parker was right there with me throughout the process," says
one customer. Warby Parker also sends cheerful after-purchase follow-up, announce
ment, and promotional emails. ^ For example, it sends personalized emails to cus
tomers on the first anniversary of their purchase, with the message “You’ve had your
Warby Parker frames for one year now. Tell ’em we said Happy Birthday! We hope
the first 365 days have been joyful." And just in case the customer wants “to start
more traditions," the email also includes a fink to Warby Parker’s web and social
media sites.18
But email marketing has a dark side. The explosion of spam—unsolicited,
unwanted commercial email messages that clog up our email boxes—has led to
unending frustration. Spam now accounts for 85 percent of the billions of emails sent
worldwide each day. American office workers receive an average of 121 emails per
» Email marketing: Eyewear brand Warby day and spend 16 percent of their average workweek managing email communica
Parker sends personalized emails to home tions. As a result, less than 25 percent of all promotional emails are even opened by
try-on customers throughout the purchase the recipients. Email marketers walk a fine line between adding value for consumers
and after-purchase process. “You’ve had your and being intrusive and annoying.19
Warby Parker frames for one year now. Tell ’em To address these concerns, most legitimate marketers now practice permission-
we said Happy Birthday!” based email marketing, sending email pitches only to customers who “opt in." Many
C o u rte s y o f W a rb y P a rk e r
companies use configurable email systems that let customers choose what they want
to get. For example, Amazon targets opt-in customers with a limited number of help
ful “we thought you’d like to know" messages based on their expressed preferences and
previous purchases. Few customers object, and many welcome such messages. Amazon
benefits by not alienating customers and gaining higher consumer retention rates.
O n lin e V id e o s
Companies often post digital video content on brand websites and on social media. Some
videos are TV ads that a company posts online before or after an advertising campaign
to extend its reach and impact. Other videos are made specifically for the web and social
media. Such videos range from “how-to" instructional videos and public relations pieces to
brand promotions and brand-related entertainment.
The best online videos can engage consumers by the tens of millions. Video now
accounts for close to 80 percent of all internet traffic. YouTube users alone now upload
more than 500 hours of video every minute. About 54 percent of consumers want to see
more video from brands they support, and 80 percent of people who have purchased soft
ware or an app did so after watching an online video. “Over the past few years," notes one
analyst, “the internet has evolved from a text-based medium to the new TV."20
Many brands produce multi-platform video campaigns that bridge traditional TV,
online, and mobile media. For example, videos related to UEFA European Football
Championship ads attract huge audiences before and after the big game airs. Consider
Qatar Airways’ Euro spot “True fans have no borders" that shows international soccer fans
and airline employees wearing face masks with a sense of responsibility, passing a ball,
and celebrating the game before boarding a flight. The 60-second ad was played several
times during the tournament, gamering an impressive 5.23 billion global five audience. The
final match was watched by 328 million viewers, and the average audience for the individ
ual matches was over 100 million viewers. Owing to the lockdown, Euro2020 achieved the
highest ratings of all previous tournaments and attracted a lot of attention on social media
not only before the tournament, but also afterwards, which made Qatar Airways’ advertise
ment gain great popularity. On YouTube alone, the video has been viewed over 1.5 million
times. The significance and reach of advertising for major events represents an opportunity
Viral marketing for companies to position themselves in the focus of potential customers.21
The digital version of word-of-mouth » Like Amazon, marketers hope that some of their videos will go viral.
marketing: videos, ads, and other marketing Viral marketing is the digital version of word-of-mouth marketing. It involves creating
content that are so engaging and infectious videos, ads, and other marketing content that are so infectious that customers will seek
that consumers will seek them out and pass them out and pass them along to their friends. When content comes from a friend, the
them along to friends. recipient is much more likely to view or read it. Not many campaigns go viral, but the ones
that do offer tremendous returns on investment.
Brands often use videos for engaging consumers beyond
promoting products, giving brands a voice, and creating posi
tive brand associations. Consider this video campaign from
Gatorade:22
Girls abandon sports 50 percent more often than boys by their

teenage years. To address this, Gatorade created a six-episode
video series called “Versus." The 21-minute episodes, starring
female high school lacrosse players, were designed to “candidly
spark a conversation on the importance of keeping girls in the
game," says a Gatorade marketer. “We wanted to find something
that would encourage girls who had a love for sports to stay
motivated." The video series ran alongside Gatorade's “Sisters
in Sweat" campaign featuring professional athletes like Serena
William for whom sports had been a positive influence. The
“Versus" video series quickly earned more than 1 million views,
» Viral marketing: Many marketers work to create videos, ads, and other creating a “double-digit lift" in girls' sports participation confi
marketing content that are so infectious that customers will seek them out dence and positive brand associations for Gatorade. “We knew
and pass them along to their friends. we had something special, emotional, and thought-provoking
on our hands right away," says another Gatorade marketer.
R id o /S h u t t e r s t o c k
Marketers cannot “make" a marketing message go viral. They can seed content online,
but the message itself has to strike a chord. Says one creative director, “You hope that the
creative is at a high enough mark where the seeds grow into mighty oaks. If they don’t like
it, it ain’t gonna move. If they like it, it’ll move a little bit; and if they love it, it’s gonna
move like a fast-burning fire through the Hollywood hills.’’23
B lo g s a n d O t h e r O n lin e F o r u m s
Brands also market through various digital forums that appeal to specific special-interest
B lo g s groups and brand communities. Blogs are online forums where people and companies post
Online forums where people and companies their thoughts and other content, usually related to narrowly defined topics. Blogs can be
post their thoughts and other content, usually about anything, from politics or baseball to haiku, car repair, brands, or the latest television
related to narrowly defined topics. series. Many bloggers use popular social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and
Instagram to promote their blogs. Such reach can give blogs—especially those with large
and devoted followings—substantial influence.
These days, almost every company has its own brand-related blog that reaches out to
customer communities. For example, the Oh My Disney blog gives Disney buffs an “official
destination for Disney quizzes, nostalgia, news, and other Disney magic." Starbucks’s Stories
& News blog is a “coffee education blog" that offers Starbucks brand fans an interesting mix
of coffee-related articles and industry news along with insights related to the company’s social
and environmental sustainability initiatives. Patagonia’s blog, The Cleanest Line, shares stories
about the environment, highlights where the company stands on key issues, and spreads the
brand’s “save our home planet" message rather than promoting sales. And language learning
software marketer Rosetta Stone’s blog offers a fascinating journey into the intrigue of gram
mar and translation across global languages. A recent entry described the Kwanzaa festival
that celebrates Pan-African heritage, highlighting Kwanzaa greetings in the East African lan
guage of Swahili. “The more you know, the more interesting things get," says Rosetta Stone 24
Many marketers now use influencer blogs. Some fashion influencers have amassed
millions of blog followers, with fan bases that dwarf those of major fashion magazines.
For example, 27-year-old Danielle Bernstein started the We Wore What fashion blog as
an undergraduate at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Her blog and Instagram
account now give daily outfit inspiration to 2.6 million followers. Because of such large fol
lowings, brands flock to Bernstein and other fashion blog influencers such as Huda Kattan
(48 million followers), Cole Sprouse (35 million), Chiarra Ferragni (23 million), Camila
Coelho (9 million), and BryanBoy (600,000 followers). Popular influencers are paid more
than $15,000 to post and tag product images on their blog, Facebook, and Instagram sites.
Bernstein posts images of sponsored products from small brands such as Schultz Shoes
and Revolve Clothing to large brands such as Nike, Lancome, and Nordstrom.Z1
As a marketing tool, blogs offer some advantages. They can offer a fresh, original,
personal, and inexpensive way to enter online and social media conversations involving
S o c ia l m e d ia
consumers. Companies can use blogs to engage customers in meaningful relationships.
Independent and commercial online social
On the other hand, the blogosphere is increasingly cluttered. And some blogs remain
networks where people congregate to
socialize and share messages, opinions,
consumer-controlled platforms where the company can struggle to control the message.
pictures, videos, and other content. Whether or not they actively participate in blogs, companies that listen to them can gain
valuable insights from consumer conversations.
Author Comment
S o c ia l M e d ia M a r k e tin g
Digital and social media have taken the
The surge in internet usage and digital devices has spawned a dazzling array of online
marketing world by storm . They offer some
amazing marketing possibilities. But the
social media. People now congregate to socialize and share messages, opinions, pictures, videos,
reality is that many marketers are still and other content on countless independent and commercial social networks. Millions of people
struggling to learn the ropes in this worldwide are buddying up on Facebook, checking in with Twitter, tuning to the day’s hottest
brave new world. videos at YouTube, pinning images on Pinterest, or sharing photos with Instagram, Snapchat,
and TikTok. And, of course, wherever consumers congregate, marketers will surely follow.
Marketers are now riding the social media wave. Large brands usually have a huge
social media presence. For example, according to one source, Nike maintains at least 108
Facebook pages, 104 Twitter handles, 16 Instagram accounts, and 41 YouTube channels 26
Interestingly, even as marketers are mastering the use of social media to engage
customers, social media platforms are adapting to better support marketers. These par
allel efforts benefit both social media users and brands. That said, most social media
platforms face the monetization challenge: How can they profitably tap the market
ing potential of their massive communities without driving off loyal users? Facebook
and its massively successful Instagram unit have succeeded in resolving this tension
(see Marketing at Work 14.1).
U s in g S o c ia l M e d ia
Check the websites of brands ranging from Coca-Cola, Nike, and Chick-fil-A to the
Chicago Bulls or even the U.S. Forest Service, and you’11 find links to each brand’s
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedln, TikTok, and other social media pages.
Such social media can create substantial brand communities. For example, the Chicago
Bulls have more than 17 million Facebook fans; Coca-Cola has an incredible 105 million
Facebook fans.
Social media can support deep consumer engagement and a sense of shared com
munity like few other marketing forums can. For example, consider Etsy— the online
craft marketplace that’s “Your place to buy and sell all things handmade.’’ Etsy uses
its web and mobile sites and a host of social media to create an Etsy lifestyle com
munity, where buyers congregate to learn about, explore, exchange, and share ideas
about handmade and vintage products. In addition to its active Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube pages, Etsy engages 2 million brand followers on photo-sharing site
Instagram, where the Etsy community shares photos of creative ideas and projects. It
also engages some 1.2 million followers on social scrapbooking site Pinterest, with
boards on topics ranging from “DIY Projects,’’ “Entertaining,’’ and “Stuff We Love’’
to “Etsy Weddings’’ and even “Yum! Recipes to Share,’’ where the community posts
favorite recipes. Etsy sells few of the ingredients that go into the recipes, but it’s all
part of the Etsy lifestyle. Through its extensive online and social media presence,
Etsy has created an active and engaged worldwide community of 39.4 million shop
pers and 2.1 million sellers worldwide in what it calls “The marketplace we make
together.’’27
Some of the major social networks are huge. Facebook has 2.8 billion monthly active
users worldwide, more than seven times the population of the United States. Twitter has
more than 353 million monthly active users, and YouTube’s more than 2.3 billion users
upload 300 hours of video every minute of every day. The list goes on: Instagram has 1.22
billion active users, Linkedln 500 million, TikTok 690 million, Pinterest 442 million, and
Snapchat 498 million.28
In the shadow of giants like Facebook, numer
ous niche and interest-based online social networks
have emerged over time. These social networks
cater to the needs of smaller communities of like-
minded people, making them ideal vehicles for mar
keters who want to target these market segments.
» Goodreads is an online social network where 65 mil
lion avid readers can “Meet your next favorite book’’
and discuss it with friends. Moms commiserate and
share advice at CafeMom.com. At Doximity, more
than 1 million medical professionals—doctors, nurse
practitioners, pharmacists, and others—network with
colleagues, catch up on medical news, and research
employment opportunities. PURRsonals is where “cat
lovers meet and greet.’’ FarmersOnly.com provides
» Numerous niche and interest-based online social networks have emerged, online dating for down-to-earth “country folks’’ who
catering to communities of like-minded people. Goodreads is a place where enjoy “blue skies, living free and at peace in wide open
you can “discover books you’ll love” and discuss them with others. spaces, raising animals, and appreciating nature’’—
P o s t m o d e r n S t u d io / S h u t t e r s t o c k “because city folks just don’t get it.’’29
M A R K E T IN G AT W O R K I 14.1
In s ta g ra m : A W in -W in -W in fo r th e C o m p a n y , A d v e rtis e rs , a n d In s ta g ra m m e rs
Social media giant Facebook acquired a young startup called Instagram was to inject brand content alongside user content
Instagram in 2012 for the then-mind-blowing sum of $1 without upsetting the community dynamic.
billion—a record price for acquiring an app and far more But even as advertisers—now in the millions—have contin
than Facebook had ever spent on an acquisition. Some critics ued to leap aboard Instagram, its user base has continued to
mocked Facebook’s sanity. At the time, Instagram had zero rev explode. Instagram’s growth rates are impressive. Instagram
enue, only 30 million users, and no idea about how it would now boasts more than 1.16 billion users who contribute more
make money. But Facebook saw big potential in the fledgling than 1 billion posts each day. Instagram’s unique user base
company. is a great fit for the content strategies of many brands. The
As the world has rapidly gone social and mobile, social Instagram community is big and youngish—85 percent of U.S.
networks have played a huge role. It’s common to see people teenagers—but spans a wide demographic range. This allows
everywhere these days with their heads down and devices in for precision targeting. Instagram’s audience is also loyal:
hand, connecting, posting, messaging, and sharing. On Face- 25 percent of teenagers in the United States say Instagram is
book alone, 1.85 billion of the network’s 2.8 billion worldwide their favorite social medium. Users in the 18-to-24 age group
monthly active users check in to the network every day to view
4 billion videos, generate 3.2 billion Likes, and upload 350
million photos.
Even as the world of social media has rapidly expanded,
the challenge of monetization—converting all this activity
into sustainable profits without alienating users—still plagues
many platforms. Facebook was the first social medium to solve
the profitability issue, and it’s the only one yet to do that on a
large scale. Last year, Facebook netted $29 billion in profits
on revenues of nearly $86 billion—a 34 percent margin. Sales
grew nearly 22 percent for the year; profits were up 58 per
cent. Meanwhile, Facebook’s biggest social media competi
tors, Snapchat and Twitter, lost about a billion dollars each.
Flow does Facebook succeed while so many other social media
platforms struggle? It’s all about advertising. Facebook rakes in
money by providing effective ways for companies to target and
engage its gigantic user community with relevant ads and other
brand content.
Perhaps nowhere is Facebook’s successful monetization
more apparent than at its Instagram division. Launched as
a private startup in 2010, Instagram differentiated itself from
other apps in two ways: It was mobile-only, and it was de
signed with a single, simple function in mind— sharing images.
Instagram’s simplicity and the growing appeal of commu
nicating through images made it an instant hit. After all, a
picture speaks a thousand words. The photo-sharing app quickly
became the preferred social network for then-young millennials
to communicate with their friends, out of sight of their parents’
watchful eyes.
The Facebook acquisition came less than two years after
Instagram’s launch. Although small at the time, Instagram’s
youthful audience complemented Facebook’s aging one. A year
later, Facebook introduced paid advertising on Instagram. The
decision was controversial, given that Instagrammers cherished » Hugely successful Instagram has figured out how to
the free (and commercial-free) sharing culture of their digital Integrate advertising with consumer content In a way that
community. If not well conceived, commercial content would satisfies users, advertisers, and Its own bottom line.
be an unwelcome and alienating intrusion. The challenge for ELF
spend a daily average of over 30 minutes on the app, and more social media. For example, whereas closest competitor Snap-
than 67 percent of them use the app multiple times a day. chat’s disappearing content makes brand-consumer connec
Instagram’s advertiser base has grown in parallel. Instagram tions fleeting, Instagram’s less rigid format lets consumers
is one of the world’s premier digital, social media, and mobile scroll through, linger over, and share content on their own
advertising channels. It attracts more than 2 million advertisers and timelines. Likewise, a recent study revealed that brands on In
hosts over 25 million business profiles, ranging from marketing stagram get 26 times more engagement than on Twitter and 13
heavyweights like Nike, Starbucks, Disney, and P&G to your local times more than on Facebook. For example, when Mercedes
restaurant or fitness center. More than 96 percent of fashion brands posted social media teasers for the world premiere of its new
in the United States have an Instagram profile. About 1 billion Ins A-Class hatchback, the posts racked up a respectable 10,000
tagram users follow business profiles and 20 percent of them visit Likes on Facebook but a huge 150,000 Likes on Instagram.
at least one business profile daily. Some 83 percent of all users Thus, Instagram’s efficient and engrossing visual format reaps
discover new products on Instagram, 81 percent use the platform to engagement levels that more text-based social media usually
research products and services, and 80 percent decide on whether can’t match.
to purchase a product or service after seeing it on Instagram. Beyond engagement, Instagram also takes care of the next
Instagram’s design makes it easy for advertisers to blend step of the customer journey: purchase. Instagram Shopping
their brand content with user content. As a result, rather provides a set of features that turn a business Instagram ac
than disrupting the Instagrammer experience, brand content count into a shoppable storefront, allowing users to buy prod
often enhances it. Beyond their own Instagram feeds, ad ucts directly from brand shops with a single tap without leav
vertisers can choose from several ad formats. For starters, ing the platform. And on Instagram, shopping is as flexible
brands can place content directly into the feeds of targeted and integrated as advertising. Brands can tag products or post
Instagrammers through various photo and video formats, captions for their branded content. And with Instagram Collec
including Reels—a short video format designed to take tions, businesses can curate their products into themes and add
on rival TikTok. Then, with Instagram Stories, advertisers an editorial flare.
can present brand content in the same way that Instagram Thus, it didn’t take long for Facebook to turn Instagram into a
mers use the Stories feature—weaving photos and videos moneymaker. Facebook doesn’treport Instagram’s earnings sep
together, enhancing them with text and doodles, and pre arately, but one estimate holds that Instagram will generate over
senting them in full-screen slideshows that stay around for $18 billion in advertising revenue this year—about 32 percent
24 hours. Instagram branded content ads pair brands with higher than last year. Instagram Stories ads alone generate more
Instagram creators to organically insert sponsoredmaterial into revenue than all of rival Snapchat. Another analysis values Ins
creators’ posts, “bringing people closer to product and brands tagram at more than $100 billion as a standalone company— 100
they love, through the voices of creators they trust.’’ Now, Insta times what Facebook paid for it just nine years ago. No one is
gram is creating a marketplace that will essentially be a brand- mocking Facebook’s Instagram purchase anymore.
influencer matchmaking service. In addition to numerous Instagram is soaring because it has figured out how to inte
options for brand content, Instagram provides tools that make grate advertising and brand content with consumer content in a
it simple for advertisers big and small to process and monitor way that satisfies everyone. Far from resenting brand content
visual content quickly, efficiently, and with emotional impact. as intrusive, many Instagrammers appear to welcome it, mak
The very nature of Instagram allows for ad content to cre ing social media advertising a win-win-win for Instagram, its
ate high levels of consumer engagement compared with other advertisers, and its user community.30
T y p e s a n d F u n c t io n s o f S o c ia l M e d ia
Marketers must understand the functional capabilities of different social media platforms.
Based on that understanding, they can then integrate a carefully chosen combination of
these platforms into their digital marketing strategies. Flere we review the broad array of
functions available through various social media platforms and discuss how marketers and
companies can employ those platforms:
• Image and video platforms. Companies can use platforms such as Flickr, Instagram,
and Snapchat to manage visual storytelling, introduce new products, create brand
personality, and collect ideas from brand fans. ^ For example, Starbucks uses
creative Instagram Stories to immerse Instagrammers in brand-related videos and
photos on everything from menu tips, explaining the basics of espresso, and its
stand on social issues to teaching people how to ask for their favorite menu items
using American Sign Language. Likewise, Taco Bell engaged consumers in real
time with a Snapchat lens that let users turn their faces into a giant talking taco
shell to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The record-breaking

campaign grabbed more than 224 milbon views in a
single day. The average user played with the filter for
24 seconds before sending it as a snap.31
• Social bookmarking platforms. Companies can make
their sponsored content accessible to information stor
age and sharing platforms such as Instapaper and Pocket.
Pocket, for example, is the leading “save-for-later" app
that lets users save useful articles, videos, stories, or
even brand content from any publication or web page
in a central place and then bookmark them to revisit
later. Users can also have Pocket recommend new con
tent based on an analysis of what they’ve bookmarked.
It “helps people capture, discover, and spend time with
content that matters to them." Brands can partner with
services like Pocket to gain deep insights into consum
ers’ content preferences. It can then sponsor timely and
» Using social media: Starbucks uses creative Instagram Stories to appropriate brand-related information within users’
immerse Instagrammers in brand-related videos and photos on everything
saved content. For example, a muscle relaxant gel brand
from menu tips, explaining the basics of espresso, and its stand on social
can advertise in conjunction with a bookmarked article
issues to teaching people how to ask for their favorite menu items.
on the treatment of muscular sprains.
Ja a p A r r ie n s /N u rP h o to v ia G e tty Im a g e s
Influence platforms. Companies can work with apps like Hypetap and Klout to
use influencers to market their new products and services. For example, electronics
and appliance maker LG used influencers on Hypetap to communicate the benefits
of its InstaView Door-in-Door refrigerator through a variety of photo, video, and
storyline content.
Messaging platforms. Companies can work with platforms like Kik and WeChat
to communicate with consumers and engage them across a wide range of mar
keting activities. For example, WeChat is China’s “app for everything"—it offers
text messaging, instant voice messaging, broadcast messaging, money transfer and
payment services, video conferencing, gaming, location sharing, and mobile mar
keting services. Companies can also build dedicated interfaces on WeChat, called
mini-programs, to help consumers research and purchase the brands they offer.
For example, JD.com has a WeChat mini-program dedicated to e-commerce, and
Mobike has one dedicated to helping users locate shared bikes, unlock them, and
pay for using them.
Crowdfunding platforms. Startups can use platforms such as Kickstarter to
raise capital from investor communities for new ventures. For example, the
Exploding Kittens card game raised more than $8.8 million in community
funding and delivered the phenomenally successful game on time to 219,382 of
its Kickstarter backers. Kickstarter can thus serve startups as an integrated fun
draising and marketing tool. On the consumer side, non-profits use GoFundMe
as a marketing platform to get their message out and raise money for worthy
social causes.
Blogs/microblogs. With its 280 characters limit, Twitter is, at its heart, a hyper
efficient blog. Consumers frequently use Twitter to call a company’s attention
to a problem, and companies can respond immediately. In fact, many compa
nies are moving away from issuing staid press releases and instead embracing
Twitter as a favored medium for rapidly disseminating important brand and
company news. Most companies also develop one or more of their own blogs.
Small companies and independents can use website-building platforms such as
WordPress to build simply designed, highly customized blogs. In the absence
of a large marketing budget, these blogs serve as default brand-building and
advertising platforms.
Location platforms. Instagram Stories let users apply digital location stickers—
including ones for restaurants, stores, and other commercial locations—on shared
photos and videos. When consumers bundle this information with positive reviews
and descriptions of their experiences, they help build the service provider’s brand
and reputation across their social networks. Similarly, Foursquare Swarm lets users
track their physical locations over time and create shareable stories about places
they have visited. Users can also track their friends at nearby locations and mes
sage them. Young consumers often use such tracking to exchange information and
coordinate their shopping in real time. Marketers, in turn, can use location-based
platforms to understand how consumers move about in the real world and reach
them at key locations. For example, businesses and brands can make themselves
accessible as Foursquare Swarm check-in points, providing product and service
information. Companies can also use apps enabled with location tracking to send
context-sensitive coupons and information to consumers. For example, Burger
King recently ran a “Whopper Detour’’ promotion campaign in which it offered BK
app users coupons for 1-cent Whoppers whenever they came within 600 feet of a
McDonald’s restaurant anywhere in the United States, along with directions to the
nearest Burger King.
• Nicheworking platforms. A nichework is a social online network of individuals
who share a tightly focused interest. For example, StackOverflow is a social hub
with more than 100 million software programmers designed to help users with cod
ing questions. A nicheworking platform can serve as a good advertising medium
for companies that offer specialized products that align with the focus of the niche.
For example, software companies can offer commercial solutions in highly tar
geted ads that respond to specific questions on StackOverflow.
• Wikis. Wikis are collaborative knowledge networks that are created and managed
by the public. Wikipedia, the classic of all wikis, is one of the world’s greatest
sources of knowledge. Both individuals and companies can contribute to knowl
edge on Wikipedia. Johnson & Johnson’s Wikipedia entry, for example, helps
build the corporate brand by providing an in-depth exploration of the compa
ny’s history, values and heritage, products and services, and high and low points
across time. Although some people question the accuracy of Wikipedia entries,
the fact that any person or company can edit and correct the content helps keep
the information generally accurate. Other wikis tend to be more focused. For
example, wikiHow focuses on “how to’’ instructions and courses on topics rang
ing from vehicle maintenance and health to art and pets. Companies can enhance
their customer service by uploading detailed product usage and maintenance in
formation on wikiHow. For example, one article on wikiHow tells consumers to
set up the Philips Hue bridge, which helps control its programmable smarthome
Hue LED lights.
• Service networking platforms. Service networking platforms support social com
munities that link service providers and consumers. For example, TaskRabbit helps
connect consumers with capable professionals who can help with almost any task,
from running errands to home cleaning, mounting a TV, and fixing a broken fau
cet. “Taskers" respond to posted jobs and members can choose a tasker based on
reviews, experience, and price. TaskRabbit for Business helps consumers and busi
nesses connect with more than 10,000 fully vetted contractors for temporary help.
Likewise, 99designs supports a creative community where consumers and busi
nesses post creative projects. Designers submit ideas in response to requests and
consumers pick their choice of designer and design. 99designs proposes that it will
“turn your ideas into a custom design you can’t get anywhere else." Service net
working platforms serve as important marketing and business development forums
for small service businesses, independent contractors, and artistic designers and
creators.
• Reviews and ratings platforms. Today, consumers have many forums for rating
their experiences with service providers. Yelp is the leading social networking site
for crowdsourced consumer reviews and ratings of everything from local restau
rants and auto service providers to plumbers, dentists, and barbers. Consumers
can rate their overall experience on a five-star scale and provide a written review
describing their experiences. Interestingly, a Yelp page can double up as a substitute
webpage for businesses with small marketing budgets. For example, a restaurant’s
Yelp page can provide a link to the restaurant’s menu, directions on how to get
there, and even ordering and delivery options.
• Event platforms. The world is a happening place filled with interesting events.
Social networking site Meetup provides a platform for individuals to organize
meetings and activities focused on a passion or interest. The theme could be highly
technical and focused—a recent meeting brought together software engineers inter
ested in Automating Application Program Interface Testing. Or the theme could be
of more general interest—another recent meeting featured business owners getting
together to share experiences and stories. Likewise, service providers and entrepre
neurs can use Eventbrite to help people discover and participate in events that ap
peal to them. Recently featured events include Baking from Scratch 101, Stop Food
Waste, Gentle Yoga for Terrible Times, and 48 Flours of Bite-Sized Mindfulness.
Eventbrite can be used to market themed events relevant to the local commu
nity; these events can occur either in the physical world or online. For example,
Black-owned businesses that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic publicized Black Food Truck Tuesdays in Charlotte, North Carolina, on
the Eventbrite platform.
• Livestreaming platforms. These platforms facilitate the streaming of live
events and competitions to millions of participants worldwide. ^ For example,
Amazon-owned live-streaming platform Twitch focuses on streaming live games,
music, and entertainment. The number of Twitch
broadcasters nearly doubled last year to almost
7 million.32 On Twitch, viewers can watch a game
in real time, with live video and audio from the
players and a stream of texted chat from the view
ing community. Such platforms offer marketers
highly targeted advertising and sponsorship op
portunities. And many large brands, from Wendy’s
and P&G’s Bounty to Lexus and beauty brand Elf
Cosmetics, manage their own Twitch channels.
Wendy’s uses its Twitch channel to both promote
its products and add to the brand’s fun and witty
online personality. For example, to promote its
then-new delivery service, Wendy’s streamed a
gameplay broadcast of the popular gaming series
Animal Crossing: New Horizons called “Choppin’
Trees and Free Delivery.’’ The campaign featured
a character who looks exactly like the company’s
» Live-streaming platforms such as Twitch offer marketers highly targeted red-headed mascot. The stream peaked at over
advertising and sponsorship opportunities. And many large brands manage their own 16,000 viewers watching Wendy catch butterflies,
Twitch channels. cut down trees, and interact with other residents of
P o s tm o d e rn S tu d io /S h u tte rs to c k Spicy Nugg island.33
Thus, the world of social media is bursting with a wide range of platforms that offer
different functionalities. This world is constantly changing as new platforms appear and
others disappear. Marketers must keep track of this dynamic world. And keeping their tar
geted segments and positioning in mind, they must decide on which social media platforms
they will integrate into their digital marketing strategies and how.
S o c ia l M e d ia M a r k e tin g A d v a n t a g e s a n d C h a lle n g e s
Using social media presents both advantages and challenges. On the plus side, social
media allow marketers to share targeted and personalized brand content with consumers
and communities. Social media are interactive, enabling companies to participate in
consumer conversations and collect feedback. Social media are also immediate and timely.
They can reach customers anytime, anywhere with timely and relevant marketing content
and interactions. Consider JetBlue:34
A man once tweeted JetBlue while waiting at the airport to ask

why he was charged $50 for taking an earlier flight. JetBlue re
sponded to his Tweet within minutes, and the customer seemed
satisfied. But the JetBlue social media crew didn't stop there.
Instead, they forwarded the exchange to the JetBlue staff at the
51OK 10SK 2.1-lM 53.4K airport. The airport staff studied the man's Twitter profile picture
and then walked around the terminal until they located him so they
Twwts Tweets St replies •11•: I: •
JetBlue Airways a could follow up in person. In another case, one JetBlue customer
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t k e te c fe t IS OUT
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Of course, JetBlue can’t surprise every customer in this
way. » However, the airline is legendary for the speed and
quality of its social media interactions. It receives 2,500 to 2,600
P E SK Y Twitter mentions daily, and its social media team responds to
every single one, with an impressive average response time of
10 minutes. Beyond engaging customers, these interactions
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says JetBlue’s Manager of Customer Commitment, “and being
on social media is just a natural extension of that."
Social media can be cost-effective. Although creating social
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media content can be expensive, many social media platforms
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■Lv j investments are often much higher than those on traditional
media such as television or print. Even small businesses and
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Perhaps the biggest advantage of social media is their
engagement and social sharing capabilities. Social media help
w , .n, • , ... , , ...... . , .. drive customer engagement and community—getting custom-
» JetBlue is legendary for the speed and quality of its social media . , , ., , , ,
responses. For example, the JetBlue social media team responds to ers m volved Wlth the brand and Wlth each o th er M o re than any
every single Twitter mention it receives, with an impressive average other channels, social media can involve customers m shaping
response time of 10 minutes. and sharing brand content, experiences, information, and ideas.
JetBiue Social media marketing also presents challenges. Many social media are largely user con
trolled. Therefore, marketers can’t simply muscle their way into consumers’ digital interac
tions—they need to earn the right to be there. Rather than intruding, marketers must become a
valued part of the online experience by developing a steady flow of engaging content.
Also, because consumers can tightly control social media content, even a seemingly
harmless social media campaign can backfire. For example, Frito-Lay once launched a Do
Us a Flavor contest, in which it asked people to come up with new potato chip flavors, sub
mit them to its web or Facebook site, and design bag art for their creations. Many consumers
took the contest (and the $1 million grand prize) seriously, submitting flavors that people
would truly crave. However, others hijacked the contest by submitting sometimes hilarious
but completely bogus flavors, ranging from Crunchy Frog and Blue Cheese, Toothpaste and
Orange Juice, 7th Grade Locker Room, and Bandaid in a Public Pool to Anthrax Ripple
and “90% Air and Like 4 Chips." Unfortunately, no matter how bogus, the brand’s site
responded cheerfully to each submission with a colorful rendition of the bag and flavor
name along with a message like the following: “7th Grade Locker Room? That does sound
yummy as a chip! Keep those tasty ideas coming for your next chance to win $1 million."
Frito-Lay’s experience indicates that companies must engage in social media mar
keting thoughtfully, with sufficient resources devoted to managing the engagement well.
A half-hearted approach will likely backfire and damage the brand.
M o b ile M a r k e tin g
M o b ile m a r k e tin g Mobile marketing features marketing messages, promotions, and other marketing con-
Marketing messages, promotions, and other tent delivered to on-the-go consumers through their mobile devices. Mobile marketing can
content delivered to on-the-go consumers engage consumers anywhere, anytime. The widespread surge in mobile devices and traffic
through their mobile devices. haS mobile marketing a must for every brand.
About 97 percent of all Americans now own a mobile device. For 15 percent of
Americans, the mobile device is their only internet access point—they do not use a home
broadband connection. Total mobile device penetration is now greater than 100 percent in
the United States (many people own more than one mobile device), and more than half of
all web traffic is mobile. The mobile apps market has exploded globally. There are millions
of apps available, and the average smartphone owner uses nine apps a day.3j
Most people love their phones. According to one study, nearly 90 percent of consum
ers who own smartphones, tablets, computers, and TVs would give up all of those other
screens before giving up their phones. On average, Americans spend nearly four hours
a day on their mobile devices using apps, talking, texting, and browsing the web. The
average global mobile user interacts with a mobile device 63
times every day. Thus, although TV is still a big part of peo
ple’s lives, mobile is rapidly becoming their “first screen."
Away from home, it’s their only screen.36
/ > » For consumers, a smartphone or tablet can be a
handy shopping companion. It can provide on-the-go prod
uct information, price comparisons, advice and reviews
from other consumers, access to instant deals, and fast and
convenient avenues to purchase. Mobile buying is growing
rapidly and currently accounts for more than 50 percent of
all digital commerce.37
Companies use mobile marketing to stimulate immedi
ate buying, make shopping easier, enrich the brand expe
rience, or all of these. It lets marketers provide consum
ers with information, incentives, and choices at the right
moment in the purchase process (see Marketing at Work
» Mobile marketing: For consumers, a smartphone or tablet can be a 14.2). Today’s rich-media mobile ads can create substantial
handy shopping companion. As a result, mobile advertising spending is engagement and impact. For example, Gatorade put mobile
surging. marketing’s timely engagement potential to good use during
G e o r g e R u d y /S h u tte r s to c k a recent Super Bowl:38
Gatorade wanted to recreate the iconic Gatorade dunk moment—the tradition of dousing a
sports coach with a cooler of ice-cold Gatorade after a big win— but make it a personal moment,
one that individual fans could enjoy and share during and after the game. The company worked
with Snapchat to create a Snapchat filter that made it look like a cooler of the sports drink was
spilling over users' heads while fans cheered in the background. The result? Fans created more
than 8.2 million videos of themselves getting virtually dunked with more than 165 million views
in 48 hours. Although it never appeared on TV, it was the most viewed and interacted-with ad
of the Super Bowl. “We've always been a little hesitant to activate against the dunk because it's
such a natural moment that happens in the game," says a Gatorade marketer. But “this ended up
feeling like the right opportunity because it's not about what happens on the field—it's about the
fans being able to participate."
Most marketers have created their own mobile online sites. Others have created useful
or entertaining mobile apps to engage customers with their brands and help them shop. For
example, the Benjamin Moore Color Capture app lets customers take photos of colorful
objects and then match them to any of 3,500 Benjamin Moore paint colors. Starbucks’s
mobile app lets customers use their phones as a Starbucks card to make fast and easy
purchases. Fitbit’s mobile app lets users use their smartphones to count steps, log fitness
activities, and connect with and compete against friends. And Northwestern Mutual’s
mobile app helps customers obtain a bird’s-eye view of all of their financial assets, includ
ing retirement and investment accounts held with other companies. It helps you “stay on
top of your finances on the go."
As with other forms of marketing, companies must use mobile marketing responsibly
or risk angering already ad-weary consumers. Most people don’t want to be interrupted reg
ularly by advertising, so marketers must be smart about how they engage people on mobile
devices. The key is to provide genuinely useful information and offers that will make con
sumers want to engage. Thus, many marketers target mobile ads on an opt-in-only basis.
M A R K E T IN G AT W O R K 14.2
M o b ile M a r k e tin g : E n g a g in g C o n s u m e r s in M o m e n ts T h a t M a tte r
It seems like whatever you want to do these days, “there’s an app TripAdvisor. What started mostly as a hotel and restaurant re
for that." The mobile app market has exploded in recent years. view website has now become the “ultimate travel compan
Apple’s App Store now boasts 1.82 million apps; the Google ion." TripAdvisor’s mobile apps give users “the wisdom of the
Play Store leads with more than 2.7 million apps. Mobile crowds" with anytime, anywhere, as-they-travel access to com
has become today’s brave new marketing frontier, especially prehensive crowd-sourced reviews, photos and videos, maps,
for brands courting younger consumers. Mobile devices are and descriptive information about hotels, restaurants, air travel
personal, ever-present, and always on. That makes them an options, places to go, and things to see worldwide. The easy-
ideal medium for obtaining quick responses to individualized, to-use apps include lots of useful features, such as smartphone
time-sensitive offers. Mobile marketing lets brands engage lock screen notifications that call out nearby points of interest
consumers in moments that matter. as you travel. And booking options for hotels, restaurants, and
Some mobile apps are brand-specific—they help consumers flights are always just a tap away. TripAdvisor offers more than
navigate the brand’s offerings and community. For example, 884 million reviews of tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants,
the Sephora app “Makes Beauty Mobile," providing “instant, and tourism service providers. About 8 million businesses have
on-the-go access to daily inspiration, exclusive offers, and been reviewed on TripAdvisor.
more." The Chick-fil-A One app gives consumers “Endless One user likens the TripAdvisor app to a best friend who’s
Awesome"—it makes ordering easier, lets them bypass lines an endlessly knowledgeable travel expert and helps you make
and scan to pay, remembers menu preferences, and rewards all your vacation travel arrangements. And then she goes along
them with special treats. with you on your vacation as your own personal travel guide,
Other apps help consumers navigate the marketplace and sharing just the right information about local points of interest,
access other companies’ offers. The Angi app provides on-the-go finding and reviewing good places to eat, and providing digital
access to lists, ratings, and reviews of best local services pro maps to help you get where you’re going. In turn, TripAdvisor
viders, from roofers, plumbers, and mechanics to doctors and is a great place for travel- and hospitality-related brands to
dentists. The coupon-organizing Flipp app delivers weekly store link up with hundreds of millions of engaged and connected
flyer deals to consumers’ phones even as they shop; the Award- travelers a month who are actively traveling or planning trips.
Wallet app helps users track and manage points and awards from TripAdvisor’s annual revenues derive mainly from mobile
all their rewards accounts in one place. advertising and bookings.
In today’s cluttered mobile environment, successful market Mobile marketing lets brands personalize promotions and
ing goes well beyond texting a coupon or a link to buy. Instead, weave them into relevant everyday customer experiences.
it engages customers in the moment with relevant fea
tures and offers that enhance brand relationships and
buying experiences. Google’s Waze navigation app
does more than just help users navigate from point
A to point B and find local stops along the way. The
“community-driven" app also pinpoints traffic jams,
accidents, speed traps, and fuel prices in real time, all
faithfully updated by Waze’s 140 million active users
in 50 languages across 185 countries. REI has a full
suite of apps covering a range of mountain sports in
cluding hiking, climbing, mountain biking, trail run
ning, and skiing and snowboarding. Each app provides
maps, GPS routing, real-time weather and terrain con
ditions, reviews, tips, and forums. And for times you
decide you can’t live without a pair of Darn Tough hik
ing socks or a two-person Hubba Hubba tent, REI has
a shopping app as well.
Consumers have come to expect frictionless mo » Mobile marketing: TripAdvisor’s mobile app—“your ultimate travel
bile buying experiences from marketing giants like companion”—gives users as-they-travel access to crowd-sourced information
Amazon. But with rapid advances in mobile capa about hotels, restaurants, places to go, and things to see worldwide. And booking
bilities, more and more companies are becoming the options are always just a tap away.
Amazons of their industries. Consider travel company Ian D a g n a ll/A la m y S to c k P h o to
Many consumers are still skeptical about mobile marketing. opt in or download apps. But in today’s cluttered mobile
But they often change their minds if mobile platforms deliver marketing space, customers just won’t do that unless they see
useful, in-the-moment brand and shopping information, en real value in it. The challenge for marketers: develop valued
tertaining content, or timely coupons and discounted prices. mobile offers, ads, and apps that make customers want to
Most mobile efforts target only consumers who voluntarily come calling.39
In all, digital marketing— including online, social media, and mobile marketing—
offers both great promise and many challenges. Its most ardent apostles envision a time
when digital marketing will replace magazines, newspapers, and even stores as sources
for information, engagement, and buying. Most marketers, however, hold a more real
istic view. For most companies, online, mobile, and social media marketing will remain
important approaches to the marketplace that work alongside other approaches in a
fully integrated marketing mix. Flowever, such an integrated approach is not easy to
conceptualize and manage. We address this challenge next.
LINKING TH E CO N CEPTS
S to p n o w a n d th in k a b o u t h o w o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , a n d m o b ile m a r k e tin g a f f e c t y o u r b r a n d b u y in g
b e h a v io r a n d p re fe re n c e s .
• H o w m u c h o f y o u r p r o d u c t r e s e a r c h , s h o p p in g , a n d a c tu a l b u y in g ta k e p la c e o n lin e ? H o w m u c h
o f t h a t is c o n d u c te d o n a m o b ile d e v ic e ? H o w a n d h o w m u c h d o y o u r d ig ita l a n d in - s to r e b u y in g
a c tiv itie s in te r a c t?
• H o w m u c h a n d w h a t k in d s o f o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , a n d m o b ile m a r k e tin g d o y o u e n c o u n te r ? D o
y o u b e n e fit f r o m s u c h m a r k e tin g , o r is it m o r e o f a n u n w e lc o m e in tr u s io n ? In w h a t w a y s ?
• D o y o u e n g a g e d ir e c t ly w ith a n y b r a n d s o r b r a n d c o m m u n itie s t h r o u g h o n lin e s ite s , s o c ia l m e d ia ,
o r p h o n e a p p s ? D o y o u r o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , o r m o b ile in te r a c tio n s in flu e n c e y o u r b r a n d p r e fe r
e n c e s a n d b u y in g ? D is c u s s .
f ------------------------------------------
C r e a t in g a n In te g r a t e d O m n i- C h a n n e l S t r a t e g y
Author Comment
Although each separate digital platform has The digital age has fundamentally changed customers’ notions of convenience, speed, price,
its own functions, com panies must integrate
product information, service, and brand interactions. As a result, it has given marketers a
them with each other and with other
marketing approaches to create an om ni whole new way to create customer value, engage customers, and build customer relation
channel marketing strategy that creates ships. In response, companies and consumers have embraced digital marketing channels. U.S.
a seam less and effective cross-channel online retail sales increased 42 percent during 2020 to an estimated $813 billion, representing
consum er buying experience. nearly 20 percent of all retail sales. Some of the sharp increases in online sales were driven
by the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers avoided retail stores and turned increasingly to
online shopping. But much of those gains persist post-pandemic. Online sales will cross the
$1 billion threshold in 2022. In all, more than one-half of all U.S. retail sales are either trans
acted directly online or influenced by internet research and social media interactions.40
Managing a brand’s digital marketing can be a major undertaking. For example,
Starbucks is one of the world’s most successful social media marketers. Its core social
media team connects with fans through 87 accounts on five different social platforms.
Frappuccino drinks alone have more than 14 million followers on Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram. Managing and integrating all that social media content is challenging. Starbucks
also maintains an informative web page and a highly functional mobile app that helps con
sumers with everything from locating a store to placing pickup orders for highly custom
ized drinks. Customers engage with Starbucks by the tens of millions digitally without ever
setting foot in a store. In recent times, Starbucks has tallied 17 times the Facebook and
Instagram engagement of nearest competitor Dunkin’.41
Like Starbucks, many other companies that have traditionally operated offline
have now created their own online sales, marketing, and brand community channels.
Traditional store retailers are reaping increasingly larger proportions of their sales
online. For example, Walmart is now the nation’s fourth-largest online retailer, with
more than $65 billion in online revenues (more than 50 percent greater than the total
sales of Best Buy or Nike). Even ultra-store retailer Nordstrom captures more than a
third of its sales online.42
Today’s consumers are increasingly adept at omni-channel navigation across online,
social media, mobile, brick-and-mortar, and other channels during the shopping process.
Therefore, as discussed in Chapter 11, companies must closely coordinate all of the physi
cal and digital channels that drive overall sales and profits. They must embrace the concept
Omni-channel marketing of omni-channel marketing, creating a seamless and effective cross-channel consumer
Creating a seamless cross-channel buying buying experience that integrates in-store, online, and mobile shopping. For example,
experience that integrates in-store, online, and home-improvement retailer The Home Depot has nearly 2,300 stores in North America,
mobile shopping. B ut its hottest growth area in recent years has been online sales. Three years ago, The
Home Depot adopted what it calls a “One Home Depot’’ strategy designed to create “an
interconnected, frictionless shopping experience that enables our customers to seamlessly
blend the digital and physical worlds’’:43
Although it might be hard to imagine selling sheets of plywood, pre-hung doors, dishwash
ers, or vinyl siding online. The Home Depot does that and much more these days. Last year.
The Home Depot sold more than $15 billion worth of goods online, an amount nearly double
the total retail revenues of retailers such as Staples, Dick's Sporting Goods, PetSmart, or
Bass Pro Shops. The Home Depot is now the nation's fifth-
largest online merchant. Its online inventory exceeds 1 million
products, compared with only about 35,000 in a typical Home
Depot store.
The Home Depot now offers its customers multiple con
tact points and delivery modes. Of course, customers can buy
products off the shelf in The Home Depot stores. ^ But they
can also order online from home, a job site, or anywhere in be
tween on their computers, tablets, or smartphones and then have
goods shipped or pick them up at a store. Sixty percent of online
FREE SHIP TO YOUR FREE SHIP TO STQFtE Free Buy Online Pick Up FREE RETURNS orders are now picked up inside a Home Depot store. Finally,
HOME Over a million Items Ship In Store Any Home Depot Store
Most Orders of S45 or Free to Store Everyday Items that are in-stock at Can Return Online in the store, associates armed with tablets can help customers
More your local store are Purchases Throughout
Learn More available for same day the U,S.
order out-of-stock items for later pickup or delivery. And, of
Learn More pickup course. The Home Depot maintains a full social media pres
Learn More
Learn More ence—from Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to Twitter and
TikTok— where it informs, entertains, and interacts with cus
tomers about the store, its products and projects, and its peo
Hassle-Free Online Shopping ple. In all. The Home Depot uses online as a sales and engage
ment channel to drive both online and in-store sales and to
» Omni-channel strategies: The Home Depot adopted what it calls a “One improve the customer. “Our customers are changing the way
Home Depot” strategy designed to create “an interconnected, frictionless they shop and how they engage with us," says The Home De
shopping experience that enables our customers to seamlessly blend the pot. The goal is to provide “a seamless and frictionless experi
digital and physical worlds.” ence no matter where our customers shop, be it in the digital
T H E H O M E D E P O T n a m e a n d lo g o a r e t r a d e m a r k s o f H o m e D e p o t P r o d u c t A u th o r it y , L L C , u s e d u n d e r
world, our brick-and-mortar stores, at home, or on the job site.
lic e n s e . Anywhere the customer is, we need to be there."
O v e r c o m in g th e C h a lle n g e s to O m n i-C h a n n e l M a r k e tin g

Crafting an effective omni-channel strategy is a priority for companies today. However,
getting such a strategy off the ground can be challenging. Many companies get locked
into established patterns that must first be dismantled to make way for omni-channel
marketing. To execute an effective omni-channel strategy, companies must clarify
the role of omni-channel marketing in their overall business models, align their
organizational incentives and structures to support omni-channel marketing, and design
their entire marketing strategies, including the marketing mix, around an omni-channel
approach.
Consider a com
A lig n in g O m n i-C h a n n e l M a r k e tin g a n d th e O v e r a ll B u s in e s s M o d e l.
pany that now operates online marketing channels, a direct mail and catalog channel, and
brick-and-mortar stores. In the traditional business model, each channel was managed by a
separate manager who was responsible for that channel’s profits. However, in an increas
ingly omni-channel world, that causes problems. For example, by focusing on maximiz
ing individual channel profits, each channel treats the other channels as competitors, even
though they are part of the same company. Each channel has incentives to take customers
from the other channels, even if that lowers the overall company profits. Each channel has
its own marketing mix, designed to maximize that channel’s profits without coordinating
with the other channels. The company has no way to create a harmonious and coordinated
consumer experience across channels.
Unfortunately, even as more companies have come to embrace the new world of
omni-channel marketing, many still follow the traditional individual channel-focused
approach. To address this challenge, companies must make a clear break from the past.
As The Home Depot did with its “One Home Depot’’ initiative, companies must publicly
declare that the omni-channel approach will be the centerpiece of their business model.
Retailing giant Walmart provides another good example:
For decades, Walmart flat out dominated store retailing. But at first, the retailing behemoth only
dabbled in online retailing, even as Amazon was changing the rules of modern retailing. As a
result, Walmart steadily lost ground online to Amazon and other purely digital competitors.
Some analysts began to worry that a staid and stodgy Walmart had passed its prime. Finally,
at the company's annual shareholder meeting in 2015, Walmart's CEO got on his soapbox and
“laid down the law." “I want us to stop talking about digital and physical retail as if they're
two separate things," he said. “The customer doesn't think of it that way and we can't either."
In line with this proclamation, Walmart developed a true omni-channel approach, including
customer-facing initiatives that interconnected digital and store channels, new internal technolo
gies to support omni-channel processes, and a Walmart+ membership program to rival Amazon
Prime. As a result, at the same time that Walmart continues to dominate store retailing, its online
sales have grown at an annual rate of more than 37 percent during the past three years, now
accounting for an estimated more than 11 percent of total revenues.44
A lig n in gO r g a n iz a t io n a l In c e n tiv e s a n d S tr u c tu r e s . Within the traditional business

model, each channel team’s incentives were based on the performance of their channel
alone. As a result, there was no incentive for channels to cooperate or coordinate. One
solution is to move away from compensation and rewards based on individual channel
performance and to compensate channel managers based on total profits across channels.
But this can lead to some channel teams slacking off, expecting the other channel teams to
work harder to make up for their deficiencies. Instead, channel teams should be compen
sated based partly on the total profits across all channels and partly on the contributions of
their individual channels towards overall profits.
It’s important to note that a channel that’s not highly profitable by itself may still
contribute strongly to overall profits. For example, for traditional catalog marketers like
L.L.Bean, the sales directly from catalogs have eroded over time as online sales have
grown. However, catalogs increase the vividness of L.L.Bean’s offerings, helping cus
tomers appreciate product details and imagine situations where products could be used.
Further, catalogs cut through the clutter of online marketing, creating a direct line of com
munication with consumers. Browsing through the catalog often inspires a visit to the retail
store, where customers can touch, feel, try out, and purchase a product. Or it can trigger
a visit to the company website to purchase the product online. Therefore, it’s important to
track such cross-channel contributions and reward the catalog team for them.45
Regarding structure, it is important to break down the historical silos around indi
vidual channels. Instead, structures should be created that interconnect channels in the
cause of creating great overall customer experiences. For example, at UK-based fash
ion retailer Oasis, in-store shoppers are assisted by sales associates armed with tablets.
The Oasis associates use the tablets to extend the connect the in-store experience to the
retailer’s online platforms. They can provide shoppers with the latest product and fashion
information, check inventory, bill transactions, and even place orders online to be shipped
directly to a customer’s home. Associates receive incentives regardless of the consumer’s

channel choice. At the same time, Oasis’s online, social media, and mobile platforms
highlight the hottest items being purchased in-store, creating informational, inspirational,
and shoppable non-store touchpoints. By blurring the borders between its store and online
operations, Oasis has created a seamless omni-channel consumer experience.46
Within the traditional business model, each channel team

A lig n in g th e M a r k e t in g M ix .
focuses solely on the marketing mix decisions related to its own channel. This often creates
cross-channel conflicts and inconsistencies. For example, prices might differ widely across
channels, leading to consumer dissatisfaction and potential regulatory scrutiny. Under an
omni-channel approach, the marketing mix variables must be carefully coordinated across
channels to optimize the customer experience and company profits.
Consider omni-channel pricing decisions. Thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices,
consumers can now easily track and compare in-store and online prices. As a result, in-store
and online prices have converged. One study that compared in-store and online prices on a
random set of products offered by 56 retailers in 10 countries found that the price levels were
identical about 72 percent of the time. And when prices differed, the differences were usually
very small. Therefore, in omni-channel price setting, managers have to decide what common
price works best across channels rather than what price is best within each channel.47
Price variances across channels can also draw regulatory attention. For example, the
French Competition Authority recently challenged toymaker LEGO’s channel pricing poli
cies. LEGO offered discounts to brick-and-mortar stores in return for shelf space and other
promotions that were not offered to online retailers. Flowever, the Authority judged that
such price differentiation “was likely to handicap’’ purely online retailers. In response,
LEGO altered its price discount policy.
The marketing mix variables need not always be identical across channels. For example,
when online and in-store consumer segments differ, companies may both redesigned their
offerings and positioned them differently across channels. In every case, however, marketers
must think purposefully about how they set marketing mix variables across channels.
Author Comment P u b lic P o lic y Is s u e s in D ig it a l M a r k e t in g

Although we mostly benefit from digital
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -4 Id e n tify a n d d is c u s s t h e p u b lic p o lic y is s u e s p r e s e n te d b y d ig ita l m a r k e tin g .
marketing, like most other things in life,
it has a dark side as well. Marketers and While digital marketing has opened up a wide range of possibilities and a world of poten
custom ers alike m ust guard against irritating
tial, it has a distinct “dark side.’’ Online marketers face growing privacy concerns and
or harmful digital marketing practices.
must deal with internet and mobile security issues. Further, the aggressive and sometimes
shady tactics of a few digital marketers can harm consumers, giving the entire industry a
black eye. Abuses range from simple excesses that irritate consumers to instances of unfair
practices or even outright deception and fraud.
C o n s u m e r P r iv a c y
Invasion of privacy is perhaps the most challenging public policy issue now confronting
the digital marketing industry. Cookies that track what consumers do in the digital space
have proliferated, and many apps now track the real-time locations of consumers. Many
critics worry that marketers know too much about consumers’ lives and that they may use
this knowledge to take unfair advantage of consumers.
Consumers, too, worry about their digital privacy. Although they are now more willing
to share personal information and preferences with marketers via digital and social media,
they remain nervous about it. One recent survey found that 77 percent of U.S. consumers
are very concerned about data privacy. About 72 percent believed that all or most of what
they do online or on mobile devices is tracked by advertisers, technology firms, or other
companies. But 70 percent of Americans worry that personal data security is deteriorating.
And 75 percent of Americans feel that the government should more strongly regulate what
companies can do with customers’ personal information. Online giants such as Google
and Facebook have recently been subject to congressional hearings to determine whether
legislative action is needed to curb their insatiable thirst for data.48
In these days of “big data," it seems that almost every time consumers post something
on social media or send a tweet, visit a website, or order products online, their names,
profiles, and behaviors are entered into some company’s already bulging database. Using
sophisticated big data analytics, digital marketers can mine these databases to “micro
target" their selling efforts. For example, using mobile and web engagement analytics
company Mixpanel’s user tracking software, companies can collect detailed behavioral
data related to a brand’s mobile device and app usage. Using the insights from this data,
companies can fine-tune their existing apps and design new apps that solve unmet con
sumer needs.49 Flowever, this data can potentially be combined with data related to user
demographics and location, ultimately revealing user identities. Such an intimate view of
users’ lives raises a host of privacy concerns.
Even the experts are sometimes surprised by how much marketers can leam. For exam
ple, if you have a Google account, consider what Google alone likely knows about you:50
Google knows everything you've ever searched, across all your devices. It knows where you've
been— it stores your location every time you turn on your phone. It knows what apps you use,
when, andhow often. Andit stores yourYouTube history, from w hichitcanlikely glean your fam
ily status, religion, favorite sports, political leanings, and the fact, say, that you recently sought
instructions on fixing your dishwasher. Google creates an advertising profile of you based
on things like your location, age, gender, interests, career, income, and a host of other
variables.
Google lets you download all the data it stores about you at https://google.com/takeout;
one reporter was stunned to learn that his download file was 5.5GB big (roughly 3 m il
lion Word documents). “This link includes your bookmarks, emails, contacts, your Google
Drive files, your YouTube videos, the photos you've taken on your phone, the businesses
you've bought from, [and] the products you've bought through Google," says the reporter.
Google also has “data from your calendar, your Google hangout sessions, your location
history, the music you listen to, the Google books you've purchased, the Google groups
you're in, the websites you've created, the phones you've owned, the pages you've shared,
how many steps you walk in a d a y . . . " He concludes, “Manage to gain access
to someone's Google account? Perfect, you have a diary of everything that
person has done."
Facebook, which has often been breached in the past few years, can
construct similar profiles. And then there’s Amazon and other sellers who
track details of consumer online browsing and purchase transactions.
Add the data held by credit reporting agencies such as Equifax, which
was also famously breached, and the potential for consumer abuse can be
frightening.
Ir r ita tio n , D e c e p tio n , a n d F ra u d

Digital marketing excesses sometimes annoy or offend consumers.
Our email inboxes bulge with unwanted spam; our online searches
are cluttered with commercial rather than informational results; and
our computer, phone, and tablet screens flash with unwanted online or
mobile display ads, pop-ups, or pop-unders. Ads and brand messages
clutter our social media pages.
Beyond irritating consumers, digital media have also opened the
door to a wide range of tricksters and fraudsters who take advantage
of the low costs of online information transmission. The FBI’s Internet
Crime Report reveals some alarming trends in the occurrence of digital
fraud. » Last year, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received
close to 800,000 complaints from the American public, up 69 percent
» Internet fraud has multiplied in recent years. The FBI’s from the previous year, with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion.
Internet Crime Complaint Center provides consumers Notably, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a pack of scam
with warnings and a convenient way to alert authorities to artists who targeted the vulnerable— seniors and medical workers look
suspected violations. ing for personal protective equipment, families seeking stimulus checks,
FBI and individuals seeking protection from the virus.51
According to the Internet Crime Report, “business e-mail compromise" schemes are
the biggest concern, accounting for annual losses of $1.8 billion. One common scheme of
this type is phishing, a type of identity theft that uses deceptive emails and fraudulent web
and online mobile sites to fool users into divulging personal data. For example, consumers
may receive an email, supposedly from their bank or credit card company, saying that their
account’s security has been compromised. The sender asks them to log on to a provided web
address and confirm their account number, password, and perhaps even their Social Security
number. By following the instructions, users are actually turning this sensitive information
over to scam artists. Although most consumers are now aware of such schemes, phishing
can be extremely costly to those snared in the net. It also damages the brand identities of
legitimate online marketers who have worked to build user confidence in digital interactions.
Another internet marketing concern is that of access by vulnerable or unauthorized
groups. For example, marketers of adult-oriented materials and sites have found it diffi
cult to restrict access by minors. Although Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social
networks allow no children under age 13 to have profiles, all have significant numbers of
underage users. Young social media users can be especially vulnerable to identity theft
schemes, revealing personal information, negative experiences, and other online dangers.
Concerned state and national lawmakers are currently debating bills that would help better
protect children online. Unfortunately, this requires the development of technology solu
tions, and as Facebook puts it, “That’s not so easy.’’j2
D a ta In te g r ity a n d S e c u r ity
Consumers fear that unscrupulous snoopers will eavesdrop on their online transactions and social
media postings, picking up personal or financial information. Although online and mobile shopping
are now commonplace, one recent study indicated that more than 70 percent of participants were still
concerned about identity theft. Further, the rapidly increasing number of networked and IoT devices
opens new doors for hackers to potentially infiltrate unsecured home networks, access connected
computers, and capture sensitive personal information. Flackers have even gained remote access to
cameras and smart speakers within consumers’homes, capturing their private moments. Consumers
are caught in a bind—they fear intrusions but cannot five without their digital networks and
devices.j3
Many consumers also worry about the accuracy of their personal data. A glut of per
sonal demographic and behavioral data is generated in consumers’ “digital exhaust"—the
trails of telltale fumes left behind as they browse, share information, complete forms, make
purchases, post on social media, and otherwise engage with the digital world. Sometimes,
the data is inaccurate. For example, an erroneous entry about an unpaid debt can wreak
havoc with a consumer’s online reputation and other measures. In turn, the error can influ
ence everything from their credit score to how they appear on an employment verification
check. If the consumer discovers the error, getting the record straight can be a nightmare.
Inaccurate data can be an even bigger problem for businesses, whose online reputa
tions can be intentionally and unjustifiably smeared by competitors or vengeful customers.
In fact, numerous “online reputation management" companies have emerged to help com
panies protect or reclaim business and brand reputations. For example, online reputation
management company Webimax promises businesses that it will “get negative content
removed or buried and simultaneously generate high ranking positive content.’’j4
Beyond data accuracy, consumers are also concerned about the security of the data
stored about them in digital repositories based either online or in the cloud. Such concerns
are often justified given the massive consumer data breaches of organizations ranging from
retailers, social media, telecommunications services, and banks to health-care providers
and the government. Last year in the United States alone, there were more than 1,000
major data security breaches, with over 155 million individuals affected by data expo
sures. Yahoo!’s breach of sensitive information on 3 billion accounts remains the largest
online data security failure ever.55 Flow ever, the news about data breaches keeps pouring
in. Companies that were successfully targeted by hackers last year alone include insurer
GEICO, parking company ParkMobile, real estate manager Douglas Elliman, Facebook,
pizza company Domino’s, and Flagstar Bank, just to name a few.
A n titr u s t C o n c e r n s
Online behemoths like Apple, Amazon, and Google have grown at tremendous rates.
Each of them currently has a market value of more than $1.5 trillion, easily topping “old
economy" giants such as ExxonMobil. Policy makers worry that their size and dominance
gives them a kind of monopoly power.
For example, Apple’s app store has been compared to a tightly controlled “walled
garden." App developers must be approved by Apple, which takes a significant bite out of
their revenues. Arguably, Apple provides app developers the key with access to hundreds
of millions of consumers, helping make the tradeoff worthwhile. Nevertheless, it is impos
sible for developers to access Apple’s customers without working closely through Apple.
Further, Apple’s customers are increasingly networked through joint devices and data,
music, news, game, and TV streaming subscriptions at the family level, increasing Apple’s
market power and making it difficult for consumers to ditch Apple for a competing system.
Similar arguments hold for companies such as Amazon and Google.56
Fueled by such network effects, these and other tech-based companies have grown relent
lessly. In turn, as these companies dominate their markets, they drive out or buy up competing
companies, forcing startups and smaller companies to look for less attractive opportunities. In
the long run, this raises concerns about monopolistic markets in which locked-in consumers
face limited product variety and high prices in the absence of robust competition.
T h e N e e d f o r A c tio n
Most people would agree that the rapid growth of the digital economy has had a positive
impact, opening up a world of opportunity for both consumers and companies. Yet, as
noted, it also raises some serious concerns that need to be addressed. These concerns
call for strong actions by marketers and policy makers to enhance the benefits of digital
marketing and reduce potential abuses.
In response to online privacy and data security concerns, the federal government has con
sidered numerous legislative actions to regulate how online, social media, and mobile opera
tors obtain, store, and use consumer information. In 2018, the European Union implemented
the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR sets strict requirements for col
lecting and protecting personal information about people who live in the European Union
and gives European consumers more control over what is collected and how it is used. Many
American lawmakers and consumer privacy advocates are calling for similar legislation in the
United States. In addition, the FTC is taking a more active role in policing online privacy.
Even as governments and policy makers have taken action to make data collection more
transparent and consent-based, their actions have not significantly decreased the amount or
detail of data collected. This is because, even as companies increasingly ask permission to
plant cookies and capture consumer information on their websites, consumers rarely take
the time to read the detailed privacy agreements. Instead, to save time and effort, they often
simply accept the agreement in its entirety and move on. Learning from this experience,
lawmakers are working to strengthen privacy regulation measures. '
The privacy rights of children are of special concern. In 1998, Congress passed the
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires online operators tar
geting children to post privacy policies on their sites. They must also notify parents about
any information they’re gathering and obtain parental consent before collecting personal
information from children under age 13. With the advent of digital technologies, in 2013
Congress extended COPPA to include “identifiers such as cookies that track a child’s activ
ity online, as well as geolocation information, photos, videos, and audio recordings." The
main concern is the amount of data mined by third parties from social media as well as
social media’s own hazy privacy policies.59
In the face of such concerns, many marketers are acting on their own to monitor and
prevent privacy abuses before legislators step in to do it for them. » For example, to head
off increased government regulation, six advertiser groups—the American Association of
Advertising Agencies, the American Advertising Federation, the Association of National
Advertisers, the Data & Marketing Association, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, and
the Network Advertising Initiative—issued a set of online advertising principles through
the Digital Advertising Alliance. Among other measures,

the principles call for online and mobile marketers to pro
vide transparency and choice to consumers if online data
are collected or used for targeting interest-based advertis
ing. The ad industry uses an advertising option icon—
a little “i” inside a triangle— that it adds to behaviorally
targeted online ads to tell consumers why they are seeing
a particular ad and allowing them to opt out.
Some companies are embracing industry-wide, verifi
able privacy and security standards. For example, TrustArc, a
nonprofit self-regulatory organization, works with many large
sponsors, including Microsoft, Yahoo!, AT&T, Facebook,
Disney, and Apple, to audit privacy and security measures
and help consumers navigate the internet safely. The com
pany lends its TRUSTe privacy seal to websites, mobile apps,
email marketing, and other online and social media channels
that meet its privacy and security standards.60
To reduce irritation, deception, and fraud, the govern
ment and law enforcement agencies have introduced con
sumer protection measures and stepped up enforcement.
To curb digital marketing excesses, government agencies
have implemented do-not-mail lists, do-not-track-online
fists, and can-spam legislation. In the United States, the
» Consumer privacy: The ad industry has issued a set of online and mobile
federal government has considered numerous legislative
advertising principles through the Digital Advertising Alliance that call for actions to regulate how digital operators obtain and use
digital marketers to provide transparency and choice to consumers if online consumer information.
data are collected or used for targeting interest-based advertising. Stung by the long string of past data security
S a m 7 2 /S h u tte rs to c k ; Eyal D a ya n P h o to g ra p h y breaches, most companies are working to improve
data integrity and security. Flow a company stores and
accesses data plays an important role in securing it. Companies are learning that secur
ing data rests on clearly noting what data is considered sensitive, encrypting sensitive
data in transit and storage, and developing clear policies regarding data access and usage
rights. Data stored in the cloud can be vulnerable and must be protected from external
threats with multiple security layers. At the same time, data physically stored within the
company can be vulnerable to internal threats, requiring secure encryption and carefully
monitored access. Consumer data protection and collection transparency have become
top priorities for marketers. They know that consumer trust lies are the very heart of
profitable customer relationships.61
Finally, legislators and regulators are giving increased attention to antitrust concerns
in digital markets. For many years, the emergence of the digital giants such as Apple,
Amazon, Facebook, and Google was viewed more with a sense of wonder and admira
tion than a serious concern. Today, however, legislators and antitrust authorities are pos
ing some thorny questions: Are these companies growing too big? Are gaining monopoly
powers that lock in consumers and out competitors? Are they taking advantage of suppli
ers and developers who have no option but to rely on them for market access? In a chang
ing world where consumers rely on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media for news
and information, should these companies be regulated as media companies rather than as
technology companies? The answers to such questions are often complex, unclear, and
subjective. What is clear, however, is that the traditional antitrust regulations are not suf
ficient to manage the new digital economy. Legislators, regulators, and digital marketers
themselves are now rethinking the rules for the new digital landscape.62
Despite these challenges, the digital revolution is reshaping marketing. Empowered by
technology, consumers are engaging with marketers, brands, and other consumers in new
and creative ways. Technology has equipped marketers with data and tools to understand
and manage the consumer experience and solve consumer problems in new and imaginative
ways. Marketers have just begun the journey and an exciting new digital world lies ahead.
R E V IE W IN G A N D E X T E N D IN G T H E C O N C E P T S
C H A P T E R R E V IE W A N D K E Y T E R M S
O b je c t iv e s R e v ie w
Previous chapters lay out the basics of marketing. The aim of O B J E C T IV E 1 4 - 2 D is c u s s th e c o n s u m e r a n d m a rk e t
marketing is to engage customers and to create value for them re s e a rc h re q u ire d to d e s ig n a n e ffe c tiv e d ig ita l m a rk e tin g
in order to capture value from them in return. This chapter c a m p a ig n .
extends that concept into the burgeoning field of digital mar
Preparing for and implementing a digital marketing campaign
keting, including online, social media, and mobile marketing.
involves the same general steps as those required for the broader
We discuss digital marketing throughout the text. In this
marketing campaign. However, there are special consider
chapter, however, we focus on the special characteristics of
ations in preparing digital marketing campaigns. Consumers
digital marketing, its role in broader marketing and company
today are immersed in digital media from dawn to dusk.
strategy, and preparing digital marketing campaigns.
As a first step, digital marketers must get to know the digital
consumer—in detail.
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -1 D e fin e d ig i t a l m a r k e t i n g a n d d is c u s s Gaining consumer insights that will power a digital mar
its ra p id g ro w th a n d b e n e fits to c u s to m e rs a n d keting campaign calls for some special marketing research
c o m p a n ie s . approaches. Digital marketers often construct digital consumer
personas that capture targeted consumers’ information-seeking
Digital marketing involves the use of technology
behaviors and preferences, digital platform usage, location-
intensive platforms such as the internet, mobile networks and
related habits, and other details and can provide deep consumer
devices, and social media to engage with individual consum
insights. Building on those insights, marketers must understand
ers, consumer communities, and businesses. Spurred on by
key patterns of consumer omni-channel navigation behav
the surge in internet usage and buying and by rapid advances
ior. Finally, digital marketing allows for easy testing of online
in digital technologies, digital marketing is transforming
marketing approaches and tactics. Marketers must be adept at
the marketing function dramatically. Digital marketing can
using experimentation to discover the most successful marketing
factor into a company’s overall marketing strategy in mul
approaches.
tiple ways—as a supplementary channel for selling directly
to customers, as a complete model for doing business, or as
a complementary function that works with other channels to
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 - 3 D is c u s s th e d iffe r e n t d ig ita l c h a n n e ls
deliver value to consumers.
a n d m e d ia a n d e x p la in h o w c o m p a n ie s c a n e m p lo y th e m to
For consumers, digital marketing is convenient, easy,
c re a te a n o m n i-c h a n n e l m a rk e tin g s tra te g y .
and private. It offers anywhere, anytime access to a range of
products that no single retail store, however large, can match. The digital age has fundamentally changed consumers’ notions
Digital marketing is highly targeted and immediate. And digi of convenience, speed, price, product information, service, and
tal marketing through online, mobile, and social media can brand interactions. As a result, they have given marketers a
provide a sense of brand engagement and community—a whole new way to create customer value, engage customers, and
place to share brand information and experiences with other build customer relationships. Digital marketing channels can be
brand fans. broadly classified into three platforms: online marketing, social
For sellers, digital marketing is a powerful tool for build media, and mobile channels.
ing customer engagement and close, personalized, interactive Online marketing takes several forms, including company
customer relationships. It can provide a low-cost, efficient, websites, online advertising and promotions, email marketing,
speedy alternative for reaching their markets. Digital market online video, and blogs. Company websites include marketing
ing offers great flexibility, letting marketers make ongoing websites and brand community websites. Marketing websites are
adjustments to prices and programs, and immediate, timely, designed to engage customers and move them closer to a direct
and personal announcements and offers. Digital marketing purchase or other marketing outcome, whereas brand community
can shorten the consumer’s decision journey by placing highly websites present brand content that engages consumers and
persuasive information in front of potential customers at the creates customer-brand communities.
right place and at the right time. Finally, digital marketing pro As consumers spend more and more time online, companies
vides opportunities for real-time marketing that links brands to are shifting more of their marketing dollars to online advertising
important moments and trending events in consumers’ lives. that appears while consumers are navigating websites or other
digital platforms. The main forms of online advertising are own mobile online sites. Others have created useful or entertain
online display ads and search-related ads. Online advertising ing mobile apps to engage customers with their brands and help
helps advertisers to place ads in carefully chosen websites, them shop.
mobile sites, and search results to reach targeted audiences at Each digital marketing platform has its own functions and
key buying times. promise. However, to be maximally effective, online, mobile, and
Email marketing is another important digital marketing social media marketing must work alongside other approaches
tool. Today’s well-designed, inviting, and interactive emails in a fully integrated marketing mix. Today’s consumers are
let marketers send highly targeted and tightly personalized increasingly adept at omni-channel navigation across online,
relationship-building messages. Digital marketers use online social media, mobile, brick-and-mortar, and other channels dur
videos to promote products but also to give their brands a ing the shopping process. Thus, today’s marketers must embrace
voice and create positive brand associations. Finally, market the concept of omni-channel marketing, creating a seamless and
ers use their own or other blogs to reach out to special interest effective cross-channel consumer buying experience.
groups and brand communities. Blogs can offer a fresh, origi
nal, personal, and inexpensive way to enter online and social
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 - 4 Id e n tify a n d d is c u s s th e p u b lic p o lic y
media conversations involving consumers.
is s u e s p re s e n te d b y d ig ita l m a rk e tin g .
The surge in internet usage and digital devices has
spawned a dazzling array of social media. Large brands usu Digital marketing is positively changing the business landscape,
ally have a huge social media presence. Social media are inter injecting greater efficiency, easier access, richer information,
active, immediate and timely, and cost-effective. And they can greater consumer choice, increased social connectivity, and—
support deep consumer engagement and a sense of shared quite simply—more fun into marketplaces. Sometimes, how
community like few other marketing forums can. Marketers ever, digital marketing presents some darker sides. Concerns
must understand the varying functional capabilities of differ about digital marketing relate to four areas: consumer privacy;
ent social media platforms and decide which social media they irritation, deception, and fraud; data integrity and security; and
will integrate into their digital marketing strategy and how. antitrust concerns. Such concerns can be addressed through
Mobile marketing allows anytime, anywhere access to regulatory and public policy actions and by the self-regulatory
consumers. Companies use mobile marketing to stimulate initiatives of individual companies or industry groups. Healthy
immediate buying, make shopping easier, enrich the brand and transparent digital marketing benefits all stakeholders—
experience, or all of these. Most marketers have created their consumers, companies, and society.
K ey T e rm s
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -1 O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -3 Email marketing
Digital marketing Online marketing Spam
Marketing website Viral marketing
O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -2
Branded community website Blogs
Digital consumer personas
Online advertising Social media
Consumer omni-channel navigation
Online display ads Mobile marketing
behavior
Search-related ads Omni-channel marketing
D IS C U S S IO N A N D C R IT IC A L T H IN K IN G
D is c u s s io n Q u e s t io n s
14-1. What is digital marketing? Why is it important to mar 14-5. Discuss why Instagram is a popular social media
keters? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication) platform for marketers. (AACSB: Written and Oral
14-2. What are the maj or benefits of digital marketing to buyers Communication)
and sellers? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication) 14-6. How does the General Data Protections Regulation
14-3. What are digital marketing personas? How are they (GDPR) act affect data collection and protection?
used? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication) (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication)
14-4. What is consumer omni-channel navigation behavior?

Provide an example. (AASCB: Written and Oral
Communication)
C r it ic a l T h in k in g E x e r c is e s
14-7. Taco Bell uses social media to engage consumers around phones as they pass, and use their mobile phones or
marketing stunts targeting its millennial and Gen Z seg facial recognition to personalize the marketing mes
ments. For example, it has hosted Airbnb sleepovers in its sages that appear on the displays. However, in response
restaurants and once erected a billboard that dispensed hot to technology advancements and heightened sensitivity
nacho cheese. Recently, Taco Bell created a slide-thru win to privacy, several policies have been introduced to limit
dow through which 125 snow-tubers and Taco Bell fans the collection and resharing of data. Is it a wise strategy
bused to a resort outside Toronto could reach out and grab for retailers to use digital displays to market directly to
a Cheetos Crunchwrap Slider in a to-go bag as they tubed consumers? Why or why not? (AACSB: Written and
past. The goal was to generate social media engagement that Oral Communication; Reflective Thinking)
would raise awareness of the return of the Cheetos Crunch- 14-9. Cosmetic brands that are trying to reach female Gen Z
wrap Slider. Fans ordered their food at the top of the hill. consumers are connecting with them via one of their
The food was prepared in a kitchen and taken to the booth favorite activities: online gaming. Brands are offering
below by snowmobile. The snow tubers were then given products to customize avatars, sponsoring esports teams,
a Taco Bell-branded tube to slide by and grab their food running social media campaigns to target gamers, launch
before heading to the lounge to enjoy the meal. Flow can ing channels on Twitch, and incorporating game brands
Taco Bell's marketers evaluate the success of this promo in their offline offerings. One criticism is that brands
tion event? (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication; are overlooking the opportunity to sponsor Black con
Reflective Thinking) tent creators in their efforts to target gamers. Identify a
14-8. Thanks to the Internet of Things, marketers can now Black creator with gaming content. Create a plan for how
add value to the shopping experience by using digital a brand like e.l.f. cosmetics might include Black creators
displays. They can use the displays to gather data about in a digital marketing brand campaign. (AACSB: Written
consumers, send advertising messages to their mobile and Oral Communication; Reflective Thinking)
M IN IC A S E S A N D A P P L IC A T IO N S
D ig ita l M a r k e tin g C a n S o c ia l M e d ia R a is e A w a r e n e s s o f U n iq lo in t h e U n ite d S t a te s ?
Uniqlo targets young, urban, professional, and practical American only a small percentage of Uniqlo’s 2,000 stores are located in
shoppers with fashions that are not unique and bear no the United States, where it lacks brand awareness. Uniqlo fell
labels. It offers low prices (such as jeans for $40), so it is some short of an expected 200 stores in the United States by 2020; it
times grouped with other big brands such as Zara and H&M currently operates 50 U.S. stores at a loss.
in the fast fashion category. However, unlike Zara and H&M,
14-10. Compare Uniqlo’s approach on Instagram (www.
Uniqlo does not chase trends. It offers staples, much as the
instagram.com/uniqlousa) to Madewell’s approach
Gap did when it made basics cool in the 1990s before it lost
(www.instagram.com/madewell). Identify similarities
its edge by being in every mall and becoming the uniform of
and differences between the two brands’ approaches to
suburban moms and dads. Uniqlo offers basics with clean lines
consumer engagement on Instagram. (AACSB: Written
and positions itself as affordable fashion that is not disposable.
and Oral Communication; Reflective Thinking)
It offers free tailoring and has built a reputation for durability.
It also uses a number of signature technologies in its clothing, 14-11. In a small group, design a social media approach that
including ultra-light down, HeatTech insulating system, and would help increase brand awareness and communicate
AIRism moisture-wicking. Madewell and Everlane offer sim the value proposition of Uniqlo relative to its com
ilar products at a higher price. Although it is owned by Fast petitors. (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication;
Retailing, one of the five largest clothing retailers in the world, Reflective Thinking)
M a r k e t in g E t h ic s H o m e H u b P a r a n o ia
Home hubs that contain voice technologies and micro about their privacy. In response, people often place the de
phones, such as Am azon’s Echo with Alexa and Google’s vices in common areas but not in bedrooms or other more
Nest Hub with Google Assistant, are popular devices that private areas. Wherever the devices are located, market
continuously listen in for commands. Many consumers like ers could conceivably use them to collect information that
the convenience that comes with the home hubs but worry could be used to microtarget selling efforts to consumers.
This possibility along with recent revelations about other 14-12. How should companies that offer home hubs address
devices, such as the unadvertised, on-device microphone consumer concerns about privacy violations? (AACSB:
included Amazon’s Nest Guard that lets Amazon collect in Written and Oral Communication; Reflective Thinking)
formation in order to provide future features, plus reports 14-13. Is it ethical for marketers to gather and use data from
of Amazon employees listening in on Alexa conversations, inside the home to improve the value proposition to con
have made some consumers paranoid about who is listening sumers? Explain. (AACSB: Written and Oral Commu
and when. nication; Reflective Thinking)
M a r k e t in g b y t h e N u m b e r s U n iq lo ’s F a s t M o v in g Im a g e C a m p a ig n
Uniqlo is a Japanese retail brand that has grown into a global The code could not be seen unless a consumer took a photo of
brand in fifteen countries thanks to digital marketing campaigns. the display. If consumers uploaded the code to the campaign
Founder Tadashi Yamai inherited a chain of men’s tailoring website, they received a sample from the Uniqlo clothing line.
retail stores, so he was no stranger to fashion retailing. But he Consumers also created content about the campaign, including
wanted to bring affordable, fashionable, casual clothing to all videos that were viewed more than 1.3 million times.
people, so he created Uniqlo in 1984 to offer casual clothing for Sample campaign measures follow:
all. As noted previously, the brand’s philosophy is “UNIQLO
Measures Value
clothes are MADE FOR ALL.’’ The company focuses on its sig
nature innovative clothing lines that have names such as Heat- Impressions 7,000,000
Tech, UV Cut, LifeWear, and AIRism. In 2007, its pioneering Click-through to site 300,000
‘Uniqlock’ viral marketing campaign won dozens of advertising Cost of campaign $150,000
awards, including the coveted Grand Prix award at Cannes. The New customers 35,000
company continues to run digital marketing campaigns, and
New newsletter subscribers 25,000
while awards are nice, results are better. Marketers measure all
sorts of metrics related to digital campaigns from impressions Number of orders generated 45,750
and click-throughs to purchases. Consider one of its most recent Revenue generated $3,450,000
digital campaigns that Uniqlo ran in Australia to increase brand Abandoned shopping cart 450
awareness and sales of its clothing. A fast-moving image ran a Average cost of goods sold (%) 45%
series of stills on digital billboards at a rate of 20 to 30 frames
Shipping and handling costs (per order) $9.50
per second. A unique product code was embedded in the images.
Performance Metric Equation

Click-through rate (CTR) (Click-throughs - Impressions)
f X 100
Cost-per-click (CPC) Cost of campaign - Click-throughs
f
Conversion ratio (Number of orders - Click throughs)

f X 100
Cost per conversion Cost of campaign - Number of orders
f
Average-order-value (AOV) Revenue generated - Number of orders

f
Shopping cart abandonment rate (Abandoned shopping cart - Click-throughs)

f X 100
14-14. Calculate the performance metrics listed in the table Return on Investment (Marketing ROI). Was the
above. Based on these metrics, evaluate the campaign. campaign successful? Refer to Marketing Profitability
(AACSB: Written and Oral Communication; Analytical Metrics in Appendix 3: Marketing by the Numbers to
Thinking; Reflective Thinking) leam how to do this analysis. (AACSB: Written and
14-15. Calculate the net marketing contribution (NMC), Mar Oral Communication; Reflective Thinking; Analytical
keting Return on Sales (Marketing ROS), and Marketing Thinking)
C om pany Cases 14 S h o p i f y /6 O u t s c h o o l/9 C a s p e r

See Appendix 1 for cases appropriate for this chapter. classes, Outschool is out to make learning fun, social, and
Case 14, Shopify: The Unknown Ecommerce Giant. self-directed.
Providing a genuine end-to-end ecommerce platform for com Case 9, Casper: A Pricing Strategy that Flipped the
panies that wants to sell online, Shopify becomes an ecommerce Mattress Industry. An innovative new product and a direct-to-
giant without selling anything to consumers. consumer model are behind a pricing strategy that gave Casper
Case 6, Outschool: Personalized Education for All. an edge in the mattress market.
A fast-growing marketplace for remote-delivered K-12

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M a rk e tin g

O GARY ARM STRONG

O B J E C T IV E 1 4 -1 D e fin e digital marketing a n d d is c u s s its ra p id g r o w th a n d

a n e f fe c tiv e d ig ita l m a r k e tin g c a m p a ig n .

c o n s tr u c tin g v a lu e -d e liv e r in g m a r k e tin g p r o g r a m s , e n g a g in g c u s to m e r s , a n d b u ild in g

m a r k e tin g : d ig it a l m a r k e tin g (w h ic h in c lu d e s o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , a n d m o b ile m a r k e tin g ).

m a r k e tin g s t r a t e g y s e p a r a t e ly h e r e , d ig ita l m a r k e tin g m u s t b e c a r e f u lly in te g r a te d w ith

m a rk e tin g s tra te g y , w h ic h it h a s g re a tly e x p a n d e d in re c e n t y e a rs to ta k e

a d v a n ta g e o f th e s u rg in g d ig ita l o p p o rtu n itie s fo r d ire c t, u p -c lo s e -a n d -

T o d a y , S a m s u n g ’s d ig ita l d ir e c t m a r k e tin g c a p a b ility s tr e n g th e n s

its b ra n d a d v o c a c y a n d e le v a te s its b r a n d lo y a lty . S a m s u n g ’s b r o a d -

h a s b e e n s u c c e s s fu l a t d r iv in g c o n s u m e r b e h a v io r f r o m a w a r e n e s s » Samsung socially enables its customers and brand ambassadors

f o ld in c r e a s e f r o m its fir s t b r a n d e v a lu a tio n in 2 0 0 0 .

c r is is . S am sung has e n c o u ra g e d an e n v ir o n m e n t o f advocacy c ia l m e d ia a c c o u n ts . s u p e r b o n lin e c u s to m e r e x p e r ie n c e s

a n d c e le b r a t io n o f its p r o d u c ts a n d s e r v ic e s a m o n g its c u s t o m ­ M o b ile r s a re o fte n h a s m a d e it a p o s t e r c h ild f o r d ir e c t

e r s a n d b r a n d a m b a s s a d o r s th r o u g h it s s o c ia l m e d ia p r e s e n c e . o ffe r e d th e o p p o r­ a n d d ig ita l m a r k e tin g , a n d t h e c o m p a n y

M o r e o v e r, S am sung s u c c e s s f u lly engages c u s to m e rs g lo b a lly tu n ity to p a r tic ip a te c o n tin u e s to e n g a g e c u s to m e r s a n d

s o c ia l m e d ia p re s e n c e has been s tre n g th e n e d in r e c e n t y e a r s a c ro s s th e w o r ld , ^ r e la tio n s h ip s .

d u e to its e f f o r t s to la u n c h its G a la x y s m a r t p h o n e s a n d ta b le ts . such as th e IFA c o n ­

c ia lly a c tiv e b lo g g e r s , T w it t e r a t i, and Y o u T u b e rs fo r h a n d s -o n s h o w f o r c o n s u m e r e le c tr o n ic s

A u s t r a lia n f a s h io n b lo g g e r N a d ia F a ir f a x ; M a la y s ia n a c to r a n d S m a r tp h o n e a p p is a ls o f u e lin g S a m s u n g ’s s u c c e s s in th e d ig ita l

d ir e c to r J o s e p h G e r m a n i; F ilip in o d a n c e r, p ro d u c e r, a n d d ir e c ­ m a r k e tin g a r e n a , b r in g in g c u s t o m e r s u p p o r t o n th e g o w ith s e a m ­

t o r G a b r ie l V a le n c ia n o ; a n d T a iw a n e s e p r o d u c e r a n d e n t e r t a in e r le s s n a v ig a tio n f o r o n lin e s u p p o r t a n d s e r v ic e tr a c k in g in fo r m a tio n fo r

S a m s u n g ’s v id e o h o m e p a g e o n Y o u T u b e p ro v id e s a n o th e r p la tfo rm In a ll, S a m s u n g E le c tro n ic s h a s s u c c e s s fu lly u s e d n e w d ig ita l to o ls

m a rk e tin g c a m p a ig n , all in o n e m a s s iv e s h o w c a s e th a t is e n g a g in g , c o m ­ p e titiv e e d g e . In S e p te m b e r 2 0 2 1 , S a m s u n g E le c tro n ic s w o n 4 8 a w a r d s

p re h e n s iv e , a n d e a s ily a c c e s s ib le . In 2 0 1 3 , S a m s u n g w o n U n ru ly ’s “ S o c ia l a t th e In te rn a tio n a l D e s ig n E x c e lle n c e A w a r d s ( ID E A s ) in c lu d in g s e v e n

B ra n d o f th e Y e a r” w ith 7 .3 m illio n s h a re s. In 2 0 1 4 , th e c o m p a n y c a m e s ilv e rs , th re e b ro n z e s , a n d 3 8 p r o d u c ts in th e lis t o f fin a lis ts . T h e ID E A

in s e c o n d p la c e w ith 4 .3 m illio n s h a re s g a in e d b y se ve ra l v id e o s , m a in ly p r o d u c t s u b m is s io n s a re g iv e n a c o m p r e h e n s iv e e v a lu a tio n in te r m s o f

c o in c id in g w ith th e F IF A W o rld C u p , in c lu d in g “# G a la x y 1 1 : T h e T ra in in g ” d e s ig n , in n o v a tio n , a e s th e tic s , a n d b e n e fits to s o c ie ty a n d to c u s to m e rs .

(5 3 8 ,2 6 2 sh a re s ). O f c o u rs e , S a m s u n g a ls o u tilize s its w e b s ite s to c o n n e c t A w a r d s w o n b y S a m s u n g a t ID E A 2 0 2 1 in c lu d e c re a tiv e d e s ig n a c r o s s

w ith th e ir c u s to m e rs . C u s to m e rs c a n u s e th e c o m p a n y w e b s ite n o t o n ly fo r a n u m b e r o f c a te g o r ie s , fr o m e x c e lle n c e in c o n s u m e r life s ty le d e s ig n to

p ro d u c t in fo rm a tio n b u t a ls o to e n g a g e w ith S a m s u n g b y a c c e s s in g s e v ­ in te ra c tiv e a n d a d v a n c e c o n c e p t d e s ig n .

e ra l o n lin e s e rv ic e s , in c lu d in g live c h a ts , h o w -to v id e o s , h e lp a n d tro u b le ­ S a m s u n g E le c tr o n ic s h a s b e c o m e a p o s t e r c h ild f o r d ir e c t a n d

s h o o tin g , p ro d u c t w a rra n ty in fo rm a tio n , a n d s e rv ic e re p a ir s ta tu s u p d a te s . d ig ita l m a r k e tin g and c o n t in u e s to engage c u s to m e rs and c re ­

F inally, S a m s u n g m a k e s u s e o f w e b a n d m o b ile e m a il a s a n e ffe c tiv e tool a te d ir e c t, p e r s o n a liz e d c u s t o m e r r e la tio n s h ip s . S a m s u n g s o c ia lly

fo r b u ild in g lo n g -te rm , o n e -to -o n e re la tio n s h ip s w ith c a re fu lly ta rg e te d c u s ­ e n a b le s its c u s t o m e r s a n d b r a n d a m b a s s a d o r s t h r o u g h its s o c ia l

to m e rs . S a m s u n g s u c c e s s fu lly ta ilo rs e m a ils — th e ir d e s ig n , m e s s a g e s , a n d m e d ia p r e s e n c e to n e t w o r k w ith o t h e r s b y fo s t e r in g a d v o c a c y a n d

o ffe rs — to th e c h a ra c te ris tic s a n d n e e d s o f s p e c ific c u s to m e rs . T h ro u g h its c e le b r a t io n o f its p r o d u c ts a n d s e r v ic e s . 1

include understanding digital marketing, preparing for a digital marketing campaign,

and how it is used.

Expedia Group is a huge collection of online-only

Many online-only startups that have cropped up in recent years—the so-called

B e n e fit s o f D ig ita l M a r k e tin g to B u y e r s a n d S e lle r s

know the digital custom er— in depth. d ig ita l m a r k e tin g c a m p a ig n .

In summary, marketers must prepare for digital marketing campaigns by gaining a

H o ld u p a m o m e n t a n d t h in k a b o u t th e im p a c t o f d ig ita l m a r k e tin g o n y o u r life .

m o b ile a d s , o n lin e a n d s o c ia l m e d ia p la tfo r m s , a p p s , a n d o t h e r d ig ita l p a th w a y s . T h e n a n a ly z e

th e o f f e r s b y ty p e , s o u r c e , th e w a y it w a s d e liv e r e d , a n d w h a t y o u lik e d o r d is lik e d a b o u t e a c h

Girls abandon sports 50 percent more often than boys by their

shell to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The record-breaking

A man once tweeted JetBlue while waiting at the airport to ask

Sign u p now to q»rS yw*

M o b ile M a r k e tin g : E n g a g in g C o n s u m e r s in M o m e n ts T h a t M a tte r

S to p n o w a n d th in k a b o u t h o w o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , a n d m o b ile m a r k e tin g a f f e c t y o u r b r a n d b u y in g

• H o w m u c h a n d w h a t k in d s o f o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , a n d m o b ile m a r k e tin g d o y o u e n c o u n te r ? D o

• D o y o u e n g a g e d ir e c t ly w ith a n y b r a n d s o r b r a n d c o m m u n itie s t h r o u g h o n lin e s ite s , s o c ia l m e d ia ,

o r p h o n e a p p s ? D o y o u r o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , o r m o b ile in te r a c tio n s in flu e n c e y o u r b r a n d p r e fe r ­

O v e r c o m in g th e C h a lle n g e s to O m n i-C h a n n e l M a r k e tin g

A lig n in gO r g a n iz a t io n a l In c e n tiv e s a n d S tr u c tu r e s . Within the traditional business

directly to a customer’s home. Associates receive incentives regardless of the consumer’s

a n d c e le b r a t io n o f its p r o d u c ts a n d s e r v ic e s a m o n g its c u s t o m M o b ile r s a re o fte n h a s m a d e it a p o s t e r c h ild f o r d ir e c t

e r s a n d b r a n d a m b a s s a d o r s th r o u g h it s s o c ia l m e d ia p r e s e n c e . o ffe r e d th e o p p o r a n d d ig ita l m a r k e tin g , a n d t h e c o m p a n y

d u e to its e f f o r t s to la u n c h its G a la x y s m a r t p h o n e s a n d ta b le ts . such as th e IFA c o n

d ir e c to r J o s e p h G e r m a n i; F ilip in o d a n c e r, p ro d u c e r, a n d d ir e c m a r k e tin g a r e n a , b r in g in g c u s t o m e r s u p p o r t o n th e g o w ith s e a m

m a rk e tin g c a m p a ig n , all in o n e m a s s iv e s h o w c a s e th a t is e n g a g in g , c o m p e titiv e e d g e . In S e p te m b e r 2 0 2 1 , S a m s u n g E le c tro n ic s w o n 4 8 a w a r d s

p ro d u c t in fo rm a tio n b u t a ls o to e n g a g e w ith S a m s u n g b y a c c e s s in g s e v in te ra c tiv e a n d a d v a n c e c o n c e p t d e s ig n .

e ra l o n lin e s e rv ic e s , in c lu d in g live c h a ts , h o w -to v id e o s , h e lp a n d tro u b le S a m s u n g E le c tr o n ic s h a s b e c o m e a p o s t e r c h ild f o r d ir e c t a n d

s h o o tin g , p ro d u c t w a rra n ty in fo rm a tio n , a n d s e rv ic e re p a ir s ta tu s u p d a te s . d ig ita l m a r k e tin g and c o n t in u e s to engage c u s to m e rs and c re

fo r b u ild in g lo n g -te rm , o n e -to -o n e re la tio n s h ip s w ith c a re fu lly ta rg e te d c u s e n a b le s its c u s t o m e r s a n d b r a n d a m b a s s a d o r s t h r o u g h its s o c ia l

o r p h o n e a p p s ? D o y o u r o n lin e , s o c ia l m e d ia , o r m o b ile in te r a c tio n s in flu e n c e y o u r b r a n d p r e fe r