Chapter 10 Digital marketing planning involves marketing planning

Chapter 10 Digital marketing planning involves marketing planning within the context of the online business environment. So, not surprisingly, the successful digital marketing plan is based on and integrated with traditional marketing disciplines and planning techniques, adapted for the digital media environment and then mixed with new digital marketing communications techniques (which include listening as much as ‘talking’). This chapter shows you how to create a comprehensive, integrated Digital marketing plan, based on the well-established principles of the SOSTAC® Planning System (Smith, 1996). 1

10. 1 Introduction to digital marketing planning Digital marketing plans must support, and be integrated with, marketing plans and eventually with business plans. The 3 Ms • Men (and women) – human resources • Money – budgets • Minutes – timescales and time horizons for production, delivery, service, etc. www. SOSTAC. org 2

10. 2 Situation analysis should contain a thorough analysis of… • • • Customers Competitors Partners Competencies Performance/ results Market trends 3

10. 2 Situation analysis 4

10. 2 Situation analysis 5

10. 2 Situation analysis 6

10. 3 Objectives 7

10. 3 Objectives 8

10. 3 Objectives 9

10. 3 Objectives 10

10. 3 Objectives Focus on the Big 4 objectives The 5 Ss objectives RACE framework • • Revenue/ sales Margin/ profit Customer satisfaction/ loyalty Brand value/ brand awareness/ brand preference • • • Sell Serve Speak Save Sizzle • • Reach Act Convert Engage Marketing objectives Physical digital action (sales, market share visits, click through, conversions) Mar. Comms objectives States of mind (awareness levels, preference levels, intention to purchase, satisfaction scores/ NPS scores) 11

10. 4 Strategy A digital marketing strategy should define the level of resources directed at different channels. Replacement is most likely to happen when: Kumar (1999) • • Customer access to the Internet is high The Internet can offer a better value proposition than other media The product can be delivered over the Internet The product can be standardized TOPPP SITE • • • Target markets Objectives Positioning Processes Partnership • • Sequence Integration Tactical tools Engagement 12

10. 5 Tactics = short term and flexible VS Strategy = longer and more enduring 13

10. 5 Tactics 14

10. 6 Actions Produce a project action plan for each tactic Internal marketing Risk management and contingency planning Staff motivation Staff training for new tools and software use • Brainstorming a list of all the significant things that could go wrong • Assessing their impact and likelihood • Creating contingency plans for the highest impact and most probable risks • Continuous review, revising and refining during campaign execution • Post-implementation reviews to learn from the successes and failures of the next project 16

10. 7 Control • • KPIs need to be measured Who measures what How often To whom (who takes appropriate actions arising? ) 17

10. 7 Control 18

10. 7 Control 19

10. 7 Control Corrective action Used to revise strategies and tactics to ensure that the objectives are achieved. 20

10. 7 Control Corrective action Used to revise strategies and tactics to ensure that the objectives are achieved. 21

10. 8 The 3 Ms resources: Men, Money and Minutes Men (and women) Human resource allocation Outsourcing or insourcing Money Calculating the ROI Minutes Allowing time for regular and systematic pilot testing, beta testing and constant split testing 22

Chapter summary • Digital marketing must support and be integrated with corporate or business plans and marketing plans. SOSTAC – Situation Analysis, Objectives and Strategy, Tactics, Actions and Control. • Situation analysis – where we are now. It reviews internal resources and digital marketing performance, and external factors such as customer, competitor and intermediary activity. • Objectives – where we want to go. There are several approaches including marketing and Mar. Comms KPIs, the 5 Ss, and the Big 4. Objectives must be quantified and checked to ensure they are SMART. • Strategy – how do we get there. The key components are TOPPP SITE. • Tactics are driven by strategy. They describe the e-tools used and how they will be sequenced through time. • Action equals implementation of plans. How can you ensure excellent execution of your plan? Clearly define processes, systems and even checklists can help. Internal marketing needs to be in your plan and requires resources. • Controls gives a feedback loop, starting with monitoring whether the objectives are achieved, assessing what the problems are and then revising the strategies, tactics and actions as appropriate. • Resources can be planned through the 3 Ms of Men (and women), Money and Minutes. 23