This document provides an overview of digital marketing. It discusses key definitions, such as what constitutes digital assets and digital marketing. It outlines the typical phases of a digital marketing campaign: strategize, implement, benchmark, and optimize. It also examines some important processes in digital marketing campaigns, such as creative design, search engine optimization, analytics and reporting, and use of databases. The document provides examples and discusses best practices for each area.
1. An Introduction to Digital Marketing
Why Digital Matters - How to Proceed - When to use Third Party Solutions
June 2010
Walter Kitchenman
wkitchenman@hotmail.com
2. Part of a Series on Global Information Management
This presentation is part of a series of work by Walter Kitchenman
(http://www.linkedin.com/in/wkitchenman) covering the importance and use of Information.
Earlier studies documented the availability, use and benefits of shared consumer and other
data and how such transparency shapes businesses globally; inhibitors to sharing information
resources within large organizations; and solutions for implementing Best Practice Information
Products and Knowledge Management.
3. Purpose
This presentation describes the importance of adding a well-conceived
Digital Strategy to the marketing arsenal and provides a general overview
of Best Practice Digital Campaigns and Third Party solutions providers.
• Identify steps and processes that underpin successful Digital Campaigns
• Explain how Digital and Traditional Campaigns and metrics are integrated
• Advise on the use of Third Party Vendors in the fluid Web 2.0 Universe
.
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6. OVERVIEW> DEFINITIONS
What are Some Well Known Digital Assets?
The practices and user communities of some emerging Mobile and Social
Networks make them more suitable to some Campaigns than others.
A Few Important Emerging Digital Marketing Channels
1. iPhone Apps (Mobile)
2. Proprietary Web Sites
3. Campaign-Focused Marketing Pages
4. Facebook
5. Linkedin
6. WordPress
7. MediaWiKi
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7. OVERVIEW> DEFINITIONS
Why Digital Marketing
Online spending is only about 5% of ad dollars today but is projected to
reach 21% of US marketing dollars by 2014 (US$55 billion).*
• Two thirds of US consumers are online
• Mobile and internet technologies are being adopted even faster outside the US
• Digital Marketing campaigns are measurable (assuming data is reliable)
• Online tools and analytics are better for direct response
• Online campaigns may generate more immediate sales
• Online tools and analytics are less expensive than traditional methods
• Numerous Third Party Solutions are available to help manage digital
campaigns, determine their effectiveness and target dollars
* Source: Forrester Research
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8. OVERVIEW> DEFINITIONS
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital Marketing is a combination of Push and Pull Internet technologies
used to execute marketing campaigns
• Traditional media including radio, TV, billboard and print, yields
response/reaction data collected, analyzed and acted upon after a campaign
• Digital marketing provides for immediate reporting and feedback while using
the internet to both Push and Pull marketing content:
– E.g., Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Email, IM, RSS, Social Media,
Texting on Mobile, and Voice Broadcast are used to Push a message
– E.g., Banner ads and Pay Per Click (PPC) searches Pull viewers to a
message or another viewer refers them, as in “here is content I liked seeing
and you might enjoy seeing too” (e.g., viral video)
• The objective of Digital Marketing is the Conversion of Visitors into customers
and improving retention of existing customers
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9. OVERVIEW> SAMPLE ONLINE CONTENT
Some Examples of OnLine Digital Content
Used to Promote a Major Brand
MOBILE APPS - VISA ONLINE VIDEO GAME - VISA
BANNER AD - VISA
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12. OVERVIEW> GOOD DIGITAL STRATEGIES>TACTICS
What Good Digital Marketing Strategies Achieve
A good Digital Campaign is consistent with overall business objectives,
quantifies success for each channel and has appropriate metrics in place.
The Six Broad Tactics of Best Practice Digital Marketing
1. Clarify and finalize Campaign objectives
2. Define the target audience(s)
3. Identify the online and Mobile channels available and appropriate
4. Develop a strategy with unique tactics for each digital asset
5. Define success through industry specific and relevant metrics
6. Know the landscape and benchmark results against competitors
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13. OVERVIEW> GOOD DIGITAL STRATEGIES>OBJECTIVES
What Good Digital Objectives Achieve
Strategy is how you reach Objectives - Objectives are what you want to
achieve and they are often quantifiable.
Three Broad Objectives of Best Practice Digital Marketing
1. Distribute Specific Content , e.g., introduce new subscription-based service
2. Achieve Specific Financial Gains, e.g., increase online sales x%
3. Target Specific Audience, e.g., reach x% of consumers of data about banks
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14. OVERVIEW> GOOD DIGITAL STRATEGIES>HOW DIGITAL MEDIA DIFFERS
How Traditional and Digital Media Differ
The best digital strategies integrate with, and complement, the messages
sent through traditional media and channels to form a unified experience.
Traditional Media Digital Media
• Uses established market research • Business models and
(focus groups and sampling) demographics are fluid
• A campaign is generally a Message • A campaign is a Conversation
• Marketers control message length • Visitors use exact search terms
• Campaigns not optimized • Sponsored search has +-70
immediately characters to entice click through
• Data is collected long afterwards • Campaigns tweaked instantly
• Costs are relatively high with immediate feedback
• Costs are relatively low
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15. OVERVIEW> GOOD DIGITAL STRATEGIES>TRADITIONAL MEDIA METRICS
Inhibitors to a Fully Integrated Digital Media
Campaign
Traditional Media metrics and metrics generated from Digital Campaigns
may not yield “apple-to-apple” comparisons.
Five Key Elements of Traditional Advertising metrics
1. Reach is the % of people within a given universe exposed to a particular
campaign at least once during a defined time period
2. Universe is typically based on total households
3. Gross Rating Points (GRP) are calculated by dividing Gross Impressions of
a media buy by the population reached
4. Targeted Ratings Points (TRP) are GRPs for a specific target segment
5. Effective Reach is the % of the Universe reached at a particular frequency
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16. OVERVIEW> GOOD DIGITAL STRATEGIES>CONVERTING DIGITAL METRICS
Converting Digital Metric “Oranges” to
Traditional “Apples” to Facilitate Comparisons
Reach prediction data supplement GRP metrics because of fragmentation of
users, variance of frequency across individuals and less certain demographics.
Four Key Elements Must be “Translated” for Comparisons
1. Reach is very difficult to calculate in terms of Digital Marketing and often
requires Third Party solutions and expertise
2. Online Universe is based on total households with Internet access (which
may now include mobile access)
3. GRP are calculated by dividing Gross Impressions on a web site, online
design element or other digital asset by audience size
4. TRP are calculated by multiplying forecasted GRPs by the demographic
composition of the site
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17. OVERVIEW> GOOD DIGITAL STRATEGIES>CONVERTING DIGITAL METRICS
Predicting Reach in the Digital Universe
The distribution of sites, the run rate (number of impressions in a given time
period), site overlap and other variables must be considered.
Three Key Considerations to Predict Online Reach
1. In traditional media Reach is basically the total number of viewers of a
particular campaign
2. Online a campaign of one million impressions on a site with one million
unique users may reach only a small percentage of the site’s population
3. Online impressions compose a fraction of total monthly impressions on a site
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19. PHASES> DEFINITIONS
The Successful Digital Marketing Campaign
has Four Broad Phases
Strategy is an important step across every phase of a campaign. Phases
are not always sequential and may be iterative as content is tweaked.
1 2 3 4
Strategize Implement Benchmark Optimize
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20. PHASES> STRATEGY
Strategize
A Digital Campaign should be consistent with overall business objectives
and complement offline efforts that employ traditional media.
Five Keys to a Comprehensive Strategy
1. Align online marketing and analytics
with general business objectives
2. Align online marketing and web
analytics with offline campaigns
3. Identify key areas for improvement
4. Identify effective business processes
5. Identify Key Performance Indicators
(KPI) and other measurements
specific to the industry and Digital
Asset
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21. PHASES> STRATEGY>EXAMPLE OF CHANNEL-SPECIFIC KPI
Example of Specific KPI Designed to
Measure the Impact of Blogging
KPI for any channel should measure your brand reputation and/or content
for your digital campaign as well as collect similar KPI for competitors.
There are At Least Six KPI Specific to Blogs
1. Average Number of New Blog Entries
2. Percentage of Unique Visitors/Members writing comments
3. Average Number of Trackbacks per Blog Post
4. Percentage of New Commentators (compared to total commentators)
5. Number of RSS Subscribers
6. Percentage of New RSS Subscribers
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22. PHASES> STRATEGY>SCOPE
It is Important to Define the Scale of the
Digital Marketing Objectives
A good Digital Strategy will quantify the scope of the desired campaign prior
to the development effort.
• Are you targeting millions of viewers and thousands of websites or hundreds?
• What web trends will be tracked? Are Webtrends or Google Analytics enough?
• Are Reporting Requirements quantitative or qualitative?
– Are there Executive Level Summaries?
• What Creative and other Design Elements are involved?
• Do you need heavy statistical support to compute online Reach and other
metrics for comparisons with Traditional Media?
• Do you anticipate using A/B and other testing to optimize the Campaign?
• How will relevant digital content be kept current/accurate going forward?
• Will the campaign employ iPhone apps and other targeted mobile?
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23. PHASES> IMPLEMENTATION
Implement
SEO terms may be optimal in theory but individual page and other tags
should be audited and reviewed regularly to ensure results in practice.
Six Keys to a Successful Implementation
1. Identify the proper scope of the effort at inception
2. Provide Award-Caliber Creative that enhances the user experience
3. Develop or contract the appropriate technologies or solutions
4. Maximize SEO and audit Page Tags to maximize the number of viewers
5. Plan on how online digital content stays current and accurate
6. Integrate online digital data with data from traditional media for a
comprehensive view
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24. PHASES> BENCHMARKING
Benchmark
Visitor Engagement Measurements and KPI should be customizable both
by industry and specific client positioning as practices may vary greatly.
Four Keys to Successful Benchmarking
1. Define Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
2. Customize Visitor Engagement Measurements by industry
3. Determine the client’s and its’ competitors’ baseline
4. Facilitate reporting and distribution of data and analytics with a well designed
database and Dashboard
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25. PHASES> OPTIMIZATION
Optimize
Digital’s real-time feedback makes Optimization an ongoing process. Good
analytics allow you to adjust the variables of a Digital Campaign (content,
website, design elements) that best drive conversion and satisfaction.
Four Keys to Successful Optimization of Large B2C Campaigns
1. Use A/B and Multivariate Testing of many combinations to simulate
hundreds/thousands of campaigns to inform the Digital Campaign
2. Use behavioral targeting of potential viewers
3. Proactively analyze Digital Campaigns to remain relevant and engaging
4. Convert website visitors into customers more quickly and at a relatively
lower customer acquisition cost than traditional media
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27. PROCESSES> DEFINITIONS
Key Processes in the Successful Digital
Marketing Campaign
Like the overall campaign itself, each major Process involves Strategy,
Implementation and Optimization.
Five Key Processes from Campaign Inception through Optimization
1. Creative
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
3. Database and Development
4. Analysis and Reporting
5. Marketing 2.0
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28. PROCESSES> CREATIVE
Creative Generally Encompasses Eight
Major Digital Content Types
Generally there are only 70 characters available to generate a click-
through. Creative must maximize the online presence and adapt
established Brand guidelines meant for print and traditional media.
1. Web sites
2. Logos and other branding
3. Commercials produced for the Web
4. Banner Ads
5. Specialized web-based marketing pages
6. Online Newsletters and Journals
7. eMail Graphics
8. Content optimized for Mobile Apps
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29. PROCESSES> SEARCH
SEO is Generally Considered the Most
Critical Process in Digital Marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is the process of maximizing the
placement and number of search results (ranking) for core marketing terms.
Three Characteristics of Good SEO
1. Natural Search Processes
2. Pay Per Click (Sponsorship)
3. Natural Language
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30. PROCESSES> SEARCH
SEO is Generally Considered the Most
Critical Process in Digital Marketing, cont.
Free search functions available through tagging and other processes can
be termed Natural Search Processes.
Seven Essential Natural Search Processes
1. Ensuring Search Visibility
2. Search forensics
3. International SEO
4. On-Line Public Relations
5. Copywriting for SEO
6. On-Line Reputation Monitoring
7. Linking Programs
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31. PROCESSES> SEARCH
SEO is Generally Considered the Most
Critical Process in Digital Marketing, cont.
Sponsored searches such as ads by Google account for 30 – 40% of all
search results and speed-up a subject’s inclusion in free search results.
Four Characteristics of a Successful Pay-Per-Click Campaign
1. Adapted to marketing calendars
2. PPC Search Terms audited
3. Key Words researched and identified
4. Ad Creative makes most of 70 characters to generate a click through
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32. PROCESSES> SEARCH
SEO is Generally Considered the Most
Critical Process in Digital Marketing, cont.
Best Practice SEO expands beyond inhouse jargon, correctly anticipating
how potential customers use language naturally in online searches.
Three Best Practice Uses of Natural Language
1. Use common terms for your subject, product or campaign
2. Expand beyond industry and inhouse jargon
3. Advanced approaches may include likely variations (and even misspellings)
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33. PROCESSES> ANALYTICS>DEFINITIONS
Analytics and Reporting
Analyses and Reporting (and other key Processes) in a Digital Campaign
are broadly divided into Media Monitoring and Media Engagement.
Media Monitoring Media Engagement (Marketing 2.0)
• Data Discovery • eMail Marketing
• Analytical Reporting • Social Media Marketing
• Analytical Dashboard
• Modeling
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34. PROCESSES> ANALYTICS>BEST PRACTICE
Best Practice Analytics are Proactive and
Provide for Data Integration and Competitor
Analysis
• Proactive Analysis
– Third party campaign-specific tracking
• Data Integration
• Competitor Analysis
• Optimization Services ensure constant improvement
– Customer Segmentation
– Testing and Targeting
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35. PROCESSES> ANALYTICS>BEST PRACTICE
Reasons to Engage in Testing
For consumer-oriented campaigns testing can eliminate inhouse disputes by
letting customers decide.
Only 26% of Digital Marketers Test Despite Five Good Reasons
1. Increase sales and conversion rates
2. Improve landing pages
3. Get more leads
4. Decrease Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
5. Eliminate guesswork from design elements
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36. PROCESSES> ANALYTICS>REPORTING
Reporting Should Provide Immediate Feedback
About Visitor Behavior
The most useful tools show the domains, campaigns, demographics and
geography of where visitor to customer conversions are taking place.
• Domains Report (where conversations
take place)
• Geo Mapping (locations of
conversations)
• Blogger tags (comments by identifiable
author)
• Theme Clouds (words most associated
with the campaign)
• Comparisons by Date of Chatter
• Demographics Report (gender, age
estimated for visitors tracked)
Webtrends Reports
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37. PROCESSES> DATABASES AND DEVELOPMENT
Database and Development
Databases can provide a comprehensive view across all media, speed to
market for content management, feedback for alternative campaigns,
flexible selection criteria and personalization by segments and individuals.
Media Monitoring Media Engagement
• Data Visualization • Campaign Management
• Modeling • Segment Selection Management
• Web Crawl for Updates
• Web Content Management
• Mobile Apps
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38. PROCESSES> DATABASES AND DEVELOPMENT
IT is Used to Constantly Search for and
Display Content Relevant to the Campaign
As part of Media Monitoring, IT solutions can integrate a search agent
application that crawls the web and collects the latest relevant content.
Web Crawlers Capture Two Main Types of Content Automatically
1. Comments and other content related to the campaign
2. Comments and other content related to competitors’ campaigns
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39. PROCESSES> DATABASES AND DEVELOPMENT>DATA VISUALIZATION
Best Practice Data Visualization: A Dashboard
Reporting generally provides too much data rather than too little. Best
Practice includes a top level display of highly relevant data and insights.
A Well Designed Dashboard Has Four Key Elements
1. Aggregates data from all available sources
2. Summarizes data through a simple user interface
3. Displays a comprehensive analysis
4. Includes competitor digital content, bringing email and banners, etc., for
comparison
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40. PROCESSES> DATABASES AND DEVELOPMENT>DATA VISUALIZATION
Examples of Data Visualization: Sample
Marketing Dashboard
39
42. MARKETING 2.0>DEFINITIONS
Marketing 2.0
With the advent of Web 2.0, successful digital strategies incorporate Public
Relations and Customer Relationship Management.
Digital Marketing is largely comprised of two key functions
1. Public Relations 2.0 (ePR)
2. Customer Relationship Management 2.0 (eCRM)
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43. MARKETING 2.0> DIGITAL MEDIA
Digital Marketing Strategy Involves
Customization by Specific Digital Medium
Business models and practices are evolving rapidly. The suitability of each
digital forum should be assessed for each particular industry and campaign.
• Blogs (e.g., LiveJournal, Typepad, WordPress, etc.)
• Microblogs (e.g.,Twitter, Plurk, Identica, etc)
• Message Board/Forums
• Wiki (sites that allow the public to make changes)
• Video/Photo Sharing (e.g.,YouTube, Flickr, etc)
• Social Networks (e.g., Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin)
• Mainstream Media Blogs (e.g., Wall Street Journal, CNN, etc.)
• Mobile Apps (iPhone)
42
44. MARKETING 2.0> PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Relations for Web 2.0 (ePR or PR 2.0)
ePR refers to marketing techniques that enable clients to receive high-
impact placements on influential websites, mobile apps and blogs.
• Blogs and Mainstream Digital Media
– Online features/reviews, premiere content, placement of exclusive clips
and features, high profile interviews, online contests, press coverage
• Social Media Sites
– Place content in front of millions of eyeballs at a very low price point
– Turn viewers/customers into advocates
• Mobile
– .e.g., iPhone apps (including emerging such as iPad), and Web 2.0 sites
specific to mobile
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45. MARKETING 2.0> PUBLIC RELATIONS>KEY STEPS
Six Key ePR Strategies Figure Prominently
in Successful Digital Campaigns
Successful ePR develops appropriate social networking strategies for each
channel or platform (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, iPhone, etc.)
1 2 3 4 5 6
Create Social Update & Filter
Develop Social Convert Respond to
& Maintain Inappropriate
Media Widgets Visitors Messages
Mobile Profiles Content Comments
44
46. MARKETING 2.0> CRM>DEFINITIONS
Customer Relationship Management for Web
2.0 (eCRM or CRM 2.0)
For consumer focused businesses, rapid adoption of Web 2.0 and Social
Media means traditional CRM, customer acquisition and retention
strategies must integrate eCRM to capture the entire customer journey.
• Holistic approach to CRM and implementation; communication and data
planning; multi channel campaign management; and customer data
management
• Customer engagement from acquisition to retention and advocacy across all
channels, traditional and digital
• Creating a global online customer dialogue platform
45
47. MARKETING 2.0> MOBILE>DEFINITIONS
Digital Marketers Adjust to the Mobile Boom
Applications for mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone and the Palm
Pre are redefining the mobile marketing landscape.
Two examples of Digital Marketing and Mobile Apps
1. Starwood hotels rewards their top twenty commercial clients
– An iPhone app. presents detailed info for 200 Starwood hotels, including
500MB of photos, maps, contact details, floor plans and capacity information
– The iPhone app includes orientation-sensitive interface, faceted search, an
RSS feed and support for "favorites“
2. The McKinsey Quarterly alerts subscribers and in real-time
– An iPhone app provides Alerts to the latest articles and thought leadership
using the iPhone’s touch interface and app-Safari interoperability
– The iPhone app fits McKinsey’s longer term mobile strategy to use mobile
devices to customize content delivery by both user preference and past
reading habits
46
49. VENDOR ASSESSMENT> DEFINITIONS
Vendor Assessment May be the Most Important
Process in a Digital Marketing Campaign
Optimizing the results of a Campaign and Digital Presence generally
involves using Third Party Solutions and/or outsourcing.
Typical Third Party Solutions Used in Digital Campaigns
1. Best Creative normally requires partnering with outside agencies
2. Professional Services Providers advise on optimum strategies, the
competitive landscape and the latest analytics
3. Professional Services Providers offer deeper expertise in key social media
and other emerging channels (e.g., iApp development)
4. Third Parties provide relatively low cost Content and Campaign
Management Solutions
5. Third Parties help navigate more complex statistical challenges such as
calculating Online Reach and general integration of online metrics
6. Monitoring and updating of digital content post-campaign can be outsourced
48
50. VENDOR ASSESSMENT> BASIC WEB ANALYTICS
Simple Web Analytics May be Enough for
Many Digital Marketing Efforts
Webtrends is the overwhelming market leader in web analytics and is
believed to provide the highest quality data.
Six Key Considerations in Assessing Webtrends
1. Webtrends provides metrics for social media and Twitter
2. Webtrends provides both Client and Server-side tracking while most
competitors support one or the other
3. There are a large number of sophisticated built-in reports covering all areas of
a site including technical, marketing and sales
4. There is both a hosted and a software version, with the software version
offering full control of data
5. Cost is a minimum US$5,000 per license
6. Set-up and support will probably require expertise inhouse
49
51. VENDOR ASSESSMENT> BASIC WEB ANALYTICS
Simple Web Analytics May be Enough for
Many Digital Marketing Efforts, cont.
Google Analytics provides a free, user-friendly and immediate solution for
web analytics that may suit many Digital Marketing Efforts (especially B2B).
Five Key Considerations in Assessing Google Analytics
1. Easy Set-Up: Simple new account creation with exact JavaScript provided to
insert into online pages (implementation in under 1 hour)
2. Built-in Reports and Polished Graphs for the most important statistics
including tooltips and drill-downs
3. Custom Reporting and Export: Custom reports can be created using a drag-
drop function
4. Data Export API facilitates the build of a customer User Interface
5. Analytics are free, but user data is hosted and in the cloud, security and
control over which may be considered inadequate for certain digital efforts
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53. VENDOR ASSESSMENT>MAJOR VENDORS
Digital Marketing – Some Major Vendors by
Key Process
Analytics Web Trends Campaign Management
Alterian Webtrends
Vignette Partners MediaSurface
Stratigent Google Analytics Interwoven Documentum
Omniture SiteCore Partners FatWire
Site Catalyst Percussion Umbraco
Websidestory
Dbases, Development IT, Integration Search (SEO)
Oracle SAP Omniture HBX
Microsoft Siebel Endeca
Java (BEA Star) PeopleSoft Google
Epiphany FAST
IBM SmartLogic
Microsoft Autonomy/Verity
52
55. SUMMARY>KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Key Developments
• Two thirds of US consumers are online
• Adoption rates for mobile and internet tech is more rapid outside the US
• Twenty one percent of all marketing dollars may be spent online by 2014
• ePR and eCRM becoming essential to track the entire customer experience
• Digital Marketing may provide for faster sales and lower CPA than Traditional
Marketing efforts
• Fluid and uncertain business models in emerging online media may require
specific expertise (e.g., iAPPS, social media such as Facebook and Twitter)
54
56. SUMMARY>BEST PRACTICES
Digital Marketing Efforts Best Practices are
Likely to Include Third Party Solutions
• Assess basic scope of the Digital Marketing effort:
– Are basic web trends analytics sufficient?
– Will you test alternative campaigns and design elements to assess the best
strategies that convert viewers to customers?
– Must you predict online Reach or perform other complex statistical
analyses for comparisons with the metrics yielded by Traditional Media?
• Integrate with Traditional Media for a unified viewer experience
• Put appropriate KPI in place before the start of a campaign
• Benchmark metrics for the subject Digital Campaign against those for similar
campaigns and competitors
• Consider the use of appropriate Third Party Solutions from Strategy to
Optimization to hedge against the fluid Web 2.0 environment
55
57. For More Info –
http://www.linkedin.com/in/wkitchenman
Walter Kitchenman is an author and consultant on strategic issues in financial services. He
spent more than a decade as an international banker in Latin America and Europe and helped
launch the leading boutique advisory firm covering the strategic use of IT. Most recently he
managed several digital platforms at MasterCard Worldwide which were winners of the
International Web Designers Award and the New York IABC’s Award of Merit. He has a
graduate degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and BA
with special honors from the Elliot School of George Washington University.
2010
Walter Kitchenman
wkitchenman@hotmail.com
58. An Introduction to Digital Marketing
Why Digital Matters - How to Proceed - When to use Third Party Solutions
July 2010
Walter Kitchenman
wkitchenman@hotmail.com