Digital Marketing Strategy for Verdant Leisure

This report aims to develop a digital marketing strategy for Verdant Leisure, an award-winning holiday park. It includes a situational analysis, SWOT analysis, target audience segmentation, marketing mix, and digital and tactical strategies.

A
MARKETING PLAN PREPARED
FOR VERDENT LEISURE
BY
VICTOR CHRISTIANA
(18431888)
SUBMITTED TO
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main aim of this report is to develop the digital marketing strategy for Verdant Leisure. This
report evaluated situation analysis by using SWOT analysis. It is evaluated that Verdant Leisure
can target the people between the age group of 21- 60 years. It is also found that Verdant Leisure
can use unique selling proposition by offering outstanding customer service, on- site facilities
and excellent holiday accommodation. It is determined that Verdant Leisure can use marketing
mix strategy by focusing on product, price, place and promotion. Verdant Leisure uses Digital
and Tactical Strategies such as Content Strategy, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media,
Mobile Friendly Website and Application and Personalization.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive summary 1
Introduction 3
Background of the Organization 3
Situational Analysis 3
SWOT Analysis 4
Establishing Objectives 5
Strategy Definition 6
Segmentation of the Target Audience 6
Marketing Mix 7
Digital and Tactical Strategies 8
Content Strategy 8
Search Engine Optimization 8
Social Media 8
Mobile Friendly Website and Application 9
Personalization 9
Measuring Results 9
Conclusion 10
References 11

INTRODUCTION
Digital marketing can be defined as the marketing of the products, services, organization or
business with the help of online channels. Digital marketing is often referred to as online
marketing. It includes social media marketing, email marketing, search engine optimization,
content marketing and paid advertising. With the passage of time, the prevalence and the
efficiency of the digital marketing techniques have increased to a great extent. The most
important elements of digital marketing is its content as it has the capability of attracting new
customers, increasing loyalty and keeping existing customers engaged (Karjaluoto,Mustonen and
Ulkuniemi, 2015).
The focus of this assignment is on Verdant Leisure which is an award winning holiday park. The
assignment aims at creating a digital marketing plan for the organization.
Verdant Leisure is an award winning holiday park in United Kingdom. The holiday parks of
Verdant Leisure are situated across Northumberland, Scotland and Country Durham.This holiday
park provides outstanding customer service, on- site facilities, excellent holiday accommodation
along with a range of holiday homes for sale.Perfect environment is provided to the customers

and their families by Verdant Leisure for spending precious time together such that memories
can be created that lasts for a lifetime. Wide range of holiday options are offered to the
customers by Verdant Leisure that are suitable for all budgets. A number of awards are also
linked to this organization. Also, the holiday parks of Verdant Leisure are surrounded by natural
beauty i.e. from amazing seascapes and National Parks such that the wonder of the natural
environment can be found right at the doorsteps. This is also one of the reasons which have led
the organization to get committed with to promoting and improving sustainable tourism along
with the protection of the natural environment (Verdant Leisure, 2019)
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
Situational analysis is used for the purpose of analyzing the internal and external capabilities in
order to understand the capabilities of the organization along with the customers and the business
environment. The situational analysis of Verdant Leisure is undertaken with the help of
analyzing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT Analysis).
SWOT ANALYSIS
Following are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Verdant Leisure:

STRENGTHS-The major strength of the company is its capability of providing of wide range
holiday options which are suitable for all the budgets. The locations where the holiday parks of
the organization are established are considered to be the most picturesque spots of United
Kingdom. Nowadays, people are only concerned about uploading their photos on different social
media sites and therefore they need a location which is good for their photos. This is also a
strength for the organization as it has the capability of attracting a large number of customers.
Moreover, verdant Leisure offers outstanding customer service, fantastic on site facilities and
excellent holiday accommodation which is also strength of this organization(Verdant Leisure,
2019).
WEAKNESSES- Some improvements can still be made in the layout of the holiday parks in
order to stay competitive in the market. Also, Verdant Leisure is not engaged in the promotion of
its services which have a great impact on the number of visitors during the entire year. This is
due to the fact that the customers gets attractive towards that holiday park which is able to
present its features and offers in an eye-catching manner (Baker, 2016).
OPPORTUNITIES- Verdant Leisure has an opportunity to further develop the layout of the park
in order to make it more attractive to the customers. Technology also presents a number of

opportunities in front of Verdant Leisure. The company can share the experiences of its
customers on the social media websites along with their fun photos and videos in order to attract
the prospective customers. Various benefits should also be offered to the customers such as a
trained photographer who will capture the fun moments of the customers with their families
along with providing the facility of free Wi- fi in the holiday parks. Verdant Leisure should also
undertake a digital marketing strategy that best suits its purpose in order to attract the customers
from the market.
THREATS- Other competitors in the market are also communing up with attractive park layout
at picturesque locations which is a big threat for Verdant Leisure. The competitors are also
switching to the digital marketing strategies for the purpose of reaching the wider audience. This
increase in competition is the major threat for the business. The competitors are also offering a
number of facilities to the customers such as swimming pools, five minute drive to the beech
along with a great range of accommodation.
ESTABLISHING OBJECTIVES
The marketing of objectives of the company will be set while keeping the SMART goals in
mind. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. The adoption of

the SMART goals will provide the company a definite direction relating to what it actually wants
to achieve.
Specific- Having specific objectives are essential for achieving success in the marketing
campaign. The specific objective of the digital marketing strategy adopted by Verdant Leisure
will be to increase the number of customers that visit the holiday park.Also, the organization will
be required to have a separate digital marketing team which will formulate digital marketing
strategies in order to attract the customers (Ryan, 2016).
MEASURABLE- Having measurable goals will allow the organization to have a definite number
to be achieved. The digital marketing strategy of Verdant Leisure will aim at achieving 5000
visitors on the website of the company each and every day (Penalver, 2018). Such measurement
will be ensured with the help of tools like Google Analytics which will provide information
regarding the visitors on the website of the company. Moreover, it will also offer the information
regarding the location of the visitor i.e. the country of the website visitor. When the number of
visitors to the website and blogs of the organization will increase, the actual visitors to the
holiday park will also increase.
ATTAINABLE-Attainable goals are the goals which is supported by the employees and the
entire organization. The success of the goals is only ensured in such case. Moreover, the support

will further increase in cases when the organization involve the employees in the process of
decision making. For this purpose, Verdant Leisure should employ a team of trained employees
in the field of digital marketing and then frame the goals by taking their consent and suggestions.
This, in turn, will ensure that the goals are capable of being attained (Yasmin, Tasneem and
Fatema, 2015).
RELEVANT- Relevant or realistic goals takes the practical situation into account along with the
work in which everyone is involved. Therefore, Verdant Leisure needs to have a team which is
employed in the organization for the purpose of handling the digital marketing of the
organization only. The company will be required to ensure that the company has the requisite
manpower for this purpose (David, 2016).
TIME BOUND- Time bound can be defined as the time allocated for the purpose of reaching the
set goals. The time set for the achievement of the said results for the digital marketing plan will
be one year. A drastic change will be visible in the actual customers who obtain the services of
the holiday park over a period of one year if digital marketing strategy is effectively
implemented by the digital marketing team of the business (Todor, 2016).

STRATEGY DEFINITION
Personalization is considered to be very important in case of digital marketing. Therefore, it is
essential that certain factors are kept in mind while defining the strategy for the marketing plan.
SEGMENTATION OF THE TARGET AUDIENCE
Target audience will comprise of the customers on whom the focus of the digital marketing
strategy will be set. It will further consider the tastes, preferences and needs of such customers as
well. This part of the marketing plan development will play a great role in the creation of buyer
personas. Proper segmentation of the target market will allow Verdant Leisure to understand the
expectations of the customers. Nowadays, the customers expect the value for their money.
Therefore, the target market of Verdant Leisure will comprise of families from all across the
world. With the passage of time, the tourism industry of United Kingdom have also noticed a
significant hike in the number of visitors. This provides a chance for Verdant Leisure to attract
its target market which comprise of the people between the age group of 21- 60 years ( Cross,
Belich and Rudelius, 2015).
Positioning- For the purpose of achieving proper positioning, it is essential for Verdant Leisure
to be very clear with its value proposition. In other words, it will provide the reason to the
customers for choosing verdant Leisure against the competitors. Therefore, it is crucial for

Verdant Leisure to decide in advance how its unique value proposition will be communicated to
the customers and how it will be ensured with the help of different channels where the audienceis
present such as through e- mail marketing, blogs, social media, etc. (Dibb, 2017)The unique
selling proposition of Verdant Leisure is its outstanding customer service, on- site facilities and
excellent holiday accommodation. Wide range of holiday options are offered to the customers by
Verdant Leisure that are suitable for all budgets. Also, the holiday parks of Verdant Leisure are
surrounded by natural beauty i.e. from amazing seascapes and National Parks such that the
wonder of the natural environment can be found right at the doorsteps.
MARKETING MIX
The marketing mix comprise of 4 important elements which play an important role in engaging
the customers with the organization. The elements of marketing mix are product, price, place and
promotion. Marketing mix is often regarded as the set of tools which is used by the company for
the effective implementation of the marketing strategies and the achievement of the established
objectives. Following are the 4Ps of Verdant Leisure:
PRODUCT-Verdant Leisure provides outstanding customer service, on- site facilities and
excellent holiday accommodation. Wide range of holiday options are offered to the customers by
Verdant Leisure that are suitable for all budgets. Also, the holiday parks of Verdant Leisure are
surrounded by natural beauty i.e. from amazing seascapes and National Parks such that the

wonder of the natural environment can be found right at the doorsteps. These services offered by
Verdant Leisure distinguish it from its competitors (Datta, Ailawadi and van Heerde, 2017).
PRICE- Holiday options are available for the customers looking for all types of budgets. This, in
turn, increases the chances of the organization that it will be chosen over the competitors due to
its affordable services. Such affordable prices are also one of the unique selling proposition of
the organization (Liu, Chen and Balachander, 2017).
PLACE- The holiday park of Verdant Leisure are situated across Northumberland, Scotland and
Country Durham. The holiday parks are situated in the picturesque location which will attract the
customers across the globe. Slowly and gradually, Verdant Leisure will focus on expanding the
holiday parks at other attractive locations as well (Stead and Hastings, 2018).
PROMOTION- Nowadays, each and every person makes the use of internet for the purpose of
searching for their holiday destinations across the globe. Currently, the organization promotes is
holiday park with the help of its website but is required to get into digital marketing for the
purpose of expanding the reach of its marketing (Kotler, Kartajaya and Setiawan, 2016).
DIGITAL AND TACTICAL STRATEGIES
The implementation of the strategy will depend on the marketing plan of Verdant Leisure.

CONTENT STRATEGY
It is very important for Verdant Leisure to create, distribute and manager its original content for
the purpose of attracting the users and for the positioning of the brand. A specific communication
policy (content marketing) for every channel is essential. The execution of the content strategy
will require to focus on some of the important tools. Keyword research is one of such factors
(Baltes, 2015). Keyword research is an integral part of the content strategy as it consists of the
identification of the correct keywords for using them correctly in the content for the purpose of
improving the strategy. Moreover, the blogs of the organization will also be updated on regular
basis and should be posted on the social media as well. Posting about the holiday park on the
social network will gradually increase the reach of the posts and will benefit the organization.
Moreover, the use of hashtag strategy will further benefit the organization to a great extent
(Mooney and Slobodian, 2016)
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Search engine optimization is a strategy which is increasingly being adopted by almost every
organization these days.With the help of the online search engines, search engine optimization
can increase the reach of the customers to the posts of Verdant Leisure. However, there will be
endless complexities involved in the adoption of SEO strategy, but the elements of website,
content marketing and mobile site all are associated with the perspective of search engine. Target

customers can be focused upon with the help of comprehensive search marketing strategies along
with improving the rankings on the search engines (Saura, Palos-Sánchez and Cerdá Suárez,
2017).
SOCIAL MEDIA
Almost all the adults and youngsters own their profiles on the social media these days. It has
therefore become a necessity for Verdant Leisure to have their presence on the social media as
well. The use of this channel for communication with the prospective customers along with
sharing insights of the holiday park in an effective manner will assist in building awareness and
exposure (Free Spirit, 2015). Social media will further assist Verdant Leisure in telling its story
in a great and effective manner by way of making the identification of the prospective visitors
and providing them a way to relate to the company. This can be linked with the network theory
of digital marketing which provides that the patterns developed within social media creates a
great impact on the behavior of the users (Kannan, 2017).
MOBILE FRIENDLY WEBSITE AND APPLICATION
These days most of the customers makes the use of their mobile phones for the purpose of
accessing the internet and conducting their day to day tasks. Therefore, it is very important for
Verdant Leisure to create a mobile friendly website for the holiday park such that the users can
access it on the go. Also, apps for different operating systems should be created which can be

easily installed on the mobile phones of the customers and are user friendly. Both of these
options should also offer the facility of easy booking of the holiday park on the go. The creation
of a responsive website will provide a better chance to the customers to know about the holiday
park clearly and efficiently (Levy and Gvili, 2015).
PERSONALIZATION
Another digital marketing strategy which should be considered by Verdant Leisure is
personalization.It will need to ensure that an essence of personalization is added to the strategies
which will play a great role in attracting the customers towards the holiday park. Personalization
is of great important when it comes to a holiday park business. Technology can be utilized in an
effective manner for the purpose of collecting, storing and using data regarding the visitors for
serving them better and targeting them for the future campaigns by the organization. A more
personalized experience can be offered to the customers by collecting information regarding the
countries they come from, their age, and their accommodation preferences ( Taiminen, 2016).
MEASURING RESULTS
Measuring the result will comprise the last step of the implementation of the digital marketing
plan. Every action taken during the implementation of the digital marketing strategy will be
measured against the key performance indicators for the purpose of figuring out whether the

expected return on investment have been achieved or not. The measurement of the effectiveness
of the activities and strategies adopted by Verdant Leisure will assist the company in taking
corrective measures on the strategies which didn’t work on the achievement of the goals of the
business. The performance of the digital marketing plan can be measured by way of keeping a
record of the visitors to the website of Verdant Leisure before the implementation of the plan and
comparing it with the analytics of the visitors after the implementation of the plan (Taiminen and
Karjaluoto, 2015).
CONCLUSION
Therefore, it can be concluded that digital marketing is the marketing of the products, services,
organization or business with the help of online channels.The focus of this assignment is on
Verdant Leisure which is an award winning holiday park. The assignment aims at creating a
digital marketing plan for the organization. Verdant Leisure is an award winning holiday park in
United Kingdom. The holiday parks of Verdant Leisure are situated across Northumberland,
Scotland and Country Durham. The unique selling proposition of Verdant Leisure is that it offers
outstanding customer service, on- site facilities, excellent holiday accommodation along with a

range of holiday homes for sale. This will be the basic focus of the digital marketing strategy for
the organization.
The report highlighted the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Verdant Leisure
along with the SMART goals which are required to be achieved. Furthermore, the report
provided that content strategy, personalization, social media and search engine optimization will
comprise the part of the digital marketing strategy of Verdant Leisure.
REFERENCES
Baker, M.J., 2016. What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book(pp. 25-42). Routledge.
Baltes, L.P., 2015. Content marketing-the fundamental tool of digital marketing. Bulletin of the
Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 8(2), p.111.

Cross, J.C., Belich, T.J. and Rudelius, W., 2015. How marketing managers use market
segmentation: An exploratory study. In Proceedings of the 1990 Academy of Marketing Science
(AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 531-536). Springer, Cham.
Datta, H., Ailawadi, K.L. and van Heerde, H.J., 2017. How well does consumer-based brand
equity align with sales-based brand equity and marketing-mix response?. Journal of
Marketing, 81(3), pp.1-20.
David, S., 2016. Beyond goals: Effective strategies for coaching and mentoring. Routledge.
Dibb, S., 2017. Changing Times for Social Marketing Segmentation. In Segmentation in Social
Marketing (pp. 41-59). Springer, Singapore.
Free Spirit. 2015. 8 Holiday Park Marketing Strategies You Need to be Using, [Online].
Available
at:https://www.freespiritresorts.com.au/8-holiday-park-marketing-strategies-you-need-to-be-usin
g[Accessed on: 29 January 2019].
Kannan, P.K., 2017. Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda. International
Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(1), pp.22-45.

Karjaluoto, H., Mustonen, N. and Ulkuniemi, P., 2015. The role of digital channels in industrial
marketing communications. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(6), pp.703-710.
Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H. and Setiawan, I., 2016. Marketing 4.0: Moving from traditional to
digital. John Wiley & Sons.
Levy, S. and Gvili, Y., 2015. How Credible is E-Word of Mouth Across Digital-Marketing
Channels?: The Roles of Social Capital, Information Richness, and Interactivity. Journal of
Advertising Research, 55(1), pp.95-109.
Liu, Y., Li, K.J., Chen, H. and Balachander, S., 2017. The effects of products’ aesthetic design
on demand and marketing-mix effectiveness: The role of segment prototypicality and brand
consistency. Journal of Marketing, 81(1), pp.83-102.
Mooney, M. and Slobodian, S., 2016. Seeing the wood for the trees: Fixing large undefined
problems in digital marketing. Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing, 3(4), pp.294-303.
Penalver, P. 2018. A Step-by-Step Guide to Structuring a Digital Marketing Plan in 2018,
[Online]. Available
at:https://www.wearemarketing.com/blog/a-step-by-step-guide-to-structuring-a-digital-marketing
-plan-in-2018.html[Accessed on: 29 January 2019].

Ryan, D., 2016. Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital
generation. Kogan Page Publishers.
Saura, J.R., Palos-Sánchez, P. and Cerdá Suárez, L.M., 2017. Understanding the digital
marketing environment with KPIs and web analytics. Future Internet, 9(4), p.76.
Stead, M. and Hastings, G., 2018. Advertising in the social marketing mix: getting the balance
right. In Social Marketing(pp. 29-43). Psychology Press.
Taiminen, H., 2016. One gets what one orders: Utilisation of digital marketing tools. The
Marketing Review, 16(4), pp.389-404.
Taiminen, H.M. and Karjaluoto, H., 2015. The usage of digital marketing channels in
SMEs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 22(4), pp.633-651.
Todor, R.D., 2016. Blending traditional and digital marketing. Bulletin of the Transilvania
University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 9(1), p.51.
Verdant Leisure. 2019. Touring holidays with Verdant Leisure , [Online]. Available
at:https://www.verdantleisure.co.uk/touring/[Accessed on: 29 January 2019].

Yasmin, A., Tasneem, S. and Fatema, K., 2015. Effectiveness of digital marketing in the
challenging age: An empirical study. International Journal of Management Science and Business
Administration, 1(5), pp.69-80.
My expectations from this module Global marketing issues include:
● To broaden my knowledge of marketing generally
● to be equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in the ever
growing international/global markets.
● to be well aware/gain more understanding of the numerous challenges encountered in
global marketing.
● to be fully prepared and ready to encounter the unavoidable and unforeseen challenges
in global markets.
● to determine and examine the possible causes or forces behind these issues.
● to aid me in developing the ability to be innovative, that is the ability to come with new
ideas and develop marketing strategies to deal with these global marketing issues
effectively and efficiently.
● to makes me aware of the various global market entry strategies and understand when
and how to apply such strategies successfully.
● To help me develop competitive ideas, skills, and strategies needed to survive and be
successful in foreign or global markets.
● To be well equipped with the the skill and knowledge required to get good grades in my
assessments.

The module Global marketing issues is directly related to international marketing strategy, this is
because one has to be aware of the issues or challenges in international/global markets and try
to find out the possible causes of these issues first before determining or developing the
appropriate strategies required to deal with the issue in question.
Therefore in my opinion, global marketing issues and international marketing strategy go
side-by-side as one can not do without the other.