Digital Marketing Strategy Development

This assignment requires students to develop a digital marketing strategy for retailers, utilizing a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strategy should incorporate an effective omnichannel marketing program, leveraging digital technologies such as mobile technologies, big data analytics, and e-commerce platforms. Students are expected to analyze the effectiveness of different digital marketing strategies, including pop-up outlets, digital commerce, and analytics, in engaging consumers and driving sales. A review of relevant literature and case studies is also required to inform the development of the digital marketing strategy.

DIGITAL
MARKETING PLAN
FOR GOOGLE
MERCHANDISE
STORE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Company Overview................................................................................................................1
Situational Analysis................................................................................................................1
PLAN....................................................................................................................................10
Internal analysis....................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Digital Marketing refers to all those marketing efforts that effectively use various digital
channels to attract, retain and connect with organisations' current and potential customers. In
such internet-driven business environment, it is essential that companies develop effective digital
plan which satisfies their marketing objectives (Parvatiyar, Donth and Gruen, 2018). The
following report is based on Google Merchandise, which is an E-commerce website that deals in
Google-branded products and merchandises. It covers Digital Marketing Analysis and
implementation of a practical digital marketing plan. It also includes effective critical analysation
and justification of the aspects chosen to develop and effective digital marketing plan for Google
Merchandise Store.
TASK 1
Company Overview
Google LLC, is a world-renowned American Multinational Technology Company which
specialises in various internet products and services, like search engine, online advertising
technologies and cloud computing. The company gained the first spot in the BrandZ Top 100
Most Valuable Global Brands with a brand value higher than $245 Billion. The firm is currently
working towards strengthening its customer base and has announced various new projects like
Longevity, Google Genomics, The Liftware Spoon, etc.
Google Merchandise Store is official store of Google that contains merchandises that are
produced by the company. The company is currently looking for new and effective ways of
marketing this website to make customers aware about their merchandises and connect with
them appropriately (Perry, Kent and Bonetti, 2019). For this, a Digital Media Marketing Plan is
being developed for the company to achieve this agenda and to effectively develop integrated
marketing communication strategy for the company.
Situational Analysis
Internal Analysis:
This refers to the internal capabilities of the company that could help the firm to identify
its core strengths and weakness. The biggest core strength of the firm is that the companies have
effective sources both tangible and intangible. The company has effective digital channels to
communicate with their customers. In addition, firm has modern facilities, effective equipment’s,
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access to latest technologies and so forth. Another strength of this company has is its widespread
reputation and effective customer base which helps the firm to ensure a high customer response
from their digital marketing plan.
However, despite so many capabilities, the firm lags behind to cope with the future
technological requirements of the world. The resources, though effective are limited and would
be soon obsolete. Moreover, the firm is dependant more on advertisements which made the firm
receive a big drop in their revenues from ads.
External Analysis:
Macro environment:
This refers to the general environment which induces external pressure on the company's
operations. These factors could be well described by performing PESTLE analysis which are
external environment factors that could effectively provide opportunities and threats available for
the firm in the outside market. The PESTEL analysis is as follows :-
Political - Google Merchandise Store is an online outlet that provides merchandises to various
parts of the world (Sampaio and et.al., 2017). From data analysed it is clearly observed that
company is operating in many continents.
 Opportunities - The biggest opportunity for Google Merchandise Store is it can expand
their business in developing nations such as India.
 Threats- One of the threats that would have maximum effect on Google Merchandise
Store is there are many other companies like Amazon due to which website traffic can
decline.
Economical - This factor requires the firm to look into the economic factors that could have an
impact on the company. The website traffic states that most of people of UK visiting website
looks for low price products available.
 Opportunities- Post-Brexit, the country has enhanced rate of unemployment levels that
leaves the company with effective talent and skills. The company can focus on teenagers
of age group 18-24.
 Threats- With reduction in the value of Pounds, the standard of living of people living in
the country has substantially declined (Bonetti and Perry, 2017). Another threat for the
company is to effectively us the increase in the shipping cost because of tariffs and VAT
would reflect the price of its products.
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Social - UK has a big consumer market. Most people who visit website belongs to age of 25-34.
 Opportunities- People within the country favour online shopping these days. This is the
biggest opportunity for Google Merchandise store to exhibit its product online. There lies
an opportunity
 Threats- The biggest threat faced by the company is that any change in market trend can
result in decline in website traffic.
Environmental - The rise in global warming may enforce company to engage in CSR activities.
 Opportunities By contributing more towards society, company can generate brand
awareness.
 Threats - Increase in CSR activities can decrease profits and reserves
Legal- In recent times there has been issues prevailing of Brexit. Due to this company is not able
to gain more customers.
 Opportunities - There are vast opportunity for company to expand in other European
country (Laakso, 2017).
 Threats - If Brexit occurs it will highly impact on company sales and profits.
Technological - Considered to be one of the most technologically advanced countries of the
world. The session time of each webpage is quite low (Shaikh, Hada and Shrestha, 2018). There
is slow growth of new users in accessing website.
 Opportunities- The internet systems and effective technology could allow the firm to
gain an advantage over other companies in the market.
 Threats With rise in access to technology, there are also various online crimes that could
be a threat for the firm such as online infringements, cyber hacking, etc.
Micro Environment:
Market Trends:
For effective Digital Market Analysis, it is imperative for companies to analyse the
market trend. Online shopping has been a quite widespread phenomena where shopping is
concerned and worldwide, it has witnessed a growth in recent years. Within the UK market, this
trend is quite widespread and the country has witnessed a substantial rise in its online sales.
Following is the data of E-Commerce sales represented as a percentage of overall retail sales in
recent years.
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By analysing data, it can be stated that company website traffic has increased. There is
high rise in organic and direct search. Almost half of website access is due to organic search.
Then, number of people who are accessing website is through direct manner. Moreover, from
above figure it can be observed that there is very low level of access through social media, E
mails and referrals. Thus, people are not aware about company online existence.
From the above figure, it can be analysed that in marketing there has been high rise in
website traffic from social media. There are many other social sites through which marketing is
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done. Here, 71% traffic is generating from you tube. Thus, people are aware about company
online existence through You Tube. There has been high rise in percentage of website traffic
from social media platform (Lekhwar, Yadav and Singh, 2019). Hence, social sites are
performing a vital role in increasing traffic.
With rising figures of online shopping trends, it is quite an opportunity for Google
Merchandise Store to develop and feature effective products online and introduce new product
lines to make it a one-stop shop for its customers.
Organic keywords
In market trend, website traffic is now increased due to organic search. By data analysis,
it can be evaluated that company traffic is high due to organic search as compared with paid. But
in recent time, there is high decline in traffic both in organic and paid search.
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In organic keyword the most useful word used is You Tube merchandise from which
13% traffic is generated. Then, 11% from Google store. Thus, it can be stated that You Tube has
been major source of traffic generation of company in UK.
Buyer Personality
Customers are an integral part of a firm's existence and for Google Merchandise
Store, these customers are an effective aspect to be considered for its Digital Marketing
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Strategy. To achieve this, the firm is required to dig in to Buyers' Persona in order to
understand their customers and communicate with them. Following is the buyers' persona
for Digital Marketing Plan for Google Merchandise Store.
Sample Personas for Google Merchandise Store
Photography Ted Manson (18). Occupation: Student. Wants: A smartphone with
abundant storage space and a superior camera quality more than 12
megapixel.
Holiday Stephanie Hunt (23). Occupation: Model. Wants: Sweatshirts for a trip to
New York.
Special Occasion Charles Bundy (58). Occupation: Businessman. Wants: A laptop bag-
pack for his son's 16th birthday.
Business Max Reeves (32). Occupation: Businessman. Wants: A new notebook
for taking office notes.
Online customer journey –
Scenario 1 – If Customer A wants to buy a product. Here, communication objective is
generating awareness about online existence of website. The digital marketing response will be
displayed on different social media sites.
Scenario 2- Customer B is a UK citizen and wants to buy product online. The communication
objective is to assist in facilitating website. Digital marketing response is that site will display its
location.
Scenario 3- Customer C wants to search a specific product. Communication objective is to
Support in purchase decision. Now, Digital marketing response is a search box is inserted at top
of front page which will help in increasing session time.
Scenario 4- Customer D wants to check product availability. Objective will be same as above.
The response can be observed by implementing CRO in webpage to ease customer in gaining
information.
Scenario 5- Customer E wants to purchase product. The objective is to provide ease in
transaction. Response can be evlauted by securing transaction by directing it on payment page.
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From analytics website traffic, it can be identified that there are certain customer
experience models used in analysing their behaviour and time spend on each webpage. They are
as follows :-
Undirected information seekers- It refers to people who are unaware of company existence
online. These people can be captured by doing effective marketing.
Directed information seekers- They are people who have only visited website once or twice for
a particular purpose (Pinto and et.al., 2017). They can be converted by providing them brief
content about products and services.
Directed buyers – These people can be easily converted just by sending them e mail, text
message, etc.
Therefore, a CRM can be maintained to retain customers. Through this, website traffic
can also be increased by providing them customer support services. In this there will be scope of
converting customers by increasing session time.
Competitors
In this porter five force model is used which is useful in analysing competitors market.
Competitive rivalry- There is high level of competition within UK.
Buyer power - It refers to buyer’s power which can drive prices of products. Company is having
small customer base in UK. So, it is very difficult to drive price.
Supplier power- The power which can enforce supplier to drive prices. Company offers goods
via suppliers that can easily increase or decrease prices of various products.
Threat of substitutes – There are many substitutes available from which people can buy their
products online. It may appear in keywords searched by people.
Threat of new entrants- New companies can enter in UK and offer to people via online. It will
result in rise in competition in the market (Bolos and et.al., 2016).
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PLAN
Internal analysis
It is evaluated that digital marketing strategy implemented within company consists of
resources like IT support, marketing, etc. For this an effective strategy is developed.
SWOT analysis
Here, a SWOT analysis is done which will help in developing strategy. It will give an
insight about what goals or objectives should be set. The analysis is discussed below :-
Strengths –
 A strong brand awareness in US and UK.
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 24 hours’ customer support.
Weakness
 Only limited number of products available.
 Not enough awareness within people.
 High cost of products.
Opportunities
 Vast opportunity to expand in emerging economies.
 Rising website traffic through social sites like Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Threats
 Change in customer taste and preference.
 Number of new entrants in market.
Objectives
By conducting SWOT analysis, SMART objectives can be developed. It will help in
ensuring that brand awareness in increased via digital marketing. Moreover, due to occurring of
any situation, the objective can be modified (Alexander, Nobbs and Varley, 2018). The main
purpose of developing SMART objective is it is realistic and measurable. Also, it will be easy in
developing budget and analysing results with help of data analytics. The objective set for
company are as follows :-
 To increase website traffic through social sites by 20%
 To rise traffic via direct sources by 10%.
 To increase the number of membership by 200000.
The substantiation of each objective is defined below:-
Objective 1- Increase website traffic through social sites by 20%. It can be attained by
integrating PPC in social sites. Also, by comparing data of different social platforms.
Objective 2- Rise traffic via direct sources by 10%. This can be done by generating awareness
within people on social platforms.
Objective 3- Increase the number of memberships by 200000. It can be attained by following an
attacking strategy and giving initial discounts.
Strategy
Below is the strategy described which will be followed in order to attain objectives :-
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For objective 1 strategy followed I implementing PPC into social media to generate awareness.
For this KPI used is measuring website traffic through each social site within 3 months.
For objective 2 strategy can be followed is starting social media campaign. In this KPI used is
analysing data by Google analytics.
For third objective the strategy of targeting people of age group 18-24 can be implemented. KPI
used is measuring number of people who have taken membership.
Developing a persona will give an insight about the target audience. It will assist in
differentiating people and gaining new customers.
There are two example that is discussed below:-
1. Alex who is 25 and living in UK. He browses different social sites. Sometimes, he visits
website but never buy anything. His motivation is he wants an attractive site which can
be accessed easily. Now, the brand perception can be created via brand awareness. Also,
E mail marketing can be use to target this type of people.
2. Another is Smith who is 28 lives in London and working in a company. He analyses
different online site but is not able to get enough information about products. Also, he
does not get enough time for shopping. The motivation is He is not getting time for
shopping. So, he requires an easy to use online shopping website where all information is
easily available. The brand perception is he does not get membership of company. Thus,
he can be targeted via native or E mail marketing.
Tactics
In this 7 P’s of marketing can be followed which will help in implementing strategy
(What are the 7P’s of Marketing. 2018).
Product – The products offered by company is limited. It includes accessories, apparels, etc. for
both men and women.
Price- Company should reduce price of products in order to attract more customers. It will be
useful in converting middle class people of age 20-24.
Place- There is no physical existence of company and its overall operations are performed online
throughout the world (Fulgoni, 2018).
Promotion- Company mostly use You Tube to promote its products and services. Also, there are
various online channels as well for promotion.
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People – It includes IT and customer support staff that provide different online services to
customers.
Process- There is a systematic process followed from registration to delivery of products to
customers. It is done via official website.
Partnership - Company is not having any partnership with other business. Thus by collaborating
with Netflix it can promote its products and increase website traffic.
The tactic used for each advertising campaign is :-
 For social media marketing the Google merchandise store can use platforms like
Facebook, Instagram, etc. to market its products. It will support in meeting objective of
generating traffic.
 The E mail marketing can be used in retaining customers through partnership. The
members can be provided benefits by sending E mails.
 Native advertising- It can be used by merging with other popular e commerce sites in
UK.
A Gantt chart is developed which shows in that within 1 year overall objectives will be
attained by company. The task included in it are as follows :-
Task 1 Situational analysis
Task 2 Conducting risk assessment
Task 3 Creating content of digital marketing
Task 4 Scheduling monthly reports to track traffic
Task 5 Implementing SMM strategy
Task 6 Tracking traffic via direct source
Task 7 Implementing e mail marketing
Task 8 Comparing number of membership in each month
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Action
It is necessary to take some action in order to execute tactics that is been defined above
within digital marketing strategy.
Tactic Action Skills Owned by
Social media
marketing
Designing attractive pages
on Instagram, Facebook, etc.
IT, programming
skills.
IT
Creating blog posts on
Twitter.
Content writing Editorial
Native marketing Determining popular e
commerce sites
Marketing Marketing
Creating content by targeting
audience
Content writing Editorial
E mail advertising Identifying members who
have taken membership
Customer
relationship
Customer support
Segregating customers on
basis of their persona
Marketing Marketing and
customer support
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Control
For every marketing strategy there are several control measures which are been taken.
This is done to ensure that activities identified in plan meet the objectives (Berman and Thelen,
2018). The action taken for each objective is :-
 To increase website traffic through social sites by 20%- by comparing traffic data.
 To rise traffic via direct sources by 10%. – Viewing website traffic by direct sources
 To increase the number of membership by 200000.- number of membership taken.
Moreover, in this risk assessment is done to mitigate failure. The risk assessment table is
described as :-
Risk Probability [1-
low – 5 high]
Impact [1- low –
5 high]
Assessment Management
Decrease in
session rate
3 3 3*3=9 Updating website
by implementing
advance
technology
Failure of
transactions
4 3 4*3=12 Maintaining
security of data
and information
during
transaction.
Direct traffic
fails to meet
objective
2 2 2*2=4 By monitoring
campaign and
referrals.
Decline in
conversion rate
3 2 3*2=6 The overall
process of
customer journey
can be
monitored.
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It can be stated from above risk assessment plan that implementation of digital marketing
strategy contains high risk. Therefore, by updating website it will result in increasing traffic and
converting more customers. In addition to it, maintaining of CRM will help in rising people of
age group 18-24. Through this, objectives will be met.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that both macro and micro analysis was useful in determining weakness
of website and providing relevant data and information. Also, the objectives outlined defines to
increase website traffic from other social sites. Besides this, by targeting people of age group 18-
24 traffic can be increased. The SWOT analysis was done which supported in developing digital
marketing strategy.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Alexander, B., Nobbs, K. and Varley, R., 2018. The growing permanence of pop-up outlets
within the international location strategies of fashion retailers. International Journal of
Retail & Distribution Management. 46(5). pp.487-506.
Berman, B. and Thelen, S., 2018. Planning and implementing an effective omnichannel
marketing program. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 46(7),
pp.598-614.
Bolos, C. and et.al., 2016. Conceptual models on the effectiveness of e-marketing strategies in
engaging consumers. Journal of International Technology and Information
Management. 25(4). p.3.
Bonetti, F. and Perry, P., 2017. A Review of Consumer-Facing Digital Technologies Across
Different Types of Fashion Store Formats. In Advanced Fashion Technology and
Operations Management (pp. 137-163). IGI Global.
Fulgoni, G.M., 2018. Will Digital Commerce and Analytics Be the Death of Traditional
Brands?. Journal of Advertising Research. 58(2). pp.146-150.
Laakso, J., 2017. DIGITAL MARKETING DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Analysis of current
marketing of Kokkotyö Foundation and suggested improvements.
Lekhwar, S., Yadav, S. and Singh, A., 2019. Big Data Analytics in Retail. In Information and
Communication Technology for Intelligent Systems (pp. 469-477). Springer, Singapore.
Parvatiyar, A., Donthu, N. and Gruen, T.W., 2018. Value of Outsourcing Sales and Marketing by
CPG Companies in the Age of Retail Disruptions. Handbook of Advances in Marketing in
an Era of Disruptions: Essays in Honour of Jagdish N. Sheth, p.256.
Perry, P., Kent, A. and Bonetti, F., 2019. The use of mobile technologies in physical stores: The
case of fashion retailing. In Exploring Omnichannel Retailing (pp. 169-195). Springer,
Cham.
Pinto, G.L. and et.al., 2017. Innovation strategies in retail services: solutions, experiences and
meanings. European Journal of Innovation Management. 20(2). pp. 190-209.
Sampaio, J.P. and et.al., 2017. New Technologies Applied to the Fashion Visual
Merchandising. Modern Economy, 8(03), p.412.
Shaikh, N.I., Hada, M. and Shrestha, N., 2018. Allocating Spending On Digital-Video
Advertising: A Longitudinal Analysis Across Digital and Television. Journal of
Advertising Research, pp.JAR-2018.
Online
What are the 7P’s of Marketing. 2018. [online] Available through : < https://medium.com/the-
startup-growth/what-are-the-7ps-of-marketing-ad2572f7eb16>
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