Digital Marketing Strategy for Marks and Spencer

This report discusses the digital marketing strategy used by Marks and Spencer, a British multinational retailer. It covers the overview of the digital marketing process, creation and analysis of the digital marketing campaign, linking digital business with the digital marketing strategy, formulating objectives, and developing an implementation plan. The report also provides insights into the target market and the importance of digital marketing for brand recognition and sales growth.

Marketing strategy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Overview of the digital marketing process.................................................................................1
Creation and analysis of the digital marketing campaign...........................................................2
Link digital business with the digital marketing strategy...........................................................5
Formulate objectives...................................................................................................................5
Development of the implementation plan...................................................................................6
Budgeting....................................................................................................................................6
Measure the campaign.................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing strategies are refers to plan procedures that has to be undertaken for the
accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the marketing campaigns of the
company(Mothersbaugh, Hawkin, and Kleiser, 2019). And digital marketing is described as the one
of the marketing component which is done by using the internet and online based digital
technology such as desktop computers, mobile phones, digital media and platforms so that
greater reach can be achieved with the minimum amount of cost. This report is based on the
MARKS AND SPENCER company which is an British based multinational retailer along with
the headquartered in London, England. It is specialised in selling cloths, home products and food
products that is mostly with the own label. This report is consist of the overview of the digital
marketing process that is used by the company and the creation and analysis of the digital
marketing campaign.
MAIN BODY
Overview of the digital marketing process
In today's scenario there is an revolutionary transformation in the marketing trends.
Companies as well as consumers are shifting towards the digital marketing campaign as because
of the benefits and advantages provided by the digital marketing as compared to the traditional
marketing methods(Perreault, 2018). With the help of this, the marketing team of the M&S
company can target the customers globally and can grab the access to the maximum population
in order to establish the brand in the large market and to stand strong among the competitors.
Process of the digital marketing is consist of the predetermine flow or steps that are explained
below in relation to the M&S company(Chiang, 2018).
 Research: in this stage, all the necessary and essential information is need to be gathered
by the M&S company whether it is related to the product, services and target audience
and market. Which is further used for the decision making.
 Create: here all the information and data is evaluated and strategized to create the
marketing campaign. With the consideration organisational goals and objectives and the
vision of the stakeholders.
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 Promote: once the marketing campaign has been created and strategized, then, marketing
team of the respected company will started the promotional activities for the product and
services(Ibrahim, and Harrison, 2020).
 Analyse : the results are to be analysed in terms of sales and revenues, this help in to
identifying the area that need to be improve for the better outcomes.
 Optimize: At this stage company report to goals and refine the strategies that provides
support in to increase the productivity of outputs.
Creation and analysis of the digital marketing campaign
marks and Spencer is British based multinational retailing company having headquarter in
London, England. This has been dealing in clothing, home products and home foods mostly by
its own label. This is currently having a 959 stores across UK from which 615 sell only food
products. M&S is founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in 1884, it also listed on the
London stock exchange along with this, it is a constitute of the FTSE 250 index. It also provides
online food delivery services by Ocado retail.
Situation analysis
situation analysis is refers to the process of critically evaluation and analysis of the
internal and external conditions or situation which has the direct impact on the performance and
productivity of the company(Tozanlı, Kongar,. and Gupta, 2020). For this, here SWOT analysis
has been used for the analysis of the internal environment and PESTLE analysis for external
environment.
SWOT analysis: This is refers to the strategic planning technique which is used by the company
in order to evaluate the company's strength, weakness, opportunity and threat. That help the
company to understand about what they do well and to address what they are lacking in to
minimize the future uncertainty and risk. Factors of this analysis id discussed below in context to
the M&S company:
STRENGTH WEAKNESS
 Marks and Spencer has been working
in te market from last 136 years along
with this, it is an one of the leading
retailing company in UK.
 As per the report 2019, the sale of the
some stores of the company was
declining as because of the poor supply
chain and non availability of the
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 This company has the good reputation
in the market for providing the quality
of the products and services to its
customers and has the brand
recognition across the world(Scheer,
2019).
products.
 General public has the perception that
company is not offering the cloths for
teenagers and young, and they only
serves for the older people. This has the
impact on the company sales and
profitability
OPPORTUNITY THREAT
 Marks and Spencer has the opportunity
for the global expansion, as it is already
an multinational brand but now
company is need to expand in the more
countries where it can effectively
operate.
 Marks and Spencer has to focus on the
online stores, as in order to increase
the customers base and sales along with
the profitability of the company.
 High competition among the
competitors at the market place is the
threat for the company which can
hamper the productivity and
profitability of the company.

PESTLE analysis: This is refers to the framework which is used as the tool by the company in
order to analysis the external or macro environment in which company operates. And this have
the direct impact on the companies performance and profitability. Company has no control over
these factors, the only option is to adopt the changes for the smooth running of the operations.
Factors of this analysis has been been discussed below in context to the M&S company :
Political factor: This is refers to the rules and decisions made by the government, this includes
political stability, political conditions, labour law and taxation policy etc. in context to the H&M
company(Berman, and Thelen, 2018). UK has the great political stability and condition which is
great aspect as company will not suffer any disturbance in the smooth running of the operations
and on the other side, brexit has the negative impact on the trade of the company.
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Economic factor: This factor is consist of the money, product and services. In which this
includes inflation rate, foreign exchange rate, tax rates, interest rate, consumer disposable income
etc. UK has the strong diverse economy which means they provides the space to the foreigners to
invest and grow which provides the advantage to the company to make the business grow and
other then this, increasing expectation for the high salary has been impacted the companies cost
and profitability(Kingsnorth, 2019).
Social factor: This is refers to the family, friends, colleagues and social groups that has
influenced the living standard, opinion and attitude of an individual which has the direct impact
on the sales and revenue of the company(Bala and Verma, 2018). UK is consist of the big
consumer market where it is influenced by the social classes as population is multi cultured.
Marks and Spencer has the benefit to cater the need for the different social classes that help
the company in to increase its sales. Along with this it becomes harder for the company to
approach and satisfied every segment of the population as UK is the multicultural market so the
company can not understand the need of the such population.
Technological factor: This is refers to the all externally generated changes in the technology and
process which is used by the company in their operations(de Ruyter, Keeling and Ngo,, 2018).
UK is one of the most advanced company in the world, London is the great hub for the financial
as well as technological institutions, this will help the company in adopting the advanced
technological so that quality can be enhanced. But the because of rapidly advancement,
technology becomes obsolete easily and for the implementation of new it requires lot of capital
and time.
legal factor: This is refers to the laws and regulations made by the government and that has the
direct impact on the company performance. UK has the various laws for the employees such as
sick pay, minimum wage, holiday pay, maternity and paternity leaves that protect the rights of
the employees, with the implementation of these laws, company can attract and retain the talent
for the effective performance of the company(Vilkina, and Klimovets, 2019).
Environmental factor: It includes food, water, sound, light, pollutants and natural calamities
which has directly influenced the human being. UK made the various laws for the Company that
use eco-friendly process in their operations. They will get the compensations and subsidy by the
government that provides the relaxation in the cost. Other then this, country has face the
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environmental issues like bad weather that can effect the raw as well as finished goods of the
company(Zaitseva, and. et. al.,2018).
Link digital business with the digital marketing strategy
A digital marketing strategy is refers to the series of the actions that is used through the
online marketing channels in order to accomplish the various goals and objectives of the digital
marketing campaign. M&S company is already working with the online stores but it is when it is
compared with the top online retailing company like amazon, eBay, flipkart. M&S is lacking
behind. As it is important to run a digital business along with the good and adequate marketing
strategy as to effectively implement the action plan to get the higher and positive outcomes.
There is a strong relationship among the digital business and digital marketing strategy. A digital
marketing strategy allow the company to effectively build and launch the digital successfully
which provides the global access and expansion to the company. Along with this company will
able to develop an strong competitivenesses among the competitors at the market place(Umar,
Sasongko, and Aguzman , 2018). for instance, Instagram is on of the biggest digital business
which is also used by the companies for digital marketing practices, this is an American photo
and video sharing social networking service which is owned by the Facebook.
Formulate objectives
Objectives are specific and are refers to the actionable targets that is need to be achieved
within the smaller and specific given period of time. It is described as the activities which need
to perform for achieving the pre determined goals. There are various objectives that is need to be
achieved by M&S company with the help of digital marketing campaign. First and the major
objective that is need to achieved is the increase in sales so that revenue of the company can be
enhanced. This can be achieved by using by various online platforms such as Facebook,
Instagram along with content and email marketing so that customers get influenced and make
purchase. Other then this with this company need to make the brand more popular and famous in
order to get the global recognition that have the direct impact on the sales of the company which
is the main driving force behind the company's profitability. As digital marketing help in to get
higher reach to the people that will spend money and time. In addition to this, with the help of
digital marketing, company's objective is to increase the consumers base which need to be
achieved with the specific period of time(Su, Lu,. and Lin, 2018). Moreover this provide the
support to the company to get upgraded, as in the era of technology, consumers are also attracted
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with the company which is upgraded and use the latest technological process in their operations.
Along with this , the main objective is to get the business expand more and more as this provides
the success and growth to the company.
Development of the implementation plan
Implementation refer to the execution of the plan into the actual action or practices. After
the making the objective that being achieved by the M&S company with the help of digital
marketing campaign. Digital marketing has been done through the various online platforms and
websites that are refers to the online marketing channels used to promote the companies product
and services(Chaffey, and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). Marks & spencer will make the use of the
websites, which is refers to the collection of the webpages and the related content used to
promote the product and that is identified by the common domain name and get published on at
least one server. Here company can provides the various information about the company,
history , products and services so that it get promoted. Along with this company will also
implement it plan on the social media platforms such Instagram, twitter, Facebook and email's ,
so that high reach can be grab by the company. Social media is the most used platform by the all
age and gender group of people, so this will help the company in successfully implementation of
the digital marketing campaign.
Target market
Target market refers to the group of potential individuals and customers to whom an organisation
wants to sell their products and services. This group undertake the significance customer to
whom company can directly exchange their marketing efforts which is the major part of market
to offer their products and services. Some of the factors are discussed below: Segmentation: Marks and Spencer tends to undertake several regions in its segmentation
process by considering the geographic area which include several regions and climate
condition, demographics that include age, gender, income, family size and psycho-
graphic that undertake lifestyle and social status of individuals. It is useful for the brand
and developing their image by effectively defining their particular products for the
specific customer group. In terms of Marks and Spencer, it leads to undertake specific
target market and also tends to opt particular strategy in order to develop their new
product that helps in achieving competitive advantage and effective market area.
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 Targeting: The suitable target of Marks and Spencer to offer their products and services
to their potential customers with the help of various advertisement and promotional
strategies that helps in achieving large area for the growth and success of company.
Furthermore, the company also leads to target audience of the age groups, men, women
and kids by undertaking the primary market research as by this people of all the age
group tend to attract easily. For this, organisations also use undifferentiated and mass
marketing strategies in order to boost their sales and gain competitive advantage for
them.
 Positioning: Marks and Spender is presently using several strategies in order to attract
their audience. For this, company use competitive positioning strategy against its rivals
in order to offer good quality of fabric and designs within the market area. As by this,
company mainly put emphasis on developing positive image of company in front of their
customers by this they focus on improving the quality rather than lowering their prices.
Measure the campaign
Marketing is one of the one of the biggest and important expenditure that a company any
company make, so that it can processed it business to get the growth at the market place. And if
the company is not doing the right things to add the value to the customer’s base, then the
company will not grow in terms of size and revenue. This is why effective marketing campaign
is critical for the success of the company. For this evaluation and control is important by which
company will came to know about the areas that need to be improved so that better outcomes can
be achieved. In relation to marks and Spencer, there marketing campaign has been focusing on
garbing the higher customers base so that sales and revenue can be increased. For this company
is using social media platforms along the online shopping website which is specific of the
company. In which customers get all the information regarding company and its product and can
also get the discounts and vouchers. In addition to this, company will get the higher access across
the globe through which sales get enhanced in a effective manner. M&S has been measuring
their campaign by the evaluating the actual performance with standard benchmark. Other then
this, company will measure its campaign through checking customers review regarding products
and online website. In which they check, is customers are satisfied with their online processes or
not and did changes according to them as to fulfil the customers expectation.
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In addition to this, M&S company will going evaluate its return on investment for the online
marketing campaign and will take the actions as per the chances. So that better outcomes can be
achieved in next valuation of investment. Furthermore, the marketing campaign will focus on the
principle of reputation management over digital landscape. The organization plans on using their
monitoring skills to actively collect data and establish a free flow of communication between the
organisation and their customers. The organization plans on using the principle of empathy in
order to put themselves into their customers shoes and respond to their online reviews
accordingly. In according to the marketing plan of the associated organization, the plan revolves
around making sure that the customers reviews are being prioritized. If as customer posts a bad
review about the organization, they assure them that such type of experience will not take place
in near future. In addition to that, if a customer posts a good review they assure that their
experience will only enhance with future interactions with the organization.
CONCLUSION
As per the above analysis it has been concluded that marketing refers to the combination of
the all activities that is used by the company in order to promote its goods and services. And
digital marketing is one of the component of marketing which is done with the use of online
based digital technology that help the company to access the larger market area. Along with this
companies conduct the digital marketing campaign in which internal and external situation has to
be analysed for the further process of the campaign in order to achieve the maximum profit and
positive outcomes which provides the success and growth to the company.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Berman, B. and Thelen, S., 2018. Planning and implementing an effective omnichannel
marketing program. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2019. Digital marketing. Pearson UK.
Chiang, W.Y., 2018. Applying data mining for online CRM marketing strategy. British Food
Journal.
de Ruyter, K., Keeling, D.I. and Ngo, L.V., 2018. When nothing is what it seems: A digital
marketing research agenda.Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ),26(3), pp.199-203.
Ibrahim, E.B. and Harrison, T., 2020. The impact of internal, external, and competitor factors on
marketing strategy performance. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 28(7), pp.639-658.
Kingsnorth, S., 2019.Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online marketing.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Mekonnen, A., 2018. Digital marketing strategy for affinity marketing: Utilising the new
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