Devising a Digital Marketing Strategy (Distinction Criteria)

This report discusses the importance of digital marketing in the tourism industry, benefits, tools, and a comparative analysis of two SMEs. It covers content marketing, SEM/SEO, SMM, mobile marketing, email marketing, company website, apps, and other DM tools. The report also compares traditional marketing with digital marketing. Subject: Digital Marketing, Course Code: DM101, College/University: Desklib

DIGITAL
MARKETING
STRATEGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................4
What is DM? Definition and other related concepts..................................................................4
2. Why DM is important (Benefits of DM)................................................................................5
3. DM vs Traditional Marketing (Broadcast and Print media)..................................................6
4. DM Tools...............................................................................................................................8
4.1 Content Marketing With figure........................................................................................8
4.1.1 Paid (e.g. paid search engine marketing)......................................................................8
4.1.2 Earned (e.g. influencer, product review site)................................................................8
4.1.3 Owned (e.g. Company website, App)...........................................................................9
4.2 SEM/SEO.............................................................................................................................9
4.3 SMM....................................................................................................................................9
4.4 Mobile..................................................................................................................................9
4.5 E-mail.................................................................................................................................10
4.6 Company website...............................................................................................................10
4.7 Apps...................................................................................................................................10
4.8 Other DM tools..................................................................................................................10
4.8.1 QR codes.....................................................................................................................10
4.8.2 VR/AR.........................................................................................................................11
4.8.3 Newsletter (CRM).......................................................................................................11
4.8.4 Big Data......................................................................................................................11
5. Comparative analysis of 2 Tourism SMEs...........................................................................11
DM Tool...............................................................................................................................11
Company website.................................................................................................................12
SEO/SEM.............................................................................................................................12
App.......................................................................................................................................13
E-mail...................................................................................................................................13

Other tools............................................................................................................................14
SMM....................................................................................................................................14
Other DM tools....................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.....................................................................15
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Digital marketing is the component of marketing which uses internet and online based
digital technology. Digital marketing is the means of performing consistent actions at right
time with the help of right online channel that can increase the revenue of business and
improve relationship with customers.
Top deck travel is tourism operator which offers different types of tours in 65 countries
two people between the age of 18 to 39. The company was started back in 1973 and offers
tune two different cities like Europe, North America, Africa, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand,
Asia and Middle East (
About Us). The company offers more real and flexible tour packages
which has been more customer centric.
Expat Explore Travel is a travel and tourism company which was started by Carl Cronje
and Jakes in the year 2004. The company offers 50 tour packages to various destinations
across Europe, UK, USA, Asia, Canada, Middle East and South America (
About Us). The
travel and tourism company has strengthened its position in the marketplace with their
affordable and hassle-free packages.
This report will define the digital marketing practices in tourism and hospitality industry
and the marketing functions which will be performed by the functions. The study will outline
marketing strategies and their practices with the help of comparative analysis. The project
will define the required information in comparison method which will be helpful in gaining
insight of functions and operations performed by different companies.
What is DM? Definition and other related concepts
Digital marketing is the term which refers to the advertisement that is performed through
digital channels such as search engines, websites, social media, email and mobile applications
(Kingsnorth, 2019). Digital marketing landscape is the use of digital technologies such as
mobile phones, internet, social media and email. The 3 C of marketing is the framework
which is used to evaluate different factors, which are- company, customers and competitors.
Digital marketing is the use of the Internet to communicate with consumers (
Digital
marketing, 2021). Email marketing, content marketing, search platforms, social media, and
other activities are all included in digital marketing.

2. Why DM is important (Benefits of DM)
Importance of digital marketing in travel and hospitality industry
Digital marketing plays a significant role in travel and tourism industry, the role of
digital marketing in travel and tourism industry is explained below:
 For sharing/ transferring information at click button via pay-per-click.
 Digital marketing is the medium through which new and efficient marketing channels
can be used to promote the services which are offered by the company.
 Digital marketing has changed the pace of tourism and hospitality industry and
tourism marketing has been a source for boosting the market (
Role of DM, 2019). The
companies operating in tourism and hospitality industry now uses social media
channels to reach the audience at greater level which can foster significant growth for
the companies operating in the industry.
Benefits of digital marketing in travel and hospitality industry
Digital marketing in tourism and hospitality industry can bring various advantages to
companies in operating in the industry. Some of the advantages of digital marketing are listed
below:
 Promotes destination- digital marketing is the medium which helps tourism and
hospitality companies to promote destinations which can be helpful in supporting
local communities and support in economic development. Digital marketing is the
trend which helps in promoting a selected travel destination (
Digital Marketing- The
benefits, 2019). The companies use content marketing, social media marketing and
other approaches through which they can promote the destination by positing creative
and attractive image, videos and draft attention gathering email for promotions.
 Supports in connecting with greater number of customers- Internet marketing is the
medium which helps in connecting with greater of customers geographically
(
Advantages of DM for small business, 2019). Digital marketing help business to
promote their marketing campaigns via different channels through which they can
connect with customers and attract them towards brand which can bring opportunity
of business growth and profitability.
TOPDECK EXPAT EXPLORE TRAVEL

In context of Topdeck, the
tour operator can gain various
benefits by incorporating the
digital marketing strategies,
some of these benefits helps
the tour company to generate
and convert leads (Castro,
Silva and Duarte, 2017).
In case of Expat Explore
Travel, the travel company
can gain various opportunities
due to digital marketing
which can help in getting
higher ROI and with provide
an opportunity where the
company can connect with
customers at larger
geographical area.
3. DM vs Traditional Marketing (Broadcast and Print media)
BASIS TRADITIONAL
MARKETING
DIGITAL MARKETING
Concept Traditional marketing is a
medium of promotion that
reaches an audience offline.
Traditional marketing
involves tangible items like
print ads, magazines,
newspapers, business cards
and many others.
Digital marketing is the term
which involves internet and
online marketing. The
primary objective of digital
marketing is to use different
platforms which can be
helpful in generating leads,
creating brand awareness by
promoting the products and
services.
Platforms used The mediums and platforms
which are used for
traditional marketing are-
broadcasting and print
media (Bala and Verma,
2018). Print media
marketing is the form of
advertisement where a
Digital marketing is
performed through the
mediums which are TV ads,
digital billboards, radio,
SMS, SEO, pay-per-click,
social media marketing,
content marketing, email
marketing and other

company can reach to
greater number of customers
by printing the ads in hard
copies through different
types of publications such as
newspapers, mails,
brochures and magazines
(Chester and Montgomery,
2017). Broadcast marketing
is a form of advertisement of
services through its products
are promoted with the help
of broadcasting through
television or radio which
will be helpful in attracting
viewers’ attention and
generating higher leads.
mediums.
TOPDECK EXPAT EXPLORE TRAVEL
In context of Topdeck, the
travel company uses digital
marketing which helps them
in personalising their
website content and services
and post their content
through social media
platforms which helps them
in generating leads and
creating an online presence
through which they can
attract customer retention in
generate higher revenues.
The company also promote
In context of Expat Explore
Travel, digital marketing
helps the travel agency to stay
on the top of search engine
results by increasing their
brand reputation with the help
of digital marketing tools
such as SEO (Hanlon, 2019).
This company use traditional
marketing in the form of
billboards and other mediums
through which they can
convert their leads and earn
higher profits.

through traditional methods
of marketing such as
newspaper, Tv ads through
which they can get customer
attention.
4. DM Tools
Digital marketing is also known as online marketing where various tools and
techniques are used to promote the brands which will be helpful in connecting with potential
customers. There are various digital marketing tools, some of these tools and techniques are
explained below:
4.1 Content Marketing With figure
Content marketing is the type of digital marketing strategy where information is
shared through content (Deiss and Henneberry, 2020). Content marketing can help companies
operating in travel tourism and hospitality industry to build a sustainable relationship with
their customers which can potentially need to incline in sales.
4.1.1 Paid (e.g. paid search engine marketing)
Paid media is the approach of positive publicity which can be gained through paid
advertisement. Paid marketing can be done through paper click, re marketing, display abs,
retargeting, paid social, paid influencers and native ads. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is also known
as paid advertisement which promotes search engine results. Similarly, PPC is also one of the
types of digital marketing approach which is used by business in order to increase their
search engine traffic for business to operate online.
4.1.2 Earned (e.g. influencer, product review site)
Earned media is positive publicity which can be earned through channels where
distribution is not done by the company itself and is performed with the help of others tools
and companies. Earned media is the coverage of brand through organic means which is the
most effective and hardest form of content marketing (Girchenko and Ovsiannikova, 2016).
This type of content marketing involves media coverage, social shares, influencers, reviews,
guest post and mentions.

4.1.3 Owned (e.g. Company website, App)
Owned media involves distribution and promotion channels which are controlled by
the organization, these media channels are- web page, Facebook, landing pages, Twitter
account and blogs. An organization can promote their products and services by making use of
owned media through blog posting, tweets, infographics, photos and videos on YouTube and
other mediums (Giunta, 2020). This type of content marketing involves companies’ website,
blog, social pages, emails and profiles.
4.2 SEM/SEO
Search engine marketing is the digital marketing strategy which is followed by
business to increase the visibility of a website and search engine results page. This type of
marketing ensures relevant results returned for each surge including location and other
available information. SEO is digital marketing and advertising activity which provides
reliable and effective strategy through which an organization can earn website traffic,
generate leads and earn higher revenues. In comparison to SEM, SEO is more effective
marketing technique.
4.3 SMM
Social media marketing is the use of social networks and media platforms in order to
promote products and services offered by an organization. This form of marketing new offers
opportunity to organisation through words they can engage with existing customers and
attract new customers while promoting their culture, mission and objectives (Ištvanić, Crnjac
Milić and Krpić, 2017). This form of marketing makes you social platforms such as-
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other media platforms which is used to connect
with the audience what the objective of creating brand awareness, increasing sales and
revenue of business, maximising profitability and driving higher website traffic.
4.4 Mobile
Mobile marketing is the process of advertising where products and services are
promoted via mobile devices, such as smart phones on tablets. It is the use of multi-channel
online marketing technique which is mobile marketing through which they can reach a
specific audience by connecting with them through there smart phones and other related
devices. A company can share information and offers through SMS, MMS, email or other
mobile applications.

4.5 E-mail
Email marketing is the marketing strategy where commercial message is shared to the
group of people with the help of emails. This form of digital marketing involves email to
share advertisement, request business to promote products to increase sales (Miklosik and
et.al, 2019). Email marketing is the type of marketing which increases the awareness of
customers through emails where an organization you share information related to new
products, discounts, offers and other services. Therefore, email marketing is the process of
sending commercial emails to a list of contacts who have given their express permission to
receive email communication from an organization.
4.6 Company website
Website marketing is strategic promotion of website to drive relevant traffic to
website. The purpose of website marketing is to attract people and audience who is interested
in the product range and services of an organization. Website marketing operates with the
objective of getting higher rank in search engine result pages by making use of effective
search engine optimization tactics, social media engagement, content marketing and other
digital and traditional marketing approaches.
4.7 Apps
Application marketing refers to marketing of an application which can be used on
different mobile devices. App marketing focuses on attracting greater number of users
through which they can generate higher revenues run maximise business profitability
(Muhammedrisaevna, Bakhriddinovna and Rasulovna, 2021). Mobile app marketing is the
marketing strategy how tool which is used to interact with users through entire life cycle
which starts from brand awareness among customers and leads to customer loyalty.
4.8 Other DM tools
4.8.1 QR codes
QR codes can provide instantaneous access to supplementary information about a
product or service, which is supplied to the user's smartphone. In essence, QR codes promote
mobile phone connectivity and engagement. This type of marketing strategy enables

businesses to communicate with their customers. QR codes may be added to profiles,
marketing sites, and businesses to promote the page.
4.8.2 VR/AR
Virtual reality marketing may help businesses bridge the gap between experience and
action. Virtual reality (VR) is a digital experience that may be used to promote products and
services instead of a physical one. You may use virtual reality to show progress and market
existing products. Virtual reality marketing is a type of marketing that makes use of virtual
reality technology to help businesses reach out to potential clients (Oklander and et.al, 2018).
Businesses may showcase their products in a digital environment that closely mimics the real
world using virtual reality. Augmented reality (AR) is a developing trend in marketing and
sales that allows companies to give new experiences to customers while still allowing them to
use their mobile devices. Marketers are experimenting with augmented reality and virtual
reality all around the world. By giving customers with an engaging experience, these
technologies help to increase brand visibility and income.
4.8.3 Newsletter (CRM)
Newsletter marketing is the practise of sending instructional and product-focused
material to a list of potential and existing consumers via an emailed letter. Customer
relationship management (CRM) is a software package that helps you to keep track of all of
your company's contacts and interactions with customers and potential customers. The goal
of CRM is to develop commercial relationships in order to expand your business. A customer
relationship management system (CRM) aids businesses in staying in touch with customers,
streamlining procedures, and increasing profits.
4.8.4 Big Data
Big data in marketing is demonstrating content which is most successful at each point
of the sales cycle, as well as how to optimise CRM system and strategy investments to
increase conversion rates, prospect engagement, conversion rates, revenue, and customer
lifetime value (Peter and Dalla Vecchia, 2021). Big data marketing is a sort of
micromarketing that evaluates consumers' purchasing history, tastes, and information in order
to deliver customized advantages to those who are most likely to buy the products.

5. Comparative analysis of 2 Tourism SMEs
DM Tool
SME 1- Topdeck
SME 2- Expat Explore Travel
Company website
DM Tool Concept Topdeck Expat Explore
Travel
Company
website
Website marketing
is the tool which is
used to promote
website of an
organization
through which the
company can
attract higher
traffic.
In context of top
deck, the
company user
website to market
the products and
services where
the company has
customised the
page to get higher
ratings on search
engine queries
(Piñeiro-Otero
and Martínez-
Rolán, 2016).
In context of expat
explore travel, with
the help of website
marketing in the
company utilize
search engine
optimization, create
blog post which
involves watermark
of the company
through which they
can maintain reliable
website which will
be helpful in
attracting customers.
SEO/SEM
DM Tool Concept Topdeck Expat Explore
Travel
SEO This digital
marketing activity
helps business to
rank higher in a
search engine
results which will
be helpful in
SEO strategy of
Topdeck takes
advantage of
people's vanity to
accumulate tens
of thousands of
DOFOLLOW
The SEO of Expat
Explore Travel
supports the
company to maintain
their ranking on
search engines. Such
practices help

increasing search
engine traffic to
the business
website.
links and outrank
the companies
that link to them
(Saura, Palos-
Sanchez and
Correia, 2019).
business to stay in
top of the search
engine which helps
the brand to stay
ahead of competition
and maintain their
competitive position.
App
DM Tool Concept Topdeck Expat Explore
Travel
App App marketing
refers to marketing
of an application
which can be used
on different mobile
devices. This form
of marketing
works with an
objective of
attracting possible
number of users
towards the
application of an
organization
through which the
company can
generate high
revenues.
In case of
Topdeck, the
company use App
Store
optimization
which is the
process of
improving app
visibility tell the
App Store (Pollák
and Markovič,
2021). This
supports the
company in
attracting organic
users in traffic
without engaging
into additional
cost.
In context of expat
explore travel, in
order to make
effective use of
application digital
marketing strategy,
the company follows
influencer marketing
which ensures
authenticity of the
brand. Expat explore
travel follows
influencer marketing
which involves the
collaboration with
influences to connect
with new users to
promote the products
and services of an
organization.

E-mail
DM Tool Concept Topdeck Expat Explore
Travel
Email
marketing
Email marketing is
the medium of
marketing where
commercial
message is shared
via e-mail.
Topdeck share the
tour packages
which are offered
by the company
through e-mail
which is
broadcasted to
audience to grasp
their attention
(Şengül and Eren,
2016).
Expat Explore
Travel is a travel
agency which target
customers through
sharing mails with
interactive content
and images which
can attract greater
number of
customers.
Other tools
SMM
DM Tool Concept Topdeck Expat Explore
Travel
Social media
marketing
social media
marketing is the
use of various
social media
channels to
promote the
services which are
offered by an
organization
(
Types of DM,
2020). Some of the
social media
channels are-
Facebook,
Topdeck will
relaunch as a
social networking
platform with
new features like
friending, tailored
content, videos,
photographs and
articles as well as
recommendations
and guides from
friends and
family.
Expat Explore
Travel make use of
social media
channels such as-
Instagram, and other
channels through
which they can
promote their
offering and target
customers at larger
geographical extent
(Suh and Chow,
2021).

Instagram, twitter
and others.
Other DM tools
DM Tool Concept Topdeck Expat Explore
Travel
Newsletter Newsletter
marketing is the
digital marketing
tool which
supports
companies to share
information and
product focused
content with the
help of emailed
letter to number of
subscribers of the
company.
In case of top
deck, the
company use
newsletters to
share various
information
related to
organisations
such as recent
blog posts or
videos, product
launches and
upcoming
products and
services of the
organization
(Yamin, 2017).
Expat explore travel
share their newsletter
to customers via
email which is used
to share news related
to upcoming
promotions and
special events,
launching of new
products or services
Gama information
related to block
posting and events
recap. With the help
of newsletter, the
tourism company
share their upcoming
promotional deals
through which
customers can
subscribe to their
offers.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From detailed study of above-mentioned information, it can be stated that digital
marketing is the use of electronic devices in order to promote have the message products and
services which can create an impact on customer journey and customer interest towards the

brand. Digital marketing is the medium which provides various opportunities for business
growth which can be performed at national and global level. Digital marketing strategy
practices can be performed by different mediums and these mediums helps in enhancing
brand awareness of brand within the industry. Marketing is a vital instrument that aids in the
development of organisational goodwill, growth and market sustainability.
Recommendations
Some of the recommendations which can be helpful for both the organization are
listed below:
 Prioritize content development- the companies must focus on content strategy and on
mapping all the sources of content through which attractive content can be created
that can help business to gather customer attention (
Suggestions to improve
marketing operations, 2017). Companies must develop appropriate teams, divide the
work accordingly and ensure that all teams are focused through which they can
understand the type of content which is required to promote the products and services
offered by the organizations.
 Analyse competitors- in order to maintain the competitive position, the companies
must engage in effective research through which they can understand the dynamic
business environment and determine their competitors (
Approaches to improve
marketing strategy, 2014). By analysing who the competitors are and how they are
operating this will help the organization tool maintain their competitive position
within the industry.
 Use social media platforms for engaging with audience- social media can create
strong influence on consumers which can drive their interest in the organization
(
Ways to improve local marketing strategy, 2021). With the help of using social
media organizations can connect with audience in professional manner and target
larger market where different segments of customers can be attracted through which
business profitability can be enhanced.

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