Digital Audit of Great Barrier Reef

This assignment provides a comprehensive digital audit of the Great Barrier Reef, assessing its performance in promoting awareness about marine pollution and protection. The audit evaluates various aspects such as vision, marketing, IMC, digital strategy, search activity, community management, social media tools, user engagement, and measurement of digital performance. Based on the results, recommendations for a digital strategy are provided to improve the company's online presence and promote its campaigns. References to relevant research studies are also included.

ASSESSMENT 1: DIGITAL
AUDIT
Client: The Great Barrier Reef, Australia Date:
Part A: Rating of Digital Assets and Activity
Criteria Examples or observations Rating 1 to
10
Broad vision of how
digital media can
transform the company
- Vision to protect the Great
Barrier Reef from degrading by
preventing water pollution
- Raise international awareness to
stop marine pollution that
significantly threatens the
existence of the Great Barrier
Reef
- Encourage more environment
protection organizations who are
willing to take suitable actions for
saving the Great Barrier Reef
7
Integration of marketing,
IMC and digital strategy
- Consistent with Australian
tourism and marketing policies
- Promote the Great Barrier Reef
Tourism schemes for the national
and foreign visitors
- Raise awareness among tourists
to not pollute the marine waters
near the Great Barrier Reef
- Spread the importance and value
of the Great Barrier Reef in
Australia
6
Digital strategy (please
articulate)
- Digital strategy focused on
spreading knowledge around the
world regarding the importance
of coral reefs in the marine
ecosystem
- Development of a strategy to
spread word regarding how the
barrier reef can be protected
from the harmful effects of the
marine pollution
- Start a number of online
5

campaigns for people to come
forward and donate resource to
develop several activities aimed
at cleaning marine waters
Evidence of search
activity
- Online searches that were
conducted through various
search engines were very much
evident from the first few pages
of results generated by providing
the main keywords
- The Great Barrier Reef is one of
the most widely searched topics
around the world and it proves
that there is significant interest
among the people regarding the
same
- The Great Barrier Reef has also
appeared in top 10 trending list
in various social media websites
10
Strategically consistent,
company-created brand
messages
- The main ideas and messages
spread through various
campaigns and advertisements
have found to be very much
consistent with the main visions
and objectives of the Barrier Reef
support project
7
Degree of company
involvement in
community management
- The company is very responsive
to the tourist queries and
provides suitable
accommodations and tour
packages for national and
international tourists
- The online website provides very
informative online brochures
regarding the history and
importance of the Great Barrier
Reef
- The online website also promotes
awareness among the visitors to
help protect the Great Barrier
Reef
8
Digital and social media
tools used by the
company for community
management
- The company website is very
much present in various social
media platforms like Facebook
and Twitter where it promotes
the importance and tour
experiences of the Great Barrier
Reef
- The website and social media
pages use modern 360°
photography technology for
posting various attractive views
of the Great Barrier Reef
- It also spreads various
7

promotional campaigns for the
Great Barrier Reef Tourism
Frequency of use of
digital and social media
tools
- The most favoured social media
platform is Twitter with an
average of 15 tweets per day
regarding the Great Barrier Reef
- Facebook is also a favoured
platform with at least 5 posts
every day
- The company also publishes
newsletters in different social
media platforms for conducting
various campaigns
6
Examples of content
shared
- Numerous photos including still
captures, 360° pictures and
others
- Tour videos including tourist
videos, promotional videos and
others
- Newsletters with very informative
content
- Twitter posts with the use of
hashtags for trending the topic
on the media
9
Strategic user
engagement
- It is involved with a large number
of promotional and other active
causes and hence, the target
audience consists of a wide
population around the world
- The use of social media promotes
the spreading of word and
campaign over a large target
audience
- Promotion of campaigns
throughout various
advertisements in different
websites enable them to reach
an even bigger segment of target
audience
7
Measurement of digital
performance
- Very highly distinct attempts
have been made to capture
necessary information from the
Great Barrier Reef
- The website enables a user to
create an online profile and then
provide more informative content
to the already existing database
- Takes active actions to promote
campaigns through social media
8
*Where 0 indicates a lack of achievement and 10 represents optimum
achievement.

Part B: Score, Interpretation of Score and Recommendations for Digital
Strategy
The digital audit has proved that the company has performed significantly well in
promoting its main vision and objective i.e. to promote the history and
importance of the Great Barrier Reef. The company has a specific website that
provides highly informative content to the site visitors. The vision of the
company, as evident from the digital audit, is to spread awareness around the
world regarding the protection of the Great Barrier Reef by preventing and
reducing marine pollution. The frequent activities of the company in various
social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter proves that the company has
performed well as using the social platforms for the benefit of the Great Barrier
Reef. The overall score of 80 out of 100 proves beyond doubt regarding the part
of vision the company has been able to achieve till now. However, there is
further room for development and the company should continue to increase the
promotional activities as well as promote their own campaigns.
Some recommendations for digital strategy for the company are as follows.
Develop Mobile App – The company will be able to reach more target audience if
they develop a dedicated mobile app for the website. In addition to the
informative content, the app can also have the features like downloadable HD
wallpapers, videos, quiz games and others that will attract even more number of
people.
Social Media Promotion – In addition to the frequent posts made in the social
media platform, the site can host a number of other activities like online polls,
quiz sessions with attractive rewards, online selling merchandize like t-shirts and
posters and others.

References
Authority, G. B. R. M. P. (2014). Great barrier reef outlook report 2014.
Ainsworth, T. D., Heron, S. F., Ortiz, J. C., Mumby, P. J., Grech, A., Ogawa, D., ... &
Leggat, W. (2016). Climate change disables coral bleaching protection on
the Great Barrier Reef. Science, 352(6283), 338-342.
Hughes, T. P., Day, J. C., & Brodie, J. (2015). Securing the future of the Great
Barrier Reef. Nature Climate Change, 5(6), 508.
Georgiou, L., Falter, J., Trotter, J., Kline, D. I., Holcomb, M., Dove, S. G., ... &
McCulloch, M. (2015). pH homeostasis during coral calcification in a free
ocean CO2 enrichment (FOCE) experiment, Heron Island reef flat, Great
Barrier Reef. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(43),
13219-13224.
Emslie, M. J., Logan, M., Williamson, D. H., Ayling, A. M., MacNeil, M. A.,
Ceccarelli, D., ... & Miller, I. R. (2015). Expectations and outcomes of
reserve network performance following re-zoning of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park. Current Biology, 25(8), 983-992.
Williamson, D. H., Harrison, H. B., Almany, G. R., Berumen, M. L., Bode, M., Bonin,
M. C., ... & Jones, G. P. (2016). Large‐scale, multidirectional larval
connectivity among coral reef fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park. Molecular ecology, 25(24), 6039-6054.
Fabricius, K. E., Logan, M., Weeks, S. J., Lewis, S. E., & Brodie, J. (2016). Changes
in water clarity in response to river discharges on the Great Barrier Reef
continental shelf: 2002–2013. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 173,
A1-A15.
McCook, L. J., Schaffelke, B., Apte, S. C., Brinkman, R., Brodie, J., Erftemeijer,
P., ... & King, B. (2015). Synthesis of current knowledge of the biophysical
impacts of dredging and disposal on the Great Barrier Reef: report of an
independent panel of experts.