Digital Marketing Plan for Tesla Motors

Running head: MARKETING PLAN OF TESLA
MARKETING PLAN OF TESLA
Name of the student:
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Executive summary
The purpose of this report is to formulate a digital marketing plan for Tesla Motors, which offers
highly innovative and energy efficient vehicles for the customers. The company plans to further
boost their presence on the digital platforms to influence the customers to make a purchase and
reduce carbon footprint. In today’s highly dynamic and competitive business environment, it is
essential for the business organization to develop its presence on the digital media platforms and
with its creative marketing efforts stand out among other competitors in the industry. The report
identifies the present situation in which the company carries out its business operations. It
provides buyer persona for the online target customers. The report provides critical SWOT
analysis for the company and its digital efforts. The digital marketing plan includes detailed
objectives which are achievable and measurable. It specifies the strategies for digital media
marketing and the tactics for the digital marketing campaigns. The report evaluates the ways in
which the business organization can monitor and measure the marketing efforts and campaigns.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Situation analysis.............................................................................................................................4
Competitive business environment..............................................................................................5
Critical SWOT analysis of the digital efforts..............................................................................8
Objectives........................................................................................................................................9
Digital Marketing Strategies..........................................................................................................11
Tactics for effective digital marketing...........................................................................................14
Controls (monitor and measure)....................................................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................19
References......................................................................................................................................20

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Introduction
Tesla Motors was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. The company
becomes public in the year 2003. The business organization claims to offer products and services
different from its competitors. They offer high quality car and competes with the other luxurious
brands such as Audi and BMW (Almuzel et al. 2018). The business organization not only offers
electric vehicles but also ensures clean energy generation and other storage products. The
company aims towards a zero emission future and the betterment of the future generations. The
company has offers cutting edge battery technology and other electric power train. The company
continues to expand its products and services geared towards safest, quickest ad utility vehicle.
Tesla Motors has been taking proactive approach towards safety and betterment of the future.
Moreover, the company create entire sustainable energy ecosystem with unique energy solutions.
The automotive and energy products of the business organizations meet the production goals.
Tesla offers highly affordable cars and it plans to continue manufacturing its products which are
affordable and accessible for its target consumers (Ashley and Tuten 2015). Tesla aims for clean
transport and clear energy production. Hence it offers electric cars, renewable energy generation,
and batteries. The company offers eco-friendly, performance driven and stylish vehicles to the
customers. The mission of the business organization is to accelerate sustainable transport by
offering mass market electric cars to the market. The company is considered to be one of the first
successful American auto manufacturer startup in the past years. The initiative and excellent
performance of the business organization has won the company many awards. The business
organization avoids traditional forms of marketing and advertising and plans to switch to digital
marketing to retain the customers and influence new customers. They plan to focus on online
advertising and other forms of digital mode of promotion and advertising to create awareness

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among the customers. The purpose of this report is to plan digital media marketing for Tesla
Motors. It provides marketing strategies, tactics, and communications planning for the business
organizations.
Situation analysis
External business environment
It has been identified that pure electric cars have become increasingly popular with the
increase in the prices of gas and increases environmental awareness. This situation is favorable
for the business organizations (Ashley and Tuten 2015). As per the US Census Bureau, the per
capita income of the consumer has increased in the past years, which makes it favorable for
luxury products such as Model S (Bruijl 2017). However, the business organizations might face
challenging concerning their sales and performance due to stiff competition prevailing in the
business environment. According to Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2019), the government
subsidies has been increasing awareness about the environmental harms and pollutions, this
makes it highly favorable for the business organizations. The legislations make it favorable for
marketing its products and services. However, it has been identified that Tesla might face direct
competition with the other luxury cars such as BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Audi (Constantinides
2014). It has been argued by Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2019), that as the car industry is
highly specialized, the level of competition prevailing in the industry is moderate. There are
many alternatives in the automobile industry; there threat of new entrants in the market is high.
Internal business environment
One of the biggest strength of the business organization is the ability of the company to
outsource secondary components. These enable the business organization to keep the costs law
and enable the organizations to focus on the technological advancements. According to

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Constantinides (2014), the company has a strong research and development team which
strengthens the business organizations. The company’s has an efficient distribution system.
Moreover, the company has a strong financial position in the industry. However, lack of liquidity
weakens its positions in the market (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick 2019). The increasing
awareness about the environment and pollution is an opportunity for the business organizations.
Therefore, the business organization must incorporate steps and actions to undertake the
prevailing opportunities in the market through rigorous marketing and promotions.
Competitive business environment
Tesla Motors faces direct competition with the traditional automobile companies
including Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company is a multinational automobile business
organization. They offer hybrid electric vehicles as well as pure electric vehicles, hence directly
competing with Tesla Motors (Dahiya and Gayatri 2018). The company also faces stiff
competing from other leading automobile companies such as BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes
Benz, and Volvo. However, Tesla has remained profitable with its high demand and rapid
expansion. The company is expected to decrease the costs of the batteries by 30% (Devi 2015).

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Buying persona for online target audience
Fig. 1: Buyer Persona 1
Name of the persona – Emma Dauson
Job Title: Director at Parks and Recreation Company.
Demographics
Age: 53 years
Gender: Female
Salary: $2000
Location: Urban
Goals and challenges

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Emma is highly environmental conscious; therefore, it is her mission to go for products which
are sustainable and environmentally conscious. Therefore she prefers electric vehicles. She is
less influenced by technology and moderately sensitive to price. Her main goal is to acquire
products which are moderately priced and environment friendly. She prefers researching online
and saving time. However, she does not prefer waiting for calls. She prefers timely response.
Marketing strategy
The marketing message must be focused on environmental impacts, technology and cost
effectiveness.
Fig 2: Buyer persona 2
Name of the buyer: Techy Ted
Job title: Pharmacist
Demographics

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Age: 42 years
Gender: Male
Salary: $600
Location: Urban
Goals and challenges
Techy is highly technology driven. He is interested about the technological improvements in the
vehicles offered by Tesla. He also prefers digital platforms for researching and getting
information about the vehicles. Technological improvements are his major concern. He is
slightly sensitive to price. Hence he prefers technologically improved cars at a reasonable
pricing.
Marketing strategy
The marketing communications must be focused on the technological improvements
implemented by the company as well as the costs.
Critical SWOT analysis of the digital efforts
Strengths – According to Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch (2017), the financial position of the
business organization is one of the biggest strength of the company, this makes it favorable for
the business organization to initiate rigorous marketing activities and promotions. The leading
position of the Tesla is one of their biggest strengths. Furthermore, the company offers best
vehicles at reasonable pricing (Gupta 2015). Most importantly, the company vehicles are energy
efficient and environment friendly, suitable for the environment friendly consumers.
Weakness: However, as per Devi (2015), of the company lacks high volume production. This
affects the sales of the business organization during high demand. The shortage of batteries is

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one of their biggest disadvantages. The shortest of batteries can directly impact the sales of
electric cars.
Opportunities – The government subsidiaries are increasingly concerned about the
environmental impacts. This is an opportunity for the business organizations (Felix, Rauschnabel
and Hinsch 2017). The technological development and increase in environment conscious
consumers are an opportunity for the company.
Threats: The competitive pressures in the industry threaten the position of the business
organizations. Aggressive competition in the automobile industry might reduce the profitability
of the business organizations.
Objectives
Digital marketing communication objectives
For the long term business initiatives it is essential for the business organization to set objectives
and targets to meet the long term goals and objectives of the business organizations. As per
research goals and objectives often relates to lead generation (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch
2017). The objectives might act as the key performing indicators that will help the business
organization to measure the actual performance with the goals and objectives of digital
marketing. These objectives are SMART (specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and
Timely). These objectives will help the business organizations to effectively implement the
marketing initiates and attain the desired objectives of the organizations.
Objective 1: Increase revenue

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The primary goal of any business organization is to increase revenue through internet marketing
(Gupta 2015). Internet provides additional opportunities to improve the overall bottom line of the
business organizations.
Objective 2: Increase qualified traffic
The business must aim to increase the number of visitors in the online platforms and websites of
the business organizations (Kannan 2017). Web pages, landing pages and personal websites are
meaningless with traffic. Therefore, the marketing must be done in such a manner so as to
increase traffic on the websites. The marketing department must take initiates to turn leads into
potential customers (Keegan 2017). The marketing initiatives must be targeted toward specific
personas.
Objective 3: Manage online reputation
The marketing department must take initiates to improve and enhance the reputation in the
digital world. In other words, the company must take initiative to maintain their online
reputation. The company must ensure positive comments regarding the business organizations on
the social media platforms (Malar, P.J.M.A.J. 2016).
Objective 4: Increase brand awareness
The marketing department of the business organization must take initiatives to improve the brand
and improve the reputation of the business organizations as a brand (Miller 2017). The company
must focus on increases awareness about the brand among the target customers.
Objective 5: Improve data quality
The marketing department must ensure quality data and information on the landing pages,
websites, and social media sites. There must be increase in traffic on the websites by the end of
the financial year (Peters et al. 2013).

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Objective 6: Improve user experience
The company needs to attain 200 ‘contact us’ conversions via organic search by the end of the
year. The marketing department must reduce the rate of bounce back below 50% all across ads
by the end of the financial year (Podobnik 2013).
Figure 3: Possibility of attaining the objectives
Digital Marketing Strategies
In order to compete in the highly competitive business environment, it is essential for the
business organization to implement effective digital marketing strategies (Saura et al. 2017). In
order to compete in the competitive digital landscape, Tesla needs to focus on specific strategies
and areas. The strategies to attain the pre set objectives are mentioned below:
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

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It is considered as one of the most effective digital media marketing strategies and
initiatives in today dynamic and highly competitive business environment. It is the process of
improving the websites and its contents so that the website ranks highest on the search engine
result page (Saura et al. 2017). The aim of SEO must be to direct and influence more traffic to
the website. This will enable the business organization to attain the pre set targets and objectives
(Svahn, Mathiassen and Lindgren 2017). Therefore the SEO consultants must take initiative to
increase ranking on the websites and search engines.
SEM (Search engine marketing)
It involves paid advertising which appear on the SERPS (Search engine results page). The
advertisements can be placed in terms of pay-per-click ads and product listing ads. These are
product based advertisements which can enable the consumers to get relevant information such
as price and reviews of the products (Tani 2018). This will enable the marketers to provide their
ads to positively influence the customers and make a purchase.
Content marketing
Content marketing is one of the best strategies to attract target customers. The marketers need to
make the content informative, relevant, valuable, and consistent to that to positively influence the
customers to make a purchase (Tchelidze 2019). There must be an effective call to actions to as
to create urgency among the customers to make a purchase. The marketers need to focus on
native advertising, marketing automation, and influencer marketing.
Remarketing
Remarketing is critical for the business organization. It involves going after the potential leads
again if the ads and banner ads goes unresponsive for the first time. The visitors can be tracked

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through cookies and the marketing team can create new ads on the sites. It can be done to better
the target the potential leads or prospects (Tchelidze 2019).
Responsive web design
The website design must be responsive and attractive to the customers. The websites must
conform to mobile phones and all mobile screens, includes tablets and smartphones. Google,
gives precedence to the websites, hence this is highly critical for the business organizations
(Tuten and Solomon 2017). This strategy is useful for meeting the goals and objectives of the
business organizations.
Email marketing
Email marketing is considered to be an effective tool for generating leads and increasing traffic
on the websites. It is one of the most affordable marketing strategies. It can be combined with the
other media (Viereckl et al. 2015). It is considered to be one of the most integrated marketing
methods among the business organizations. Specific emails can be sent to potential customers.
Social media marketing
Tesla needs to increase its visibility and presence on the social media platforms in order to
connect with the potential customers and increase the reputation of the business organizations. It
will enable the business organization to increase sales and increase website traffic (Vynakov,
Savolova and Skrynnyk 2016). The marketers need to engage with the customers on the social
media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Marketing automation
Marketing automation is being constantly used by the marketers today. It is considered to be a
vital element among the digital marketing techniques. The automating marketing content can

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help the organization to integrate all the marketing efforts across all channels to avoid brand
confusion among the customers (Vynakov, Savolova and Skrynnyk 2016).
Tactics for effective digital marketing
1. Attracting prospects – The website traffic can be increased through effective and relevant
contents. The tactic is to focus on the blogging, email marketing, pay per click (PPC), and social
media marketing. Through email marketing the marketers can provides links to the company
websites and other details to entice the consumers to become potential leads (Vynakov,
Savolova and Skrynnyk 2016). Through pay per clinks and landing pages, the marketers can
increase traffics on the website. Blogging and effective contents can attract prospects.
2. Convert leads into potential customers- The market can convert leads into potential customers.
This can be attained through downloadable content offers such as e-books, via email, info
graphics, attractive images, and compelling videos (Wang, Susarla and Sambamurthy 2015).
Detailed information must be provided to the customers regarding the vehicles and focus on the
unique selling proposition of the products. The consumers often compare the vehicles with the
competitor’s products (Tani 2018). Therefore, the tactic is to focus on informative images and
videos. This will enable the business organization to turn leads into potential customers.
3. Close more sales – It is highly essential for the business organization to close sales and turn
leads into customers. The sales team must be empowered with effective tools and relevant data to
help them increase leads and traffic on the websites (Viereckl et al. 2015). This will enable the
business organization to close more sales.

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Figure 4: Social media campaign images (sample)
Attractive images such as the above can be used by the business organization to inform the
customers about the benefits of using the vehicles offered by Tesla Motors. The images must be
HD and premium quality with valuable information (Viereckl et al. 2015). The slogans must be
information about the value of the product.

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Figure 5: Mock up content for websites or videos
Source: (Tuten and Solomon 2017)

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Figure 6: Mock images for social media and advertising
Source: (Tuten and Solomon 2017)
Social media campaigns such as “Forward without Footprints” can be an effective slogan for
social media campaigns or videos on YouTube. These advertisings can be focused on innovation
and technology along with an emphasis on environment consciousness (Viereckl et al. 2015).
The tactics is to provide customer service through social media. On the social media platforms
like Facebook, it is benefit to use cover photos for visual promotions. The social media profiles
are usually visual therefore, the marketers must implement lost of visuals on the platforms.
Cover photos and time to time updates can be used to promote events, webinars, and offers
(Tuten and Solomon 2017).
Controls (monitor and measure)
Monitoring and controlling the marketing activities are essential to determine the
progress and success of the marketing campaigns. The progress and success rate of the marketing
campaigns can be determined with the key performance indicators. These are specific indictors
to track the progress of the campaigns towards achieving the pre set goals and objectives within
the marketing channels (Viereckl et al. 2015). By analyzing the key performance indicators the
company will be able to make required adjustments in the strategies.
Key performance indicators
 Sales revenue – The increase or decrease in sales revenue of the business can be an
indicator for the effectiveness of the marketing efforts and campaigns. The best method
to measure the success rate of the marketing efforts is by measuring its sales revenue.

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 Leads- Tesla can calculate the customer acquisition costs from inbound and outbound
marketing. Leads provide opportunity for sales and increase the chances of sales growth.
The increase or decrease in the leads can be used to measure the success rate of the
marketing campaigns (Tchelidze 2019).
 Life time value of a customer (LTV) – This involves the lifetime validity of a relationship
with the customer. The lifetime value of the customers involves identifying the sales of
average customer through the course of the relationship.
 Traffic-to-Lead Ratio – It involves the number of traffic turning into potential leads for
the business organization. Leads get influenced by the marketing efforts and finally
turning into potential customers. The increase or decrease in the rate of the Traffic to
leads can determine the success rate of the marketing campaigns (Tchelidze 2019). The
quality of the website traffic and the conversion rate of the website are two important
determinants for accessing the success rate of the marketing campaigns.
 Lead-to-customer Ratio – It involves the number of leads turning into potential customers
in the business organization. The increase or decrease in the ratio of lead to customer
ration can determine the success rate of the marketing efforts.
 Landing Page Conversion Rates – It involves the number of traffic visiting the website.
The website traffic is measurable and is related to the engagement of the customers. The
duration, users, page views, average session duration and bounce rate can be used to
determine the success rate of the business organization (Tuten and Solomon 2017).
 Social Media Traffic – Social media sites and platforms have built in tracking and
analysis, this can be used by the marketers to acquire information easily. The level of
customer engagement can be tracked through the metrics which determines the number of

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lead generations, percentage of web traffic and rate of customer conversions concerning
the marketing efforts of the company.
 Email marketing performance- The performance of email marketing can be determined
through indicators like the delivery rate, subscription rate, click through rate, conversion
rate and number of shares (Tuten and Solomon 2017). These can be used to determine the
effectiveness of email marketing.
Measures
Considering the performance indicators and gap in the pre-set objectives and the actual
performance, the company needs to take necessary steps and actions to further improve the
marketing campaigns. If the traffic on the websites is less as set in the objectives, the content
needs to be improved by the content team (Viereckl et al. 2015). The marketing department must
take initiative to boost the conversion rate from traffic to lead to potential customers. They team
must take actions to take customer feedback and provide after sale service to the customer in
increase their level of satisfaction (Tani 2018).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above analysis, it can be concluded that Tesla needs to focus on
rigorous marketing activities and implement social media campaigns to positively influence the
customers towards making the purchase. In the highly dynamic and competitive business
environment, it is essential for the business organization to implement effective digital media
marketing strategies and stand out among the other competitors in the market.

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