Digital Marketing Strategy Analysis: British Gas Company Report

This report presents a digital marketing strategy for British Gas, encompassing a comprehensive analysis of the company's current situation. It begins with an introduction to digital marketing and its application to the energy sector, followed by a detailed situation analysis using PESTLE and SWOT frameworks to assess the external and internal environments. The report then links digital business to digital marketing strategies, suggesting website optimization, content creation, and social media engagement. It formulates specific objectives for the company, including customer acquisition and efficient energy usage. An implementation plan is outlined to achieve these objectives, along with budgeting considerations and methods for measuring campaign effectiveness. The report concludes with a summary of the findings and recommendations for British Gas's digital marketing endeavors, positioning the company for success in a competitive market. This assignment is available on Desklib, a platform offering students access to past papers and solved assignments.

Digital Marketing Strategy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Overview..........................................................................................................................................3
Digital marketing campaign.............................................................................................................3
Situation analysis.........................................................................................................................3
Digital Business is linked with Digital Marketing Strategy........................................................6
Formulation Of Objectives..........................................................................................................8
Implementation Plan to meet the objectives................................................................................8
Budgeting.....................................................................................................................................9
Measure the campaign.................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The marketing of products and services using digital channels or technologies through
internet, social media, cell phones, etc. is termed as Digital marketing. Digital Marketing
Strategy is the strategy that helps business to achieve specific digital goals through selecting
various online mediums. There is difference between digital marketing strategy and digital
marketing campaign. Digital marketing strategy is known as a blueprint to achieve long term
goals whereas digital marketing campaign is used to achieve short term goals This report is
prepared to create the digital marketing campaign of British Gas Company. In this report digital
marketing process is followed in which situation analysis is done for the company, digital
business is linked with digital marketing strategy, objectives are formulated, implementation
plan is designed along with budgeting and the whole campaign is measured.
Overview
Digital marketing process involves some steps that are used by marketer to promote their
products/services online. Digital marketing can be done through email-marketing, content
marketing, affiliate marketing, pay per click marketing, search engine marketing, search engine
optimization, instant message marketing, etc. (Kannan, 2017). The steps of digital marketing
process involves research, create, promote, analyse, optimize.
Digital marketing campaign
Situation analysis
Situational analysis will be explained through PESTLE and SWOT analysis.
PESTLE: pestle analysis is the tool which is used to measure the external environment of the
business. It has six factors which are:
Political factors:
British gas company influence by the political factors (Zhang and et.al., 2020). Geopolitical
conflicts in the middle east is the challenge for the company. Political instability because of the
civil unrest is also the another challenge. For digital marketing campaign company need to
understand all the political factors of the country. Digital marketing is very useful and in trend
nowadays. The trade wars can also impact the company. The political decisions of OPEC or
Organization of petroleum exporting countries can affect the gas companies globally. This
organization do adjustments in the gas or oil markets. They increase the oil or gas production to
decrease the prices of gas and decrease their production to increase the prices of gas or oil.

Economic factors:
There is the link between the gas industry and global economy. It is also said that the economic
growth of the country is also dependent on the consumption of the gas or oil. The prices of oil
and gas depends on the demand and supply of them. The global economic crisis also impacted
the British gas company. Company can do promotion through digital marketing and can also
give the promotional offers which can increase the sales of the company in their downtimes. The
bankrupt of the commercial banks due to their wrong investments affects the business operations.
The rise in the inflation rate affect the prices of the products of the British oil company. This
factors affects the spending power of the consumers which change the demand and supply in the
economy.
Social factors:
These factors cover the aspects like culture, religion, income, migration, ideology etc. customers
are now more attracted towards friendly fuels as compare to the oil or gas and friendly fuels or
renewable energy are also supported by the government as they do not create pollution
(Kowalska-Pyzalska, Kott and Kott, 2020). The gas consumption in UK is increasing every year
because of the increasing in the population and opening of more industries and usage of more
vehicles also increase the consumption of oil and gas more. Social analysis helps the company in
knowing the market trends, purchasing power of the consumers, behaviour of consumers etc.
through digital marketing company can evaluate that which time will bring more customers and
then target the customers through social media platforms etc.
Technological factors:
The efficiencies in the operations can be achieved if the company do digital innovations.
Blockchain technology is the opportunity for the company in the digital supply chain platform.
Company can face issues regarding new technology because adopting new technology is not
easy as it requires huge funding and insufficient funding can create issues but if company adopt
the latest technology then they can save the operation costs and it will also help the company in
increasing their market share. The prices of gas are uncertain which is the challenge for the
company. The shortages of the skilled workforce is also an issue because advanced technology
demanded skilled workforce to handle that.
Legal factors:

Legal factors can put massive impact on British gas industry. Company have to take care about
the discrimination laws they are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of caste, colour,
religion, race, gender etc. government of every country says that equality should be maintained
in the organization. Consumer protection rights and E commerce rights should also protect. If the
company ignore employment laws, health and safety laws then the company can be in trouble
because these laws are formed by the government and violation of laws can bring penalties for
the company (Gheibi and et.al., 2018). Data protection law is also the part of legal factors under
this law the data of the employees are confidential and companies are not allowed to share the
data of the employees without their permission.
Environmental factors:
Environment standards depends on the markets of the country and which can affect the
profitability of the firms. Every country have different environmental laws. Weather, climate
change etc. can affect the sales of the company. Company has also taken the initiative in
launching green house which brought the positive point to the company. While making the
digital marketing strategies British gas company should consider all the environment factors.
Company has made strategies for waste management and air pollution by this company can
achieve future sustainability.
SWOT: swot analysis is the framework which is used to identify the internal environment of the
firm.
Strength:
Technological innovation is the biggest strength for the British gas company. The introduction of
the mobile controlled heating and electricity generating boilers increases the sales of the
company in the UK market. Company has also taken the initiatives in providing the consultant
advices for energy management through the efficient billing or invoices. Company efficiently
doing the sports marketing and digital marketing which is the another strength of the company.
They do sports sponsorship by participating in different sports activities. They offer good
services to the customers which include gas and electricity services, renewable energy services,
home appliance services etc. the electricity which they generate have the substantial part for the
consumers in the electricity market.
Weakness:

The biggest weakness of the company is they are highly dependent on the wholesale market. The
government of the Britain has rises the tariff prices which has affected the image of the British
gas company (Sridhar and et.al., 2016). Increases in the energy prices of the residential has
affected the customer base or market share of the company. This company is also regularly
criticizes for the hike in prices affecting the reputation of the company. The corporate
governance of the company is weak. Company do not have proper retention programmes so
company should make retention strategies because customer retaining will bring constant sales to
the company and old customers can also bring new customers for the company.
Opportunities:
In the retail business the British gas company have great growth opportunities. Another
opportunity for the company is the optimistic energy policies which will come in near future.
The company have future growth in the UK market regarding residential and commercial
markets. British gas company also have opportunity to expand in Europe because the company
have the potential to serve millions of customers. Company can also get opportunity in energy
business solution. Company can invest in the innovative technology which will increase the sales
and revenue of the company. Doing promotions through digital platforms like through social
media platforms or company's own website can be cost effective for the company and also
increases the profits. Company can adopt the environment friendly technology and can get
support of the government because government supports environment friendly things.
Threats:
The increasing in the power costs is threat for the company. The economy is also weak for the
gas fired power and gas storage for the UK markets (Kingsnorth, 2019). Regular increasing for
the prices for electricity and whole gas is the another threat for the British gas company. In the
retail energy sector the government is also having strict regulations which can affect the sales of
the company. The market conditions of the UK is also very challenging for the gas fired power
stations. Efficiently using digital marketing by the rival companies which results that the
company have to face cut-throat competition.
Digital Business is linked with Digital Marketing Strategy.
All companies must have a digital marketing plan including the companies selling
Natural Gas. A good digital marketing plan strengthen loyalty among existing customers and
also increases the reach and interests among new customers. In today's era Internet has widened

up the scope for British Gas Company and opened various channels to reach their audience
(Mandal and Josh, 2017). Some digital marketing strategies that British Gas Company can use in
their digital business are as follows:
Create the informative website
The British Gas Company can create informative website that will helps the customers to learn
about the organization to get the information. The website of the company is the most essential
part of the companies online presence. Informative website must includes the proper introduction
of the company, details of the products and services, directory of the company and the systematic
communication channel. The website must include About Us page that will provide the history
and gives overview of the company. The British Gas Company's website should include the
details of the projects they are handling and also the details of geographic locations where they
are operating (Kingsnorth, 2019). Website should also have 'Contact Us' page with proper phone
numbers and email address for customer support.
Publish original content
The British Gas Company can create various blogs, articles, websites and infographics and post
original content on it and not fake content to attract customers. These mediums of giving
information to customers are more convincing than traditional advertising methods. Information
on these platforms demonstrate high quality content of knowledge. The company can produce
content on other sites including industry publications, etc. and all these contents and research
should be from credible sources.
Remain active on Social media
One of the best digital marketing strategy is to publish the content on social media to attract
more customers. People use social media to connect with friends and family and to get
information related with current topics and interests, to give and take advice and
recommendation from others. Some social media platforms that British Gas Company can use
are Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube (Hanlon, 2019). The companies marketing goals
can be achieved through social media. The good social media strategy will helps in monitoring
the accounts and to respond to comments and responses in productive way.

Formulation Of Objectives.
Formulating objectives is the most crucial part that helps business to achieve their predetermined
goals. It is the second step to formulate the objectives of the company. The British Gas Company
can have these following objective to sustain in the competitive business environment.
 To give power to communities to efficient use of energy, support to the households who
are in need, and to build proper skills for bright future.
 To enable effective use of PPC that is pay per click for advertisments.
 To generate strong people orientation and must care for every employee.
 To attract large number of customers and suppliers in United Kingdom through Digital
Marketing by using Search engine optimization.
 To follow cost effective digital marketing strategies that is Email marketing.
Implementation Plan to meet the objectives
The next step is to design the implementation plan to meet the objectives of British Gas
Company. First objective of company is to empower the communities for efficient use of energy
by helping the people who need extra support for their homes, and to build proper skills for
companies bright future by giving people their time and resources to support locals. Other
objective of company includes effective use of PPC that is pay per click. It is used for online
advertising that makes you focus on budget. Company can use ads inside search engines, to
target the users based on the keywords, it allows advertising with valuable customers. The
companies objective is to generate strong people orientation can be implemented by treating each
and every employee fairly and with respect (Ismail, Khater and Zaki, 2017). In the organization,
teamwork and collaboration should be encouraged to attain this objective. The communication
with the employees should be clear, direct and easily understandable, so that employees will
work in the direction to achieve the organizational goals or objectives. The practice of promoting
employees within the organization can be followed. Next objective of company is to attract large
number of customers in United Kingdom through Digital Marketing by using Search Engine
Optimization. Search Engine optimization is the most essential tool or type of digital marketing
strategies. The company can use creative backlinks, so that there websites get more authoritative.
It helps in increasing the visibility of websites which gives the best results. The company also
focuses on getting cost effective digital marketing strategies that is the use of Email-marketing.
Email-marketing is one the best and cost effective method to advertising. Emails can be sent to

existing and potential customers to inform them about the latest news about the products and
services to attract them to purchase and convinced.
Budgeting
Particulars Amount (€)
survey 1850000
SEO 190000
Website design 1800000
Social media marketing 150000
Email marketing 100000
equipment 8000000
stationary 8000
Employee salary 300000
maintenance 200300
Other expense 150000
total 12748300
Measure the campaign
British gas company has objective to achieve SEO optimization which the company had
successfully achieved. Now the company is able to achieve new leads from the organic search.
Company has become effective in pay per click campaign. Through social media marketing huge
traffic generated by the company (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2016). Leads which they got from social
media are also successfully converted by the company. Leads are also getting from the own
website of the company as the website which is designed by the company is very attractive. By
adopting effective digital marketing company is able to retain more customers than they were
doing before. The sales and revenue of the company has also increased. Social media marketing
helps the company in increasing the engagement rate of the consumers as the regular updates are
posted by the company.

CONCLUSION
From this report it is concluded that digital marketing is trending nowadays and it is
adopted by the British gas company also as it is time and cost effective and with the help of this
company can cover large customer groups. Further digital marketing campaign is done through
pestle and swot analysis, showed the linkage between digital business and digital marketing
strategy, formulation of objectives. The implementation plan is designed to meet the objectives.
Budgeting and measuring the campaign.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Gheibi, M. and et.al., 2018. Controlling air pollution in a city: A perspective from SOAR‐
PESTLE analysis. Integrated environmental assessment and management. 14(4).
pp.480-488.
Hanlon, A., 2019. Digital marketing: strategic planning & integration. SAGE Publications
Limited.
Ismail, M. H., Khater, M. and Zaki, M., 2017. Digital business transformation and strategy:
What do we know so far. Cambridge Service Alliance. 10.
Kannan, P. K., 2017. Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda.
International Journal of Research in Marketing. 34(1). pp.22-45.
Kingsnorth, S., 2019. Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online marketing.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Kingsnorth, S., 2019. Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online marketing.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Kowalska-Pyzalska, A., Kott, J. and Kott, M., 2020. Why Polish market of alternative fuel
vehicles (AFVs) is the smallest in Europe? SWOT analysis of opportunities and
threats. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 133. p.110076.
Mandal, P. and Joshi, N., 2017. Understanding Digital Marketing Strategy. International
Journal of Scientific Research and Management. 5(6).
Patrutiu-Baltes, L., 2016. Inbound Marketing-the most important digital marketing
strategy. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series
V. 9(2). p.61.
Sridhar, R. and et.al., 2016. A Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and
Environmental (PESTLE) approach for assessment of coastal zone management
practice in India. International Review of Public Administration. 21(3). pp.216-232.
Zhang, Y. and et.al., 2020. A SWOT Analysis of the UK EV Battery Supply
Chain. Sustainability. 12(23). p.9807.
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