Comparative Analysis of Digital Marketing Strategies for Spar Retail

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Spar's digital marketing strategies, contrasting them with traditional marketing approaches. It begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction to Spar, a food retail company. The report then delves into Part 1, covering the overview of digital marketing, a comparison between online and offline marketing, factors driving digital marketing growth, and the opportunities and challenges associated with transitioning to digital marketing. It also explores digital marketing tools, platforms, the digital marketing landscape, e-commerce, and omni-channel marketing. Part 2 focuses on developing a digital marketing plan for Spar, including strategies, their implications, and an actionable measurement framework. The report justifies the chosen multi-channel capabilities, discusses the usefulness of data-driven insights, and explores the use of performance metrics to enhance digital marketing effectiveness. Finally, the report offers recommendations and a conclusion, with references for further study.

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Executive summary
The report tends to review the comparison between the traditional marketing and digital
marketing and its effectiveness. In this respect, the chosen company is Spar which might have
faced some challenges while switching digital marketing from traditional marketing has been
analyzed here. Moreover, some key digital tools with its platform such as video hosting in the
YouTube platform can be beneficial for the company to get competitive advantages has also been
discussed here. Additionally, the effectiveness of omni-channel has also been discussed here.
Furthermore, an actionable measurement framework has also been discussed here. At the end of
the report, the use of the Performance matrix to enhance digital marketing has also been discussed
here briefly.

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Table of Contents
Executive summary 1
Introduction about the chosen organization 3
Part 1 About digital and traditional marketing 3
1. Overview of digital marketing 3
Comparison between online and offline marketing concept 4
Factors contributing digital marketing growth 6
2. Opportunities and challenges while switching to digital marketing 7
3. Digital marketing tools and platforms 9
4. Digital marketing landscape and e-commerce 10
5. Omni-channel marketing 12
Part 2: Digital marketing plans 14
1. Marketing plan 14
2. Digital marketing strategies and their implications 19
Actionable measurement framework for Spar organisation 20
3. Justification of the chosen multi-channel capabilities 21
4. The usefulness of data-driven insight and its implication 22
5. Using performance metrics to enhance the effectiveness of digital marketing 22
Recommendation 23
Conclusion 24
Reference 25

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Introduction about the chosen organization
In the modern days, digital marketing is very important for an organization to spread its
business in the marketplace. In this study, the chosen company is Spar which is a food retail
company and was established in 1932. In this regard, it can be stated that the company has around
13,500 stores in around forty-eight countries. The target consumer of Spar is 18 to 44 years old
people who are likely to test multiple food items. Spar usually focuses on its fresh quality food
and its product variety to engage more consumers as well as to create trust among its consumers
for the company brand (Spar.co.uk, 2021). However, traditional marketing strategies like
advertising in newspaper radio advertisements are being used by the company. Therefore, the
company can use digital marketing strategies to improve its profit margin as well as to get
competitive advantages in the business market. The current study seeks to analyze the comparison
between online and offline marketing concepts, the challenges that Spar probably face to switch
digital marketing, and the effect of the growth of e-commerce. In addition, the study is also
focusing on a digital marketing plan for the company by a digital marketing consultant and
required activities to develop digital marketing for the chosen organization.
Part 1 About digital and traditional marketing
1. Overview of digital marketing
Digital marketing can be recognized as an aspect of marketing that helps a company to use
the internet and multiple digital-based technologies to expand its business in the marketplace. In
addition, digital marketing can also be recognized as the online marketing which Spar can use for
its brand promotion and create a strong connection with its consumers through the internet and
multiple online platforms including digital communication (Dumitriu et al. 2019). Moreover, by
using digital marketing the company can use digital media and multiple social media platforms,
for example, Facebook, Instagram to promote its product which is quite beneficial for the company
to increase its brand identity and to engage a maximum number of consumers to the brand of the
company. This digital marketing not only prefers email, social media but also multimedia

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messages which the company can use as a marketing channel. In this regard, the company can
focus on quality content, mobile-friendliness, and consumer engagement at the time of using
digital marketing.
Digital marketing
(Source: Wirtz et al. 2019)
Comparison between online and offline marketing concept
Online marketing Offline marketing
Online marketing are generally focus on content.
Offline marketing are generally focus on
product.

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Online marketing includes third party like media,
web content, search e-mail, social media.
Offline marketing includes mass media, phone
centre, and telephone.
Online marketing communicates customers with e-
mails, chat and social media.
Offline marketing communicates with customer
with their mobile number and staff.
Target audience met at one place. Target audience is scattered.
It is cost effective. It is high marketing cost.
It helps in directly reaches out to the professionals
of the industry and market.
It do not directly reaches out to the professionals
due to some barriers.
Prospective buyer cannot visible. It directly visible to their prospective buyer.
Less people to manage. Large people to manage.
Difference between online marketing and offline marketing
(Source: www.geeksforgeeks.org, 2021)
There is a basic difference between online and offline marketing which is an important
understanding for Spar to use digital marketing for its product promotion. In this regard, it can be
said that online marketing or digital marketing is a selling process that uses the internet and online
channels such as digital advertisement, email and social media. The chosen organization can use
this digital marketing process to sell their product quickly at any time (Wirtz et al. 2019). In
addition, by using this digital marketing, Spar can provide audio, video clips and product content
on the internet to its consumers in a cost-effective way to reduce the extra cost of the company.
On the other hand, traditional marketing strategies indicate multiple offline channels such as
newspaper advertisement, telemarketing, radio advertisement which are being used by the chosen
company to promote its product. In this context, it can be said that traditional marketing is very
time consuming and it has a very limited number of consumers which is not quite beneficial for
the business growth of the company. Therefore, from the above comparison, it can be said that

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digital marketing is quite effective for Spar to increase its selling process as well as to get
competitive advantages in the business market.
Factors contributing digital marketing growth
There are some important factors that affect the digital marketing growth of the company.
Quality content is one of the factors that affect digital marketing growth. In this regard, quality
content can be identified as successful content which helps the organization to achieve its business
goal by creating an interaction with its consumers. In this context, SPAR has to focus on such
unique and attractive product content which is quite beneficial to engage a maximum number of
consumers. López García et al. (2019), Social media is another important factor that affects digital
marketing growth. In this regard, there are around 665 million users who use Facebook actively
per month. For example, SPAR can use multiple social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter to
promote its food product for its consumers where consumers can get an overview about the
company product and give online orders for the product delivery. It is quite beneficial for the
company to save time as well as to reach a maximum number of customers which is required for
its business growth. As argued by Harrison and Hair (2017), another important factor is video
marketing that also has a positive impact on the digital marketing growth of the company. It is
because by using video marketing, the company can provide a clear concept to its consumers
within a short video about which type of product they usually offer towards their consumers instead
of a page full of text. It helps to create an interest of the consumers towards the product.

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Factors affecting digital marketing
(Source: Suh et al. 2021)
2. Opportunities and challenges while switching to digital marketing
Opportunities of digital marketing
Digital Marketing can be successful and opportunities after utilizing different tools and
techniques. These tools help marketers to get maximum benefits of digital marketing such as:
 Easy consumer reach - Digital marketing is an effective approach for businesses to
communicate with a large number of potential customers at once. Using the internet as a
marketing channel is a rapid way to reach out to a large number of potential customers and
prospects all around the world at the same time.
 Direct advertising - Digital marketing enables direct advertising and creates awareness about
a product or a brand. Companies can now effortlessly display product and service marketing
across various digital media. However, in a highly competitive marketing climate, a smart
online advertising strategy and promotional tools can help digital marketers perform
successfully.
 Perpetually displaying Ads - Advertisements can be viewed by target customers at any time
and from any location thanks to digital marketing. Prospects can visit any website and read ads
at any time and from any location.
 Global advertisements - This is one of the most effective benefits of digital marketing because
it allows businesses to advertise abroad and increase their consumer base to countries beyond
their own borders.
 Easy brand promotion - Brands can effectively communicate with their customers thanks to
the emergence of new technologies and the growing usage of the internet in business.
 Cost effective channel - Using the internet, digital marketing is found cost-effective and
cheaper source of advertising as compared to traditional marketing channels like television,
radio, magazines, newspapers, and banners etc.
 Consumer’s convenience to shop online - Due to more popularity and capabilities of digital
marketing, customers have become more convenient to shop online at any time (24/7 basis)

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whether the shops are over or across the borders. Digital marketing has opened-up an
opportunity for companies and retailers to direct its customers to an outlet of the online store.
 Accountability of marketing activity - Companies can use digital marketing to track their
marketing operations, such as whether or not digital marketing is working, how much activity
is being generated, and how much dialogue is being generated.
 Helping marketers’ career - Individuals that are experienced with implementing digital
marketing strategies and assisting organizations in expanding their brands to target clients via
the internet have found digital marketing to be a lucrative career option.
Challenges of digital marketing
No doubt, digital marketing is an expansion tool for the businesses but it is facing some
challenges or hindrances. Some of these challenges are:
 Limitation of internet access - The internet plays an important role in digital marketing.
Consumers may not be able to access the internet in some places or may have bad internet
connections. In locations where there is no or limited internet connectivity, digital marketing
may be unsuccessful.
 Limited consumer link and conversation - Because digital marketing is so reliant on the
internet, marketers may struggle to make their commercials more complete and engage their
customers in a conversation about the company's brand image or products.
 High competition of brands - When a consumer searches the internet for a certain product
from a specific firm, many competing goods and services with similar marketing methods
emerge on the customer's home page.
 Risk of hacking strategies - One of the disadvantages of digital marketing is that the risk of
a company's promotion efforts being hacked always falls on digital channels (internet).
Hackers or competitors can simply track and copy a well-known company's valuable
promotional methods, which they can then use for their own goals.
 Anti-brand activities (Doppelganger) - Another drawback of digital marketing is that even a
person or group of persons can harm the image of a recognized brand through 'Doppelganger'.
Anti-brand activists, bloggers, and opinion leaders spread the term ‘Doppelganger’ to
disapprove the image of a certain brand.

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 Advertisement for limited products - Another disadvantage of digital marketing is that it is
only useful for consumer products. Digital channels cannot be used to promote industrial items
or pharmaceutical products. The preceding data may aid digital marketers in comprehending
the benefits and drawbacks of digital marketing.
There are some specific challenges that Spar might have to face for using digital marketing
instead of traditional marketing. Learning about the consumers is one kind of challenge for Spar.
In this regard, the company has to understand the requirements of the consumers so that they can
fulfil the needs of their consumers because social media advertisement is more competitive now.
In this regard, the company can use the Hub Spot tool to understand the requirements of the
consumers which is important for the business growth. In addition, at the time of using digital
marketing, the transaction process is quite challenging for the company as they have to provide
required safety to its consumers so that they can safely complete their payment process after getting
their product (Suh et al. 2021). In this context, the company can use VPN to give security in the
transaction process of the company while switching to digital marketing. Making accessible
websites is a very common issue that SPAR might have to face. This is also a challenge for the
company as it is required that people see the company website including its product image quite
easily. Therefore, the company can focus on WAI to make the company website accessible for its
consumers.
3. Digital marketing tools and platforms

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Digital marketing tools
(Source: www.unfurlmedia.com, 2021)
Companies today depend on digital marketing tools to survive. If you're a digital marketer
trying to improve your marketing techniques and return on investment, you'll want to be aware
of a few tools that can help. You'll be able to implement proper strategy in the right way with
digital marketing tools. These tools are designed to keep things organized, allowing you to
make necessary customizations whenever needed.
Todays’ consumers are highly reliant on social media platforms such as Instagram,
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Snapchat. Social media platforms allow marketers to reach their
prospects in a myriad of ways. First, marketing teams can use these channels to distribute
paid ads and sponsored content. Each platform has a way for marketing teams to create paid
ad campaigns and segment users so these ads appear on the feeds of target
audience members. While each platform is different, most have capabilities that allow
marketing teams to place ads based on location, job title, interests, age, etc.
There are some key digital marketing tools and platforms that can be recognized which are
available to the markets. According to Fierro et al. (2017), Email marketing is a digital marketing
tool for using the Google platform. The marketers can use this digital marketing tool to promote
the company product as by using this tool the company can inform its consumers about the latest
food product that is available in the shop. As argued by Rosokhata et al. (2020), Spar can use video
hosting as a digital marketing tool and for using this tool the company can use YouTube platform
where the company can host product video to achieve a maximum number of consumer
engagement which is important for the business growth as well as brand awareness. Compared
with physical channels such as newspaper advertisements that help to achieve a 1:1 consumer base,
the company can use social media platforms that are open to all and can help to achieve a maximum
number of customer engagement to improve brand awareness.
4. Digital marketing landscape and e-commerce

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How digital marketing is helping e-commerce to grow
(Source: www.proschoolonline.com, 2021)
E-commerce is a type of business in which all of the purchasing and selling is done via the
internet.Therefore the digital marketing comes into the picture, as it is the only medium to help e-
commerce business to grow.
It has become very important to grab customer’s attention as they get distracted really
easily, this is where digital marketing comes into the picture and help e-commerce businesses to
go through such challenges.
Digital marketing focuses on incorporating its appropriate marketing channels to make it
easier for e-commerce businesses, find out few of the most important digital marketing channels
below:
 Search engine optimization (SEO) - Search engine optimization (SEO) is a blessing in
disguise for your e-commerce business. Organic search engine results are used to increase
the quantity and quality of traffic to your website.
 Search engine marketing (SEM) - SEM (search engine marketing) is concerned with
increasing the visibility of a website in order to improve organic search engine ranking. It's
the ideal channel for getting immediate results in the short term.
 Email marketing - Email marketing is not dead yet, it is still the most effective channel
of digital marketing for retailers delivering actual ROI. Emails are crucial in offering a
better purchasing experience for customers. When you place an order or pay for a product
on an e-commerce website, you will immediately receive a confirmation email as well as
a digital invoice.

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 Social media marketing (SMM) - Social media has taken over the world; there isn't a
single person who isn't on it. Posting on Instagram or Facebook on a daily basis has become
a habit. Social media has made it easier for businesses to communicate with their
customers.
The digital marketing landscape indicates an electronic plan which Spar can use to engage
a maximum number of consumers with quality content and company products. According to Syed
et al. (2020), the digital marketing landscape indicates email, social network, video clips, mobile
devices which the company can use to promote its product to consumers. For example, Spar can
host video clips on the YouTube platform where they can promote their food product and can
engage a maximum number of consumers with the company brand. On the other hand, e-commerce
is a business model which the company can use to buy raw materials or to sell products on the
internet. As argued by Lestari et al. (2020), the company can use e-commerce such as Amazon
where the company can sell its food product and consumers can also transfer their money safely.
This is quite beneficial for the company as by using this e-commerce the company can reach a
maximum number of consumers and it saves the time of the consumers which can give a positive
impact on business growth.
5. Omni-channel marketing
Omni-channel marketing can be recognized as a multichannel selling approach that is used
to give a compact shopping experience to its consumers. In less than five years, one marketing
strategy has evolved from an unfamiliar concept, to a trendy buzzword, to a crucial component for
successful marketing. Omni-channel marketing is one of the fastest-growing concepts for retailers
and consumers alike.
The term "omni-channel" refers to a customer's shopping experience being carried over
several platforms. To provide customers with a smooth purchasing experience, retailers must
integrate all accessible channels. The goal of omni-channel is to increase customer evaluation and
involvement with the retailer.
The concept of omni-channel was first introduced to the marketing world in 2010. The
term was devised to describe a shopping experience that extends beyond multi-channel retailing.