Digital Marketing Strategies and Plan for Waterstone Bookstore

This report comprehensively examines digital marketing strategies, focusing on the Waterstone Bookstore Company. It begins by presenting an overview of the digital marketing landscape, comparing online and offline marketing concepts. The report then analyzes key consumer trends fueling digital marketing growth, such as the increased use of social media and the demand for time-saving, cost-effective purchasing options. It assesses digital tools and hardware available to marketers, contrasting them with traditional physical channels, and explores the evolution of e-commerce and digital marketing platforms. The report also develops a digital marketing plan to build multi-channel capabilities, explaining the evolution of omni-channel marketing. Furthermore, it determines and evaluates measurement techniques and performance metrics in digital marketing, culminating in a set of actions to improve performance. The report provides a detailed understanding of how Waterstone can leverage digital tools to expand its reach and enhance its marketing effectiveness.

DIGITAL MARKETING

Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Present an overview of the digital marketing landscape and compare online and offline
marketing concepts..............................................................................................................................3
P2 Determine and analyse the key consumer trends and insights that are fuelling the growth
of digital marketing...............................................................................................................................5
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................5
P3 Assess the key digital tools and hardware that are available to marketers in contrast to
‘bricks and mortar’ and other physical channels...............................................................................5
P4 Examine the development of e-commerce and digital marketing platforms and channels in
comparison to physical channels........................................................................................................6
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................................7
P5 Develop a digital marketing plan and strategy to build multi-channel capabilities.................7
P6 Explain how omni-channel marketing has evolved....................................................................8
TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................................9
P7 Determine and evaluate the measurement techniques and performance metrics in digital
marketing...............................................................................................................................................9
P8 Present a set of actions to improve performance in digital marketing...................................10
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Digital marketing encompasses the effort of an organization where the marketing
department extensively uses electronic media as well as other devices in order to
communicate the message to large audience. Efforts are made to leverage the
opportunity of digital channel which include search engine optimization, email
marketing, social media, use of website and affiliate marketing in order to connect with
existing as well as prospective customers (Tiago and Veríssimo, 2014). For the better
understanding of report Waterstone Bookstore Company of UK has been selected
which was founded in the year 1982 and comprises of diverse collection of books. The
company is looking to extensively use digital media tool in order to sell the books of
diverse bookseller through online platform. This report covered topics like detailed
understanding about the opportunities as well as external challenges that can impact
the digital environment. Evaluate the digital tools as well as channel and compare them
with the brick and mortar outlet. Demonstrate the way by which digital marketing
activities can be organized in order to build down the multichannel capabilities of an
entity. Further, explain the methods that help to monitor as well as measure the
performance of digital marketing tool to achieve the predetermined result.
TASK 1
P1 Present an overview of the digital marketing landscape and compare online and
offline marketing concepts.
The landscape of digital marketing is constantly evolving within a short span of
time it has covered large market successfully. The digital marketing landscape is rapidly
evolving which constitute better functioning of company either to build the online
presence or expand the reach of entity. In relation to Waterstone bookstore company
can either opt for paid or unpaid version of digital media to better cater the requirement
of large market. Moreover, within e-commerce business the use of digital marketing has
transformed the way by which different industries like retail connect with customer and
expand the area of operation. Thus, it is forward thinking strategies associated with

digital marketing that has crucially help the business to gain long-term success. As it
anticipate the interest as well as requirement of customer so this act as an opportunity
for the entity to modify their services and provide them with best possible output.
Initially, the customer in order to make final purchases used to move in various physical
stores to get the best products for themselves (Chaffey and Smith, 2017). But now with
the help of digital tool has created the virtual ecosystem where with the help of internet
user can access the offerings offered by diverse stores and make the final purchases
successfully.
Basis of difference Online marketing Offline marketing
Tool and technique Online marketing include
the tools like the use of
social media, pay per click,
blogging, email marketing
and so on. All these tools
helps to widespread the
message through web.
It involve the use of
traditional media like radio,
television and print media
that cover the preferable
amount of distance by
broadcasting the
awareness through special
channels.
Identify performance of
ultimate user
The performance of
company as well as
success of marketing
campaign can be
determined at real time with
the use of Analytics it is
better way to understand
the market trend and bring
favourable modifications
accordingly.
It is time taking process in
terms to understand the
responses of customer as
there is lack of availability
of data due to which it is
less likely to understand the
behaviour of prospects
(Royle and Laing, 2014).

P2 Determine and analyse the key consumer trends and insights that are fuelling the
growth of digital marketing.
Waterstone is a company who deals with sales of books. They realised that to
increase their productivity they have to rely on digital market as people are available on
digital media from all over the globe. Company reason to shift to digital marketing is key
consumer trend which is fuelling digital marketing to next level. Some of those trends
are as follows:
 Consumer has started using social media to larger extent which promote the
companies to use digital media more to advertise and sell their product. Waterstone
also promote their products on social media so that they can get more opportunities
to do business (Leeflang and et. al., 2014). Large number of market can be tapped
via social media so company also rely on social media to get large market share to
do business.
 Digital media helps customer in increasing their brand awareness and lot of
customer rely on them to get information about the product. Company can advertise
their product through digital media and customer will be ready to go through it if the
content is interesting. The customer has become more aware and they like to have a
conversation before buying a product so that they will be fully aware about all
aspects of the product. It will give them confidence to buy the product and the
company is well aware about it that’s why they are going for digital marketing as via
digital platforms huge segment of market can be covered. Another reason why the
customer is switching over to digital marketing because it is time saving and cost
effective, people can purchase good through mobile only. They don’t need to go
anywhere to purchase the goods will be delivered to the doorstep and it is very
consumer friendly.

TASK 2
P3 Assess the key digital tools and hardware that are available to marketers in contrast
to ‘bricks and mortar’ and other physical channels.
Digital marketing can be used by customer in bricks and mortar areas. Internet is
not only used for online shopping but it also have alternate usage. Digital marketing is
very effective for traditional businesses as they get more market share where they can
perform their operation. Waterstone believes in this concept and they know that there
are digital tools which they can apply in brick and mortars location and other physical
channel.
Location marketing can be done in a way that a customer can find product
through online channel and they can purchase the product through offline mode. Online
mode will help the customer to get all the data and once satisfied they can purchase it
through offline store. SEO need to done in a way if customer is searching for the
company’s product they should find the name of the company on top at least for the
customer who is from local. This will help the company to increase their business from
the physical store as more customers will get aware about the store and the product
they are offering (Stone and Woodcock, 2014). Once customer has the detail about the
store they will be happy to visit the store for the final purchase so for that company need
to make sure that SEO is done correctly to the benefit of the company. The company
needs to be visible in social media say Facebook or Instagram and they need to provide
consistent information about themselves. This will help the company to be in top when
the customer search for the information related to company product. Thus, digital media
can help to increase the productivity of Waterstone to new levels.
P4 Examine the development of e-commerce and digital marketing platforms and
channels in comparison to physical channels.
Nowadays, Digital marketing is used by every country to increase the productivity
to new levels. Waterstone is no different. The behavior of consumer id flexible in nature
and it keeps on changing with a rapid speed. Ecommerce introduction has prompt
customer to purchase from online stores and with effect of that digital marketing is
getting developed day by day. Digital marketing is the only medium which helps e-

commerce business to grow. The customer of today likes to read a review about the
book before buying it. They also evaluate the store in digital media and then finally
make decision whether to buy from there or not. Digital marketing has made business
tough as it has become very important for company to catch the attention of the
customers as they have lot of option now and they will select the best for themselves.
Email marketing has increased and company tries to connect with the customer through
mail so that they can be aware about the company product. Social media is used by the
company in a huge level as lot of people use social media apps like Facebook,
Instagram, twitter so company try to promote their product there in order to get the
attention. Content marketing is another digital marketing aspect which is used in huge
level to inform customer about the product. All the details about the product is written
along with their benefits. The company uses SEO in huge level so that they can be on
top when the customer is searching about their product in internet so that they can get
demands through online medium. Digital media helps the company to get untapped
market that is the reason why digital marketing is excelling in comparison to the
traditional physical stores and Water stone is well aware about the fact that how to roll
along with the trend.
TASK 3
P5 Develop a digital marketing plan and strategy to build multi-channel capabilities
A digital marketing plan can be defined as a document that outlines details
relating to the different digital marketing campaigns. It also explains both long as well as
short term goals of the company (Bala and Verma, 2018). Apart from this, strategies to
achieve the goals in a digital manner are also included in the plan. It is important
because it can help an organization to identify different ways in which message can be
communicated to the customers in the most effective manner. A digital marketing plan
along with strategy to build multi-channel capabilities for Waterstones Book Shopis
explained below –
Step 1: Situational Analysis
Strengths – The workers of the book shop are well-educated students who have
a hobby of reading. Apart from this, the infrastructure of the book shop is attractive and

inviting. There is also a popular café nearby due to which the customers visiting the
shop is more.
Weaknesses –The space of the book shop is small and also, the number of
customers visiting the store is less during the summer season. Since the students keep
graduating every year, the staff turnover is high.
Opportunities –The book shop can invite authors to give lectures and sign
books for people who are very much into reading(Chaffeyand Smith, 2017). The
management can work upon delivering the book orders to the customers on the same
day.
Threats –People who like to read e-books or online can lead to an elimination of
the concept of physical books. Also, younger generations do not read much.
Step 2: Establish Digital Marketing Goals
 To increase overall customer base by 20 % within eight months by using different
omni-channel capabilities.
 To increase profitability in the market by 25% within 12 months.
Step 3: Define Marketing Strategy
For Waterstones, in order to develop omni-channel capabilities, it is important for
developing strategies that can help it in achieving those objectives. The book shop can
adopt the strategy of segmentation, targeting and positioning. This will help it in
attracting a lot of customers and gaining their loyalty(Chaffey, 2019). Apart from this, it
will also contribute to the book shop’s overall profitability.
Step 4: Digital Strategies and Tactics
In this stage, it is important for the company to adopt different techniques and
tools so as to gain large customers. Waterstones Book Shop can offer discounts, offers
and social media to the customers. This will help in promoting their business and
attracting new segments of customers.
Step 5: Measuring Results

In this step, the results of the strategies that are implemented will be analyzed
and will also helps in making effective decision sin the future. The book shop can also
analyze the preferences of its customers like what kind of books they prefer to read etc.
P6 Explain how omni-channel marketing has evolved
Omni-channel marketing can be defined as a sales approach that involves
different channels that provides the customers with an integrated shopping experience.
This helps in proving a seamless experience to the customers and gaining their
loyalty.Waterstones aims to become an omni-channel business, the concept of which
has evolved over time and a lot of companies have implemented this concept in their
system(Chester and Montgomery, 2017). This has helped in making the businesses
innovative and satisfy the needs of the customers effectively.Also, the demands of the
customers keep on changing from time to time and they demand more personalized
experiences. In omni-channel marketing, different channels are inter connected with
each other. This allows the company to provide its customers a seamless experience.
Waterstones Book Shop can partner up with fellow book shops which can help in
coming up with innovative and creative ideas.Therefore, omni-channel marketing is
considered to be one of the great ways of treating the customers.
TASK 4
P7 Determine and evaluate the measurement techniques and performance metrics in
digital marketing
Metrics in digital marketing can be defined as values that are used by marketers
in an organization in order to measure as well as track the performance of their different
marketing campaigns. These metrics can also help the companies not only in attaining
their goals but also measuring performance. The different measurement techniques are
explained below –
 Online Sales –A company caneasily measure its performance by analyzing its
overall performance. Waterstones has its official website, wherein it keeps a
track of all the sales that take place online(Deiss and Henneberry, 2017). Online
sales also give insights about what kinds of books do people prefer reading.

 Bounce Rates –These are not considered to be good as they represent the
number of people who click the back button when they land on the company’s
website. These kinds of websites are usually regarded as low-quality and spam.
Therefore, it is important to measure the bounce rates in order to get an
understanding of the number of people who return back.
 Page View Per Visit –The respective book shop can use google analytics in
order to identify the total number of page views by customers per visit. It should
pay attention to its webpage that are most visited by the customers. This will also
help the company in getting to understand the kind of content that they are
interested in.
 Word of Mouth Promotions –There are many people who will recommend
about visiting the book shop to their family and friends(Heinze and et. al., 2020).
This will help in promoting the book shop and therefore, the number of people
visiting will increase. This will add to its overall profitability of the book shop.
P8 Present a set of actions to improve performance in digital marketing
The different actions that can be used by the book shop in order to improve the
overall performance in digital marketing. The different actions are described below –
 Assessment of Technology -The respective book shop should assess the
technology tat is already implemented within the system in order to check the
effectiveness of the same. This will help it in identifying the potential gaps and
then addressing the same(Kannan, 2017). If technology that is already
implemented will not work properly, the overall performance will be affected.
 Digital Marketing Team – Waterstones Book Shop has a special team that is
particularly dedicated towards ensuring that the content that is posted on the
website as well as different social media platforms is interesting and
engaging.The team also makes sure that al l the campaigns are planned
according.
 Measuring Content Reach -This is one of the important actions that the
respective book shop measure. This is because it will help it in making sure that
the content that it is publishing on social media as well as its website is reaching
the target customers effectively. This will also provide a better insight about if the

content is relevant to the customers and in sync with the trends of the market or
not.
 Implementing Latest Technology –Lastly, the book shop can also consider
implementing latest technology in its system(Kingsnorth, 2019). This will help it in
improving overall performance as well as providing the customers with a
seamless experience. This will lead to them wanting to visit the book shop again.
Apart from this, the respective book shop will be able to remain competitive in the
market and attract a greater number of customers.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been determined that it is significant for an
organization to carry out their business through digital media as it helps to establish the
unique image through which the company can reach out to the million customer within
stipulated period of time. Along with that usage of desirable tool act as an opportunity as
it helps to gain the result at real time. Additionally, focus can be given on the changing
customer trend and gain detail insight about external market. Probably the digital
platform has wider reach in comparison to brick and mortar outlet as the company can
perform various campaigns to meet the requirement of customer and quickly appeal
their interest. Therefore, the performance needs to be monitored through various tools
like analytics that helps to maintain the significant performance of entity.

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