Digital Marketing Plan, Strategy, and Performance Analysis Report

This report analyzes the digital marketing landscape for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a medium-sized company in Canary Wharf. It begins by developing a digital marketing plan and strategy to build multi-channel capabilities, utilizing the SOSTAC framework and exploring the evolution of omnichannel marketing within the organization. The report then delves into the determination and evaluation of measurement techniques and performance metrics for the digital marketing plan, covering traffic generation, visitor analysis, and customer retention. Finally, it presents a set of actionable recommendations for improving the digital marketing performance, focusing on target audience identification, channel prioritization, and regular performance reviews. The report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of digital marketing best practices for enhancing business outcomes.

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Executive Summary:
The aim of the report is to provide an insight into business marketing from the perspective of
a digital marketing executive for a medium sized company in Canary Wharf. The company
chosen here is Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The report commences with the development of the
digital marketing strategy and plan for building multichannel capabilities within the
organization along with explaining how the omni-channel marketing evolved within
organization. There report also focuses on the determination and the evaluation of the
measurement performance and measurement metrics of the digital marketing plan. Further,
the report also focuses on the set of actions and the recommendations for improving the
performance of the digital marketing.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
(a).i. Developing Digital Marketing Plan and Strategy for Building Multi-channel
Capabilities for Organisation...........................................................................................................4
(a).2. Development of Omni Channel Marketing Within the Organization:..................................7
(b). Determination and Evaluation of Measurement Techniques and Performance Metrics in
Digital Marketing Plan....................................................................................................................8
(c) Actions for Improving the Performance in Digital Marketing for the Organization...............11
( d) Recommendations for Improving the Digital Marketing Plan................................................12
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................13
References:....................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction:
The report gives an insight into business marketing from the point of view of a digital
marketing executive for a medium sized company located at the Canary Wharf, one of the
key financial Centre of United Kingdom. In other words, Canary Wharf represents the
commercial estate on the Isle of Dogs in the United Kingdom in the London Borough of the
Tower Hamlets. The company chosen here is Carlson Wagonlit Travel that provides the
service of managing the business travels, events and meetings for companies and non-
government and government organisations (carlsonwagonlit.com 2018). It is one of the
leading digital travel management companies across the world that helps the organisations of
all the sizes in delivering travel program engaging the employees thereby empowering them
in becoming more productive. Besides, the company looks after enough travellers by filling
close to over 260 Boeing 787s and 100,000 hotel rooms, handling close to 105 corporate
events and talking over 300, 000 people over the phone along with answering close to 2
million emails every month. The company follows a strategy where through perfect blend of
technology and people it delivers personalised, seamless and integrated experiences. The
report focuses on the development of digital marketing strategy and plan for building multi-
channel capabilities of the organisation. The report also explains the evolution of the omni-
channel marketing within the organisation. The report even determines and puts forward the
performance metrics and the measurement techniques within the digital marketing plan for

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the organisation along with the determination of set of actions for improving the digital
marketing performance of organisation.
(a).i. Developing Digital Marketing Plan and Strategy for Building Multi-Channel
Capabilities for Organisation
Multichannel marketing capabilities of an organisation refers to the process of
utilisation of online and offline channels of marketing communications for engaging and
targeting the customers (Cummins, Peltier and Dixon 2016). An efficient multichannel
marketing plan puts forward the techniques and channels of marketing communication
necessary for enabling the customer acquisition for the particular service or the product
categories. A multichannel marketing plan helps in strategically connecting the multiple
channels together into one thereby leading to multi-channel approach to communication.
Therefore, the digital marketing plan for building the multi-channel capabilities of the
organisation would depend on the SOSTAC framework (Tabrizi and Kabirnejat2015). The
six different components of the framework include situation analysis, objectives, strategy,
tactics, action, execution, or control (Chaffeyand Smith2013).
The description of each of the components is as follows:
Situation Analysis:
This would refer to defining the present state of the company. The current state of
Carlson Wagonlit Travel focuses on the reduction of cost through best travel management

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solutions. Presently, the company launched a newer business division solely dedicated to the
hotel distribution known as RoomIt. The newly launched division focused on the creation and
delivery of the new and the innovative experience for expansion of access and greater variety
of customer accommodations across the world. For example, travel management service
provided by Carlson Wagonlit Travel to a Biotechnology firm helped the company in saving
up to US$15.5 million in airfare services along with US $1.4 million in the hotel programs
(carlsonwagonlit.com 2018). Carlson Wagonlit Travel also aided an automobile
manufacturer, by transforming close to 22,000 square meter rooftop into the vehicular test
track along with creation of a tagline that complemented the overall concept of its event. The
Carlson Wagonlit Travel also helped in uncovering savings opportunities through negotiation
of the reimbursement from the supplier. Besides, the company also delivered a secured and
safety solution including track report of a powerful traveler, destination communications and
communications related to crisis and alert.
Objectives:
The objectives include (carlsonwagonlit.com 2018):
1. Increasing the sales and the revenue: This is done either by increasing the number
of customers or increasing the size of average transaction or increasing frequency of the
transactions as per the customers or by raising the price. Carlson Wagonlit Travel would
particularly do so by driving the results through innovation and insight, digital transformation
of the business travel and the adoption of the clear strategic vision for meeting the evolving
needs.
2. Increasing the Profit Margins: This is done by increasing the price or narrowing the
focus or by imposing limitation in the discounts or cutting down waste. It also includes
scheduling the employees towards the needs while avoiding the scheduling of overtime and
convenience of the employees

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3. Ensuring brand awareness and customer satisfaction through digital channels of
marketing. The existing digital channels of marketing included email marketing, search
engine optimization, advertising through pay per click, display advertising, content
marketing, affiliate marketing, content marketing and the social media marketing. Carlson
Wagonlit Travel can choose any of the digital marketing channels for ensuring customer
satisfaction and brand awareness.
Strategy:
This refers to the strategies adopted in reaching the objectives. The company needs to adopt
strategies that would enable it in blending the people and the technology thereby delivering
personalised, seamless and integrated experience. Some of the strategies are as follows (Ryan
2016):
A. Identification of the Target Audience: It is one of the most important strategies for
tailoring accurate messages for inviting the customers since the content would not be lost in
the way or loose traction
B. Keeping an Eye on the Competitors: This will help in identifying the top competitors and
identify the ways in which they use digital marketing in reaching the customers.
C. Prioritizing Digital Tactics and Channels: It is necessary to prioritise the digital channels
for generation of the required amount of traffic. Prioritisation might take place in the
following manner:
 Email marketing
 Social media platform like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, You tube
and Pin interest.
 Referral Traffic
 Directory listings

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 Press
C. Ensuring Quicker Wins: It is necessary to identify various digital tactics and channels that
would be accurate for the business depending on the customer and the business objectives.
Thus, for raising the customer service along with the brand awareness of the company social
media marketing strategy is adopted.
D. Measurement of the results: To quantify and measure the increase in the online sales and
the natural search traffic there should be creation of SMART performance indicators.
E. Undertaking Monthly Review: This strategy involves reviewing the marketing tactics on a
regular basis thereby driving the results in a regular manner for adapting to the newer
campaigns thereby taking advantage of the opportunities.
However, the most important strategy for Carlson Wagonlit Travel in achieving the
objectives lay in identification of the target audience and the prioritisation of the digital
channels and techniques.
Tactics: It implies adoption of techniques for delivering customer grade omni-channel
experience for the traveler and easy to use solutions for the customers thereby providing the
best data and hotel offering (carlsonwagonlit.com 2018). This can be achieved through the
management of 4Ps which are product, price, place and promotion. In terms of product, price
and place, Carlson Wagonlit Travel through a perfect blend of technology and people delivers
personalized, seamless and integrated solutions at reasonable prices across the world. The
company also puts forward that there has also been an evolution of the needs and
expectations of the customers so the business gets adapted to the newer dynamics. This
encouraged the company in the creation of unbeatable customer offering and experience for
enhancing the value of the partners and the clients. This involved the delivery of an omni-
channel, consumer grade experience to travelers, easy to use solutions for the customers

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along with offering of best data and hotel offering. In order to implement this, the company
undertook promotions through various digital platforms and hotels.
.
Actions: This involved training of the marketing and sales staff. It would also include
expansion of the travel management potential through ideal technology that works
(carlsonwagonlit.com 2018). Actions also involves posting of messages regarding the
company’s offering on various social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. As a
necessary action the company also have contingency plan for dealing with the unexpected
disaster through traveler tracking, evacuation, repatriation and emergency alerts. It can be
through the creation of a technologically advanced travel platform, technology driven real
time data and effective communication. In other words, Carlson Wagonlit Travel provides
easy, personalized and friendly booking services that not only saves time, stress and money
while managing the corporate travel.
Control: This refers to the monitoring, estimation, investigation, modification and up
gradation of the system along with focus towards customer care,cultural diversity, reliability,
integrity and excellence (Kaufmanand Horton2014).
(a).2. Development of Omni Channel Marketing Within the Organisation:
Omni Channel refers to the multichannel approach to the sales that helps in providing the
customers with a seamless experience of shopping irrespective of the means of shopping that
includes online shopping through mobile or desktop or through bricks and mortar store.

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Omni channel marketing evolved within Carlson Wagonlit Travel through the adoption of
digital 3.0 strategies that allowed the following (Verhoef, Kannanand Inman2015):
 Ensures Seamless experience
 Supports Smart Phone Apps
 Allows internal and hybrid cloud
 Ensures click to video facility
 Allows big data and analytics
 Ensures 360 degrees view of the customers
Figure 1: Diagrammatic Representation of Transition to Omni Channel Marketing
Source: (Cummins, Peltierand Dixon2016)

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(b). Determination and Evaluation of Measurement Techniques and Performance
Metrics in Digital Marketing Plan
The determination and evaluation of the measurement techniques and performance for digital
marketing plan is done by adopting the following steps:
 Measuring Traffic Generation: It is a vital tool for measuring the
effectiveness of the digital marketing plan since it puts forward a bird’s eye
view of the plan in driving the traffic (Järvinenand Karjaluoto2015). The
number of visits will steadily build provided the plan is healthy. Provided the
number of visits does not build steadily then it becomes necessary for
reviewing the marketing channels and thereby adjust the things that do not
work.
 Identification of the number of New and Return Visitors: This shows the
effectiveness of the marketing plan in engaging and reaching the customers
(Stoneand Woodcock2014). If the digital marketing plan is incapable of
attracting new visitors then it becomes vital in making certain adjustments to
the strategy. Provided the bounce rates are high then also it becomes necessary
to adjust the outreach efforts.
 Identification of the Repeat Customers:This particular metric remains
effected by elements that includes the level of relevance of the site to the
customers, freshness of the content, design elements such as the ease of the
navigation, consistent branding, contact information and FAQs. If the users
travel through the site and does not return then it becomes necessary take note
of the website relevance and design, use of keywords and the ultimate
strategies of marketing.The rate of the return to the site helps in

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determining whether there is a need for improvement in content for
making it more enticing to the consumers.
 Origination of the Visitors:It portrays the origin of the visitors thereby acting
as useful metric in determining the channels that performs well. Higher
organic results indicate a stronger search engine optimization since increasing
number of people is visiting the website after performing the search. Higher
social traffic remains indicative of the social media presence and advertising.
The external results on the other hand shows the effectiveness of brand on the
third-party websites
 Keeping tab on Click through Rates:This metric represents the traditional
measurement for the key performance indicators (KPI) and helps in
determining the effectiveness of the digital marketing plan in combination
with the other metrics (Dodson2016).
 Identification of the Conversion Rate: It is necessary for tracking this metric
as it helps in increasing the interactivity or the generation of the leads through
filling a commenting form. These conversions are measured by setting up a
goal in the analytics toolbox. Provided the conversion rate is low, it becomes
necessary for assessing the aspects of the website including the navigation,
design, relevance, checkout process and engagement potential.
 Cost per Lead (CPL):This helps in providing detailed insights
intoeffectiveness of specific channels of marketing. In case the value remains
too high in comparison to the products or the service, it becomes necessary to
adjust the digital marketing plan accordingly (Leeflang et al. 2014).
 Cost Per Click (CPC): The value is calculated by dividing total cost of the
clicks by total clicks. The cost of each of the click remains determined by the

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keywords (Tiagoand Veríssimo2014). Provided the value of CPC remains
higher compared to rate of conversion, then it becomes necessary in reviewing
the keywords and adjusting them in seeing the ones that work and the ones
that does not. Analytics is used for guiding the program.
 Identification of Social Metrics: This refers to the exposure and is measured
in terms of interactivity. Social metrics includes comments, new followers,
likes, channel views, subscribers and bouncers in relevance to the social media
platform. When things become social, the growth rate represents an important
metric.
 Measurement of ROI: Measuring the return on investment (ROI) of the
digital marketing campaign not only can be confusing but also complicated
(Spillerand Tuten 2015). Varied channels of marketing have varied objectives
based on the goals and the targeted customers. The calculation of the ROI for
the individual channels provides a better insight into the plans of digital
marketing thereby generating sales and conversions. It also helps in portraying
the areas that needs to be dropped or divided.
(c) Actions for Improving the Performance in Digital Marketing for the Organisation
The set of actions include:
 Access to Proper Technology: Knowing the allocation of the budget it is necessary for
determining the technology stacks needed for accomplishing the goals. Some of the
core platforms includes CMS, CRM, marketing automation, social media platform
monitoring, scheduling and engagement content management platform (Roetzer 2014)
 Optimising Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): It is necessary for optimising the SEO
score. Theoptimisation of the content can take place by focusing on either the URL

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structure or the HTML formatting correlating with the product keywords. The success
of the SEO can be determined through the volume of traffic and the number of people
clicking the most on the site.
 By Measuring Content Reach: Measuring both, the internal and the external reach will
help in providing a better picture of the content types, messaging and topics. Audit of
the external reach can be performed through considering number of engagement per
month that remains categorized by the engagement type, number of engagements
through persona, content type and sales stage, engaged and shared assets in each of
the quarter.
 By Tracking Social Media Channels: Marketing via social media has become
increasingly prevalent within the business-to-business space (Mulhern2013). The
performance in digital marketing can be improved by using the power of the social
media for broadening the overall reach and presence. At the same time, it is also
necessary to apply the most suitable social media channel into the marketing strategy
and track its overall performance. Tools such as Google Analytics can be used for
tracking the performance. There are however some social media channels that have
inbuilt tools for auditing the strategy. Facebook Insights is one of the examples and it
helps in measuring crucial metrics like the time of the day the users remain online,
post engagement and post reach.
(d) Recommendations for Improving the Digital Marketing Plan
 It is recommended to focus on the conversion compared to the leads: The key
pillar determining the success of the digital marketing strategy is the data. Data along
with metrics influences every action and decision taken by a marketing team. In

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present day market, digging through data is necessary in understanding where the
potential customers spend their time.
 It is recommended for setting the stage for long-term value: While determining
the digital marketing decisions the marketers should focus on the long-term value.
Prior to pouring the resources into digital marketing strategy for social media
platforms marketers should perform due research and diligence for ensuring that the
investment pays for long term.
 It is recommended to double down on the customer service: The digital marketing
plan should be designed in a manner that would help in repeating brand conscious
customer service tactics across the multiple channels and platforms. This acts as a
critical component in determining the success of omnichannel marketing thereby
ensuring seamless and integrated experience in buying irrespective of the channel or
the platform.
 It is recommended to create an ultimate buying journey: This would also mean
optimisation of the online and other similar experience. It is also necessary for
rendering the sites well that remains consistent with guidelines of the brand thereby
making it simple for the shoppers for finding what they want. In other words, a
smoother buying journey enhances the likelihood of the conversation.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it can be said the digital marketing plan for building multichannel
capabilities is based on a particular framework comprising of six components that includes
situation analysis, objectives, strategies, tactics, action and control. The report also discusses
about how Carlson Wagonlit Travel adopted Omni channel marketing through the adoption
of 3.0 strategies of digital marketing. This defines how the digital revolution had an explosion

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in the last 20 years that helped in driving customer-oriented business strategies. Carlson
Wagonlit Travel is a company that ensures digitally transforming the business travel through
open innovation and various insights. The report also puts forward how Carlson Wagonlit
Travel like most of the business uses the digital marketing tools for the purpose of promotion
and creation of awareness of the brands. The report even evaluates the performance metrics
and measurement techniques for the digital marketing. There is also a detailed set of actions
for improving of the digital marketing. This helps in outlining the actions necessary for
reaching the goals. There are also recommendations mentioned that helps in improving the
digital marketing strategy. These recommendations if followed would help in determining a
digital strategy that resulted in maximum outcome.

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carlsonwagonlit.com 2018. [online] Available at:
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