Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing Strategies for Businesses

This report comprehensively examines the role of digital and social media marketing in the modern business landscape. It begins with an introduction to marketing fundamentals, including the marketing mix, with a focus on the communication mix. The report then delves into the significance of digital and social media marketing, highlighting their importance for brand building and customer engagement. Part 2 provides detailed examples of effective social media content, such as images and videos, illustrating how companies like M&S leverage these formats in their marketing campaigns. The report also analyzes the application of digital marketing models, specifically the RACE model, to evaluate the effectiveness of these campaigns. Through case studies like the Gareth Southgate waistcoat campaign and the "What's new at M&S" video series, the report demonstrates how these strategies drive reach, engagement, conversion, and customer loyalty. The report concludes by emphasizing the critical role of digital marketing in achieving sustainable business growth and a strong brand presence.

The role of digital
marketing and social
media marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Explantation of marketing .........................................................................................................3
Marketing mix with description of where communication mix fits...........................................3
Digital and social media marketing............................................................................................5
Importance of digital and social media marketing in corporate world.......................................5
PART 2............................................................................................................................................6
Social media content with appropriate examples .......................................................................6
Utilisation of suitable digital marketing models.........................................................................8
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................10
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
In the current corporate world most of organisation indulge in some
marketing campaign because marketing campaigns offer more than
advertisement of the company and produce an effective brand image which
is used for perpetual growth and development of the firm. This report
describes the significance of marketing function, marketing mix and provides
various factors of communication mix. Importance of Digital marketing with
emphasis on social media marketing is provided in this report. In addition to
this ways in which social media content and enhances communication
strategy with appropriate examples and digital marketing standards are
provided in this report.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
Explantation of marketing
Marketing: Marketing operations of an organisation focus on
promotion of various services help the company maintain a strong digital
presence. Marketing is centred around identification of target consumer
base of certain product or service and conducting activities which persuade
such consumers to purchase a particular product (Chaffey and Ellis-
Chadwick, 2019) . Marketing is a function where buying or selling of products
and services takes place. It includes promotions, interactions with the seller
and the buyer and dropping services to the customers.

Marketing mix with description of where communication mix fits
Marketing Mix: Marketing mix is a process of developing strategies
for a product in such a way that it satisfy customer needs. Various elements
in the marketing mix provides the company an insight into their products
and building an effective marketing strategies. Various elements of
marketing mix in relation to British retail organisation M&S are provided
below:
Product
This element of the marketing mix depicts the commodity offered by
the organisation in order to satisfy the needs of their target consumer base.
This element helps the organisation identify their distinguishing factors
related to their products which provide value to the consumer (Puthussery,
2020). The product mix of M&S includes home décor, fashion and food items
with subsidiaries providing financial and energy services.
Price
The pricing strategy chosen by an firm to sell their products is covered
in this part of the marketing mix. This element is influenced by various
factors such as perceived value of the consumer, competition in the market
and many more . Every organisation neds to select a pricing strategy which
enhances their profitability and provides them a beneficial position in the
industry (Chaffey and Smith, 2017). M&S utilises competitive pricing
strategy to earn profitability in highly competitive retail industry and offers
dynamic pricing during festive season to attract large number of consumers.

Place
The main focus of this element is around locations and outlets which
are selected by the organisation in to sell their products. This element
involves both physical and online stores of the company. In relation to M&S
this element of the marketing mix involves online portals constructed by the
company to deliver their products along with physical stores present in
famous regions of more than 50 countries (Dahl, 2018) .
Promotion
This aspect of the marketing strategy focuses on various marketing
campaigns initiated by the organisation. This aspect is crucial to overall
success of the company as they are able to connect with their target
customers through this marketing mix element.
Communication mix is situated in this element of the marketing mix.
Various direct and indirect marketing campaigns of an organisation
communicate valuable information to the consumers. Promotional activities
not only inform consumers about the company but connect consumers to the
brand image of the firm and maintains public relations. Personnel sales and
sales promotion is also achieved through this marketing mix.
In relation to the respective firm, various promotional techniques such
as the recent “It's on you” social media campaign helped the company
communicate with their consumers about various Christmas which improved
overall sales and brand awareness of the firm (Das, 2021) .
People

All the employees recruited by the organisation to complete their daily
activities are covered in this element of the marketing mix. Organisations
implement various practices such as talent management and workforce
planing to build an efficient and skilled workforce. This gives the organisation
competitive edge over their rivals as they are able to complete various
objectives with swiftly and effectively. M&S conducts various training and
development initiatives and provides rewards to talented employees in order
to build a talented workforce.
Process
Series of activities undertaken by the organisation in order to deliver
various products or services to their consumers. Several activities included in
this marketing mix include transportation channels, payment structures and
after sales services. Effective activities in this element ensure delivery of
high quality products to their consumers (Erokhina, Mitko, and Troilin,
2018). M&S utilises both digital and cash payment service which increases
the accessibility of the firm.
Physical evidence
This part of the marketing mix refers to the every aspect of the
company with which the consumers interact with during their consumer
journey. Ambiance of physical stores, website design, product packaging are
some of the major elements covered in part of the marketing mix. M&S
utilises provides their consumers recyclable packaging and recycling bins in

their stores to reduce plastic waste (Heinze, and et. al., 2020) . This along
with user friendly website has improved physical evidence of the firm.
Digital and social media marketing
Digital Marketing: Digital marketing refers to the advertisement of
products using various digital marketing tools. Such tools are social media
marketing, content marketing, affiliate marketing and so on which offers
various options for promoting commodities.
Social Media Marketing: It refers to the promotion of goods and
services of an organization on digital platform with the help of social
networking sites. It doesn't require costs for posting content but posting
advertisement on social media requires some amount. Customers and
prospects can targeted easily by posting content often so that advertisement
triggers their mind (Key, 2017) .
Importance of digital and social media marketing in corporate world
Digital marketing: Digital marketing is an indispensable digital
marketing technique in the current business environment. M&S being a
clothing brand is required to change their brand image with trending
lifestyles of various influencers as well as celebrities. This creates demand of
digital marketing techniques in order to reach public at large scale. Digital
marketing helps the company send personalised messages to each
consumers which constructs a loyal consumer base for the firm. Digital
marketing is better than traditional marketing practices as their performance

can be monitored with the use of various tools and campaigns can be
modified midway upon not getting desired results.
Social media marketing: Social media marketing is an important
part of the overall marketing strategy used by an organisation. This
technique helps to develop good brand image and appropriate promotion of
its products (Erokhina, Mitko, and Troilin, 2018) . Social media marketing
posts strike with targeted traffic, better connectivity with customers in order
to manage company's image. Social media marketing increases brand
awareness and shapes a centralised brand identity of the firm which remains
in the mind of consumer for a longer time period.
PART 2
Social media content with appropriate examples
Various social media platforms equip users with different tools which
can be utilised to enhance their overall digital marketing strategy. Influencer
content, infographics images and videos are several types of social media
marketing content utilised to effectively market their goods or services. One
of the main feature of social media marketing marketing is the ability to
construct integrated channels and similar identity across all platforms which
increases brand visibility (Heinze, and et. al., 2020). Usage of social media
content by various multinational organisation is provided below:
Images
The attention span of the consumers and social media users in the
current world is less than a few seconds which is one of the main factors

behind usage of images in social media marketing campaigns. Imagery
increases the sharing potential of the marketing content and constant image
posting in every social media platform helps build a strong brand identity
which connects the consumer to the firm. User generated images are one
of the most impactful social media content. This content is usually created
by well known consumers of the brand and helps the bran effectively
communicate with the consumers about the premium status of their
products (Key, 2017). Another important feature provided by this social
media marketing technique is the ability to directly communicate with
consumers in a cost effective way.
Gareth southgate waistcoat campaign by M&S
This social media content was the basis of M&S marketing campaign
during the 2018 football world cup which involved posting images of famous
and stylish football manager Gareth Southgate when he was wearing M&S
waistcoats (Puthussery, 2020). Online searches related to that waistcoat
increased after utilisation of user generated images by the firm. This
campaign generated a lot of attention and worldwide sales of the waistcoat
were increased after successful execution of this campaign.

Videos
This social media content helps the company build creative campaigns
which are helpful in persuading consumers to purchase a certain product.
The usage of videos is generally involves producing a short promotional
content in a video format which is posted on various social media platforms.
Festive video content, behind the scene footage collaboration with
celebrities or social media influencers are different kinds video content
utilised by organisations (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019).
What's new at M&S video campaign by M&S
In the year 2018 M&S started their social media video campaign which
involved TV celebrities such as Amanda Holden and Emma Wills tasting
various food items sold by M&S. The first episode of this series was

introduced in month of September and included Italian food items offered by
the company which was posted on You Tube, Instagram TV and Facebook.
The organisation was successful in showcasing high quality of their products
through this campaign which reached millions of consumers (Chaffey and
Smith, 2017). This promotional technique helped the organisation interact
with their consumers in a more humans way and present their products with
the help of unique and creative strategies.
Utilisation of suitable digital marketing models
What's new at M&S video campaign by M&S
Race model summarises major online multichannel activities that ned
to be managed during digital marketing.

RACE Model:
Reach: The video series produced by M&S which features various
celebrities not only helped connect with food lovers but interaction with fans
of these celebrities was accomplished. The you tube videos of this series
gathered thousands of views.
Act: As consumers could see their favourite stars discus about food
items, they were more engaged with the content (Dahl, 2018).
Convert: The organisation was able to convert a large amount of
potential consumers into loyal customers through this campaign due to
promotion of high quality products.
Engage: Although consumer engagement was low due to overall
views being less than a million but the organisation saw a huge increase in
their you tube subscribers after this campaign.