Integrated Marketing Communication Plan for Shopify eStore Challenge

This report provides an integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan for a Shopify eStore, focusing on identifying unique selling propositions and effective marketing techniques. It covers marketing and positioning strategies, including search engine optimization and personalized customer experiences, alongside tactics and implementation using various IMC tools such as advertising, social media marketing, public relations, and direct marketing. A three-month tactical calendar outlines campaign types like social media advertising, direct selling, and public relations. The report anticipates results, emphasizing increased customer awareness and sales through strategic sponsorships and improved response rates. Budget allocation is detailed, providing a comprehensive overview of how resources are distributed across different marketing activities to achieve the company's objectives. This document is available on Desklib, where students can find a wealth of solved assignments and study resources.

Running head: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Integrated Marketing Communications
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Executive Summary
The report has thrown light on identification of the unique selling propositions of the
different kinds of integrated communication tools which are essential in managing the
different customers. Furthermore, the different kinds of marketing techniques have been
taken into consideration which has provided major overview on the budget and the KPIs that
is beneficial for the entire success of the company. The diverse types of IMC tools are
analyzed and identified that has facilitated in the management of the different activities of
Shopify eStore challenge.

2INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Table of Contents
Unique Selling Proposition........................................................................................................3
Marketing and Positioning Strategy...........................................................................................4
Tactics and Implementation.......................................................................................................5
Include a 3-month tactical calendar...........................................................................................7
Anticipated Results....................................................................................................................8
Budget Allocation....................................................................................................................11
References and Bibliography...................................................................................................15

3INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Unique Selling Proposition
The main unique selling proposition of Shopify is to provide platforms for the
different online and the retail point-of-sale systems. This helps and makes it easy for the
different customers who are the online retailers to simplify the entire process of running the
online store in an effective manner (Wijaya, 2015). The major USP of the e-commerce
platform is that this is simple and easy-to-use features and this helps the retailers in updating
the website automatically. Shopify was considered as one of the popular e-commerce
platforms in the year 2014 and plenty of information is made available for the users along
with developers in Shopify e-commerce website (Shopify.com., 2018).
Furthermore, in case of the different customers in the market, Shopify helps in
providing the customers with different kinds of filters for the product which are going to be
purchased by them (Lovelock &Patterson, 2015). The filtration is being done with the help of
the colour, size and range of the different products and services which are being purchased by
them. Moreover, this can be seen that the stock management of Shopify is effective in nature
as this helps in providing alert each time when one of the products is out of stock and this
will be beneficial for the out of the stock situation effectively (Valos et al., 2016).
The customers should buy the products from the eStore as this helps in providing the
different kinds of discount coupons that will assist in attracting the different customers in the
market. Furthermore, this will assist the organization and the customers of the respective
company or the eStore in managing their sales and profitability in a positive manner. There is
proper ease of use at Shopify from the perspective of the different users and this is robust in
nature in comparison to the other competitors in the market (Lovelock &Patterson, 2017).

4INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Marketing and Positioning Strategy
The marketing communication objectives are the different long-term goals wherein
the marketing campaigns are used in such a manner which will help in increasing the value of
the respective brand over time.
Firstly, the increase in the relevant traffic is one of the objectives which will help in
increasing the overall sales of the eStore in an effective manner (Foley, 2017). Furthermore,
provide the different visitors a proper personalized experience as this will customize their
expectations and this will cause more than 18% of the sales and revenue of the company
(Stokes & Turri, 2015).
Secondly, make the website responsive in nature by just visually optimising the
mobile screen and this will be easy for them in attracting more customers towards the
respective e-commerce platform in an effective manner (Singhal & Brown 2018).
Lastly, growing on the email list can be helpful in increasing the awareness among
the different customers in the market. For the e-commerce business, this kind of goal will
become consistent in nature as this will increase the sales effectively (Fill & Turnbull, 2016).
The positioning strategy which will be used by Shopify e-commerce store in the
market is search engine optimization along with one stop solution for the different issues
and aspects which will be beneficial for them in gaining strong customer base (Finne &
Grönroos, 2017). As per the respective positioning strategy, the Shopify eStore can help the
customers in finding the different kinds of products and services at one go and there is no
such hard process which is being followed. The search engine optimization will be helpful in
maximising the number of the different visitors on the respective page (Schivinski &
Dabrowski, 2016).

5INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
The rationale which can be applied to the entire tactical plan is inclusive of the
different aspects that is consisting of the SEO, public relation as well as the advertising that
can be assisting in managing the strong customer base in entire competitive market. This can
be noticed that there are various other competitors in the market for the e-commerce
businesses which can affect the business of Shopify in a negative manner and this can affect
their revenues and sales.
Tactics and Implementation
There are different marketing campaign components which are described as follows:
Proper market research is essential in nature which is required to be done as the online
market research in providing valuable insights into understanding the needs of the customers
and clarifying and segmenting the needs effectively (Rossiter, Percy & Bergkvist, 2018).
Secondly, the personas are required to be analysed and identified as this will help in
bringing effectiveness in the market research process. The reasons for targeting are required
to be analysed effectively which will be beneficial for managing their needs in an appropriate
manner.
Lastly, optimized landing pages along with attention grabbing content is the other
option which will help in meeting the personas of the different individuals. Furthermore, this
will be helpful in providing the business audience with the verifiable facts which will be
supporting the arguments (Risselada, Verhoef & Bijmolt, 2014).
Integrated Communication Tools
There are different kinds of integrated communication tools which will be beneficial
for attracting the different customers in the entire market effectively. There is huge
importance of the IMC tools as this helps in receiving better results along with gaining

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creative consistency in an effective manner. Moreover, the integrated marketing
communication tools helps in replacing the traditional way of the marketing as this mainly
focuses in maintaining healthy and long-term relationships with the different customers
(Quirke, 2017).
In this respective case, there are different four major IMC tools which have been used
in the management of the different promotional activities effectively.
Figure 1: Integrated Marketing Communication
(Source: Petersen, Kushwaha & Kumar, 2015)
Advertising- This is one of the major IMC tools for the promotion of the brand and
this helps the different organizations in reaching the wider audience in the shortest possible
time frame. The advertising will increase consumption of the particular product or the service
which will help in creating brand awareness among the different customers in an efficient
manner (Blakeman, 2018).
Social Media Marketing- This is the other major tool which can be used by the
Shopify eStore which will be helpful in reaching out to larger number of audeinces in an
appropriate manner. The Search Engine Optimization can be applied by the ecommerce

7INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
platform as this will help in managing the overall efficiency in an appropriate manner
(Parente & Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, 2014).
Public Relation- This is the IMC tool in which can be used by Shopify ecommerce
platform through the usage of the different press releases, public appearances, public events
along with sponsorships from the different client events effetcively (Mikeska et al., 2017).
Direct Marketing- This is the last IMC tool which can be applied by the respective
ecommerce store wherein they can directly communicate with the end customers which will
assist them in providing a brief overview on the different kinds of aspects which are rerquired
to be dealt by them effetcively (Luxton, Reid & Mavondo, 2015).
These respective IMC tools can be related to the targeted audiences or the consumer
personas in an effective manner as this is the ecommerce platform and the retailers who are
planning to open their small business through the proper usage of the different kinds of IMC
tools in attracting the end customers.
Include a 3-month tactical calendar
Particulars 1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month
Press Releases and Client Events
Search Engine Optimization
Sponsorships
From the tactical plan of the three months, this can be analyzed that there are different
campaign types inclusive of social media advertising, direct selling, public relations and the

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online mediums that will be essential in handling the different activities in an efficient
manner. More than 15% of the social media advertising will be essential in increasing their
effectiveness and increase the awareness among the different customers as well. Furthermore,
with the help of the Search Engine Optimization, this will be helpful in managing the
different kinds of aspects which is inclusive of the different kinds of advancements among
the customers in managing their effectiveness in an appropriate manner.
The social media marketing and the online medium will be the most successful
aspects which can help the ecommerce platform in attracting the different retailers and the
other small business owners effectively. The specific mediums are discussed above which is
inclusive of the different social media marketing, online mediums and the web marketing
which will be beneficial for the success of the firm.
Table 1: Tactics Used in IMC Tools
(Source: Created by Author)
Anticipated Results
The single most important measurement of the success which is required to meet the
different objectives is inclusive of the different kinds of sponsorships in the different events
that will be essential for the total success of the organization. With the implementation of the
Advertising
Banners
Local
Newspaper
Public Relation
Sponsorships
Press Releases
Client Events
Social Media
Marketing
Search Engine
Optimization
Search Engine
Marketing
Direct
Marketing
News
Public
Appearances

9INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
social media marketing and public relations, this will be helpful for the ecommerce platform
in retaining the attention of the different customers that will help in managing the general
effectiveness of the firm in a positive and unique manner.
With the implementation of the respective Integrated Marketing Communication
Tools, this will be helpful in increasing the awareness among the customers and driving the
sales in a positive manner as well. With the help of the integrated marketing communication
tools, the response rates will increase to about 5% in the next three months and this will
helping the ecommerce platform in becoming more competitive in their approach as well.
Due to the 5% increase in the response rate of the different customers of Shopify ecommerce
platform, this will be beneficial for the company in managing their efficiency in the different
operations which are being performed by them and managing their appropriateness as well.
Particulars First Month Second Month Third Month
Purposes To create a program
which will be
beneficial for
increasing the
awareness among the
customers regarding
Shopify
To improve the
revenue and sales of
the organization by
more than 5% in the
second month
To increase the
overall profitability of
the ecommerce
platform with the
usage of the different
tactics such as
advertising and
banners
Goals to be Achieved To make the
customers aware
about the different
To increase the
overall sales of the
organization by
To achieve both the
objectives with the
help of the different

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kinds of tactics which
will be used in
making the customers
aware of the different
products
gaining from different
sponsorships
kinds of strategies
which will be
beneficial for their
growth
Key Requirements to
be Achieved and
Analyzed
To train the different
employees regarding
the different aspects
which will help in
managing the
different activities of
the ecommerce
platform
To Improve the
overall brand image
Heavy deals and
discounts for the
convenience of the
customers
KPIs To improve the
awareness among the
different customers
Increase in the size of
the market
Increase in the sales
and profits of the
organization
Accountability Marketing Manager Sales Manager Marketing and
Advertising Heads
Manager
Timeline 3 Months 3 Months 3 Months

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Budget Allocation
CAMPAIGN TYPE QTY PROJECTED
COST PER
UNIT
PROJECTED SUBTOTAL
National Advertising SUBTOTAL $ 4,800.00
Banner Ads 8 $
600.00
$ 4,800.00
$ -
$ -
Local Advertising SUBTOTAL $ 7,000.00
Newspaper 10 $
700.00
$ 7,000.00
$ -
Public Relations SUBTOTAL $ 18,750.00
Client Events 5 $
1,500.00
$ 7,500.00
Sponsorships 3 $
3,500.00
$ 10,500.00
Press Releases 5 $
150.00
$ 750.00
$ -
Social Media Advertising SUBTOTAL $ 7,350.00
Twitter 15 $
150.00
$ 2,250.00
Facebook 12 $
150.00
$ 1,800.00
Pinterest 13 $
150.00
$ 1,950.00
LinkedIn 9 $
150.00
$ 1,350.00
Online Mediums SUBTOTAL $ 1,700.00
Website 1 $
500.00
$ 500.00
Mobile App 1 $
800.00
$ 800.00
Mobile Alerts 20 $
20.00
$ 400.00
$ -
Traditional Advertising SUBTOTAL $ 5,400.00
Online 4 $
1,000.00
$ 4,000.00
Print 3 $
200.00
$ 600.00
Outdoor 1 $
300.00
$ 300.00
Radio 1 $
200.00
$ 200.00
Television 1 $
300.00
$ 300.00