Digital Marketing Strategy Report: Sainsbury's Case Study Analysis

This report delves into Sainsbury's digital marketing strategy, examining the digital platforms utilized, such as Facebook and the company's website, and conducting a PESTEL analysis to assess external factors influencing their campaigns. The report further explores the significance of social media and the social web in building brand awareness, highlighting how Sainsbury leverages these platforms to connect with customers. Additionally, it investigates the integration of traditional and modern digital marketing activities. The analysis includes a comparison of Sainsbury's social media strategies with those of competitors, emphasizing their approach to maintaining brand awareness. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and insights regarding Sainsbury's digital marketing efforts.

Digital Marketing
Strategy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
Digital platforms used by the company and the pestle analysis with respect to digital
marketing campaign....................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
Importance of social web on the brand building.........................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
Integration of traditional and modern digital marketing activities .............................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
.........................................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Digital marketing is an marketing activity which involves the use of digital platform. This
type of marketing involves the use of internet and various online platforms for their marketing
activities. The increase in the use of technology has given the rise for the usage of digital
marketing. The marketing through digital platform provides various merits or advantages to the
organisation. Through digital marketing an organisation would be able to target the large number
of audience at a single time. This technique also saves the cost for the organisation, can well
targets the market and much more. For reference purpose this report has taken an example of a
company, Sainsbury. The company is a multinational British company which is engages itself in
supermarket sector. Sainsbury company was founded in the year 1869 by James Sainsbury. The
company has the second largest chain into the market place when comes to supermarket sector.
This report discusses about the various platforms where the company has establish itself
through the use of digital platforms along with the PESTEL analysis of the company for their
digital campaigns (Cole, DeNardin and Clow, 2017). The report also includes the importance of
social media platform and social web used by company. Apart form this, the use of modern as
well as traditional use of marketing by company has been also presented in report.
TASK 1
Digital platforms used by the company and the pestle analysis with respect to digital marketing
campaign
The digital platform said to be a stage where the organisation can put itself at the online
stage and can market or advertise their products or services they which they have to offer. These
digital online platforms provide the organisation in facilitating the interaction between the
targeted market and the organisation. There are various digital platform which are available to
the company for performing their digital marketing activities. Sainbury organisation also uses the
digital marketing platform for their marketing purpose. Some of the platforms where the
company has establish itself may include:
Facebook: Facebook is the online social media platform originated in America. It is an
online social media platform where the people log in make friends, post their photos, feeds or
status, make groups and also can chat (De Pelsmacker, Van Tilburg and Holthof, 2018). The
organisation have the page upon facebook in which they regularly post about their ads,

campaigns, new products, reviews, feedbacks, and much more at there. Through facebook the
organisation would be able to
Company's own site: The organisation Sainsbury the company and its working can get
to know about it. It also helps in educating the targeted customers about the Sainsbury has its
own website from where the customers can visit and make the purchases for the products or the
services which they have to offer to the targeted market. The company also runs the discounts
and offers to the site which the customers can avail and make the purchase.
Use of SEO's: The organisation uses the SEO approach to make their site appeared at
first when any person search about the company or supermarket categories (Goldfarb and
Tucker, 2019). Through this the people who does not know about the company and its working
can get to know about it. It also helps in educating the targeted customers about the Sainsbury
has its own website from where the customers can visit and make the purchases for the products
or the services which they have to offer to the targeted market. The company also runs the
discounts and offers to the site which the customers can avail and make the purchase.
counts and offers which the company has brought up for them. counts and offers which the
company has brought up for them.
The pestel analysis of Sainsbury company with regard to digital marketing campaigns
The PESTEL analysis is a framework through which the organisation would know about
the external factors and its impact upon the business and its operations. The external factors are
the factors which run or operate independently and an organisation cannot control the same but
the impact of these factors upon the business is much high. The organisation forms the policies
by reviewing and analysing these factors. The pestel analyses of Sainsbury company with regard
to its digital marketing campaigns can be as follows:
Political factor: The political factor includes the rules and regulations which are formed
by the government of the state. It also includes the degree towards which the government can
control the actions of organisations (Herhausen and et al., 2020). In the case with Sainsbury
organisation, as the organisation is a multinational company which operates in various countries
and states there the organisation has to decide that he has to target a segment of its total audience
or it is targetting the whole audience or the marketing purpose. The company has to prepare its
advertisements which is need to set must understand the political outlook of that country or state
Digital marketing activities within the reach and regulations of countries.

Economic factor: It states the economic condition about the country. For example the
GDP growth, employability rate, foreign trade policies and much more. As Sainsbury operates at
global level, there are some countries which is digitally advanced whereas some countries are not
digitally advanced. There the company face problem as they can perform the digital marketing
activity easily at the places where the digitalisation is very much advanced as it can establish at a
large level and advanced level. But the countries where the digitalisation is not that advance then
there the company does faces some problems.
Social factor: It states the trends and preferences of the customers. The company has to
analyse the buying pattern of the customers. For example the Sainsbury company generally
releases more marketings ads in the festive seasons like Christmas and new years because they
know that at this point the customers make more purchase.
Technological factor: The technological factor includes the technological advancement
in the economy. The Sainsbury can performs its digital marketing only at the places where there
is access to internet (Kannan, 2017). It cannot perform any type of digital marketing in the
remote areas where there is no access to internet.
Environmental factor: This factor includes the environment related issues and polices
which company needs to follow. Sainsburry performs its digital marketing activities in such a
way that it portrays all the environment concerns or sustainability development activities which
it follows. Through the marketing activities it educates the customers about environmental
concerns it follows.
Legal factor: Through the digital marketing and social media activities the companies
generates a large amount of data and it is the responsibility of the company to save that
information so that it cannot get misused by any another. The Sainsbury company follows the
legal laws by saving the personal information about the customers or audience and protect them
from getting it misused by any other person (Leite and Azevedo, 2017).
TASK 2
Importance of social web on the brand building
Social media platform is one of the concept which is so much in boom. It is a concept in
which the organisation makes them available at the social media sites so that they can be in a
direct contact with their followers or customers. It is that type of marketing which needs the

access to internet and social site where the marketing can be performed. There are various
advantages which can be gained from digital marketing and some of them are as:
Cut costs: The marketing through the help of social media can help the organisation in
cutting the major cost. Performing the social media marketing saves a large amount of costs for
the company as they does not have to pay at the social platform companies for putting the posts.
As in the case with Sainsbury company, it saves cost as they put their advertisements and
promotional ads at the online platform also (Liu, Perry and Gadzinski, 2019). The company with
the increase in digital marketing activities has lessen the use of traditional marketing activities
which consumed a major cost for them.
Large audience: The Sainsbury company targets the large audience at a single time only.
N- numbers of people can follow the company's page at a single time. This means that it can
reach to the large audience at a single time and can gain the attention of large people. The scope
of social media marketing is comparatively huge.
Connection with followers: Through the social digital marketing the Sainsbury company
would be able to build a strong connection with the customers or followers they have. At the
social media platform the company can interact with the customers and followers one to one
through which they can address to any doubt which the company has with respect to the
organisation (Makrides, Vrontis and Christofi, 2020). The company can also interact with the
customers which enables them in increasing their bond between the company and the customers.
Building up of the connection provides a number of other merits to the company also as they can
build up the goodwill among the market, create or increase their large customer base, educating
the customers more about the product or service which they have to offer and much more.
Social web integrates the people and work wide web at the social sites. It is a concept
which connects the websites and the software so that the social people can interact among each
other at social web. The people with similar interest and goals interacts with each other and
forms the connection there. The major purpose of this social web is to connect the people from
different background, cultures, values, or places but have the common interest or goals.
A brand is the name, logo, design, sign and the like of the organisation which
differentiates it from the other available brands. A brand can also be taken into a legal
consideration in which it can save its name or logo which nobody else can copy or use. Through
the brand a image gets created into the minds of customers (Polanco-Diges and Debasa, 2020).

The use of social web by Sainsbury
Sainsbury's digital marketing and social media marketing is used by Sainbury more often
at the time of festivals or events. The company speed up their social media advertising method
when they are coming up with some offers, new product or service, discounts or organising of
some kind of event. The company uses the social media platform when they are want to increase
their sales comparatively. The company is very much active at the social web as they does not
want to loose their interactions with the customers.
What and how the sainsbury organisation uses for maintaining the brand awareness at
social sites and compare it with other company
The Sainsbury company uses various social media platforms for performing their social
media marketing activities. They uses the various social platform for creating the brand
awareness about the company. Some of them may includes Facebook, Instagram, twitter,
company's own website and etc.
At these sites the company regularly post some posts, status, feed, videos or sometime
organises some fun activities for the followers through which they also get indulge in these (Ritz,
Wolf and McQuitty, 2019). They make their posts in such a way that it builds up a connection of
the company with the customers. Therefore this somewhere helps in creating the brand
awareness about the brand.
The comparison of 2 brands in terms of their social marketing activities:
Basic Sainsbury Tesco
Cause Marketing The company does not use the
Cause marketing for social
digital marketing.
The tesco company uses the
cause marketing in which they
relate the products or service
with the social cause.
Relationship Marketing The company uses the
relationship marketing strategy
in which they tries to building
the relationship with the
customers and gain the
attention through the emotions.
The company does not use this
strategy in their social media
marketing/

Scarcity Marketing The company uses this
strategy to attract the
customers by showing them
the limited offers to the
targeted customers.
The company seldom uses this
strategy to attract the
customers at social media
platform.
The use of all these social media platform has helped the company in building up the
brand awareness, connection with the customers, increase in the sales of customers, the brand
development , sales cost for the company and much more. That's why the companies are more
following up this trend.
TASK 3
Integration of traditional and modern digital marketing activities
The traditional marketing activities involves the performance of marketing activities
which does not involves the use of any digital platform. For example, the distribution of
newspapers, pamphlets and the like.
Advantages:
 They are effective method for marketing
 They can reach to the area where internet cannot access
 This method still considered as an effective tool for marketing
 It can reach to large number of people (Rohm, Stefl and Saint Clair, 2019)
Disadvantages
 It does not have the large scope when compared with digital marketing
 It is a costly method for marketing
 it is not much effective as compared with digital marketings
 Slow in showing the results.
Whereas the digital marketing activities are the activities which involves the use of
digital platforms and the use of online platform also. Now the scope of traditional marketing is
getting decrease with the more usage of digital marketing activities.
Advantages:
 This method is very fast in reaching the customers

 It saves cost to the company
 Scope is very large
 Effective methods that build the brand awareness.
Disadvantages:
 The digital marketing activities can be interpretable in a wrong way by targeted
customers.
 It has the issue or privacy and security
 It is one of the factor in increase in competition
 Increase in the dependency of technology
The Sainsbury company performs its marketing activity by integrating both the
traditional and digital marketing. The company has observed that there are some places where
still the technology has not reach (Zahay and et al, 2019). This has forced in the continuation of
the use of traditional marketing. It has also been observed that there are some people who still
reads newspapers daily, listens to radios and still approaches through catalogue. This has given
the birth of a method in which the integration of both the method has been used. The Sainsbury
company uses both the methods i.e. traditional and digital marketing for the performance of
marketing activities.
CONCLUSION
From the report presented above, the lights upon the use of digital marketing has been
show. The report includes the various digital platform where the company has establish itself
along with the pestel analysis. The social media marketing and social web has been explained
along with the advantages and disadvantages of both digital and traditional method of marketing.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cole, H. S., DeNardin, T. and Clow, K. E., 2017. Small service businesses: Advertising attitudes
and the use of digital and social media marketing. Services Marketing Quarterly. 38(4).
pp.203-212.
De Pelsmacker, P., Van Tilburg, S. and Holthof, C., 2018. Digital marketing strategies, online
reviews and hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 72.
pp.47-55.
Goldfarb, A. and Tucker, C., 2019. Digital marketing. In Handbook of the Economics of
Marketing (Vol. 1, pp. 259-290). North-Holland.
Herhausen, D., and et al., 2020. The digital marketing capabilities gap. Industrial Marketing
Management. 90. pp.276-290.
Kannan, P. K., 2017. Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda. International
Journal of Research in Marketing. 34(1). pp.22-45.
Leite, R. A. and Azevedo, A., 2017. The Role of Digital Marketing: A perspective from Porto
Hotels’ Managers. International Journal of Marketing, Communication and New
Media, (2).
Liu, S., Perry, P. and Gadzinski, G., 2019. The implications of digital marketing on WeChat for
luxury fashion brands in China. Journal of Brand Management. 26(4). pp.395-409.
Makrides, A., Vrontis, D. and Christofi, M., 2020. The gold rush of digital marketing: assessing
prospects of building brand awareness overseas. Business Perspectives and Research.
8(1). pp.4-20.
Polanco-Diges, L. and Debasa, F., 2020. The use of Digital Marketing Strategies in the Sharing
Economy: A literature Review. Journal of Spatial and Organizational Dynamics. 8(3).
pp.217-229.
Ritz, W., Wolf, M. and McQuitty, S., 2019. Digital marketing adoption and success for small
businesses. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing.
Rohm, A.J ., Stefl, M. and Saint Clair, J., 2019. Time for a marketing curriculum overhaul:
Developing a digital-first approach. Journal of Marketing Education. 41(1). pp.47-59.
Zahay, D., and et al, 2019. Effective resource deployment in digital marketing
education. Marketing Education Review. 29(3). pp.182-192.

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