CCW332 – DIGITAL MARKETING UNIT 1

CCW332 – DIGITAL MARKETING

UNIT 1 – INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE MARKET
SYLLABUS:Online Market space- Digital Marketing Strategy- Components –
Opportunities for building Brand Website - Planning and Creation - Content Marketing.
PART A

1. Define Digital marketing.

The definition of digital marketing according to IDM (Institute of Direct and Digital
Marketing) includes ‘the management and execution of marketing using electronic media
such as the web, email, interactive TV, wireless media in conjunction with digital data about
customers characteristics and behavior.’

2. Define marketing.

According to Philip Kotler, Marketing is the set of human activities directed at

facilitating and consummating exchanges. The American Marketing association defines
marketing as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and
society at large.

3. What is e-commerce?

E-commerce refers to any form of business transaction conducted online. The most
popular example of e-commerce is online shopping, which is defined as buying and selling of
goods via the internet on any device. However, e-commerce can also entail other types of
activities, such as online auctions, payment gateways, online ticketing, and internet banking.

4. What is meant by green marketing?

Green marketing products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. It

incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the
production process, sustainable packaging, as well as modifying advertising.

5. Define marketing management.

The American Association of Marketing define marketing management as the process

of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods
and services in order to create, exchange and satisfy individual and organizational
objectives.

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6. Why has Digital Marketing grown to be this huge compared to offline marketing?

In recent years, digital marketing has demonstrated immense power, and here are some of
the most compelling reasons:
• Directly relates to customers’ needs
• Good exposure to product outreach and analytics
• A more convenient approach to connect with people from all across the world
• Changes can be implemented almost immediately if needed

7. Differentiate between direct marketing and branding.

• Direct marketing aims to increase a company's revenue by creating demand. The use of
stories in brand marketing allows you to connect with your audience on a much deeper
level.
• Direct marketing has a direct impact on top-line revenue. Typically, a high level of urgency
and priority is assigned. Brand marketing has a long-term impact on brand equity and
serves as a barrier to market pressures. It's not urgent, but it's critical.
• Testing and measuring are often on the minds of direct marketers. Differentiation is
something that brand marketers consider.
• Response, leads, conversion, and sales are the KPIs used in direct marketing. The focus of
brand marketers is on KPIs like awareness, recognition, and engagement.

8. List a few disadvantages of Digital Marketing.

• Skills and training - Make sure your staff has the expertise and experience they need to
properly deploy digital marketing. Tools, platforms, and trends change quickly, so being
up to date is essential.
• Time-consuming - Duties like optimizing internet advertising campaigns and developing
marketing content can consume a significant amount of time.
• High competition - While internet marketing allows you to access a global audience, it also
puts you in direct rivalry with others worldwide. It can be challenging to stand out from
the crowd and capture attention among the different messages offered by consumers
online.
• Complaints and feedback - Any nasty comments or criticism of your brand might be seen
by your target audience on social media and review sites. It might be challenging to provide
excellent customer service online.

9. List a few Digital Marketing trends for 2022-23.

• Short DIY videos

• Telling a real story or example
• Audience focused content
• Personalized content
• Using AI in content
• Google Discover
• NFTs are used by marketers

10. Which are some of the popular digital marketing tools?

• Google Analytics
• Ahref
• Mailchimp
• Google Keyword Planner
• Kissmetrics
• Keyword Discovery
• SEMrush

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• Buffer App
• AdEspresso

11. How can you categorize Digital marketing?

Digital marketing can be categorized into Inbound Marketing and Outbound Marketing.
• Inbound marketing pulls in interested customers, whereas outbound marketing doesn’t
care about interest.
• Consumer need is considered in inbound marketing, but in outbound marketing, it is done
according to the product’s needs.

12. What are the four C’s of Digital Marketing?

Customer - The person who receives the message.

Content - The message that the customer sees is referred to as content.
Context - The message sent to the consumer.
Conversation - This is when you and your consumer have a conversation.

13. How can you categorize Digital marketing?

Inbound Marketing Outbound Marketing

Pulls in interested costumers Pushes regardless of interest
Written according to the consumer’s needs Written according to the product’s needs
A part of content consumption Disrupts content consumption
Natural habitat: blogs, social media, search, Natural habitat: display ads, telemarketer
influencer marketing, opt-in emails. scripts, magazines, TV ads, billboards.

14. What are the different types of Digital Marketing?

Different Digital Marketing aspects –

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• Content Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• E-commerce Marketing

15. What are the most effective ways to increase traffic to your website?

The most popular and effective ways to increase traffic to your website are-
• Paid search
• Display advertising
• Content marketing
• Writing crisp headlines
• SEO activities
• Content optimization
• Targeting long-tail keywords
• Guest blogging
• Seeking referral traffic
• Posting content on LinkedIn
• Linking Internally
• Email marketing

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16. Define a responsive web design.

Responsive web design makes web pages perform well on different devices like desktop,
mobile, and tablet. It ensures that the user has a great viewing experience no matter what
device they use to access your website. The practice of a responsive design consists of a mix
of flexible layouts, images, grids, and the use of CSS media queries.

17. What are the 3 ingredients of Digital Marketing?

The 3 ingredients of Digital Marketing are-
• Traffic
• Insights
• Sale

18. What are the skills needed for Digital Marketing?

Digital Marketing is an amalgamation of innovation, creativity, and analytics; one
should have a creative mind, data analysis skills, writing and editing skills, and technical
skills to be a successful digital marketer.

19. Define content marketing.

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing

valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and
ultimately to drive profitable customer action

20. Differ Traditional Marketing Vs Digital Marketing

Basis of difference Traditional Marketing Digital /Internet
Marketing

[Link] of Uni-directional communication Bi-directional communication

communication (company communicates with (business can communicate
its customers about its with customers and customers
products or services in on can ask queries or make
direction way) suggestions to business as
well)

[Link] of TV ad , bill board , news paper Social media websites,

Communication etc. chats, apps and e-mail etc.

21. Write the importance or advantages of digital marketing.

1. Provides equal opportunity for all kinds of businesses
2. More cost effective than traditional marketing
3. Delivers better conversion
4. Helps to generate better revenues

22. List the Benefits of Traditional Marketing.

• You can easily reach your target local audience.
• The materials can be kept
• It’s easy to understand

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PART B

1. Explain the concepts of online market space Or discuss the basic concepts of digital
marketing.

Digital Marketing: Meaning, Scope and Importance

Marketing refers to the promotional process of a company to promote the buying

or selling of a product or service. The process includes advertising, selling and advertising
o f products and services to the consumer or other businesses.
Digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or
the internet. Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media,
email, and their websites to connect with current and prospective customers.

Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at
the right time. Today, that means you need to meet them where they are already spending
time: on the internet.

Enter digital marketing — in other words, any form of marketing that exists online.

Digital marketing is defined by the use of numerous digital tactics and channels to connect
with customers where they spend much of their time: online. From the website itself to a
business’s online branding assets — digital advertising, email marketing, online brochures,
and beyond — there’s a spectrum of tactics that fall under the umbrella of “digital
marketing.”

Digital Marketing simply defines the advertising of products and services using the digital
channels-to promote brand awareness-through various forms of digital media. In short, Digital
Marketing carries out promotion through internet and other forms of media to reach the
targeted audience.
First evolved in the year, 1990, Digital Marketing has changed the way businesses and brands
use technology for marketing.

The best digital marketers have a clear picture of how each digital marketing campaign
supports their overarching goals. And depending on the goals of their marketing strategy,
marketers can support a larger campaign through the free and paid channels at their
disposal.

A content marketer, for example, can create a series of blog posts that serve to generate
leads from a new ebook the business recently created. The company’s social media
marketer might then help promote these blog posts through paid and organic posts on the
business’s social media accounts. Perhaps the email marketer creates an email campaign
to send those who download the ebook more information on the company.
Scope and Importance
Digital Marketing industry is booming not just in India but all parts of the world.
The year 2016 took the industry by surprise with over 1.5 lakh job opportunities in the
Digital Marketing domain. Well, the following was a bigger surprise when only the first
quarter of 2017 marked for 8 lakh job opportunities.

The surveys conducted by several forums have predicted this number to grow with
Digitalisation in the nation. Our Prime Minister has been actively promoting the idea of
Digital India. PM Modi’s digital India campaign gained massive popularity. The initiative of
Government of India is aimed at providing easy services to its natives.

Now imagine when a nation’s government is promoting the digital interaction, what do you
think will be the Digital Marketing scope in that nation.

1. As a tool for communication

A. Digital marketing gives fair opportunities to all kinds of businesses
B. Digital Spending Up
C. The power of smart phone as game changer

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 D. Consumer attention and online dominance
E. Data Explosion
F. Bright Future
2. As a career in marketing
A. Digital marketing manager
B. Content writers
C. Content marketing managers
D. Inbound marketing manager
E. Social media marketing expert
F. SEO executive
G. Conversion rate optimizer
H. Copywriter
I. E-mail marketer
J. Web analytics executive\

The Major Scope of Digital Marketing are mentioned herein:

•Each stage can be tracked: In order to drive the real result, it is essential to track, measure and
optimize the digital marketing campaign. Tracking and measuring the success of the digital marketing
campaign is possible using the various digital marketing tools.

• Easily Accessible: Working with the tools of Digital Marketing is easy as it is easily accessible for all
users who work on optimizing the website. Professionals can easily work on any assignment from the
comfort of the home as it requires internet connection as the major resource.

• Eco-Friendly: Digital Marketing is certainly eco-friendly because users can use operate this
medium without harming the atmosphere. It cuts down the paper usage and enables to operate the
digital media using the internet connection.

• Fastest Reach: Today the digital media is surpassing the traditional media like newspaper and
television with its fastest reaching capabilities within a few hours. The moment you post anything
on the social media platforms, it reaches to innumerable visitors with a moment. This is reaching to
a new height with the each passing days.

• Job Opportunities: Digital Marketing calls for huge job opportunities. As per the recent statistics,
the total number of job vacancies is quite attractive which inspires the candidates in pursuing a
career in Digital Marketing.

Importance of Digital marketing

1. Provides equal opportunity for all kinds of businesses

2. More cost effective than traditional marketing
3. Delivers better conversion
4. Helps to generate better revenues
5. Facilitates interaction with targeted audiences
6. Caters the mobile consumers
7. Builds brand reputation
8. Influence customers to take favorable action via CTA
Types of Digital marketing
1. SEM(Search engine marketing)
2. SEO(Search engine optimization)
3. PPC(Pay Per click)
4. Content marketing
5. Email-marketing
6. Social media marketing
7. Affiliate marketing
2. How Digital marketing differ from traditional marketing?

Traditional Marketing Vs Digital Marketing:

The debate continues as to whether digital marketing is overpowering and surpassing

traditional marketing or not. Many think that for the most part, digital marketing has taken
over and traditional marking barely exists, if at all. Recent occurrences such as the
magazine giant, Newsweek switching to totally digital publications cause ripples throughout

CCW332 – DIGITAL MARKETING UNIT 1

the marketing arena. Over the last year or so traditional marketing had fallen nearly 160% while in
the same time frame expenses for digital marketing increased over 14%. Refer fig 1.1

Figure 1.1 – Traditional Vs Digital

Traditional Marketing:
The traditional way of marketing lets businesses market their products or administrations
on print media, radio and TV commercials, bill boards, business cards, and in numerous
other comparable ways where Internet or web-based social networking sites were not
utilized for promoting. Refer fig 1.2
▪ However, traditional promoting approaches had constrained client reachability and
extent of driving clients’ purchasing conduct. In addition, traditional marketing
methods were not quantifiable too.
There are many facets of traditional marketing and examples might include tangible
items such as business cards, print ads in newspapers or magazines. It can also
include posters, commercials on TV and radio, billboards and brochures. Traditional
marketing is anything except digital means to brand your product or logo.
▪ Another overlooked means of traditional marketing is when people find a particular
business through a referral or a network and eventually you build a rapport with
them.
▪ Because of its longevity, people are accustomed to traditional marketing. Finding ads
in magazines and newspapers, or reading billboards are still familiar activities and
people still do them all the time.
▪ Most of the time, traditional marketing is reaching only a local audience even though
it is not limited to one.
▪ There are some aspects where traditional marketing wins over the online advertising
battle, which include Target Local Audience, Materials are for keeps, More personal
and Simpler process.
▪ One of the primary disadvantages of traditional marketing is that the results are not
easily measured, and in many cases cannot be measured at all.
▪ In most cases, traditional marketing is also more costly than digital marketing. And
perhaps the biggest disadvantage today is that traditional marketing is static which
means there is no way to interact with the audience. It’s more
▪ like you are throwing information in front of people and hoping that they decide to
take action

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 Figure 1.2 – Traditional Marketing

Digital Marketing:
Digital Marketing can be understood as a well-targeted, conversion-oriented, quantifiable,
and interactive marketing of products or services by utilizing digital innovation to achieve
the customers, and transform them into clients in a sustainable fashion. The whole concept
and functionalities of Digital Marketing are more competent, effective, result-oriented and
measurable, which make it very different from traditional marketing.

▪ Digital or online marketing is the marketing mode of the global village. It is only
obvious that the era of the internet will have its influence in every realm of life.
▪ The world of digital marketing continues to evolve and as long as technology
continues to advance, digital marketing will as well.
▪ Examples of digital marketing include things like websites, social media mentions,
YouTube videos, and banner ads. Specifically, digital marketing is similar to
traditional advertising, but using digital devices.
▪ However, digital marketing is considered a form of inbound marketing and its goal is
for people to find you. Businesses put content (or ads) out for individuals to find.
▪ People may conduct an organic online search, a paid search, find your business on
a social network or by reading content that has been published online such as a blog
or an article. The more they see you or your content, the more familiar they will
become with your brand and they will eventually develop a trust and a rapport with
you through this online presence.
▪ One benefit to using digital marketing is that the results are much easier to measure;
and another is that a digital campaign can reach an infinite audience. It is also
possible to tailor a digital campaign to reach a local audience but it can also be used
on the web and reach the entire globe when appropriate.
▪ Digital marketing is also a very interactive means of reaching an audience since it
makes use of social outlets. There can be plenty of direct contact between the
audience and the business which means that the business can get some very
valuable consumer feedback.
▪ Benefits of Digital Marketing over Traditional Marketing include reduced cost, real
time result, brand Development, non-intrusive, higher exposure, higher engagement,
Quicker publicity, Non interruptive, Good For All Stages Of Fields, Easy analytics
and Strategy Refinement.
▪ One of the disadvantages to using digital media marketing strategies is that it can
take some time to realize measurable success. Refer fig 1.3

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Figure 1.3 – Digital Marketing

Differences between Traditional Marketing & Digital Marketing:

Traditional Marketing Digital Marketing

1. Communication is bidirectional in
1. Communication is unidirectional in Digital Marketing as businesses can
traditional marketing, which means, communicate with customers and
an organization communicates customers can ask queries or make
about its services with its audiences. suggestions to businesses as well.

2. Medium of communication in 2. Medium of communication is more

traditional marketing is generally powerful and involves social media
phone calls, emails, and letters. websites, chats, apps and Email.
3. Digital marketing campaigns can be
3. Campaign in Traditional marketing
takes more time as designing, developed quite rapidly and with
preparing, and launching are digital tools, channelizing Digital
involved. Marketing campaigns is easier.
4. It is very effective for reaching global
4. It is best for reaching local audience.
audiences.
5. Digital Marketing lets you measure
5. It is almost impossible to measure
the effectiveness of a traditional the effectiveness of a digital
marketing campaign. marketing campaign through
analytics.

Table 1.1 - Traditional Vs Digital marketing

3. Discuss the characteristics of digital marketing.

Characteristics of Digital Marketing:

We are living in the digital age today. Outdated marketing won’t help you get profits
you desire for. Digital Marketing is a necessity today of almost every business. There is no
way around it. The way you dedicated a lot of your time and effort to making your product,
similarly it is important to invest in a complete digital strategy to launch and show your

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product or services to your targeted audience and continually improve your brand presence
online.
Make sure that you evaluate all your options so you get aware of your digital
marketing platforms and whether or not you’re really boosting the potential of your
marketing campaign. When done correctly, this can help you stand out from the crowd and
get succeed.
Digital Marketing is a great way of increasing brand awareness, customer
engagement and long-term loyalty and generating a short-term boost in sales, despite the
fact that every digital marketing campaign is different in their own ways, the reality is that
many of them are built on common basics and a few key elements. Successful Digital
Marketing Campaign requires a lot of time following through analytics and data to find
insights. But, as we have analyzed which characteristics successful campaigns share to
help you.

1. Get a Quality Company Website:

What was a novelty a mere decade ago is a critical requirement today. A business
website is a pseudo B2B portal, allowing businesses and customers from around
the world to connect with you. A business website is similar to your Company
brochure, available 24×7, and projects you as a professional outfit.
2. Social Media Presence:
The biggest achievement of this digital era has been the ease with which people have
learnt to communicate- Social Media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
Pinterest, YouTube etc. are the latest methods to communicate across wide
demographics of age, taste and culture. By actively promoting your company on these
social media, you are getting the world to talk about you.
3. Blogging and Forums:
Here is a powerful axiom- 'Content is King'. Produce powerful, genuine and
compelling content as part of your Company blog. Be a regular on relevant forums
and discussion panels. Learn the art of connecting your business themes into the
content that you produce. In time, your content will stand up to be the biggest
promoter of your brand.
4. List your business on the three biggest listing services:
Register your business on 'Google Places'- this allows your business to feature on
Google searches and be listed on Google Maps. Other business databases that you
must be part of include 'Yahoo! Local' and Microsoft's 'Bing'. Joining these services
is free; setting up an account takes very limited time and the far reach of these
services translates to free promotion for your business.
5. Email Marketing:
In recent times, bulk emailing isn't a very favored promotional concept. However, if
done well, and with good intentions, email marketing could be a powerful tool in your
Company's online promotional arsenal. Personalized emails speak directly to the
target audience, helps you get an immediate response and can aid in the opening of
a line of communication with your prospective customer base. It's free and fast
promotion- with an impactful feedback.

6. A Dedicated Digital Marketing Expert:

If you aren't sure about pulling off a good promotional job individually, maybe it's a

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good idea to hire an innovative, enthusiastic Digital Marketing Consultant to handle

your Company's online promotional strategy. This action will allow you to be on top
of your promotional ideas while employing a professional to implement concepts that
drive towards your expected results.

4. Discuss the market place online marketing.

Market Place:
The market place for an organization includes interaction between all the elements of the
micro-environment. There are five forces which impact organization in the marketplace.
The impact of internet on the five forces is as follows: Refer fig 1.4

Bargaining Power of Customers: with the advent of the internet, customers have wider
choices of products than before. The increase in competition has reduced the price level as
customer demand more transparency in operations. Thus, the bargaining power of
customers has increased.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: again, with wider choice due to the internet. The
bargaining power of the supplier has gone down

Threats of substitute: the internet has enabled quicker introduction of products and
services. The organization must carefully observe the introduction of substitute in the
market as to avoid losing market share.

Barriers to entry: the internet has substantially reduced establishment costs, especially
in the services industry. Therefore, organization has to carefully observe the movement of
the new entrants in the market.

Competition: the internet has started the trend of faster commoditization of products.
Thus companies need to find new ways through which it can differentiate itself from
competition.

Figure 1.4 – Market place of company

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5. Explain the Process and steps in digital marketing.

Digital Marketing Process

1. Developing Mission Statement

That is the Organizational Mission Statement to be matched up with Marketing

2. Situational Analysis
Identify the Problems and work on getting solutions.

In order to achieve business goals, let me just brief you about the above chart. Identify the
problem and Research
The marketer can identify the problem and research by asking people?s opinion about what
they actually need.

Here surveys come into the picture where you take suggestions from the people and
delivered the solutions (product/Services).

[Link] Strategy and Marketing Mix

Developing the Alternatives plan

After going through the surveys and analyzing the needs of the customers and then one
can develop the alternatives plans. Once you Developed the alternatives plans,
The next step is to carefully analyze every alternative and select the best possible alternative
plan among them.

Marketing Mix which includes product Development, Pricing, Promotion, Place and
Distribution Analyze and selects the Best alternative Plan.

4. Implementation and Control

• Implement the plan: Once you select the best plan you can start implementing the
plan.
Review/Measure: Once you have implemented the plan and now you can start measuring
the success/failure

Steps

1. Research
• In the research stage, all the necessary information related either to the
product(s)/service(s) or the target audience/market is collected, and the
information collected during the research stage
is used for making decisions. This information is very helpful in strategizing the
marketing campaign. Following information are collected during this stage:
• About the brand/business/organization.
• About the target audience/target market.
• About the product/service being promoted.
• About the market, a competition to promote product/services and to stand out
among the existing brands.

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2. Create
• In this stage, the information collected in the research stage is analyzed and
strategized to create the marketing campaign. The campaign is created as per the
goals and objectives of the
organization and the as per the vision of the stakeholders, how they want their
product to be advertised on different platforms.
• This step covers the branding strategy, content strategy, etc. The goal is to reach
maximum customers and to generate maximum
revenue at the same time.

3. Promote
Once the marketing campaign is created and strategized, the marketing team starts
working on promoting the product(s)/service(s). There are various digital platforms for
promoting a brand, product(s)/service(s) like:

• Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Etc.)

• Display Networks
• Social Media
• E-Mail and Affiliate Marketing
• E-Commerce Websites and Other Marketing Portals

4. Analyze
• Now comes the analyzing stage in which the results and outcomes of the marketing
campaign are analyzed. The results or the outcome from various promotion
channels are collected and
analyzed for generating the business reports in terms of sales and revenue. This
analysis helps to identify the grey areas and helps the marketing team to improve
those areas and to prepare for future marketing. Google Analytics is one of the most
popular analytics tools used for the analysis and basically it helps to identify the
target audience response, behavior of the consumers and the data collected helps to
convert the potential leads into business.

6. Discuss Digital Marketing Types Explained through REAN Marketing Engagement

Framework.

To explain digital marketing types, we first need to develop an understanding of the

historic marketing funnel models and use one of them as a base to explain how different
digital marketing types cater to each of the marketing funnel stages of that model. A
marketing funnel model also referred to as a ‘purchase funnel,’ ‘customer funnel,’ or ‘sales
funnel’ aims to put a structure to explain how a marketer or consumer goes through the
various stages of marketing and consumption to finally purchase any product or service
online.

Explanation of Marketing and Consumer Funnel Stages

‘Marketing Funnel’ as consists of four REAN model stages (including the additional added
stage of Plan) which can be described as:

(a) Plan: Develop marketing plan, content strategy, and branding material which would be
used to conduct marketing across the following funnel stages.

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(b) Reach: Involves the set of activities to raise prospect’s attention to marketer’s brand
product or service. (This is the stage where prospects are created.)

(c) Engage: The gradual, typically multi-channel set of activities needed to engage the
prospects developed during the ‘Reach’ stage (This is the stage where leads are generated.)

(d) Activate: The activities needed for prospects to take the actions marketers want them to
take. (This is the stage which relates to final converts or those who purchase.)

(e) Nurture: The activities needed to nurture the customer relationship created in the
activation stage. (This is the stage which relates to creation of loyalists.)

Interaction Points of Marketing and Consumer Funnel Stages

(a) Interaction Point A (PLAN-INTENT)

(b) Interaction Point B (REACH-AWARENESS)
(c) Interaction Point C (ENGAGE-INTEREST)
(d) Interaction Point D (ACTIVATE-ACTION)
(e) Interaction Point E (NURTURE-FOLLOW)

7. Discuss the applications and benefits of digital marketing.

Digital marketing has become indispensable for almost all types of businesses,
organizations, and, if we dare say, to even individuals. There is not a day in present times,
when we at a personal, professional or societal level do not interact or are not affected by
digital marketing. From the time we open WhatsApp in the morning to check messages from
our social groups to the time we hit the first search on Google, to looking at the latest
scoreboard on our smartphone cricketing app, we are interacting with digital media
applications and being affected by digital marketing all the while.

The key applications for marketers utilizing digital marketing channels and platforms would
include:

(a) Enhancement of revenues: The most pertinent application of all business models is the
potential to increase revenue beyond present numbers and digital does so in multiple ways.
From top-branded product manufacturers to local small and medium businesses, all are
embracing the power of digital to get enhanced revenues and move from just a physical sales
model to an omnipresent sales channel where the biggest orders can come in at times and
from locations not even known to the marketing manager.

(b) Brand presence amplification: Marketing done only across traditional channels is
typically time consuming and requires a large effort to gather new prospect base. Digital
marketing helps reach out to newer target segments in a much lesser time-span and amplify
brand presence multiple times over.

(c) Support information-seeking and customer validation exercise: Digital marketing’s

biggest application for marketers is its impact across multiple channels to support the
customer gather information, compare competing products, and validate his purchase
decision through comments and thoughts from multiple online sources which he was not
able to gather in the physical world.

(d) Develop customized forms of consumption (like applications and social pages for
targeted communities): One of the most interesting aspect of digital application is towards
creation of targeted low-cost apps, social media pages, and curated articles on interest blogs

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and platforms, which provide a way to not only personalize information but also how it is
accessed with utmost ease by the target segment in which the marketer wants to
engage.

(e) Mixing multiple digital channels and online-offline media: With newer innovations like
integration of Twitter with e-commerce companies to place orders in e-carts by inclusion of
special hashtags in their tweets, marketers are utilizing multiple digital media platforms and
integrating online–offline media to help customers complete the purchase cycle, on whichever
medium, channel or platform they are present. These growing integrations we believe will
impact even the most physical of industries like agriculture and healthcare in ways never
thought of before.

(f) Instant response generation mechanism to negative customer feedback: We have seen
a lot of instances wherein brands have not only been able to identify when customers are not
feeling good about certain products and experiences on offer but have also been able to avert
huge losses and save face in the outcry of key issues important to them both on the product
and brand side. In some instances, digital media has even led to companies take back stocks
worth millions of their wares to maintain customer trust and brand integrity.

Benefits of digital marketing

There are multiple such applications which we have seen across industries and client
interactions on digital platforms which can be shared here. We would be going through a lot
more examples in the book as we move forward to chapters which detail each media and the
use of technology towards making digital media such a huge part of the marketing mix these
days. Key benefits of digital marketing include:

(a) Provides a level-playing field be it a small or large business

(b) Much cheaper to run campaigns, collaborate, and analyze insights
(c) Helps to reach out to customers in real time based on their latest actions
(d) Easier to measure effectiveness of a campaign or a marketing message
(e) Viral effect includes ability of a strong concept to reach the mass market instantly
(f) Provides greater engagement with the use of imagery, content, information, customer
support, and personalization
(g) Utilizes multiple technologies and collaborative platforms available to harness the power
of big data and internet reach
(h) Acts as a medium to understand customer segments and their actions better
(i) Helps understand customer intent across multi-channel platforms
(j) Utilizes the power of social networks to reach out to multiple users in a trusted environment
(k) Integrates traditional campaigns to extend the reach of branding to its longest possible
tail
(l) Change marketing messaging based upon latest feedback or acceptance to campaigns
(m) Make collaboration, feedback, and continued engagement with the brand possible in
online–offline mode

8. Explain the concepts of digital marketing strategy.

Why you need a digital marketing strategy?

The simple answer: because without one you’ll miss opportunities and lose business.
Formulating a digital marketing strategy will help you to make informed decisions about
your venture into the digital marketing arena and ensure that your efforts are focused on
the elements of digital marketing that are most relevant to your business. It’s a crucial first
step towards understanding how the constantly evolving digital marketplace relates to you
and how it affects the relationship between your business or brand and your customers and

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prospects.

▪ It doesn’t matter what business you’re in; it’s a fairly safe bet that an increasing
number of your target market rely on digital technology every day to research,
evaluate and purchase the products and services they consume.
▪ Without a coherent strategy of engagement and retention through digital channels
your business is at best missing a golden opportunity and at worst could be left
behind, watching your competitors pull away across an ever-widening digital divide.
▪ Unlike conventional forms of mass media marketing, the internet is unique in its
capacity to both broaden the scope of your marketing reach and narrow its focus at
the same time.
▪ Using digital channels you can transcend traditional constraints like geography and
time zones to connect with a much wider audience. At the same time, digital
technology allows you to hone your marketing message with laser-like precision to
target very specific niche segments within that wider market. Implemented effectively,
it can be an incredibly powerful combination.
▪ It’s often stated that the internet puts consumers in control as never before. But it’s
also important to remember that the internet also delivers an unprecedented suite of
tools, techniques and tactics that allow marketers to reach out and engage with those
same consumers. The marketing landscape has never been more challenging,
dynamic and diverse.
▪ And therein lies the crux of our need for a cohesive digital marketing strategy. If you’re
going to harness the power of digital marketing to drive your online business to
dizzying new heights, you need a thorough understanding of your market, how your
customers are using digital technology, and how your business can best utilize that
same technology to build enduring and mutually rewarding relationships with them.
▪ As digital channels continue to broaden the scope available to us as marketers, so
they add to the potential complexity of any digital marketing campaign. Having a
clearly defined strategy will help to keep you focused, ensure that your marketing
activities are always aligned with your business goals and, crucially, ensure that
you’re targeting the right people.

Defining your Digital Marketing Strategy:

Once you’ve decided that you do, in fact, need to pursue some form of digital marketing, the
next step is actually to sit down and define your strategy. Unfortunately there is no ‘one size
fits all’ strategic panacea here. We don’t have a magic recipe to ensure your digital marketing
success, and neither does anybody else. Basically every business needs to ‘bake’ its own
unique strategy based on its own particular set of circumstances. While the available
ingredients are the same, the resulting strategies can be radically different.

If you sell apples to local grocers by the truckload, your strategy will bear little resemblance
to that of a company selling downloadable e-books and reports on financial trading, which
will in turn be very different to the strategy adopted by a sports clothing manufacturer who
wants to cut out the retailer and sell directly to consumers over the web. Different products,
different markets, different needs – different solutions. What it ultimately boils down to is
this: the best people to define your digital marketing strategy, curiously enough, are the
people who best know your business.

Laying strong digital foundations:

The good news is that you’ve almost certainly already started the process of defining your
digital marketing strategy. Probably been thinking about digital marketing in the context of

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your business, about what your competitors are doing online and why, about how your
customers and prospects are integrating digital technology into their lives, and about how
you can best exploit these new and exciting digital channels to foster longer, more productive
relationships with them. These are the components that will form the foundation of your
digital marketing strategy:

▪ Know your business: Is your business ready to embrace digital marketing?

Are your products or services suited to online promotion? Do you have the right
technology, skills and infrastructure in place? How will digital marketing fit into your
existing business processes, do those processes need to change, and are you and
your staff ready to accommodate those changes?
• Know the competition: Who are your main competitors in the digital marketplace?
Are they the same as your offline competitors? What are they doing right (emulate
them), what are they doing wrong (learn from them), what aren’t they doing at all (is
there an opportunity there for you?) and how can you differentiate your online offering
from theirs? Remember, competition in the digital world can come from just around
the corner or from right around the globe. The same technologies that allow you to
reach out to a broader geographical market also allow others to reach into your local
market. When you venture online you’re entering a global game, so don’t limit your
analysis to local competition.

▪ Know your customers: Who are your customers and what do they want from you?
Are you going to be servicing the same customer base online, or are you fishing for
business from a completely new demographic? How do the customers you’re targeting
use digital technology, and how can you harness that knowledge to engage in a
productive and ongoing relationship with them?

▪ Know what you want to achieve: If you don’t know where you’re going, there’s a
pretty fair chance you’ll never get there. What do you want to get out of digital
marketing? Setting clear, measurable and achievable goals is a key part of your digital
marketing strategy. Are you looking to generate online sales, create a source of
targeted sales leads, improve your brand awareness among online communities, all
of the above or perhaps something completely different? Your goals are the yardsticks
against which you can measure the progress of your digital marketing campaigns.

▪ Know how you’re doing: The beauty of digital marketing is that, compared to many
forms of advertising, results are so much more measurable. You can track everything
that happens online and compare your progress against predefined goals and key
performance indicators (KPIs). How is your digital campaign progressing? Are certain
digital channels delivering more traffic than others? Why is that? What about
conversion rates? How much of that increased traffic results in tangible value to your
business? Measure, tweak, refine, re-measure. Digital marketing is an ongoing and
iterative process.

The process of formally defining your digital marketing strategy forces you to sit down and
analyze the market in which you’re operating with a critical eye, and to really think about the
different components of your business and how digital marketing can help you to achieve
your business goals. Don’t get down in the technical details – remember, digital marketing is
about people communicating with other people; the technology is just the bit in the middle
that helps it to happen. Your strategy should provide you with a high-level framework – a
bird’s-eye view of the digital marketing landscape with your business centre stage

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Understanding Digital Consumers:

The Digital Consumer revealed

The first thing to realize about digital consumers is that there’s basically no such thing.
The customers and prospects you encounter online are the very same people who walk into
your store every day, call you on the telephone, or order something from your mail-order
catalogue. There’s nothing dark, sinister or mysterious about them. They’re people – like
everybody else. ‘There is no great mystery about how [digital consumers] think and what
they want’, maintains interactive marketing expert.

These consumers are doing exactly what people have been doing for thousands of
years – communicating with each other. The fact that technology is enabling them to
communicate with each other faster, over distance, over mobiles and in 3D worlds is being
perceived as something dangerous, unique and extraordinary, something that needs to be
controlled and pinned down. People talk to each other – they always have.

Making the Web their own

Consumers, whatever their ‘flavour’, don’t care about the way marketers define what
they do. Concepts like above the line, through the line, below the line, digital, traditional,
experiential, linear, analogue, mobile, direct, indirect or any other ‘box’ we care to slip our
marketing endeavours into are completely meaningless to them.

All consumers care about is the experience – how the marketing available to them
can enhance the experience and help them to make more informed decisions. People are the
single most important element in any form of marketing. That’s just as true in the digital
space as it is in any other sphere of the discipline. As a marketer you need to understand
people and their behaviour – and here’s where the notion of the digital consumer does carry
some weight, because consumer behaviour is changing, and it’s changing because of the
pervasive, evocative and enabling nature of digital technology.

Digital marketing allows us to build uniquely tailored ongoing relationships with

individual customers. Marketing in the digital age has been transformed into a process of
dialogue, as much about listening as it is about telling.

I don’t know you and you don’t know me

Perceived anonymity is another online trait that can have a profound effect on consumer
behaviour. It liberates consumers from the social shackles that bind them in the real world;
online they are free to do and say as they please with scant regard for the social propriety
that holds sway in ‘real life’. In a bricks-and-mortar store shoppers will wait patiently for
service, and will often endure a less-than-flawless shopping experience to get what they
want. Online they won’t; they demand instant gratification and a flawless customer
experience. You have to deliver, first time, every time. If you fail to engage, retain and fulfill
their expectations on demand, they’re gone, vanishing into the ether of cyberspace as
quickly as they came, the only trace a fleeting, solitary record left on your web server’s log
file.

Key traits of the Online Consumer

Well, there’s something about the immediacy and anonymity of the digital experience that
has a similar effect on people. It’s always risky to generalize and make assumptions about

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people – especially in a field as dynamic and fast moving as this one. The only real way to
know your market intimately is to conduct original research within your particular target
group. That said, a lot of research work has been done (and continues to be done) on the
behavioural traits of online consumers, and a broad consensus has emerged around the key
characteristics that epitomize digital consumers:

Digital consumers are increasingly comfortable with the medium: Many online
consumers have been using the internet for several years at this stage – and, while the user
demographic is still skewed in favour of younger people, even older users are becoming
increasingly web savvy. As people become more comfortable with the medium they use it
more efficiently and effectively, which means they don’t hang around for long: your content
needs to deliver what they want, and it needs to deliver quickly.

They want it all, and they want it now: In the digital world, where everything happens at
a million miles per hour, consumers have grown accustomed to getting their information on
demand from multiple sources simultaneously. Their time is a precious commodity, so they
want information in a format that they can scan for relevance before investing time in
examining the detail. Designers and marketers need to accommodate this desire for
‘scannability’ and instant gratification when constructing their online offering.

They’re in control: The web is no passive medium. Users are in control – in the Web 2.0
world more than ever before. Fail to grasp that simple fact and your target audience won’t
just fail to engage with you, but they will actively disengage. We need to tailor our marketing
to be user-centric, elective or permission based, and offer a real value proposition to the
consumer to garner positive results.

They’re fickle: The transparency and immediacy of the internet don’t eradicate the concept
of brand or vendor loyalty, but they do erode it. Building trust in a brand is still a crucial
element of digital marketing, but today’s consumers have the power to compare and contrast
competing brands literally at their fingertips. How does your value proposition stack up
against the competition around the country and across the globe? Your brand identity may
be valuable, but if your overall value proposition doesn’t stack up you’ll lose out.

They’re vocal: Online consumers talk to each other – a lot. Through peer reviews, blogs,
social networks, online forums and communities they’re telling each other about their
positive online experiences – and the negative ones. From a marketing perspective this is
something of a double- edged sword – harness the positive aspects and you have incredible
viral potential to propagate your message; get it wrong, and you could just as easily be on
the receiving end of an uncomfortable online backlash.

9. Discuss ASCOR digital marketing framework.

For any type of company to move into digital marketing, be it a traditional firm with
more physical products and services mix or one that has transformed itself to a large degree
to tweak its products for the internet generation, there needs to be an underlying framework
which helps to map the process and its progress. To help large and SMB firms, as well as
individual marketers, we have devised a methodical phase-wise plan which we call the
‘ASCOR’ Digital Marketing Framework where ASCOR is an acronym standing for the five
phases: Refer fig 1.5
(a) Assessment phase
(b) Strategy phase
(c) Channel and communication plan
(d) Digital marketing operations
(e) Refinement phase

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Figure 1.5 – ASCOR Framework

10. Explain the components (types) of digital marketing.

With a good understanding into marketing and customer models, we are now in a
position to understand better the key digital marketing types (as mentioned in the earlier
section) which form the underlying basis for all digital marketing activities: Refer fig 1.6

(a) Intent-based marketing (search marketing)

(b) Brand marketing (display/digital advertising)
(c) Content marketing (website, blog, native content)
(d) Community-based marketing (social media, business communities)
(e) Partner marketing (affiliate marketing, sponsorships, PR)
(f) Communication channel marketing (e-mail, messaging, SMS)
(g) Platform-based marketing (mobile, video, out-of-home, media platforms (surface), kiosks,
in-apps)

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Figure 1.6 – Digital marketing types

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11. List and explain the advantages and disadvantages of traditional marketing

Benefits of Traditional Marketing (Advantages)

You can easily reach your target local audience. For example, a radio ad might play in
one location: your city or region. Or mailbox flyers will go to households in a select number
of suburbs.

The materials can be kept. The audience can have a hard copy of materials of which they
can read or browse through over and over again.

It’s easy to understand. It can be easily understood by most people because they are
already exposed to this kind of strategy.

The Downside to Traditional Marketing (Disadvantages)

There is very little interaction between the medium used and the customers. It is
more of providing information to the public that the brand exists with the hope of these
people patronizing the brand.

Print or radio advertisements can be very costly. Printing materials can be expensive
and you need to hire people to distribute these.

Results on this marketing strategy cannot easily be measured. Was the campaign
successful?

Benefits of Digital Marketing

✓ You can target a local audience, but also an international one
✓ Your audience can choose how they want to receive your content
✓ Interaction with your audience is possible
✓ Digital marketing is cost-efficient
✓ Data and results are easily recorded
✓ Level playing field
✓ Real time results
✓ Brand Development
✓ Viral

12. Discuss the marketing mix (7P’s) in online context.

• Products/Services: How can you develop your products or services?

• Prices/Fees: How can we change our pricing model?
• Place/Access: What new distribution options are there for customers to experience
our product, e.g. online, in-store, mobile etc.
• Promotion: How can we add to or substitute the combination within paid, owned and
earned media channels?
• Physical Evidence: How we reassure our customers, e.g. impressive buildings, well-
trained staff, great website?
• People: Who are our people and are there skills gaps?
• Partners: Are we seeking new partners and managing existing partners well?

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13. Explain the Opportunities for building Brand Website.

Building Website/Blog using CMS WordPress

Creating an online presence for a business or professional portfolio can be done
quickly and simply through a content management system (CMS) like WordPress. Large
enterprises and small businesses alike need ways to publish content. The key is working
with a user-friendly CMS that makes it possible for almost anyone from newbies to experts
to construct web pages. Using these templates makes it easy to create a basic web page
then swap in a logo, change the color palette, or alter the font to fit your brand and needs.

When you’re getting started with WordPress, you need to decide whether you’ll use
[Link] or [Link]. They’re both free, but [Link] is an all-in-one
service that generates the HTML script for the site in addition to the domain name and
hosting services. While it is a one-stop-shop for people wanting to build a webpage, there
are numerous limitations you’ll face if you want to customize many aspects of your site.
[Link], on the other hand, allows you to download the script for free, then
manipulate that script as you please on your site, with your own domain name and web
hosting. This is also known as a self- hosted site.

Here, you’ll learn how easy it is to set up a WordPress self-hosted website for your
home business. This CMS can be managed from almost any computer that is connected to
the internet. Knowledge of basic HTML coding is helpful, but not necessary with WordPress.
You can learn as you go, then add more options and plugins as you grow accustomed to
the standard features.

Choose and Buy Your Domain Name

Selecting a business domain name is a vital part of the presence and marketing
associated with your business. Ideally, this should be a “.com” that includes your business
name. Web hosting services like Wix and Hostinger might offer to provide a domain (some
will provide one for free), but most experts suggest keeping your domain name and hosting
services separate to ensure you have ownership and control over your domain.

Sign up for Web Hosting

Although there are free options, your best bet is to go with a paid host to ensure
quality and control. There are many affordable web hosts to choose from. Since you want
to install WordPress, ensure that the host offers the WordPress script in its library.
WordPress is a popular service, so most include it. Whatever web hosting service you
choose will likely offer tiered options. You don’t need to feel pressured to opt for the more
advanced options. You can start with a basic plan and scale up as needed.

Connect Your Domain and Web Host Services

After you sign up for hosting, you’ll receive account login information and the address
of your host’s nameservers (two series of numbers). Copy the nameserver information, and
then head to your domain registrar and add the nameserver info to your domain name.
This tells the domain registrar where (which host) the domain should point to. Once these
two aspects of your website sync up, then you’re ready to start building.

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Install WordPress

Gone are the days when you had to download the script from the WordPress site and
then upload it to your host. Most hosts offer a quick install option through their script
library. Log into your host account (i.e., cPanel) and find the WordPress script (if you’re
unsure where this is in your cPanel, ask your host). Click on “Install” and indicate where
you want the script to install.

Using WordPress Plug-ins

After installing WordPress, the first thing every beginner needs to learn is how to
install a WordPress plugin.

A WordPress plugin is essentially a bit of code that “plugs in” to your self-hosted WordPress
site. In human terms, that means a WordPress plugin is something that adds new
functionality to your WordPress site or extends existing functionality on your site.

One of the benefits of WordPress is that enterprising developers have written tens of
thousands of WordPress plugins that you can add to your site.
In simple words, WordPress plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. They allow
you to add new features to WordPress like a contact form, slideshow, shopping cart, and
more.

There are thousands of free and paid plugins available for WordPress. In this step by step
guide, we will show you how to install a WordPress plugin.

Pugins can make everything from small tweaks to massive changes to your site. For
example, some plugins can even turn your WordPress site into a fully functioning
eCommerce store, social network, or forum.

Or, they can also add smaller features like an Instagram feed. Some WordPress plugins
don’t even have front-facing effects. For example, you can install plugins to improve your
site’s performance or help it rank better in search engines like Google.

Domain Names, Webhosting Web Browsers

A domain name is your website name. A domain name is the address where Internet
users can access your website. A domain name is used for finding and identifying
computers on the Internet. Computers use IP addresses, which are a series of number.
However, it is difficult for humans to remember strings of numbers. Because of this, domain
names were developed and used to identify entities on the Internet rather than using IP
addresses.
A domain name refers to the URL people type in a web browser’s address bar to access your
site. In other words, domain names offer a convenient way for people to access websites.

Without it, they would have to use a numerical label assigned to every website and server
on the internet, also known as an IP address.

Generally, domain names are comprised of two main parts a second-level domain (SLD)
and a top-level domain (TLD). Second-level domains usually consist of words or phrases,
while top-level domains are the predetermined extensions that follow.

For example, in the case of [Link], the second-level domain is google, and
.com is the TLD.

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To get a domain name for your website, you need to register it first. Domain registration is
the process of reserving a name on the internet for a certain period. Usually, you need to
renew the license once per year, but you can pay up in advance for up to 10 years for the
domain to be registered under your name.

A domain name can be any combination of letters and numbers, and it can be used in
combination of the various domain name extensions, such as .com, .net and more.

The domain name must be registered before you can use it. Every domain name is unique.
No two websites can have the same domain name.

The price of a domain name typically runs between $15-25 per year.

Web Browsers

A web browser is a software program that allows a user to locate, access, and display
web pages. In common usage, a web browser is usually shortened to “browser.” Browsers
are used primarily for displaying and accessing websites on the internet, as well as other
content created using languages such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and
Extensible Markup Language (XML).

Browsers translate web pages and websites delivered using Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP) into human-readable content. They also have the ability to display other protocols
and prefixes, such as secure HTTP (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), email handling
([Link] and files (file:). In addition, most browsers also support external plug-ins required
to display active content, such as in-page video, audio and game content.

A variety of web browsers are available with different features, and are designed to run on
different operating systems. Common browsers include Internet Explorer from Microsoft,
Firefox from Mozilla, Google Chrome, Safari from Apple, and Opera. All major browsers
have mobile versions that are lightweight versions for accessing the web on mobile
devices.
Web browsers date back to the late 1980s when an English scientist, Tim Berners- Lee,
first developed the ideas that led to the World Wide Web (WWW). This consisted of a series
of pages created using the HTML language and joined or linked together with pointers called
hyperlinks. Following this was the need for a program that could access and display the
HTML pages correctly the browser.

In 1993, a new browser known as Mosaic was developed, which soon gained widespread
usage due to its graphical-interface capability. Marc Andreesen, a member of the Mosaic
development team, left in 1994 to develop his own commercial browser based on Mosaic.
He called it Netscape Navigator, and it quickly captured over 90 percent of the nascent
browser market. It soon faced stiff competition in 1995 from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer,
which was freely bundled with Windows 95 (and later versions of Windows). It was pointless
to buy Navigator when Internet Explorer was free, and as a result, Navigator (and Netscape)
were driven into the ground. But while Mosaic and Netscape are no longer around, the age
of the browser was launched and continues to this day, as more and more applications
move to the web.

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Webhosting

The term “web hosting” usually refers to the server that host your website or the
hosting company that rent that server space to you.

Web hosting services allow you to publish the website on the internet. In other words,
hosting providers will rent a portion of their web server to store your website’s files and
data.

Whenever someone types in your website’s domain name, your web hosting provider will
be responsible for sending its content to the visitor.

Web hosts also provide beginner-friendly tools for all users so that you can manage the
website with little to no technical skills. Besides, a hosting provider usually offers customer
support, server maintenance, and website builders to help users create and maintain their
site.

In addition to storing website files, a web host protects the server and your website files
from malicious attacks.

Some web hosting companies, such as Hostinger, also provide domain registration to help
you create a website even quicker and more efficiently.

That said, it is essential to do thorough research before choosing a hosting company. There
are a few factors you need to consider, including:

• User-friendliness.
• Server speed and uptime.
• Pricing and plans.
• Customer service.

Types of websites, Keywords

Some Website Types
Business Website
A business website is a website designed to represent the identity of a business on the
Internet.

There are many reasons why a business might want to be visible on the Internet, including
public perception of its size, sophistication, modernity, connectedness, customer service
and reliability and typically to encourage enquiries from potential customers or partners.

eCommerce Website

An eCommerce website is a website people can directly buy products from. You’ve probably
used a number of eCommerce websites before, most big brands and plenty of smaller ones
have one. Any website that includes a shopping cart and a way for you to provide credit
card information to make a purchase falls into this category.

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Brochure and Catalogue websites

A brochure website is a website designed to display a business’s products and services to

view online. It will typically include testimonials, case studies, appropriate images and
video.

A brochure website is simpler than a catalogue website as it does not need to list a large
number of different products, but simply serves as an attractively-presented online
advertisement for the business, showing where it is located, how to make contact, and in
general terms what products or services it offers. A brochure website can be quite simple
and consist of a single page (though usually at least five pages), whereas a catalogue website
will tend to have dozens or hundreds of pages representing different product ranges and
individual products.

Entertainment Website

If you think about your internet browsing habits, you can probably think of a few websites
that you visit purely for entertainment purposes. They could be humor websites like The
Netflix, or just websites with fun or interesting content like Buzzfeed.

Non-profit websites

A non-profit website is one that represents a not-for-profit organisation such as a medical

research charity, an overseas aid charity, or a heritage charity.

While many other types of website are technically not for profit, including educational
websites representing public and some private schools, the term non- profit websites tends
to be used about charitable organisations other than schools and colleges.

Portfolio Website

Portfolio websites are sites devoted to showing examples of past work. Service providers
who want to show potential clients the quality of the work they provide can use a portfolio
website to collect some of the best samples of past work they’ve done. This type of website
is simpler to build than a business website and more focused on a particular task: collecting
work samples.

Educational websites

An educational website in its narrowest definition is one representing an educational

institution such as a traditional school, college or university. It may also represent a private
education provider such as a tutor, or a virtual college offering online and distance-based
courses.

Media Website

Media websites collect news stories or other reporting. There’s some overlap here with
entertainment websites, but media websites are more likely to include reported pieces in
addition to or instead of content meant purely for entertainment. This category includes
sites like the Washington Post website, Slate, and Inc.

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Business directory websites

A business directory website is one that gathers together data on many different businesses
in one place. Such websites have traditionally been useful places to advertise on and have
also served as valuable sources of free links to business websites, although increasingly
such links, being free to obtain, have been downgraded in value by search engines such as
Google when it assesses the authority of a domain based on inbound links.

Some business directories are national and cover all fields of business; others are local but
still cover all fields; while still others are specific to certain areas of business, and these are
sometimes national but also sometimes international.

Keywords

Short-tail keyword

As the name suggested, short-tail keywords are short keywords (surprise!) that are made
up of three words or less. Sometimes they are also called the head keyword. Short-tail
keywords have a huge amount of search volume but are also highly competitive. For the
audiences, they use short-tail keywords when they are at the very first step of researching
for stuff. That’s why it’s very difficult to pinpoint the clear search intent for short-tail
keywords. They tend to be all around the place.

Mid-Tail Keywords

The mid-tail keywords are a compromise and try to balance between the high- ranking short-
tail keywords and the traffic-generating long-tail keywords. For example, if a short- tail
keyword is “bread” and the long-tail keyword is “buy bread in Connecticut”, the mid- tail
keyword will simply be “buy bread”. Usually, these keywords are aimed at those whoare
looking for information but aren’t quite ready to follow through with the search results.

Long-tail keyword

Long-tail keywords consist of more than 3 words. They are also usually much more specific
than short-tail keywords.

They have a much lower search volume compared to a short-tail keyword. But they make
it up by being much less competitive.

The most important thing you have to know with a long-tail keyword is you can easily
pinpoint the search intent.

Long-Term Evergreen Keywords

“Evergreen” simply means something that is long-term and sustainable. Content that
doesn’t become irrelevant with time is known as evergreen content. Similarly, keywords
related to such content are known as evergreen keywords.

For example, an article on “10 DIY Ways to Make Your Own Soap” will not become obsolete
anytime in the foreseeable future. And thus, the keyword “Make DIY Soaps” will not become
obsolete either.

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Short-term fresh keyword

When you think about fresh keywords, you need to think about something that is hyped
recently.

An example of fresh keywords is The Avengers: Infinity War. (When I’m writing this post
that movie just hit the theatres. But I’d imagine that that’s old news for you, so try to
imagine this with any newest blockbusters.)
Customer Defining Keywords

Every business has a target audience, and a good business always knows its customer
types. Customer defining keywords are the types of keywords that define your customers
or at least identify how your customers define themselves. For example, an art gallery would
use terms like “artist” or “art connoisseur” as a keyword as that most aptly describes people
who will be interested in their business.

SEO isn’t just about featuring in searches. It also includes defining your customers and
thus targeting the right people. Only by understanding this can one build a business that
answers the needs of the customers rather than trying to find a customer who may or may
not need your services.

Product defining keyword

These are the keywords that explain and describe your product. Searchers searching for
a product defining keyword is looking for something very specific. And you can either be
exactly what they want or not at all. When searchers go for product defining keyword they
are already at the early stage of purchasing.

Geo-Targeting Keywords

These are words that focus on a particular location. These types of keywords lead to results
that are localized, leading to local businesses and local content.

Localized searches are gaining momentum every day, and even Google is throwing more
weight at such searches. Most websites happen to have a local flavor to them. And almost
all businesses are localized to an extent geo-targeting keywords are just feeding the current
need.

Competitor Keywords

As the name suggests, competitor keywords are the keywords your competing companies
use to achieve search listings. This type of keyword uncovers the words and phrases that
drive traffic to your competitor’s website. This helps you understand your audience’s true
interests and generate content accordingly

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14. Explain the concepts of planning and creation of website design.

Planning website design

1. Point of sale
Is this your only point of sale or is it to compliment a brick-and-mortar shop?

This question is mostly to do with stock and POS systems. If you have a physical shop with
inventory shared between the website and the shop, the systems need to ‘talk’ to each other
so inventory on your site is always accurate. This will affect the platform and systems
integrated.

2. Photos
Product photos are an essential part of an online shop. If you only have a few items to sell,
a one off professional photo shoot will be enough but if you update stock regularly, invest
in a good camera and a photo box, so all photos are consistent and look professional.

Remember – white background photos will work best with most websites.

3. Delivery / Postage:
How will you package and post your goods? can they be posted or must be delivered door
to door?

Are you restricted by delivery locations (state, country)?

How much will it cost you to package / post deliver? will you charge a fee?

These are important questions to ask as this will need to be set up as part of your online
shop. If you are not set up for delivery, you cannot start selling online!

4. Terms
Terms, exchange, refunds – these are issues that you will need to consider before launching
your online shop.

In most cases you will be able to use a template document provided by the platform (for
example Shopify has some excellent examples) but if your terms are a bit more complex
you might want a lawyer to review and draft a document for you

5. Payment
Are you set up to receive online payments? There are many options available they vary in
cost. The platform you use will also affect the decision.

For example, Squarespace only works with STRIPE and PayPal & Shopify works with a
wider selection. Do your research and compare benefits and fees.

6. Processing
How do you want to communicate to customers once they purchased?

Most system offer an automated email confirmation and you can change the text / look of
these emails. You can also send a confirmation once package left or send a customer survey

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after. There are many options and it will be a good idea to take note once you come across
a shopping experience you like. Everything matters and effects the overall customer
experience.

7. Time
Maintaining an active online shop takes time!

If you are expecting a few orders a day, take into account handling and processing orders,
posting orders, and handling customer enquiries

Understanding site user Requirement

The first step in developing any eCommerce application is to interview the user base
to generate a list of features to be included in the application. This comprises the
important input for defining the capabilities of the application.

There are two sets of users of shopping cart applications: site administrators and end users
who purchase items using their Web browsers. After interviewing end users and
administrators, application requirements such as the following may be generated.

End User Requirements

End user features that facilitate the enjoyment of Internet shopping might include the
following:

• Users should be able to use the eCommerce application from any Web browser
supporting HTML 3.2 (or later) and cookies.
• Visitors new to the site should be able to register by themselves. Users will be
differentiated by unique user identifiers.
• Transactions should be secure. That is, a basic authentication mechanism must be
built into the application to prevent unauthorized persons from making transactions
on a user’s behalf. Secure socket layers (SSL) or other encryption mechanisms are
typically used to thwart the access of sensitive information (such as credit card
numbers) sent to the server by Web browsers.
• Site visitors should be able to purchase goods or services via the electronic store.
• Users should be able to view a complete list of specified items available through the
site.
• Users should be able to search for items by related attributes. For example, visitors
might search for CDs by artist, album title and/or genre or search for books by author,
title and/or ISBN number.
• Site visitors should be able to search the database using relevant keywords to identify
items of interest.
• Users should be able to select items of interest and add them to their shopping carts
for future purchase.
• Visitors should be able to modify the quantities of items in and/or delete items from
their shopping carts before checkout.
• All selected items should be shipped to the user following purchase.
• Users should be able to view the status of items they have ordered.
• Large numbers of users should be able to use the application simultaneously.
• The performance of the application should not degrade with an increase in the number
of goods or services offered.

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Site Design and Structure

A Web page’s structural elements are the basic parts that Internet users often expect to see
when they visit a website. Understanding the location and purpose of the main structures
can help you relay information about your small business and products or services in ways
that attract visitors and retain their interest.

Page Header
The header is the area that runs horizontally across the top of a page and is commonly the
same on most every page in the site. It helps make a website visually identifiable to visitors.
Similar to a letter heading or letterhead at the top of stationery, the page header displays
information about the person or company controlling the website via title text, logo,
background images, tagline or a combination of these elements. Other elements often
placed in the header include a site-search box, shopping cart link, site-access link and
navigation tools.
Navigation Tools
Web-page navigation tools are located in several areas outside of the header including the
right or left sides, center or bottom of the page. They offer page-to- page navigation or
instant jump to the top of the current page. Designs feature text- or image-based one-click
links organized standalone or in tab, drop-down or pop- up menu and list layouts. Some
sites also feature breadcrumb trails — links to every page you would visit to reach the
current page organized left-to-right on a horizontal line in the header or top center of the
page in the order of your movement through the site, if you were to follow the site’s
organizational hierarchy.

Sidebar Columns
Sidebar columns, also known as sidebars, run vertically along the left or right side of Web
pages. They usually provide primary or secondary site-navigation links and information
you want to emphasize such as contact details or important updates about the site operator
or the topic of the site. Other elements often placed in sidebars include personal or partner
advertising, a site search box and search filter tools. Sidebars usually display information
as an unbroken column or a column divided into sections or boxes.

Primary Content
The primary content area on a page is traditionally located to the left or right of a sidebar
or between two sidebars. It provides main page information you want a visitor to focus on.
The primary content area features a main title and content formatted into concise text
paragraphs, images, videos or combination elements divided by spaces or subheadings. It
also often features elements previously mentioned such as a breadcrumb trail and jump
navigation links, as well as update information such as content publication or update dates
and links to websites relevant to the content or that you think would interest visitors.
Page Footer
The footer runs horizontally across the bottom of pages. It provides navigation links visitors
might find useful, as well as details about a page or website such as a logo, copyright date,
website operator’s name, page author name, legal statements and links to the site terms of
use and privacy policies. Other elements often placed in the footer include links to the site
operator’s contact page or email address, job postings page, feedback-form page, support
page and frequently asked questions page.

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Developing and Testing Content

Usability research helps organizations understand user needs, identify potential issues,
and generate ideas for improvement. While usability testing is often used to evaluate a
website’s user interface (UI), this method is also invaluable for discovering the best way to
present information on your website. By paying attention to how people read, interpret,
and access content, you gain a greater understanding of how to communicate, structure,
and format information.

It’s great when sites have good navigation. But too often we see the user experience fail at
the content level: People can navigate to the content but don’t understand it. Analysis
shows that people often use websites to collect, compare, and choose products or services.
Have users evaluate your digital copy so that articles and information match their needs
and expectations. People read online content differently than printed material.

The usability study methodologies for evaluating UI versus content are fairly similar.
However, there are nuances to the methodologies that are worth considering when the
primary goal of the usability study is evaluating digital copy.

Tips for Testing Content on Websites

✓ Avoid recruiting proxy users

✓ Be aware of the limitations of unmoderated studies
✓ Give tasks that are tailored for each individual
✓ Remember, there is no right answer
✓ Set expectations for time allocations
✓ Get comfortable with silence

15. Discuss the concepts of content marketing in detail

Useful content should be at the core of your marketing

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing
valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined
audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action

Content Marketing
Advertising uses the content to describe the business, brand, and business reputation.
The content can be in various forms such as news, webpages, videos, white papers,
infographics, podcasts, blogs, case studies, and photographs.
Content is what is sold or accessed on the Internet. Content developers create the content to
provide the information to the viewers. It can be in the form of text, graphics, and animation.

Content marketing refers to the approach of creating and sharing of informative, relevant,
valuable, and consistent content to convert a group of audience into customers and retain
them. Content marketing is non-interruptive way of marketing.

Good content helps customers become more knowledgeable about the product or service and
make better buying judgment

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Goals of Content Marketing

The goals of content marketing are as follows:

• Brand Awareness: It marks the presence of your brand.

• Sale: It boosts lead generation at quicker pace.
• Customer-Vendor Relationship Building: It helps in creating engagement between
buyer and the company.
• Customer Retention: Pleasing content attracts customers and helps one in
retaining him.

Types Of Content

Let us see what each type of content gives −

News

They contain news about new product release, updates on products, etc. For example, news
of releasing new mobile handset on website of NDTV gadgets.

Webpages
SEO webpages can hold the content in the best possible way and sell the content. Videos

They say, video is the second-best thing to pursue a viewer in person. Creating crisp and
compact videos can bring good market at doorstep. Promote your business videos
across multiple channels, and ensure that your videos are optimized for mobile
viewing, as an increasing number of users view them from their mobile devices

Infographics

These are long, vertical graphics or columns that include graphs, charts, statistics, and
other information. Infographics makes use of the fact that 90% information transmitted to
human brain is visual, which makes people perceive it faster than text.
Podcasts
They are digital files available in the form of episodes, which can be downloaded on the PC.
They can come in various formats such as audio, video, e-Pub, and pdf. It allows people to
subscribe and it can prove as a powerful medium to communicate a range of ideas,
products, and information to audience. The businesses engaged in podcasting are − IBM,
Oracle, Yarn Craft, etc.

Blogs
Business blogs deliver excellent content marketing. Blogs are required for a business to
survive in the race of content marketing.

Case Studies
Case studies are detailed studies pertaining to a particular problem, action, individual,
organization, event, or action, existing at a specific place at a given time. They encourage
content marketing to build trust in the product and in turn business.
Photographs
A picture speaks a thousand words. Pleasant and relevant pictures can stand as a good
content for content marketing and boosts the business.

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Content marketing is good for your bottom line — and your customers

Specifically, there are four key reasons – and benefits – for enterprises to use content
marketing:

• Increased sales
• Cost savings
• Better customers who have more loyalty
• Content as a profit center

Content is the present – and future – of marketing

Go back and read the content marketing definition one more time, but this time remove
the relevant and valuable. That’s the difference between content marketing and the other
informational garbage you get from companies trying to sell you “stuff.” Companies send us
information all the time – it’s just that most of the time it’s not very relevant or valuable (can
you say spam?). That’s what makes content marketing so intriguing in today’s environment
of thousands of marketing messages per person per day

Marketing is impossible without great content

Regardless of what type of marketing tactics you use, content marketing should be part of
your process, not something separate. Quality content is part of all forms of marketing:

• Social media marketing: Content marketing strategy comes before your social
media strategy.
• SEO: Search engines reward businesses that publish quality, consistent content.
• PR: Successful PR strategies should address issues readers care about, not their
business.
• PPC: For PPC to work, you need great content behind it.
• Inbound marketing: Content is key to driving inbound traffic and leads.

Content strategy: Content strategy is part of most content marketing strategies

5 Benefits of Content Marketing

What specific benefits do these top effective content types bring to the table? Let’s take a
look at a few of the reasons so many marketers rely on high-quality content:
• More online visibility
• More leads
• More authority
• More customer engagement
• More budget

5 Steps to Create an Effective Content Marketing Strategy

1. Set Content Marketing Goals

2. Identify and Describe Your Target Audience
3. Choose the Right Content Formats and Channels
4. Create a Content Marketing Calendar
5. Create a Content Distribution Plan

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