The digital marketing environment
The digital marketing environment refers to the contexts in which firms operate, including how they relate to customers and other businesses participating in their markets.
Each firm has its own unique space within the marketing environment, which is shaped by how they interact with internal aspects of their own business, competing businesses and the wider marketing environment.
The digital marketing environment involves two major elements:
(1) micro-environment and (2) macro-environment The micro-environment is known as ‘ the operating environment ’, and focuses on the players which shape the immediate trading environment.
These players include the customers whose needs and wants are to be satisfied, along with intermediaries and suppliers. These groups of actors shape the online marketplace and a digital marketer needs to understand their behaviour and the implication of changes if an organisation is to develop an effective digital marketing strategy.
The macro-environment is sometimes known as ‘the remote environment’ and consists of external forces which can significantly affect organisational success.
These forces originate from the marketplace, which is largely beyond the immediate control of an organisation e.g. economic conditions, changes to international trade legislation, technological developments and innovations, social change and political interventions.
We study the parts of the macro environment at are significant to developing digital strategy.
The trading environment can have a profound impact on performance; consequently an organisation should continually monitor the environment (micro and macro).
This process is often referred to as environmental scanning. Online marketplace analysis helps to define the nature of the competitive market or click ecosystem. We saw that there are a range of digital technology platforms within the mobile and desktop hardware platforms.
Major online players such as Facebook, Google and Sales force have developed their own infrastructure or online market ecosystem which connects websites through data exchange, giving opportunities to enhance the customer experience and extend their reach and influence. For example, Facebook has developed an API system known as the Facebook platform to enable exchange of data between websites and applications including mobile apps.
This enables other site owners to incorporate information about consumer Facebook interactions into their own websites and apps and share social objects across the Facebook ecosystem to extend their reach.
Google has developed its own ecosystem related to search marketing and mobile the android ecosystem. As part of marketplace analysis, companies have to evaluate the relative importance of these ecosystems and the resources they need to put into integrating their online services with them, to create a plan.
Customer journeys is a term commonly used by digital marketers to describe ‘touchpoints’ or different types of paid, owned and earned media which influence consumers as they access different types of website and content when selecting products and services.
It is the modern marketers’ job to make the best investments to feature their brands and provide relevant content to support this decision making.
To help understand different customer journeys to purchase, customer journey maps are a technique used to model behaviour of different audience. A generic example is Google has developed a retail specific model for understanding customer journeys, widely discussed in marketing of this consumer decision making known as the Zero Moment Understanding customer journeys purpose to explore the increasing importance of facilitating communications through online platforms and service providers.
Activity
Discuss in a group, or make notes to identify the main companies (e.g. Facebook) and platforms (e.g. tablet devices) used by consumers that are important for companies to review their presence on.
Once you have identified the main company or service types, group them together so that their overall twenty one importance can be reviewed here
1.Online ecosystems
2.Traditional communication
3.Digital communication out-of-store
4.Digital communication in-store
5.Product experience
6.TV Social discovery
7.Display Search
8.Website/mobile
9.Ad remarketing
10.Email remarketing
11.Smartphone
12.Interactive display
13.At home or at work
14.Experience product
15.On-pack interaction
16.Awareness
17.Stimulus and inspiration
18.Consideration
19.Develop preference
20.Purchase
21.Buy in-store or online
Video or micro-contentshared by Facebook or other social media Later searches in journey
Online value proposition drives visit to website based on content or or Buy product Site visitor added to ‘cookie pool’ sees ad on social network or publisher site Sees local ad or trial coupon sent by SMS In-store interactive or trial Loop closed share personal experience or experience to social On-pack promotion encourages interaction on smartphone, tablet or desktop subscribes to CRM email oers, events and nutrition information.
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