Digital Marketing for Mysofa - Business Plan Example

Digital Marketing Plan for mysofa.co.uk Contents Introduction 3 Digital marketing plan for the organization 4 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction The use of electronic devices such as personal computers, Smartphone, cell phones, tablets etc as a marketing tool is termed as digital marketing. This kind of electronic platforms is used by many organizations to interact with their stakeholders. The term was first introduced in the year 1990s. The current statistics indicates that digital marketing has shown a tremendous growth over the years. There are two different forms of digital marketing that exist – push digital marketing, and pull digital marketing. In push digital marketing the customers do not take an active role in the marketing message content but the marketers push the message through display advertising such as on new blogs or websites. Emails, web feeds and text messaging can also be termed as digital marketing where the customers do not sought the marketing message but the message is rather pushed by the marketing team to reach the target market through some electronic device medium (Parkin, 2009, pp.56-57). In pull digital marketing the marketing content is accessed by the customers either through web searches or even opening text messages, web feeds, or emails. Streaming media such as audio or video, blogs, websites are some of the examples of pull digital marketing (Wind and Mahajan, 2002, pp.176-177). In such a marketing approach the customers need to go to the respective websites so as to view the content. One of the tactics is increase such activity is search engine optimization. Digital marketing can also result into multi channel communication where the push and pull digital marketing campaigns can be integrated, example an email campaign that may even include a link or banner id in order to download a specific content. Digital marketing plan for the organization There has been rapid growth in internet in the twenty first century. There has been also a rapid evolution of electronic devices that provides faster and quicker access to millions of portal. Consumers are now more prone towards finding new ways to interact with the companies and products. This has the changed the buyer seller interaction method, and the new information age and the evolution of new technologies has given a new edge to marketing through invention of digital marketing. Traditional marketing method is now becoming obsolete with the growth of digital marketing. This kind of new technology does not only help in reaching to a large number of customers but also helps in meeting the uncertainties of traditional marketing approach. Digital marketing is the growing force in the marketing field. However the older generations still would rely on the newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio whereas the younger generation who are more comfortable with the new technology strongly depends on the digital marketing for quicker access of information. MySofa is a new brand that is going to be launched by the company (Ryan and Jones, 2011, pp.201-202). The products offered by this brand are a wide range of furniture. The product range includes sectional sofa sets, coffee table, TV stand, bedside table, arm chairs, reclining chairs, dining table and chairs, romantic style tables, cabinets, bookshelves, wooden or leather beds, bedroom sets for the kids, bar tables, bar chairs, beach beds etc. The entire product line is broadly classified into living, dining, wood furniture, bedroom, office, kid’s bedroom, outdoor, space solutions, carpets categories. This brand gives their customers a wide range of furniture’s to decorate their houses. The company needs a sound digital marketing plan that could be effectively implemented so as to capture the maximum market share. This kind of marketing strategy is adopted by the company because this marketing technique is the most versatile, streamlined, practical and faster mode of conveying their products and services to the customer. The brand is going to operate in a sector where there is already a very strong competition, and even there are companies that offer customized products. The main objective of the company by launching the brand is to penetrate the market in the most cost effective way. They aim at keeping their operational cost as low as possible so as to deliver the best competitive price to its customers. The company plans to implement digital marketing as it would give proper visual clips of their range of products and even be a constant trigger on the customer’s mind. In the highly competitive market the company wants to build a separate position in the minds of the customers (Ryan and Jones, 2012, pp.134-135). As defined by Kotler in his definition of marketing strategies that the visuals are more affective and have lasting effect on the minds of the consumers compared to that of text messages, and the customers would remember those advertisements or promotions that are innovative. Whenever a new brand is launched proper positioning is very necessary so as to create awareness amongst the customers. The brand to be launched by the company would be positioned as the furniture for your dream home at an affordable price. The company can even launch a new slogan as per the positioning of the brand that would be “Dare to dream...We’ll make it a reality.” This positioning strategy would trigger in the minds of the customer that they are relying on a brand that would provide them with their dream furniture’s and that too within their budget. The customized products that the brand aims to offer would attract those customers who are more design and quality conscious (Tehrani, 2008, pp.35-36). The target audience is those group of people for whom the product is being designed. According to the product range and the positioning of the brand the target market would be comprised of two segments one would be the commercial zone and the other would be residential zone. The brand would be targeting both the zones. The commercial segment would include the corporate sectors, hotels, and restaurants (Thomas and Housden, 2011, pp.145-146). Whereas the residential zone would include the target customers belonging to the age group of 25 years to 55 years who are more focused on designer furniture sets and are even updated with the new technology or are rather more internet savvy. This age group is mainly targeted as they would have the purchasing power to buy these furniture’s and even respond well to the digital marketing plan that is going to be adopted by the company. The internet value proposition depends on the benefits that the customers would achieve through the digital marketing technique of the MySofa brand. The value proposition can be classified as – Figure 1: Value Proposition (Pride and Ferrell, 2014, p.75) The digital marketing strategy would be a more differentiating approach. In today’s busy world it is not possible for many people to go to the retail outlets and check the different products. Internet makes this task easier where the customers can view the different product range of the brand sitting at their home or office. This even gives a chance to the customers to quickly evaluate the different brands and their prices. Through the internet facility the customers even remain update with any offers that are given by the company. As the target audience is the working class people or even the home makers, this kind of technical platform would help the target audience to view the product ranges and even customize the product on the website of the company itself without taking the pain of going out and visit the retail outlet of the MySofa brand. It gives a clear credibility in terms of providing faster access to the information that is needed by the customers (Chaffey and Smith, 2013, pp. 123-124). Often the query handling segment of a company is not very efficient and result in delays but this kind of digitalized platforms helps to reduce any delays, and hence the customers get their queries solved at the least time possible. This is even a transparent medium of communication between the customers and the company. The transparency of this media helps in effective sales growth as the customers feel free to rely on the brand. The internet even helps the customers to view the current market value of the brand and even analyze the comments of those people who have tried the products of the brand. This enables the customer to make a choice much faster. Time is a very vital factor in today’s scenario and this kind of strategy helps the consumer to save their valuable time at the same time give convenience in shopping. The lead time between purchase of the product and delivery is reduced, and the customer’s just with the help of a click can order a product and get the product delivered at their door stop with the least effort and least wastage of time. This is the value proposition of the internet for the target audience. Convenience and faster accessibility are the major factors that make this kind of marketing approach the best in today’s highly competitive environment. On the other hand another target audience is the commercial sector; in that case the internet is the best place for them to purchase such infrastructure products. As it provides a visual representation of the product range of mysofa and at the same time give them the ease to purchase the product very easily without any effort (Hemann and Burbary, 2013, pp.76-77). It even helps them to customize the products as needed on the website of the company and eliminates the wastage of time that is caused if the individual had to go to separate stores to find out the best rates for the furniture’s leaving his/ her official task. Thus internet benefits both the segment of target audience. The digital marketing mix usually comprises of the various methods that can be adopted by the company to market its devices electronically. The various forms are websites, blogs, internet banner ads, online video content, pay-per click advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, and mobile marketing. The most appropriate digital marketing mix for this brand would be websites, internet banner ads, social media marketing, email marketing and mobile marketing. Official website would help the customers to view the company details, product range and even customize their products. The website would not only consist of the company profile, pictures, prices etc but it would even incorporate a platform where the individuals could enter their query and the executives of the company would get in touch with them, and it would even consist of an option where the customers can try out various colours, sizes, so as to have a look how their customized products would appear to be. This kind of flexibility and customized options on the website would enable the customer to feel more attracted towards the product offerings of the brand, and the customizing option of the products through the electronic device only would give a competitive edge to the brand. The busy schedule of the target audience would not make the print media or TVs or radio as an effective marketing but if the marketing message content is delivered via emails and SMS it would capture more attention of the customers. Electronic devices is a part of everybody’s hectic life, so delivering marketing message with the help of this electronic devices would ensure that the target audience are being aware of the brand. This kind of push digital marketing is very effective in case of products that are not a basic need but at the same time gives an edge to the living standard (Urban, 2004, pp.36-39). Often the customers that the company is targeting at are internet savvy so an internet banner ad would be useful in the terms that would be directly link the customers to the products that are being offered by the brand and even give a chance for the company to at least register their brand in the consumer’s mind. Another effective digital marketing strategy would be the use of social media marketing. As Face book, twitter, LinkedIn, etc are common sites that are visited by the target market on a day to day basis. Displaying an ad of the brand on these sites is not only a cost effective way but it even helps in seeking attention of the majority of the population. The likes and dislikes of these ads on the social media help the company to analyze the consumer preference and even their market reputation without investing any significant amount on the market research process. This choice of digital marketing mix would help the company to gain its position in the highly competitive market. The company even aims to deliver the best of quality furniture’s to the customers at an affordable price in order to do so the management needs to cut down on the operating cost (Muljadi, 2013, p.39). As we know that the traditional marketing approach requires a lot of initial investment. Hence the digital marketing is the best platform to be used which is cost effective and at the same time is the fastest and versatile marketing approach. The management needs to incorporate this strategy to control its cost and at the same time reach out more effectively to its target audience. The request of the individuals would be tracked by the IT support team and that transferred to the sales department, they would in turn get back to the customers and resolve their queries. When an individual clicks a link on the company’s website or on the banner ads it would automatically get updated with that of the support team of the company who would then do the required processing of the tracked information. The customized designs on the websites by the customers would be captured by the support team who would in turn forward the designs to the design development department who would then work on the customized designs or suggest their designs to the customers through the portal site (Ståhlberg and Maila, 2013, pp.124-126). There would be a fully integrated system where all of the information whether offline or online would be shared by all of the departments. Conclusion An email or social media campaign would reach a wider audience at the merest fraction and lowest cost compared to that of TV or print media. This plan is implemented would give the company the ease in terms of tracking the customer response and analyze the effectiveness of their marketing plan in real time and opt for better strategies. The digital marketing plan implementation would require constant up gradation in terms of the product features so as to be more appealing to the customers, and even transmission of messages regarding some special offers should be fast and reach out the maximum population. The bulk messaging and emails would lower down the cost of marketing. It could even invest only on the websites and internet ad banners for the initial stages of brand promotion and then later only be focused on social media, emails and mobile marketing. The company can even split down its digital marketing campaign (Baker and Hart, 2008, pp.56-57). The cost of it marketing operation would be very less and the company as forecasted would reach its breakeven in the current financial year itself if it continues to send emails and messages and push their marketing content on the social media sites. As projected the customers would be more attracted towards such innovative technology by shopping through internet which would save their time rather than visiting the retail outlets. Such comfortable zones that the company offers would enhance the shopping experience of the customers and at the same time increase the revenue growth of the brand. References Baker, M., Hart, S. 2008. The Marketing Book. Great Britain: Routledge. Chaffey, D., Smith, P.R. 2013. Emarketing Excellence: Planning and Optimizing your Digital Marketing. New York: Routledge. Hemann, C., Burbary, K. 2013. Digital Marketing Analytics: Making Sense of Consumer Data in a Digital World. USA: Que Publishing. Muljadi, P. 2013. Digital Marketing Handbook. Canada: Paul Muljadi. Parkin, G. 2009. Digital Marketing: Strategies for Online Success. UK: New Holland Publishers. Pride, W., Ferrell, O.C. 2014. Foundations of Marketing. UK: Cengage Learning. Ryan, D., Jones, C. 2011. The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World. New Delhi: Kogan Page Publishers. Ryan, D., Jones, C. 2012. Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. New Delhi: Kogan Page Publishers. Ståhlberg, M., Maila, V. 2013. Multichannel Marketing Ecosystems. UK: Kogan Page Publishers. Tehrani, N. 2008. Contemporary Marketing Mix for the Digital Era. USA: Author House. Thomas, B., Housden, M. 2011. Direct and Digital Marketing in Practice. Great Britain: A& C Black. Urban, G. L. 2004. Digital Marketing Strategy: Text and Cases. UK: Pearson Prentice Hall. Wind, J., Mahajan, V. 2002. Digital Marketing: Global Strategies from the Worlds Leading Experts. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Read More