Digital Marketing Strategies For Clintons Cards Essay.

Clintons Cards was founded in 1968 by the late Don Lewin. Greeting cards were once rumoured to be the most profitable product on the high street (retail insiders suggested a £3 card could cost Clintons as little as 30p to buy from a manufacturer), but by 2012 it had ignored the threat of email and e-cards. Their mantra “birthdays and anniversaries never go out fashion” was still right, but the way people once celebrated them definitely had. What’s more, their business model of dominating high streets with multiple stores and buying out its competition was outmoded by the late 2000s. By the time it had launched its own e-card side of the business, it was too little too late. At their peak: owning more than 1,000 stores, Clintons once controlled 25 per cent of the greeting card market. Who replaced them? Clintons is now run by American Greetings (the world’s biggest greetings card firm), but online retailers like Funky Pigeon and Moonpig dominate the UK personalised greetings card market.

Additional information http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18020006 

You have recently been appointed as Digital Marketing Manager for Clintons. As part of your first project in your new role, the Head of Marketing has asked you to investigate some new strategies to strengthen and reinforce the organisation’s digital marketing capabilities and expertise.

Your required to write a report that addresses the following 6 tasks:

1. Discuss the differences between Traditional and Digital Marketing. Explain why it would be important for Clintons to invest in digital marketing. LO1

2. Illustrate how Clintons could utilise website optimisation techniques to improve performance. LO3

3. Critically discuss how Clintons can use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC), to improve its website visibility amongst its competitors. LO2, LO3

Your answer should cover:

The steps you would undertake to design an effective SEO and PPC campaign.

Identification of how the company could target its key audience through these channels.
An overview of the relevant laws and guidelines.

4. Discuss how Online Display & Video Advertising and Social Media Marketing can be used to attract, retain and engage new and existing customers. LO3

Your answer should cover:

Key activities associated with implementing an online display (and video) advertising strategy and a Social Media Marketing strategy.

Justification of which channel is most affective.

5. Outline how Clintons could incorporate Content and Email Marketing into its digital marketing activities. LO3 & LO4

6. Explain how Clintons could use website analytics to improve performance.
All questions should be supported with the following:

Key activities, processes or milestones associated with each digital marketing discipline.

Appropriate tools and technologies that can be used.
Relevant laws and regulations pertaining to digital marketing
Provide examples and utilise real-world cases studies to support your discussion

Traditional vs Digital Marketing

The concept of digital marketing can be considered to be one of the area in the recent times which is playing a very vital role. In recent times it can be stated that many of the organisation try to indulge into the concept of digital marketing due to the advantage which is achieved from the concept. Digital marketing enable people to have a clear idea about the products and the services which are being offered to them and the strategy of business which is followed by the organisation (Ryan 2016). It can be stated here that more the technological sector in the daily life would be advancing more would be the emphasis which would be put on the sector of digital marketing. Before the advent of digital marketing, it can be stated that it was nearly impossible to indulge in operation which includes such large group of people.

In the report, the organisation which is taken into consideration is the Clinton. They are a major distributor of greeting card which was considered to be one of the most profitable product the high street. People usually wanted to get indulged into the aspect of digital marketing due to the factor that they are very much satisfied with the service which is given to them. The report majorly focuses on the aspect of taking the role of the marketing manager with a focus on improving the different working operation which is involved in the concept. The main factor which is taken into consideration is the

1. The digital marketing and the traditional marketing perspective can be stated as one of the sectors which have gained major importance in recent times. It can be stated here that since the advent of marketing both the sector is booming with a focus on providing a competitive advantage for any organisation (Oates, Watkins and Thyne 2016). It can be stated that in recent times the concept of digital marketing is gaining importance over the traditional approach due to a vast set of reasons. Relating to the concept of traditional marketing the digital marketing aspect reduces the cost of advertising like newspaper ads and television ads. On the other hand digital advertising can be referred to as young entrepreneurs can directly afford the right out of money. In regards to low price of the marketing option it can be stated that any organisation can directly indulge themselves with the concept of digital marketing. On the other hand the real time result which is majorly in the digital marketing aspects helps the organisation to become fast in their approach and obtain result in a very much timely manner (Ryan 2016).  It can take time up to a few months before the actual result is seen in the process. In this context, it can be stated that the result after the implementation of digital marketing can be seen within a few days of implementation due to the rapid involvement of the process (Yasmin, Tasneem and Fatema 2015). Few things which can be seen in the context of digital marketing is the number of visits which the customer has been in order to get an idea about the service and the product which is being conducted, the time of the day when it is fully active, Bounce rate and Conversion rate.

Clinton's Investment into Digital Marketing

In the concept of digital marketi9ing it can be stated that results are very much handy without any sort of time lagging aspect involved into the process. Brand development can be considered as one of the sectors which play a very vital role in the digital marketing aspect. This is due to the fact that with the limited space and the frequency relation to the advertisement with the traditional marketing, the concept of digital marketing clearly wins the category.

Non-intrusive in recent times it can be stated that most of the traditional methods which is related to the marketing technique is becoming obsolete. Due to this factor, it can be stated that the marketing strategy which is implemented with regards to the process is not so much authenticated. So it can be stated here that the aspect of traditional marketing in the concept stays ignored. Taking into consideration the digital aspect of the organisation which is planning to produce a marketing approach can take into consideration who would be able to see the advertisement. It can also directly target a group of audience.

Higher exposure can be gained from the digital marketing approach can be stated to be very much high due to the aspect that it directly reaches a larger number of customers or the user (Ryan 2016). In most of the cases, it can be seen that the advertisement does not reach the desired audience at a proper time.     

The main importance which is related to the Clinton investing on digital marketing can be explained with the following aspects the concept of the internet would continue to expand. It can be stated here that an average person spends more than 6 hours on the internet. This can be considered as one of the most vital aspects which can be related to the interaction which is provided from the end of the customers. It can be stated to be more persuasive and very much effective (Oates, Watkins and Thyne 2016).

Precise Audience can be considered as a concept of traditional marketing can be stated as having very less impact on the sector of the customers. This is due to the factor that marketers using the concept of traditional means cannot segment audience nearly as effective as digital marketers can. It can be stated that there are different types of the tool which can be used for finding out the ideal target audience and the organisation can focus on them and get a proper result.

Enhancing creativity: The sector of enhancing the sector of creativity can be considered as one of the advantages which is related to the concept of the digital marketing. One of the main aspects which can be related to the context is that with the implementation of the digital marketing the most effective part of the project can be implemented quite easily.  

Speed is unbeatable: The speed which is offered by the digital media can be considered as unrivalled. In the conecpt of digital marketing it can be stated that the coverage area is very much high due to this factor the result which are obtained are very much quick.

Website Optimization Techniques

2. There can be different types of techniques which can be implemented by Clintons like the utilisation of the website optimisation technique to improve the performance. The processes are stated below:

Reduction of HTTP request: In this context, it can be stated that more the number of the request which are made the slower the website would improve performance. A browser is always able to open only a certain number of hits which the website is able to handle and manipulate. The approach which can be taken in this sector is that consolidation are resources are taken into consideration in a way which would be putting the files and the images into a bundle. File compression can be related to Web sites and Web page which are usually build on using the coding concept of javascript and HTML. The coding sector in most of the cases should be very much simple for the aspect of taking into consideration any type of edit which has to implement and it can be done easily without any type of complexity involved into the process. It can be stated here that since the website features would be added one by one it can directly result in the complexity of the website. The aspect which can be used in this context is the file compression technique which would directly reduce the code files up to 80% which would be helpful in making the website more responsive. On the other hand code, minification is basically defined the aspect of distinguishing the discrepancy about the code which is written by the developers and the code which are network element interpret code. The main advantage which can be related to the aspect of removing the extra comments and unnecessary codes and directly optimises the code this directly reduces the complexity of the code. 301 redirects can be considered as one of the most important performance killers it should be avoided whenever it is possible (Oates, Watkins and Thyne 2016). The redirect can sometimes generate additional trip which doubles the access time which is generated into the schedule. Image optimization: It should be taken into consideration that real images are not uploaded into the website. This is due to the factor that real images are very much heavy which affect the optimization sector of the website. It can directly affect the overall loop over time which is generated in these type of situation and it would also affect the overall response time which is initiated during a search when it is generated on the website.

There can be different types of advantage which can be related when the system is moved to the concept of the cloud (Oates, Watkins and Thyne 2016). There can be different types of advantage which can be achieved from the aspect such as cost saving, profit and efficiency.

3. Steps to effectively design an SEO can be stated with the help of the following points:

Improvement of Engagement to improve ranking: Simple put engagement which is the ability to hold the attention of the user. In the term of SEO, it can be stated as the amount of time which is spent on a page (Crittenden and Crittenden 2015). Improve site speed: It can be stated that one of the most important strategies which can be implemented in the process is the improvement of the site speed which directly helps in the modification of the speed of access of the website. Report and analysis: This can be stated as a critical part of SEO which is indispensable relating to improving marketing strategies. SEO can also be done in a manner which would be directly for the monitory enhancement of the organisation. By setting up the process which is related to the platform of analytics to track both macro and micro events. In this concept the journey of the travel from the department of sales and marketing funnel (Oates, Watkins and Thyne 2016). In the sector of Pay per click advertising, there are three steps which are involved. The steps are explained as Segment the market: The segmenting of the market can be considered to be one of the most vital parts in the sector of targeting the audience. It basically gives an idea about the audience which sector they can concentrate upon. The question which is relating to the segment of the market is based on the aspect of segmentation (Oates, Watkins and Thyne 2016). The main thing which should be taken into consideration is the range of needs of the customer.

Search Engine Optimization and Pay-per-click Advertising

Detailing of the market: The demand of the market should be taken into consideration which would be helping in the sector of providing a basic framework of operation. Sometimes it can be stated that detailing of the market is not done which leads to direct failure of the market scenario. One of the best strategies which can be implemented in these type of circumstances is the 80/20 rules. This rules directly takes into consideration the core customers of the business so that the planning of the business can be done properly. The orientation of the market: the orientation of the market can be considered one of the steps which would be emphasising on the sector of pay per click adverting (Karjaluoto, Mustonen and Ulkuniemi 2015). It can be stated here that there are different types of the audience which should be targeted so that the approach can be made in a better way and there are fewer chances that the advertising would be a failure. The organisation should take into consideration the exact sector of emphasis so that they can target the right audience at the right time and follow up on the routine which has to be followed.

There are different types of law which are enforced upon the SEO. The main sector of laws basically emphasizes the sector of providing a framework of operation. It should be taken into consideration that to promote a service or a product other products should not be hampered. There are different sectors of emphasis which are targeted into working of the SEO. It can be referred to as the sector of the SEO can play a very vital role in the judgement of the different scenario of the marketing. The marketing strategy should be implemented for the people and directed towards the people so that they can get a large number of benefit from the aspect. There are different government bodies which look into the working and considers the service and the product which is aimed at marketing. As stated by different governing bodies the sector of SEO should try to indulge different product characteristics and relevant information about the service and the product which is opted for exposure in the market. Most of the strategies and the policies are applied in the working operations of the SEO. Most of the organisation try to include different working strategy into the working of the SEO so that they can easily get in touch with the different customers which would be directly enhancing the sector of business for the organisation (Crittenden and Crittenden 2015). People try to indulge into a different aspect of marketing were they fell be safe and concentrated towards themselves so that they can directly benefit from the aspect. Laws are formed in the different sector so that there is no problem included in the working. The benefit can be achieved from the concept and may help in the sector of providing the internal working of the organisation and help the customers to indulge in different working into the area. 

Online Display and Video Advertising and Social Media Marketing

4. The key activities relating to the online display advertising and social media marketing strategy can be considered to be very much similar. In most of the cases, it can be stated that the strategy which can be implemented in both of the cases are pretty much same. Some of the strategies which can be implemented in the above-stated sector may include the following points:

When taking into consideration different media which can be actively used for the aspect of publishing the online marketing strategy can be categorised into a different sector. The sector which is majorly focused are stated below:

Owned media: The owned media generally refers to digital assets that the organisation owns. They can be the website, social media profiles, content related to blogs or imaginary posts, channels which are owned. These are the things which the business bodies have total control over. The planning of the marketing should be aimed at providing a complete overview of the process of the products/services which are intended for the customers. The customer through the advertising can clearly have a view of the business which is in operation. Earned media: Simply, it can be stated that an earned media directly refers to the exposure that is earned through word of mouth (Karjaluoto, Mustonen and Ulkuniemi 2015).

Earned media: It can be stated here that earned media can be the content which is distributed on other websites which can be guest posts, the PR work which is going on or the customer experience which is delivered. The concept of earned media can be considered to be recognised which is earned. The main method which is related to getting the earned media can be using getting press mention, reviews which are positive and using people sharing the contention the network of social media for example. Paid media: The concept of shared media can be considered to be self-explanatory as its name suggest. It can be considered as a pattern of marketing which emphasis on the focus of putting a paid sector into service with a motive of meeting more people and interacting more than one people in one go (Jackson and Ahuja 2016). People should be attracted by the mean of delivering the concept promptly so that it reaches the target audience promptly. The audit sector of the owned media also plays a very vital role. It can be stated here that it pretty much takes away from the content. Every message which is forwarded from the end of the organisation can be generally be classified according to the content whether it is about the organisation page, the product description page, eBook, blog post, infographics or social media posts.

Taking into consideration different channels which are focused above, the channel which would be most effective would be the paid media sector. This is due to the factor that this sector help in reaching out to a large number of people with a motive of creating a field of interaction between them. In most of the cases, it can be stated that the organisation tend to lean more towards the paid media sector due to the fast service which is achieved from the sector. The process cannot be considered as a slow process due to the factor that they tend to create a motive of interaction on a fast track basis so that it can directly affect the working of the organisation (Karjaluoto, Mustonen and Ulkuniemi 2015). It can be considered a primary sector of marketing which would be directly helping the organisation.

Content and Email Marketing

Organisations in recent times tend to look more in the process which would be giving them the utmost result in a short period. There are different factors which can be included into the process such as the promotional cost which is associated with the concept and how it would be beneficial for the organisation and the sustainable aspect which is related to the concept. There can be different actors who may be included in the process such as the aspect of promotion and the sector of promotion. They are very much vital in the sector of working due to the factor that if any of the steps goes wrong it would be directly affecting the overall working of the organisation and the event would be a failure (Crittenden and Crittenden 2015). It process should include professional people who have prior knowledge of the different areas of working.

It can also be stated here that in the paid sector most of the responsibility of the approach is handed over to the third party and they have the overall control over the approach. The responsibility should be enhanced by taking into the consideration the third party.

5. In recent times it can be stated that the sector of digital marketing is playing a very vital which helps in the sector of improving the customer interaction. Clinton business strategy can be incorporated into the framework of content and email market into the field of digital marketing in a wide number of methods. Most of the people in recent times are more inclined towards the concept of content and email marketing which can act as a major source of interaction between them and the organisation. They are indulging in promotional activity over the concept of the internet via the aspect of emails. They can send email to their pre esteemed so that the customer could have a clear-cut idea of the different events which are taking place within the working of the organisation. The people should be very much informed about the events which are taking place so that they can easily indulge themselves in the events (Rowley and Keegan 2017).  Email can be directly connected to the aspect of digital marketing due to the factor that it can help in the sector of the creation of a medium of interaction between the customer and the organisation. The aspect of content can be posted over the concept of the internet were the people can easily go through them and get to know the different opportunity and services which are organised for them.

The main question which can be stated here is that how the platform which is related to content and email marketing can be useful in the sector of creating a means of propagating the business operation. The organisation should be able to indulge in promoting their business directly to the customers. There can be different types of the method which can be used in the sector of interaction such as the one to one or one to any type of interaction. In one to one the organisation tend to interact with one person at one time and aim at that particular person. This method is beneficial in the way of creating a means of interaction between the loyal customers who are indulged into the business for a long period of time (Yasmin, Tasneem and Fatema 2015). On the other hand one, too many forms of the method can be used in the way of distributing promotional invitation over to a large number of people in one instance (Jackson and Ahuja 2016). In most of the situation, the approach which is related to one too many can be very much beneficial in the way of reaching a large group of customers at one time which decreases the interaction time, and the process is not so much time-consuming. The selection of the platform of interaction can be considered very much important in this aspect. It is the role of the official to indulge in the different working of the organisation and get together the different strategy of the marketing into place. More often it can be seen that the marketing strategy which is taken into consideration or implemented is given a trial run so that when it is implemented there are no problem seen in the sector of justification. The more the important the strategy and more the sector of emphasis more would be the selection process crucial (Crittenden and Crittenden 2015). Sometimes the content which is for promotion or the advertisement is very much important due to the factor that it directly emphasises the customer. It should take into consideration the reaction of the customers and how they exactly consider the promotion event. 

Website Analytics

6. The process which can be used by Clinton to use website analytics to improve performance is majorly in the field of analysing the potential new market. The main process which can be incorporated into the process is that using looking into the geographical breakdown of the traffic in a client site can directly help in the process of identification of the potential market. According to the process the business operation of the organisation can be included. Another process which can be included into the concept is seeking of the resonating content. It can be stated here that the process of identification of the pages which already are indulged with traffic, result or conversion the organisation can get a direct insight of the content which is directly resonating (Karjaluoto, Mustonen and Ulkuniemi 2015). The main aim of the organisation in this context is that the things which are getting resonating should be more created as this would be attracting more customer which would be directly helping the business. It can be stated here that the concept of attribution also plays a very vital role. The attribution point of data within the “model comparison tool” section is one of the data pieces which are very much important. This data point allows gathering better insight into which channel is being assisted in the sector of conversation. In this sector, the default attribution is the last interaction, but in most of the cases the first attribution is more important and can be used more importantly.

Trend analysis can also play a very important role. For example, the Google analytics can be stated to be very much dependent on other additional dimensions to explain them (Jackson and Ahuja 2016). In most of the cases, it can be stated that informatics which would be going live will directly skyrocket the bounce rates. The source of the identification of traffic can help in the sector of creating a means of directly which would be helping to estimate the customer balance.

It can be stated here that the sector of the website can be considered to be one of the most important media which is related to the interaction with the customer. The organisation in recent times trying to indulge more in the concept of bringing an interface which would be beneficial for both the customers and the organisation (Yasmin, Tasneem and Fatema 2015). In recent times the development of technology can be considered to one of the most vital sectors which have helped the organisation to indulge more into the working of the website and take the aspect of website optimisation concept seriously.

Conclusion

The report can be concluded on a note that the digital marketing aspect plays a vital role in implementing different strategies in the organisation. It can be stated here that in recent times most of the organisation tend to include the different operation of the business within the framework of the business. In the case study which is taken into consideration, it can be stated that Clinton can include different marketing strategy for the working of the organisation. Different types of benefit can be achieved from the concept regarding digital marketing strategy. The report directly focus on the different aspects which can be taken into consideration and how it can be included into the working of the organisation. At the core concept of digital marketing the aspect of customer satisfaction can be considered as one of the prime factor which has to give focus upon.

Conclusion

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