DIGITAL MARKETING
INTRODUCTION
1) ABOUT DIGITAL MARKETING:
● Digital marketing covers a very wide range of marketing tactics and technologies
● Digital marketing changes at a rapid pace. By the end of the year, this course will
be outdated…
Digital marketing is extremely important, but also a very broad part of marketing.
(From online advertising over social media, search engine marketing, automated
and affiliate marketing and much more…)
2) HOW TO STAY ON TOP OF THE LATEST DIGITAL MARKETING TREND S:
Newsletters:
● Digitalmarketer.com
● Marketingprofs.com
● SocialMediaExaminer.com
● Moz Top 10
● Social Media Today
Podcasts:
● Social media Marketing podcast by Social Media Examiner
● The Science of Social Media by Buffer
● Social Pros by Jay Baer and Adam Brown
● ….
Online learning platforms – certifications:
● Google Digital Garage
● Facebook Blueprint
● Hubspot
● …
CHAPTER 1: YOUR BUSINESS
BUILDING BLOCKS DIGITAL STRATEGY
Chapter one is
about the first
line: mission,
target group
behaviour,
competitive
analysis and
positioning and
brand identity
1
,1) MISSION
Determine your ‘why’:
• The golden circle: a lot of companies focus on the what, but for convincing
people, the story behind is important. You start with the why: what is the purpose,
what do you believe. How do you do it.
• When considering the “what, why, and how” of your business, the mission
statement is the “why” and the positioning statement is the “what and the how.”
Example Ikea:
• Why? ‘To create a better everyday life for the many people’ They have a simple
• How? Offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home purpose, that’s why
furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as it’s so popular and it
possible will be able to afford them’ attracts a lot of
• What? furniture, kitchens, beds & mattresses, storage, people. A clear
textiles, decoration, bathroom products, outdoor products, ‘why’ is important
for digital marketing
lightning, rugs, pots and plants.
Example M.M. Lafleur:
• Their why: they want to help women to succeed. It’s focussed on business
women. They have a very clear target group who don’t have a lot of time. The
women don’t have much time for shopping and so they have comfortable and
fashionable clothing.
2) TARGET GROUP BEHAVIOUR
Target group:
• Before you start, you need to understand your target
group(s) and their psychographic and behavioural
patterns (you have to understand their needs)
• Defining your target group as: ‘male/female, 18-62
years old’ is too wide (make it specific)
• What we need to look at segmentation criteria,
behaviour and trends
2
,Segmentation criteria:
Objective Inferred (psychographics)
General Geographic Social class
Demographic (gender, age, Personality
income, education, profession, Lifestyle
life cycle)
Specific (behavioural) Occasion Benefit
Loyalty status Buyer readiness
User status
Usage rate
Define the segmentation criteria very well, it’s very important for a specific target
group. Use statista and think with google!!
• Example M.M. Lafleur:
Objective
General Geographic: Boston, NY, Chicago
Income: high - $ 100.000 and $ 250.000 a year
Gender: women
Profession: management level - sectors law, technology, …
Specific Occassion: during business hours
Loyalty status: 70% of the customers are repeat purchasers
• Useful resources:
− Statista (available via Toledo): in order to know the size of your market, get
insights about behaviour, …
− Think with Google: thinkwithgoogle.com = consumer insights, …
− Internet Usage world stats
− Google Scholar
− Sector related resources
− Limo (Library Toledo)
Trends:
• Trend-spotting = spotting opportunities
• Trend-spotting tools:
− Trend watching (= Amplify)
− Get.Trendolizer.com: trending stories, videos of the moment
− Facebook Insights
− Trendsmap.com: real-time Twitter trending hashtags and tops
− Google Trends
− Popular on Pinterest: what people love most today (styles, recipes, howtos)
− Popular on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, IG, …
− Think with Google
− Reading the news
− McKinsey & Company reports
3
, • Type of trends:
− Mega trends (10-50 years): substantial social, economic, political,
environmental or technological changes. Underlying forces for other trends
− Sociocultural trends (5-10 years): Sociological tendencies, the moral, how
society adapts to mega trends
− Consumer trends (2-5 years): changes in consumer lifestyle or behaviour
− Behavioural trends (months – 1 year): new practices with consumption or
service, technology usage
− Hypes or fads: die out quickly after an initial peak or interest
− Industry related trends: look at the trends in your industry
Behaviour:
• You must also uncover:
− What your target audience wants
− What they consider when making a buying decision
− What prices they find appropriate
− The likes and dislikes (frustrations) of current products or services
− Things they would like to see improved, what are their expectations
− Where do they find inspiration: friends, websites, media,…
If you know what the audience wants. You can adapt everything to the
audience’s needs. Some things for exploring their needs you can do some
interviews, surveys,... After the interviews you can get insights. You can also
use this to get some insights in the 2B2 market. It’s very useful to interview
the person that is responsible for sales
• Get consumer insights about the
behaviour & thinking of (potential)
customers
• Interviews:
− People of target group: to better understand their needs, wants, feelings,…
− Internal investigation : interview your colleagues from the sales department,
aftersales, … : people who are in contact with the target group
• Social listening:
− = Tracking social media platforms for mentions and conversations related to
your brand or business, then analysing them for insights to discover
opportunities to act. Social listening is important because you know what the
people say about you and your brand. So you can optimize things.
− Social listening is more than understanding what people say about you. You
also want to know what they say about your competitors and your industry in
general. This gives you important insights into where you fit in the
marketplace.
− Sentimental analysis: Mention.com, Brand24.com, Hootsuite, …
− Follow # of your company, business
− Reviews Google Myb Business, Facebook, website, forums, … (if people are
negative, you have to respond!)
4
INTRODUCTION
1) ABOUT DIGITAL MARKETING:
● Digital marketing covers a very wide range of marketing tactics and technologies
● Digital marketing changes at a rapid pace. By the end of the year, this course will
be outdated…
Digital marketing is extremely important, but also a very broad part of marketing.
(From online advertising over social media, search engine marketing, automated
and affiliate marketing and much more…)
2) HOW TO STAY ON TOP OF THE LATEST DIGITAL MARKETING TREND S:
Newsletters:
● Digitalmarketer.com
● Marketingprofs.com
● SocialMediaExaminer.com
● Moz Top 10
● Social Media Today
Podcasts:
● Social media Marketing podcast by Social Media Examiner
● The Science of Social Media by Buffer
● Social Pros by Jay Baer and Adam Brown
● ….
Online learning platforms – certifications:
● Google Digital Garage
● Facebook Blueprint
● Hubspot
● …
CHAPTER 1: YOUR BUSINESS
BUILDING BLOCKS DIGITAL STRATEGY
Chapter one is
about the first
line: mission,
target group
behaviour,
competitive
analysis and
positioning and
brand identity
1
,1) MISSION
Determine your ‘why’:
• The golden circle: a lot of companies focus on the what, but for convincing
people, the story behind is important. You start with the why: what is the purpose,
what do you believe. How do you do it.
• When considering the “what, why, and how” of your business, the mission
statement is the “why” and the positioning statement is the “what and the how.”
Example Ikea:
• Why? ‘To create a better everyday life for the many people’ They have a simple
• How? Offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home purpose, that’s why
furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as it’s so popular and it
possible will be able to afford them’ attracts a lot of
• What? furniture, kitchens, beds & mattresses, storage, people. A clear
textiles, decoration, bathroom products, outdoor products, ‘why’ is important
for digital marketing
lightning, rugs, pots and plants.
Example M.M. Lafleur:
• Their why: they want to help women to succeed. It’s focussed on business
women. They have a very clear target group who don’t have a lot of time. The
women don’t have much time for shopping and so they have comfortable and
fashionable clothing.
2) TARGET GROUP BEHAVIOUR
Target group:
• Before you start, you need to understand your target
group(s) and their psychographic and behavioural
patterns (you have to understand their needs)
• Defining your target group as: ‘male/female, 18-62
years old’ is too wide (make it specific)
• What we need to look at segmentation criteria,
behaviour and trends
2
,Segmentation criteria:
Objective Inferred (psychographics)
General Geographic Social class
Demographic (gender, age, Personality
income, education, profession, Lifestyle
life cycle)
Specific (behavioural) Occasion Benefit
Loyalty status Buyer readiness
User status
Usage rate
Define the segmentation criteria very well, it’s very important for a specific target
group. Use statista and think with google!!
• Example M.M. Lafleur:
Objective
General Geographic: Boston, NY, Chicago
Income: high - $ 100.000 and $ 250.000 a year
Gender: women
Profession: management level - sectors law, technology, …
Specific Occassion: during business hours
Loyalty status: 70% of the customers are repeat purchasers
• Useful resources:
− Statista (available via Toledo): in order to know the size of your market, get
insights about behaviour, …
− Think with Google: thinkwithgoogle.com = consumer insights, …
− Internet Usage world stats
− Google Scholar
− Sector related resources
− Limo (Library Toledo)
Trends:
• Trend-spotting = spotting opportunities
• Trend-spotting tools:
− Trend watching (= Amplify)
− Get.Trendolizer.com: trending stories, videos of the moment
− Facebook Insights
− Trendsmap.com: real-time Twitter trending hashtags and tops
− Google Trends
− Popular on Pinterest: what people love most today (styles, recipes, howtos)
− Popular on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, IG, …
− Think with Google
− Reading the news
− McKinsey & Company reports
3
, • Type of trends:
− Mega trends (10-50 years): substantial social, economic, political,
environmental or technological changes. Underlying forces for other trends
− Sociocultural trends (5-10 years): Sociological tendencies, the moral, how
society adapts to mega trends
− Consumer trends (2-5 years): changes in consumer lifestyle or behaviour
− Behavioural trends (months – 1 year): new practices with consumption or
service, technology usage
− Hypes or fads: die out quickly after an initial peak or interest
− Industry related trends: look at the trends in your industry
Behaviour:
• You must also uncover:
− What your target audience wants
− What they consider when making a buying decision
− What prices they find appropriate
− The likes and dislikes (frustrations) of current products or services
− Things they would like to see improved, what are their expectations
− Where do they find inspiration: friends, websites, media,…
If you know what the audience wants. You can adapt everything to the
audience’s needs. Some things for exploring their needs you can do some
interviews, surveys,... After the interviews you can get insights. You can also
use this to get some insights in the 2B2 market. It’s very useful to interview
the person that is responsible for sales
• Get consumer insights about the
behaviour & thinking of (potential)
customers
• Interviews:
− People of target group: to better understand their needs, wants, feelings,…
− Internal investigation : interview your colleagues from the sales department,
aftersales, … : people who are in contact with the target group
• Social listening:
− = Tracking social media platforms for mentions and conversations related to
your brand or business, then analysing them for insights to discover
opportunities to act. Social listening is important because you know what the
people say about you and your brand. So you can optimize things.
− Social listening is more than understanding what people say about you. You
also want to know what they say about your competitors and your industry in
general. This gives you important insights into where you fit in the
marketplace.
− Sentimental analysis: Mention.com, Brand24.com, Hootsuite, …
− Follow # of your company, business
− Reviews Google Myb Business, Facebook, website, forums, … (if people are
negative, you have to respond!)
4
