About digital marketing

1.0 Background / Introduction

Google Merchandise store is an online store for Branded Merchandise of Android, Google, YouTube and Waze. They have presence in the six continents of the world and stock a wide variety of products ranging from Apparels to Household items. The store made a total revenue of $1″,508″,363.56(Google Analytics) in the past year. With major competitors such as Amazon and eBay holding 56% and 21% respectively (statista.com) of the market share in online marketplace traffic, there need to be an aggressive marketing plan if the store is to be successful.

The Google Merchandise Store is a business to consumer enterprise, these sorts of companies traditionally need to align their marketing strategies to local customers’ preferences so as to gain success in different market segments. (Kotler & Armstrong 2014)

Digital Marketing can be described as a new phenomenon bringing customization and mass distribution jointly to achieve marketing goals (Piñeiro-Otero and Martínez-Rolán”,2016). The advent of the internet has brought about the establishment of channels used to lure customers and retain them online. The channels used in Digital Marketing Include but are not limited to Online advertising, Social media and influencer marketing etc. (Lee Oden, 2014).

To develop a customer centric digital marketing plan the SOSTAC model would be adopted haven been used by professionals to develop various plans (Chaffey 2008). The Model was developed by PR Smith in 1990 to help in planning Marketing activities, it comprises of six components representing the stages in the planning cycle. (Chaffey & Smith, 2013).

Figure 1: SOSTAC Model

2.0 Situational Analysis

In planning for the future, a Company needs to assess its current position in its internal (Micro) and external (Macro) environment. Due to globalization and the internet the market is constantly changing therefore companies need to keep abreast of trends. (Kotler & Armstrong 2014). This section answers the question of where we are now? And to respond to it we must carry out a SWOT analysis, PESTEL, Competitor and Customer analysis to take the company to where it wants to be.

2.1 Customer Analysis

The customer analysis helps us to understand how streamline marketing efforts towards the customers need based on their interests. Due to the wide access of customers to online stores, customers now have the power to choose from several online marketplaces. It is essential that a strong relationship and awareness is built with the customer. Information is a major deal break when it comes to buying decisions therefore content online content should be available for product and product line or else the customer would take their business to the next store. (Hochman, 2010)

Based on the data derived from google Analytics, the major customers are between the ages of 25-44. There marketing efforts should be targeted to this segment. The 18-24 age group should be targeted for less pricey merchandise as most of them are students or have low income. It should be noted that this group are the Millennials and they have strong presence on social media and can become product influencer in their colleges or places of work. The figure below shows the demographics of Users.

Figure 2: Demographics of Users Google Analytics 2019

Figure 3: Top 10 Location of Customers

This figure shows the number of customers according to their location with United states having the highest number of users.

2.2 Buyer Persona

With this information we can create buyer persona that can help better understand how customers buy. (Chaffey 2012) recommends the creation of personas as a procedure for the development of powerful online strategies that are customer centric.

Persona Demographic Motivation Web Usage

Amy

Personal Trainer

In a relationship with school teacher

29

United States

25-35

Likes quality products

Fitness Enthusiast

Loves working out and Hates fast food

Wants a branded water bottle so people don’t take her bottle at the Gym

Uses Social Media daily especially Instagram

Writes reviews on sports and fitness websites

Howard

Single

Theoretical Physiscts

35

Germany

A professional with stable income Loves going to science and tech conventions

Collects limited edition comics and memorabilia

Doesn’t like interacting with people

Wants to buy google and android shirts to work Using online search engines on a daily basis

Very active on forums about Science and Tech related topics

Brian

Business Tycoon

41

Married with Two kids

Maryland, United States

Bread winner who loves his family Owns 10 tech start ups

Likes to remain causal

Loves to play video games when he is not working Uses laptops and Mobile phone to access the internet and so into Social Media

Lee

Developer at Google

30

Single

China

25-35

High Paying Job

High disposable Income Loves to hang out with his friends from college to relive their years in college

Hopes to get married soon

Very active user

Uses the internet to stay in touch with relatives and share photos May be active on social/community sites