Digital Mark eting Str ategy


Digital Mark eting Str ategy  PIERRE- YANN DOLBEC  MONTREAL


Digital M arketing Str ategy by Pierr e-Yann Dolbec is licensed under a Creative  Commons A ttribution- NonCommer cial-Shar eAlike 4.0 International L icense , except  wher e otherwise noted.


Contents  Introduc tion  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec 1  Ackno wledgmen ts  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec 4  List o f Figur es  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec 5  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 11  Creating V alue in the Digital A ge 15 11  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 23  Under standing Consumer s Thr ough P ersonas 23  Rethinking the Consumer J ourney 29  Under standing Consumer J ourneys 31  Zero Moment of Truth 36  Journey M apping 39  Exercises 41 23


Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 45  SEO 46  Under standing H ow Consumer s Use Keywor ds 62  Using K eywor ds to A nalyze Competitor s 66  Exercises 70 45  Introduc tion to Dig ital S trategy  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 73  Inbound and Outbound M arketing 74  Paid, Owned, and Earned M edia 75  Objectives, Goals, and KP Is 76  Strategy and T actics 78  RACE Fr amewor k 79  From P ersona and J ourney to Str ategy 83  From a J ourney M ap to a Conver sion P ath 86  RACE for Competitive A nalysis 91  Exercises 97 73  Reach: Gener ating A wareness and A ttracting Visi tors  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 100  Reach 101  Landing P ages 101  Paid M edia A ctivities 111  Social M edia and R ACE 121  Exercises 129 100


Act: Cr eating Con tent  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 132  Creating Content 133  Structuring Content Cr eation 139  RACE and Content M arketing 143  Pillar P ages 147  Content Calendar 156  Exercises 157 132  Act: Le ad Gener ation and Le ad Nur turing  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 160  ACT 160  Leads and Lead Gener ation 161  Lead Scoring 168  Lead Nurturing 172  Exercises 183 160  Convert: Con version Optimiza tion  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 185  Convert 185  A/B T esting 190  Conver sion-Center ed Principles 193  Remar keting and R etargeting 212  Exercises 216 185


Engage: B uilding Lo yalty and Co-Cr eating Wi th  Customers  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec  Overview 218  Engage 218  Customer L ifetime V alue 219  RFM A nalysis 223  Net Pr omoter Scor e 226  Engaging Customer s in Co-Cr eation A ctivities 227  Exercises 231 218  About the Author  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec 233  Versioning H istor y  Pierr e-Yann Dol bec 234


Appendix: T ext Descriptions o f Figur es  Figur e 2.2 Types of Segmentation? 235  Figur e 2.3 R V Betty? 236  Figur e 4.2 KP Is Example ? 237  Figur e 4.3 A ARRR? 237  Figur e 4.4 RACE Goals ? 237  Figur e 4.8 Conver sion P ath – 2nd Ex ample ? 238  Figur e 4.9 R ACE? 239  Figur e 5.18 Longtail K eywor ds and Conver sion Rate ? 240  Figur e 5.19 F acebook A d Objectives ? 240  Figur e 6.13 Content Calendar? 241  Figur e 7.10 E mail A utomation? 241  Figur e 8.2 Funnel? 242  Figur e 8.20 Landing P age E valuation? 243  Figur e 9.2 Value Chain? 244  Table f or Ex ercises in Chapter s 4?, 5?, and 6? 245 235


Introduction  PIERRE- YANN DOLBEC  The in terne t has dig italized our liv es: w e no w cr eate and me et  others in online c ommuni ties on w ebsites such as R eddit, Imgur ,  Facebook, or Nik eTalk. Our r elationships wi th our friends and  families ha ve expande d to dig ital channels such as W hatsApp,  Facebook M essenger , and I nstagr am. W e forge ne w relationships  through da ting apps such as Ok Cupid and Tinder . We be come  micr ocelebri ties on Twi tch and Y ouTube. W e consume other  people ’s lives, w e talk to str angers, and w e project public personas  on social me dia pla tforms.  The in terne t has also tr ansforme d ho w businesses c onduc t their  activities and ho w consumers go about bu ying pr oduc ts. W hole  industries, such as music and tr avel, ha ve be en radically reshape d.  In or der to be suc cessful dig ital mar keters, w e ne ed to go be yond  simpl y transla ting the me thods and pr ocesses tha t use d to be  successful f or tr aditional me dia. W e need a dr astic ally dif ferent way  of thinking about appr oaching c onsumers and selling pr oduc ts.  The obje ctive o f this te xtbook is to pr ovide a w ay o f  conceptualizing ho w to do mar keting online and a str ategic  framework to do so. Thr oughout, r eal-lif e examples, le arning  exercises, vide os, and addi tional r esour ces ar e offered to c emen t  and e xpand y our le arning e xperienc e.  The fir st section  of this te xtbook e xplains ho w the in terne t has  transforme d the w ays f irms cr eate v alue and ho w c onsumers  experienc e brands and pr oduc ts. In this f irst se ction, w e focus on  understanding a


oduc ts. In this f irst se ction, w e focus on  understanding a shif t in ho w firms c ommunic ate wi th consumers:  they ha ve mo ved away from talking about themsel ves, which w as  predominan t in a pr e-interne t era, to wards o ften o ffering fr ee  resour ces to cr eate value f or c onsumers. W e then e xplor e ho w  the c onsumer e xperienc e has be en radically alter ed and wha t the  implic ations ar e for firms’ str ategies.  Introduc tion  |  1


More pr ecisel y, Chapter 1: I ntroduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  discusses ho w dig italiza tion is chang ing the e cosystem in which  we conduc t mar keting ac tivities. I n this chapter , we explor e wha t  marketing is and ho w value is cr eated online, and brief ly touch on  consumer journe ys.  Chapter 2: Understanding the Dig ital Consumer  explor es ho w  digitaliza tion is tr ansforming the journe y of consumers.  We learn  about mar keting tools (persona, c onsumer journe y, and journe y  mapping) to help us understand c onsumer beha vior and cr aft dig ital  marketing c ampaigns.  In Chapter 3: P lanning For a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign , we  cover basic notions o f search eng ine optimiza tion and then discuss  how, when cr eating c ontent, keywords can be use d to r espond to  consumers’ ne eds and goals. W e also discuss ho w keywords can help  us understand ho w our c ompe titors ar e posi tione d online.  Chapter 4: I ntroduc tion to Dig ital S trategy presen ts some k ey  vocabular y associa ted with dig ital mar keting and the fr amework we  are going to c over for the r est o f the semester , the R ACE fr amework.  We explain i ts relationship to persona, journe y, and str ategy and  how it can be use d to perf orm c ompe titive anal yses.  The second section  of this te xtbook pr ovides an in-depth  presen tation o f a dig ital mar keting fr amework centered on  conversion-base d mar keting. This fr amework echoes the w ork of  man y dig ital mar keting agencies. I t is c ompose d of four stages  through which f irms c an a ttract visi tors, cr eate le ads, tr ansform  leads in to customers, and f oster customer lo yalty.  Chapter 5: R each: Gener ating A wareness and A ttracting Visi tors discusses paid me dia


each: Gener ating A wareness and A ttracting Visi tors discusses paid me dia ac tivities. W e first emphasiz e the ne cessity  of building landing pages and describe wha t landing pages ar e. W e  then turn our a ttention to the online e cosystem, discussing  elemen ts such as t ypes o f paid me dia ac tivities and e xpand on  paymen t models and t ypes o f targeting tha t are available online.  Chapter 6: Ac t: Cr eating Con tent covers some c entral ac tivities  associa ted with content creation. W e discuss ho w content creation  can be inf orme d by the R ACE fr amework, the dif ference be tween  2  |  Introduc tion


gated and unga ted content, ho w to build topic al relevance, and  how pillar pages c an help us do so. The chapter ends wi th a shor t  presen tation o f content calendars.  Chapter 7 : Act: Le ad Gener ation and Le ad Nur turing  looks a t the  basics o f lead gener ation and le ad nur turing ac tivities. W e def ine  leads and le ad stages, pr esen t a f ew w ays to gener ate le ads and  different types o f opt-ins, e xplain ho w to sc ore leads, and discuss  email mar keting.  Chapter 8: Con vert: Con version Optimiza tion examines wha t  conversion is and ho w to optimiz e web pages to c onvert better. To  do so, w e discuss c onversion r ate optimiza tion, ho w to iden tify wha t  to optimiz e as pe ople mo ve from one w eb page to another , some  conversion-c entered principles, A/B testing, and r etargeting.  Chapter 9: Engage: B uilding Lo yalty and Co-Cr eating Wi th  Customers  deals wi th ho w to e valuate and enc ourage customer  engagemen t and lo yalty and f oster c o-cr eation b y engage d  customers. M ore pr ecisel y, we del ve into customer engagemen t,  customer lif etime v alue, w ays to me asur e engagemen t,  consumption c ommuni ties, and c o-cr eation ac tivities.    Introduc tion  |  3


Acknowle dgments  PIERRE- YANN DOLBEC  Pierr e thanks Alexandr e Bustaman te for the book illustr ations,  Kelly-Anne Lema y for forma tting and e diting, and Chloe Lei f or  academic suppor t, as w ell as the f inancial suppor t of Conc ordia  Univ ersity and the Open Educ ational R esour ces initiative.  4  |  Ackno wledgmen ts


List of Figur es  PIERRE- YANN DOLBEC  Chapter 1  Figur e 1.1 The Ev olution o f WOM The ory  Chapter 2  Figur e 2.1 Persona  Figur e 2.2  Types o f Segmen tation / Fr om Univ ersity o f  Minnesota ’s Principles o f Mar keting / Text Description  Figur e 2.3  RV Be tty / Cr edit: BBH Singapor e (@bbh_singapor e) /  Text Description  Figur e 2.4  Consumer J ourne y: The Funnel M odel  Figur e 2.5  Consumer J ourne y: The Cir cular M odel  Figur e 2.6 ZMOT  Figur e 2.7 Four Types o f ZM OT  Figur e 2.8  Journe y Mapping / Adapte d from nngr oup.c om  Chapter 3  Figur e 3.1 Paid vs Or ganic Se arch  Figur e 3.2  Top Ranking Fac tors  Figur e 3.3  How M eta Tags Ar e Displa yed on Goog le SERP s  Figur e 3.4  Cross-Linking Example  Figur e 3.5  Top On-P age Fac tors  Figur e 3.6 Types o f Search  List o f Figur es  |  5


Figur e 3.7 Journe y and Se arches  Chapter 4  Figur e 4.1 Obje ctive / Goal / KP I  Figur e 4.2  KPIs Example / Text Description  Figur e 4.3  AARRR / Text Description  Figur e 4.4  RACE Ojbe ctives / Text Description  Figur e 4.5  Journe y and Se arches  Figur e 4.6 Conversion P ath  Figur e 4.7 Conversion P ath – 1st Example  Figur e 4.8  Conversion P ath – 2nd Example / Text Description  Figur e 4.9  RACE / Text Description  Chapter 5  Figur e 5.1 Examples o f a Clickthr ough Landing P age – Fi t for Lif e  Figur e 5.2  Examples o f a Clickthr ough Landing P age – S potif y  Figur e 5.3  Examples o f a Le ad Gener ation L anding P age – Fi t for  Life  Figur e 5.4  Examples o f a Le ad Gener ation L anding P age – Uber  Figur e 5.5  Shopif y Ad  Figur e 5.6 Shopif y Homepage  Figur e 5.7 AR Con version  Figur e 5.8  Shopif y Landing P age  Figur e 5.9  Landing P age – A ttention Ra tio  Figur e 5.10  Basic Elemen ts of a L anding P age – Shopif y Example  Figur e 5.11  Banner Ad  Figur e 5.12  Intersti tial  Figur e 5.13  Pop-Up Ad  Figur e 5.14  Floating Ad  6  |  List o f Figur es


Figur e 5.15  Wallpaper  Figur e 5.16  Map  Figur e 5.17  Native  Figur e 5.18  Longtail K eywords and Con version Ra te / Text  Description  Figur e 5.19  Facebook Ad Obje ctives / Text Description  Figur e 5.20  Affiliate Mar keting Example  Chapter 6  Figur e 6.1  Content Mar keting  Figur e 6.2  Exemplar and Pr ototype  Figur e 6.3  Gated Con tent Example  Figur e 6.4  Unga ted Con tent to Ga ted Con tent  Figur e 6.5  Topics  Figur e 6.6 Funnel  Figur e 6.7 Pillar P age Example  Figur e 6.8  Traditional Appr oach  Figur e 6.9  Pillar Appr oach  Figur e 6.10  Pillar P age and Ga ted Con tent  Figur e 6.11  Pillar P age and Ga ted Con tent  Figur e 6.12  Pillar S trategy  Figur e 6.13  Content Calendar / Text Description  Chapter 7  Figur e 7.1 Lead Gener ation Fac ebook  Figur e 7.2 Marketo Form Fields  Figur e 7.3Scroll-Do wn P op-Up Opt-I n on Zoella.c o.uk  Figur e 7.4 Bottom o f Con tent Opt-I n on fastc ompan y.com  Figur e 7.5 Double Opt-I n on I nstagr am – P art 1  List o f Figur es  |  7


Figur e 7.6 Double Opt-I n on I nstagr am – P art 2  Figur e 7.7 Double Opt-I n on I nstagr am – P art 3  Figur e 7.8 Drip Email Se quenc e Example  Figur e 7.9 Drip Se quenc e  Figur e 7.10 Email Automa tion / Text Description  Chapter 8  Figur e 8.1  Conversion Ra te  Figur e 8.2  Funnel / Text Description  Figur e 8.3  Goog le’s Con version Funnel Example  Figur e 8.4  A/B T est  Figur e 8.5  A/B Dif ferences  Figur e 8.6 Attention Ra tio W orks  Figur e 8.7 Encapsula tion Example  Figur e 8.8  Encapsula tion  Figur e 8.9  Color Con trast  Figur e 8.10  Directional Cues  Figur e 8.11  Reading Flo w  Figur e 8.12  White Space  Figur e 8.13  Informa tion H ierarchy  Figur e 8.14  Continui ty  Figur e 8.15  Message Ma tch Failur e  Figur e 8.16  Message Ma tch S uccess  Figur e 8.17  Design Ma tch Failur e  Figur e 8.18  Design Ma tch S uccess  Figur e 8.19  Congruenc e Example  Figur e 8.20  Landing P age Ev aluation / Text Version  Figur e 8.21  Retargeting  Figur e 8.22  Retargeting Example  8  |  List o f Figur es


Chapter 9  Figur e 9.1 Net Promoter Sc ore  Figur e 9.2 Value Chain / Text Description  List o f Figur es  |  9


Introduction to Digital  Mark eting  PIERRE- YANN DOLBEC  Overview  In this chapter , we discuss ho w dig italiza tion is chang ing the  ecosystem in which w e conduc t mar keting ac tivities. W e star t by  defining mar keting, v alue, and ho w value is cr eated. W e then go  on to se e ho w the me dia e cosystem and dig ital channels ar e  transforming the log ic w e use to cr eate value, mo ving a way from  represen ting the c ompan y to r epresen ting the customer . To set up  the ne xt chapter , we conclude b y brief ly discussing the c onsumer  journe y.  Learning O bjectives  Understand tha t the main goal o f mar keting is to cr eate  value and ho w the chang ing e cosystem is tr ansforming the  ways w e can achie ve this goal.  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  |  11


What Is Mark eting?  According to the Americ an Mar keting Associa tion—mar keting’ s top  associa tion— marketing  is “the ac tivity, set of insti tutions, and  processes f or cr eating, c ommunic ating, deliv ering, and e xchang ing  offerings tha t ha ve value f or customers, clien ts, par tners, and  socie ty at large” (Americ an Mar keting Associa tion 2013 ).  Our goal is to be tter understand ho w the c onsumer e xperienc e  has be en tr ansforme d and wh y it has be come ne cessar y to adopt  a dr astic ally dif ferent perspe ctive on ho w to perf orm mar keting  online. Thus, as w e reconceptualiz e the e cosystem in which  consumers and f irms oper ate, w e concentrate on the f ollowing  elemen ts of tha t def inition: “ processes f or cr eating, c ommunic ating,  deliv ering, and e xchang ing o fferings tha t have value. ”  In other w ords, the r ole o f mar keting is to create value for a br oad  range o f stak eholders. I n this te xtbook, w e concentrate on v alue  creation f or consumers. W e concentrate on v alue cr eation be cause  consumers “ do not bu y pr oduc ts or ser vices, the y bu y offerings  which … cr eate value” in their liv es (Gummesson 1995, p. 250 ).  Hence, our f ocus will be on understanding ho w firms c an cr eate  value in c onsumers’ liv es—and ho w the y can do so online.  Firms cr eate value f or consumers in man y dif ferent ways. If we  rewind back a f ew de cades, w e find tha t our understanding o f value  creation w as tain ted by the w ork of economists, and v alue w as  mostl y thoug ht of as being base d on pr oduc ts’ utili ty. Utilitarian  value , therefore, denotes the v


on pr oduc ts’ utili ty. Utilitarian  value , therefore, denotes the v alue tha t a customer r eceives base d  on a task -related and r ational c onsumption beha vior ( Babin e t al.  1994 ). Since then, our understanding o f value has v astly broadene d  to include other t ypes o f value, such as hedonic v alue —value base d  on the customer’ s experienc e of fun and pla yfulness (Babin e t al.  1994 )—or linking v alue , which is base d on the cr eation o f  interpersonal links be tween c onsumers ( Cova 199 7). This is  impor tant for dig ital mar keters be cause i t me ans tha t ther e ar e  numer ous a venues to c ontribute to c onsumers’ liv es thr ough value  12  |  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting


creation tha t expand be yond the use o f a pr oduc t by a c onsumer to  achie ve a spe cific task.  Another impor tant transforma tion o f our understanding o f value  creation o ver the last de cade is the ide a tha t value is always co- created (Vargo and Lusch 2004 ). Value is c o-cr eated thr ough the  meeting o f consumers, wi th their o wn r esour ces such as skills,  exper tise, and e xisting possessions, wi th tha t of firms and their  resour ces, such as br and c ampaigns, ser vice deliv ery models, and  the pr oduc ts the y sell.  Let’s see these notions c oncr etized thr ough an e xample: Bef ore,  we would ha ve conceptualiz ed a c onsumer as bu ying a c ar be cause  they wanted to e xtract the utili tarian v alue associa ted wi th the  produc t (i.e., mo ving fr om poin t A to poin t B). Value r eside d in  the c ar and w as tr ansferred to a c onsumer when the y put tha t  produc t into use. N owadays, w e understand the pur chase o f a c ar  as conceptuall y very dif ferent. First, c onsumers c an bu y a c ar for  reasons other than going fr om poin t A to poin t B. Ma ybe the y want  to belong to a c ommuni ty of other c onsumers, or wha t is r eferred  to as a consum ption comm unity, and bu ying this c ar allo ws them  to do so. This community-oriented str ategy is emplo yed by iconic  brands such as H arley-Davidson. Or ma ybe the c onsumers se e the  car as a r ecreational obje ct, wher e the end is not impor tant (i.e.,  wher e the y ar e going), but ho w the y ge t ther e is. This has le d  to man y ads tha t emphasiz e the ple asur e of driving, r


d  to man y ads tha t emphasiz e the ple asur e of driving, r ather than  more utili tarian char acteristics such as fuel e conom y. And w e no w  understand the v alue cr eated by a c ar as emer ging fr om the  interaction o f a c onsumer and the c ar. For e xample, cr eating v alue  by consuming a spor ts car can be limi ted by the skills o f the driv er.  The c ar has a se t of char acteristics fr om which c onsumers c an  create value, but the y can onl y maximiz e value c o-cr eation if the y  possess the e xper tise to do so. S imilar ly, a consumer c an co-cr eate  value when bu ying a H arley-Davidson while riding i t, but the y mig ht  leave unde velope d value when the y do not par ticipa te in the  worldwide c ommuni ty of Harley-Davidson driv ers.  To sum up, v alue e xists in man y dif ferent ways, and i t is al ways  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  |  13


the r esult o f the in teraction be tween a c onsumer and a f irm ( and i ts  produc ts and ser vices). This has impor tant implic ations f or dig ital  marketing, one o f them being the cr eation o f content. Man y firms  participa te in cr eating v alue in c onsumers’ liv es b y offering fr ee  content. This c ontent can ha ve he donic v alue, such as a humor ous  YouTube vide o. It can also help c onsumers be tter their skills and  knowledge, such as online tutorials. B y incr easing c onsumers’  exper tise, f irms allo w consumers to e xpand their r esour ces, which  can le ad them to cr eate mor e value when c onsuming pr oduc ts. W e  will c ome back to this ide a in the c onclusion o f this chapter .  How do f irms cr eate value? For the last 30 y ears, the dominan t  paradigm f or understanding ho w firms cr eate value f or consumers  has be en mar ket orien tation. Market orien tation refers to the “the  organiza tion-wide gener ation o f mar ket intelligenc e, dissemina tion  of the in telligenc e acr oss depar tmen ts and or ganiza tion-wide  responsiv eness to i t” (Kohli and J aworski 1990 , p. 3 ). By this, w e  mean tha t organiza tions cr eate value b y gener ating inf orma tion  and dissemina ting this inf orma tion thr oughout the f irm in or der to  proper ly respond to i t. This is done b y gener ating and r esponding  to inf orma tion about customer s, or wha t is r eferred to as customer  orien tation, and gener ating and r esponding to inf orma tion about  competitor s, or wha t is r eferred to as com petitor orien tation. For  this r eason, mar keting ac ademics and pr actitioners t ypically aim  to iden tify and


ac ademics and pr actitioners t ypically aim  to iden tify and r espond to customer ne eds as w ell as e xamining  and r esponding to their c ompe titors’ ef forts. Being mar ket-orien ted  has be en found to be ne cessar y for a f irm to c ompe te in mar kets  effectively (Kumar e t al. 2011 ). For this r eason, w e will c over both  customers and c ompe titors in the f irst f ew chapters, and the  strategic fr amework offered in this te xtbook is c entered ar ound  answ ering customers’ ne eds, goals, and desir es, ide ally mor e  effectively than the c ompe tition does.  Now tha t we ha ve def ined the bases o f mar keting, w e turn our  attention to change br ought about b y the in terne t and ho w it  transforme d the w ays tha t firms cr eate value f or consumers.  14  |  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting


Creating V alue in the Digital Ag e  Canadian me dia scholar Marshall M cLuhan famousl y wr ote tha t “the  medium is the message ” (McLuhan 1964 ). By this, he me ant to  emphasiz e tha t the char acteristics o f a me dium ( e.g., T V vs. prin t vs.  interne t) pla yed an impor tant role in c ommunic ations, in addi tion  to the message. W e conclude this chapter b y sho wing ho w the  interne t, as a me dium, has pla yed a tr ansforma tive role in shaping  the message and wha t this me ans f or mar keting.  The w ays messages ar e dif fused to c onsumers ha ve  been vastly transforme d sinc e the 1950s. I n reviewing w ord-of- mouth (W OM) models ( Figur e 1.1), Kozine ts and c o-authors (2010 )  iden tify thr ee periods tha t are useful in c onceptualizing ho w the  diffusion o f messages fr om f irms to c onsumers has e volved.  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  |  15


16  |  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting


Figur e 1.1 The E volution of W OM Theor y  In the 1950s, the dif fusion o f messages e choe d a vie w found in  the v ery suc cessful series Mad M en: advertising f irms w ould cr eate  what the y belie ved to be a message tha t could sell pr oduc ts and  would use mass me dia such as T V, newspapers, magazines, and the  radio to dif fuse these messages. W ord of mouth w as or ganic, in the  sense tha t it happene d be tween c onsumers wi thout in terventions  from f irms. This is kno wn as the organic in terconsumer inf luence  model .  In the 19 70s, the ories star ted to r ecogniz e tha t some individuals  held mor e po wer than others to inf luenc e other c onsumers.  Increasing ly, these inf luen tial c onsumers and c elebri ties w ere  leveraged by firms to dif fuse their messages. This is kno wn as the  linear mar keter inf luence model  because in these e arlier ef forts,  such inf luenc ers w ere belie ved to fai thfull y dif fuse the message  created by firms and their ad vertising agencies.  The emer genc e of the in terne t led to a thir d transforma tion in  how w e understand message dif fusion and w ord of mouth and a  movemen t toward a netw ork co-pr oduction model . In this last  model, c onsumers lik e you and me, online c ommuni ties, and other  types o f ne tworked forms o f communic ation ( such as publics created thr ough hash tags, se e Arvidsson and Caliandr o 2015 ), ha ve  an incr easing r ole to pla y not onl y in dif fusing messages but also in  transforming them.  Marketers ha ve capitalized on this ne w mode o f dif fusion f or  messages b y dir ectly tar geting inf luenc ers who ar e par t of  consumer ne tworks and c ommuni ties, which has r esulte d in the  explosion


tworks and c ommuni ties, which has r esulte d in the  explosion o f influenc er mar keting and the rising inf luenc e of micr o- influenc ers. The y ha ve also de velope d capaci ties, such as social  media moni toring, to iden tify emer gent disc ourses on and ar ound  their br ands, which some times c omple tely reinterpr et br and  meanings.  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  |  17


The increased power of consumer s in cr eating, modif ying, and  diffusing messages on and ar ound br ands has le d, for example, to  the cr eation o f doppelg änger brand imag es, “a famil y of dispar aging  images and me anings about a br and tha t cir culate thr oughout  popular cultur e” (Thompson, Rindf leisch, and Arsel 2006 ). Or , to  simplif y, consumers no w cr eate alterna tive campaigns tha t tarnish  the in tende d image ini tially created by br ands. Consumers using  Twitter to dif fuse alterna tive br and me anings or gr oups o f  consumers such as 4chan c o-opting ad vertising c ampaigns ar e  examples o f this. For f irms, the incr eased role o f consumers in  the cr eation and dif fusion o f messages has impor tant implic ations  for value cr eation: f irms  now ha ve to c onsider not onl y ho w their  messages c an be amplif ied by consumers but also ho w the y could  be co-opte d, reshape d, and r esiste d.  Another tr ansforma tion br ought about b y the in terne t is media  and audience fr agmen tation. In the 19 70s, All in the F amily was  for a f ew years the top-w atche d TV sho w in the US. A t its pe ak, it  was w atche d by a fifth of the popula tion. The 1980 f inale o f the hi t  series Dallas was w atche d by 90 million vie wers, or mor e than 75%  of the US tele vision a udienc e, while the last episode o f M*A*S*H  was w atche d by 105 million pe ople . The last f inale to mak e the top  10 list  was Friends , in 2004, as the adoption o f broadband in terne t  accelerated.  Consumers ha ve an incr easing number o f options f or me dia- base d en tertainmen t. T raditional me dia c


options f or me dia- base d en tertainmen t. T raditional me dia c ompanies ar e no w  compe ting against user-g ener ated con tent found on social me dia  websites such as I nstagr am, Fac ebook, and TikT ok. Y ounger  consumers ha ve mo ved en masse to these ne w me dia, c omplic ating  the cr eation o f advertising c ampaigns. M edia fr agmen tation and the  rise o f interne t in the liv es of consumers has le d to the emer genc e  of the c oncept o f the atten tion econom y.  This is not a ne w concept. In 1971, S imon  was alr eady discussing  how “inf orma tion c onsumes … the a ttention o f its recipien ts,” and  Bill Ga tes w as sta ting in 1996  that “content is king. ” The implic ations  for dig ital mar keting had be en recogniz ed as e arly as the mid- 1990s,  18  |  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting


when Mandel and V an der Leun men tione d in their book Rules of  the N et how “attention is the har d curr ency of the c yberspac e.”  Goldhaber (199 7) would add tha t “as the N et be comes an  increasing ly str ong pr esenc e in the o verall e conom y, the f low of  attention will not onl y an ticipa te the f low of mone y but e ventuall y  replac e it altoge ther.” This has le d to a dr astic r ethinking o f how to  do mar keting online and is in trinsic ally tie d to the rise o f inbound  marketing  and content mar keting .  To recap, a f ew de cades back, inf orma tion w as rather sc arce;  people, f or the most par t, consume d inf orma tion fr om onl y a f ew  sour ces, and c ompanies c ould r ather e asily tar get consumers to  diffuse their ad vertising messages. N owadays, inf orma tion is  plen tiful, c onsumers ar e dif fused over a lar gely fragmen ted me dia  ecosystem, and i t has be come mor e dif ficult f or c ompanies to  diffuse their ad vertising messages to a mass o f consumers, which  can w ork against them. Tha t dif ficult y, and the de velopmen t of  targeting te chnolog ies tha t ha ve transforme d ho w w e can send  messages to c onsumers, ha ve led to t wo impor tant transforma tions  for mar keters and ho w w e understand v alue cr eation f or  consumers.  Finding Consumers vs. Being F ound  The f irst tr ansforma tion w as a mo vemen t away fr om finding  consumer s toward being f ound by consumer s.  What does this me an?  If we rewind histor y, it use d to be tha t mar keters w ould “f ind”  consumers: The y would use mar ket research r epor ts in or der to  understand wher e consumers hung out so as to plac e ad


ts in or der to  understand wher e consumers hung out so as to plac e ad vertising  there, wha t the y watche d so tha t the y could run ads during their  favorite sho ws, and understand their mo vemen ts in a ci ty so as  to put ads and bill boar ds in the rig ht plac es. Althoug h this still  func tions online— you c an “f ind” c onsumers thr ough online  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  |  19


targeting b y placing y our ads on r elevant websites—ther e has be en  an impor tant swi tch to ward consumer s finding companies .  Consumers f ind c ompanies thr ough their normal e veryday  searches. I n the chapter on c onsumers and their journe y, we are  going to se e how finding c ompanies e xpands the se ts of brands tha t  consumers c onsider bef ore making a pur chase.  How does this w ork?  Think o f a ne ed or a pr oblem y ou mig ht have. How do y ou usuall y  go about answ ering this ne ed or r esolving this pr oblem ? Ma ybe  you will ask a friend. Ma ybe y ou will go to a stor e and trust the  salesperson. Or per haps, as millions o f consumers do e very da y,  you will turn to the in terne t to do a se arch about y our ne ed or  your pr oblem. This is how thousands of consumer s discover new  brands and pr oducts ever y day! This has str ong implic ations f or  digital mar keters, one o f the most impor tant being c ontent creation:  In order to be f ound b y consumers, y ou ne ed to cr eate content tha t  addr esses their pr oblems. This is a topic w e will e xplor e in mor e  detail when discussing c ontent creation.  In shor t, it use d to be tha t companies w ould f ind c onsumers and  try to a ttract them to their stor es or choose their br ands thr ough  traditional me dia and ad vertising. N owadays, our job has mo ved to  creating c ontent tha t informs, e ducates, and en tertains c onsumers  so tha t the y can find us when the y are searching f or solutions to the  needs the y have or issues the y are facing.  Representing the Company vs. R epresenting the  Customer  The se cond tr ansforma tion has be en a mo ve from r epresen ting  yourself as a c ompan y to r epresen ting the customer .  What


ting  yourself as a c ompan y to r epresen ting the customer .  What does this me an?  It use d to be tha t, when f inding c onsumers, c ompanies w ould  talk about themsel ves. T ake, for example, this ad fr om H ome Depot ,  20  |  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting


which emphasiz es ho w “H ome Depot is mor e than a stor e … i t is  everything under the sun … all a t a guar anteed low pric e” wher e you  can sa ve on f looring and wher e the y have everything f or your ne eds.  In shor t, the ad is pr esen ting the c ompan y and e xplaining wh y the  compan y and i ts pr oduc t are the best choic e for the c onsumer . The  ad represents the company .  Represen ting the customer me ans swi tching the f ocus to  consumers’ ne eds and goals and the pr oblems the y ar e  experiencing—and helping c onsumers addr ess those pr oblems.  Ther e ar e numer ous w ays to do so. Companies o ften cr eate  resour ces, such as tutorials and inf ographics, to help c onsumers  solve their pr oblems or achie ve their goals. For e xample, Nik e has  develope d an e xtensiv e set of vide os to help c onsumers w ork out  at home, tr ain f or running, or e at better (all of which c an be f ound  on their YouTube channel ). This ob viousl y represen ts oppor tunities  for Nik e to talk about their br and in e very tutorial and c onne ct with  consumers, but the main goal is not to talk about ho w gr eat Nik e  and i ts pr oduc ts ar e: It is to help c onsumers achie ve their goals  of training, running, and e ating. I t still ser ves the c ompan y well,  thoug h. W hen a c onsumer is se arching f or at-home e xercises, the y  might come acr oss Nik e, consume their tutorials, and then, when i t  is time to pur chase a ne w pair o f sne akers or a te e to e xercise in, be  more likely to bu y from Nik e rather than a c ompe titor.  Some br ands ha ve tak en this a step fur ther b y offering tutorials  tied wi th pr oduc ts the y sell


this a step fur ther b y offering tutorials  tied wi th pr oduc ts the y sell in-stor e, wi th a r eadily available  shopping list f or do-i t-yourself pr ojects. H ome Depot, f or example,  offers tens o f tutorials on their Y ouTube channel : This mak es sense  since the home impr ovemen t stor e sells pr oduc ts for such pr ojects.  By going a step fur ther and r epresen ting the ne eds of the c onsumer ,  Home Depot c an bring poten tial customers to their w ebsite when  they want, for example, to build a f ire pit. Within these tutorials,  Home Depot pr esen ts a list o f “Ma terials Y ou Will N eed,” which  directly brings c onsumers to se ctions o f their w ebsites wher e the y  sell such pr oduc ts. The tutorial has thus be come a gr eat resour ce to  create sales!  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting  |  21


A Transforme d Consumer J ourney  What is a consumer journe y? It is the e xperienc e of a c onsumer  across the dif ferent stages o f their bu ying pr ocess, which then  extends to phases o f relationships wi th a c ompan y. For e xample,  let’s imag ine y ou w ant a ne w pair o f sne akers. Y ou mig ht have an  existing pair . How sa tisfied were you wi th tha t pair? I f you w ere  highly satisfied and y ou still lo ve the br and, y ou mig ht go bu y the  same pair . This is par tly wh y companies tr y to build lo yal customers:  to foster r epeat sales. I f you w ere unsa tisfied, this model is not  available an ymor e, or y ou w ant some v ariety, you mig ht go and look  for another pair o f sne akers. Y ou will then go thr ough dif ferent  stages: H aving r ecogniz ed a ne ed you w ant to answ er, you will mo ve  to disc over options to answ er tha t ne ed, evaluate these options,  make a choic e and bu y a ne w pair o f sne akers, and then e valuate  how much y ou lik e or dislik e this pair .  As w e will e xplor e in the ne xt chapter , these tr ansforma tions and  the ne w dig ital e cosystem in which c onsumers e volve ha ve led to  a dr astic ally dif ferent way to en ter in r elationships wi th br ands:  Consumers no w disc over br ands, r ather than being disc overed by  them, and the y star t their r elationships wi th those br ands wi th  online se arches aligne d wi th their ne eds, goals, and pr oblems. The  objective of companies doing mar keting online is thus to be ther e  when c onsumers ne ed them. W e will talk in the ne xt chapter about  how we can c onceptualiz e such changes in tr ansforma tions in the  journe


can c onceptualiz e such changes in tr ansforma tions in the  journe y consumers tak e when bu ying pr oduc ts the y want.  22  |  Introduc tion to Dig ital Mar keting


Understanding the Digital  Consumer  PIERRE- YANN DOLBEC  Overview  In this chapter , we discuss ho w dig italiza tion is tr ansforming the  journe y of consumers. T o be tter understand ho w to do mar keting  online, w e also c over basic mar keting tools (i.e., persona and  consumer journe y) to help us cr eate dig ital mar keting c ampaigns.  We conclude the se ction b y discussing journe y maps.  Learning O bjectives  Understand the c oncepts o f personas, journe ys, and  maps, ho w to c alcula te customer lif etime v alue, and wh y it  is impor tant.  Understanding Consumers Thr ough  Personas  Ther e are two br oad appr oaches to c onduc ting mar keting: mass  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  23


marketing  (i.e., an undif ferentiated appr oach wher e pr oduc ts ar e  simpl y sold to the masses ) or targeted mar keting  (click her e for  more inf orma tion on these appr oaches ). In the la tter appr oach,  firms pr actice segmen tation and tailor mar keting c ommunic ations  and pr oduc ts to segmen ts. The dig ital e cosystem mak es it qui te  easy to addr ess segmen ts, e ven segments of one . Althoug h it is  possible to pr actice mass mar keting online, man y processes unique  to dig ital mar keting, such as w eb anal ytics, A/B testing, or the use  of online tar geting pla tforms, work best  when f irms ha ve def ined  segmen ts. For this r eason, w e are going to emphasiz e a tar geted  appr oach in this c ourse.  To practice tar geted mar keting, f irms use segmen tation to cr eate  groups o f consumers tha t are homogene ous (i.e., the y have similar  char acteristics to e ach other ) but ar e he terogene ous fr om the r est  of the popula tion (i.e., the y ar e dif ferentiated by their shar ed  char acteristics ).  A useful tool to help cr eate and r epresen t segmen ts is personas .  Personas  are semi-f ictional, gener alized represen tations o f a  customer segmen t. The y help y ou be tter understand y our  customers ( and pr ospe ctive customers ) and mak e it easier f or you  to tailor c ontent to the spe cific ne eds, beha viors, and c oncerns o f  different segmen ts.  24  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


Figur e 2.1 P ersona  Personas ar e impor tant because the y help y ou understand who y our  ideal consumers ar e, wha t their char acteristics ar e, and ho w to  talk to them. The ne eds, desir es, and pr oblems o f your personas  (or segmen ts mor e gener ally) should be the star ting poin t of any  marketing str ategy. As a r eminder fr om chapter 1, our goal as  marketers is to cr eate value, and in dig ital mar keting c ampaigns,  we create value b y representing the customer . The onl y possible w ay  to do so is to understand who this customer is and wha t the y  need. Personas c an assist in a wide v ariety of mar keting ac tivities,  from cr eating c ampaigns and ads to guiding pr oduc t and ser vice  developmen t to helping wi th customer suppor t. W e will se e ho w  shor tly.  Firms de velop personas the same w ay the y de velop segmen ts:  through mar ket research and the use o f internal da ta. Firms  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  25


typically segmen t consumers  base d on their beha viors ( which ar e  also no w tr ackable online!), demogr aphics, lif estyles, or  psychogr aphics ( see Figur e 2.2  for a brief summar y or, for a te xt  description o f the f igure contents, click her e).  Figur e 2.2 Types of Segmentation / Fr om Univer sity of M innesota’ s Principles  of M arketing  / Text Description  Segmen ting base d on these v ariables is hig hly useful f or inf orming  online tar geting str ategies. For e xample, on the Fac ebook Ads  platform, y ou c an e asily sele ct to deliv er an ad to pe ople age d  between 18 and 25 y ears old living wi thin a kilome ter o f Mile End  who lik e cycling.  However, these v ariables ar e less inf orma tive concerning ho w  to talk to these c onsumers. For this r eason, w e emphasiz e the  impor tanc e of interse cting segmen ts wi th their goals, w ants, ne eds  and motiv ators and the challenges the y fac e.  In her book Introduction to Consumer Behaviour , Andr ea Niosi  explains these as f ollows:  A goal is the c ogni tive represen tation o f a desir ed sta te, or ,  in other w ords, our men tal ide a of ho w w e’d lik e things  to turn out (Fishbach & Fer guson 200 7; Krug lanski, 1996 ).  This desir ed end state  of a goal c an be cle arly def ined (e.g.,  stepping on the surfac e of Mars ), or i t can be mor e abstr act  and r epresen t a sta te tha t is ne ver full y comple ted (e.g.,  26  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


eating he althy). Under lying all o f these goals, thoug h,  is moti vation, or the psy cholog ical driving f orce tha t  enables ac tion in the pursui t of tha t goal (Le win, 1935).  Motivation c an stem fr om t wo plac es. First, i t can c ome  from the benef its associa ted wi th the pr ocess o f pursuing  a goal ( intrinsic moti vation). For e xample, y ou mig ht be  driven b y the desir e to ha ve a fulf illing e xperienc e while  working on y our Mars mission. Se cond, motiv ation c an also  come fr om the benef its associa ted wi th achie ving a goal  (extrinsic moti vation), such as the fame and f ortune tha t  come wi th being the f irst person on Mars (De ci & R yan,  1985). One e asy w ay to c onsider in trinsic and e xtrinsic  motiv ation is thr ough the e yes o f a studen t. Does the  studen t work har d on assignmen ts be cause the ac t of  learning is ple asing ( intrinsic motivation )? Or does the  studen t work har d to ge t good gr ades, which will help land a  good job ( extrinsic motivation )?  Consumer beha vior c an be thoug ht of as the c ombina tion  of efforts and r esults r elated to the c onsumer’ s need to sol ve  problems. Consumer pr oblem sol ving is trigger ed by the  iden tification o f some  unmet need . A famil y consumes all o f  the milk in the house; or the tir es on the famil y car w ear  out; or the bo wling te am is planning an end-o f-the-se ason  picnic: these pr esen t consumers wi th a pr oblem which must  be sol ved. Pr oblems c an be vie wed in terms o f two types o f  needs: ph ysical (such as a ne ed for food) or psy cholog ical  (for example, the ne ed to be ac cepte d


or psy cholog ical  (for example, the ne ed to be ac cepte d by others ).  Althoug h the dif ference is a subtle one, ther e is some  benef it in distinguishing be tween ne eds and w ants.  A need  is a basic def icienc y given a par ticular essen tial i tem.  You ne ed food, w ater, air, security, and so f orth. A  want is  placing c ertain personal cri teria as to ho w tha t need must  be fulf illed. Ther efore, when w e are hungr y, we often ha ve  a spe cific food i tem in mind. Conse quen tly, a te enager will  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  27


lamen t to a frustr ated par ent tha t ther e is nothing to e at,  standing in fr ont of a full r efriger ator.  Most o f mar keting is in the w ant-fulf illing business, not  the ne ed-fulf illing business. Apple does not w ant you to  buy just an y watch; the y want you to w ant to bu y an Apple  Watch. Lik ewise, Ralph L auren w ants you to w ant Polo when  you shop f or clothes. On the other hand, a non-pr ofit such  as the Americ an Canc er Associa tion w ould lik e you to f eel a  need for a che ck-up and does not c are about which doc tor  you go to. I n the end, ho wever, mar keting is mostl y  interested in cr eating and sa tisfying w ants.  Often discussion ar ound ne eds will separ ate them in to  those which ar e utilitarian  (practical and useful in natur e)  and hedonic  (luxurious or desir able in natur e).  To this list, w e add the notion o f challeng es, by which w e me an an  obstacle fac ed by a c onsumer in r esolving a ne ed or fulf illing a w ant.  This is impor tant because c onsumers turn to the in terne t every day  to help them answ er challenges the y fac e in their e veryday liv es,  whether i t is ho w to change a tir e, ho w to ha ve the perf ect Frida y  night mak eup, or ho w to pain t a r oom. R esolving challenges driv es  the c onsumption o f online c ontent.  Hence, when cr eating a persona, y ou cr eate a semi-f ictional  represen tation o f a segmen t by bring ing toge ther the f ollowing  informa tion:  • Basic beha vioral, demogr aphic, ge ographic, and psy chogr aphic  informa tion to facili tate tar geting  • Needs and /or w ants and /or goals and /or challenges to  facili tate


Needs and /or w ants and /or goals and /or challenges to  facili tate the cr eation o f your c ampaign  • Informa tion tha t mak es your persona f eel real, such as  ◦ a pic ture  ◦ a quote fr om an in terview wi th a r eal consumer  ◦ a name  ◦ examples o f “real” pr oblems  28  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


Take the e xample o f RV Be tty (Figur e 2.3 , text here).  Figur e 2.3 R V Betty / Cr edit: B BH Singapor e (@bbh_singapor e) / Text  Description  Can y ou f ind the inf orma tion men tione d abo ve in this shor t  persona ?  Rethinking the Consumer J ourney  A consumer journe y is the tr ajectory of experienc es thr ough which  a consumer goes: fr om not kno wing the y want some thing, to bu ying  this some thing, to perf orming post-pur chase ac tivities ( the most  obvious being c onsuming the pr oduc t). Put mor e the oretically, the  consumer journe y is “ an i terative pr ocess thr ough which the  consumer beg ins to c onsider alterna tives to sa tisfy a w ant or a  need, evaluates and chooses among them, and then engages in  consumption ” (Hamilton e t al. 2019 ). The journe y is c ompose d of  pre-pur chase ac tivities, tha t is, ac tivities c onsumers engage in prior  to bu ying a pr oduc t; pur chase ac tivities, or wha t pe ople do to  acquire a pr oduc t; and post-pur chase ac tivities, or wha t consumers  do onc e the y have boug ht a pr oduc t (Lemon and V erhoef 2016 ).  As a side note, w e mak e a distinc tion in this c ourse be tween  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  29


customer journe y, which w ould f ocus on the journe y of a customer  with a spe cific firm and w ould include, f or e xample, touchpoin ts  solel y associa ted wi th tha t firm, and c onsumer journe y, which is  a br oader perspe ctive on c onsumers who “ under take [a journe y]  in pursui t of large and small lif e goals and in r esponse to v arious  oppor tunities, obstacles, and challenges” ( Hamilton and Pric e 2019 ,  p. 187 ). By touch poin t, I me an “any way a c onsumer c an in teract with  a business, whe ther i t be person-to-person, thr ough a w ebsite, an  app or an y form o f communic ation” (Wikipe dia).  Understanding the c onsumer journe y is impor tant because doing  so str ongly contributes to f irm perf ormanc e. For e xample, a sur vey  by the Associa tion o f National Ad vertisers in 2015 f ound tha t top  performers in a mar ket understood the journe y be tter than their  peers and had be tter pr ocesses to c aptur e journe y-related insig hts  and use them in their mar keting ef forts (McKinse y 2015 ).  The journe y varies gr eatly depending on which mar ket a f irm  evolves in. I t also v aries depending on personas and their spe cific  goals. For e xample, a sur vey by Goog le found tha t some mar kets,  such as banking, v oting, and f inding a cr edit card, will t ypically have  a longer journe y than others, such as gr oceries or personal c are  produc ts. V ariation also e xists wi thin mar kets. For e xample. Goog le  found thr ee types o f journe ys for restaurants: one wher e consumers  pick a r estaurant within the hour , one wher e consumers pick a  restaurant a da y bef ore going, and a last one wher e consumers pick


a  restaurant a da y bef ore going, and a last one wher e consumers pick  restaurants two to thr ee mon ths bef ore going.  Can y ou think o f wha t these r elate to ?  We can h ypothesiz e: If you’re at work and looking f or a plac e  to ha ve lunch, chanc es ar e, you w on’t de dicate much time to i t  and will pick a r estaurant within the hour bef ore going. I f you ar e  going out wi th friends or a Tinder da te, y ou mig ht be a bi t mor e  involved in the pr ocess and pick the r estaurant one or t wo da ys  before. Lastly, if y ou ar e going to tr avel (and ar e a f oodie!) or y ou  want to mak e a marriage pr oposal, this will r equire mor e planning,  and y ou mig ht star t your journe y much, much e arlier. This also  has implic ations f or restaurants! Some r estaurants who c ater to  30  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


downtown lunchers mig ht be be tter o ff pushing I nstagr am ads wi th  the menu o f the da y, or some dail y sale, ar ound 11 a.m. or just  before lunch. R estaurants catering to gr oups or da tes mig ht want  to star t campaigns on W ednesda ys to c aptur e Frida y and Sa turday  restaurant-goers. And r estaurants tha t target the marriage pr oposal  or f oodie cr owds mig ht ne ed longer , “always-on ” continuous  marketing ac tivities to bring in pa trons.  Understanding Consumer J ourneys  Our understanding o f consumer journe ys has gr eatly evolved over  the last t wo de cades, and ther e exist a number o f ways to  conceptualiz e journe ys. It is impor tant to understand tha t these ar e  not perf ect represen tations o f reality. Rather, the y are thinking tools  that help us cr eate mar keting c ampaigns. I n real lif e, pe ople tend  not to be so line ar in their de cisions.  A common c onceptualiza tion f ound in mar keting te xtbooks is one  wher e consumers mo ve be tween dif ferent stages, ini tially being  aware of a lar ge number o f brands and then slo wly refining their  understanding o f the options in the mar ket to mak e their pur chase.  McKinse y represen ts such a t ypical model her e (Figur e 2.4 ). In this  model, the c onsumer goes through five stages :  1. Awareness: the c onsumer is a ware of a lar ge number o f  produc ts or br ands in the mar ket tha t mig ht help addr ess their  need.  2. Familiari ty: Fr om this lar ge number o f brands or pr oduc ts the y  are aware of, the c onsumer will perf orm some ini tial r esearch  and be come familiar wi th a subse t of brands.  3. Consider ation: Fr om this smaller number o f familiar br ands,  the c onsumer will c ontinue their r esearch


o f familiar br ands,  the c onsumer will c ontinue their r esearch ef forts, elimina te  some br ands tha t do not f it their cri teria, and narr ow their list  to a smaller number o f consider ed brands (i.e., a “ consider ation  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  31


set”).  4. Purchase: Onc e ready to bu y, the c onsumer mig ht try out a  produc t or se ek in-depth inf orma tion on an e ven smaller  subse t base d on their c onsider ation se t, from which the y will  purchase a pr oduc t or choose a br and.  5. Loyalty: Assuming their c onsumption e xperienc e goes w ell, the  consumer ma y become lo yal to the pr oduc t or the br and.  Figur e 2.4 Consumer J ourney: The Funnel M odel  This understanding o f the journe y is base d on a funnel model ,  wher e consumers star t by being a ware of a lar ge number o f brands  and, o ver time, r educe their options as the y go thr ough each o f the  stages. This has a number o f implic ations f or mar keters.  A first c entral assumption is tha t, to ultima tely be chosen b y  consumers, c ompanies ne ed to mak e sur e tha t consumers ar e aware  of them. This par tly helps e xplain the pr evalenc e of mass mar keting:  it ser ves to cr eate awareness.  A second c entral assumption is tha t consumers star t with a lar ge  set of brands tha t the y are aware of and r educe this se t over time to  a smaller and smaller se t of brands as the y search for and e valuate  options.  McKinse y in troduc ed in 2009 a c ompe ting model f or the  32  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


consumer journe y, base d on the pur chase de cisions o f close to  20,000 c onsumers acr oss f ive industries. The y found tha t these t wo  assumptions did not hold: First, c onsumers do not star t with a lar ge  set of brands the y are aware of. Se cond, c onsumers do not r educe  their options as the y go thr ough the stages o f the funnel. Ra ther,  the number o f options the y consider incr eases thr oughout their  journe y.  If you think o f some r ecent pur chases y ou made, this mak es sense.  Let’s say I w ant a pair o f running shoes. I mig ht be a ware of some  brands and models, pr obabl y the ones tha t do the most mass  advertising: Nik e, Adidas, R eebok. Then, I turn to the in terne t to  perform some se arches. I’ll use gener al key terms lik e “wha t running  shoes should a beg inner ge t” or “ reviews for running shoes 20 20.”  Through my search ef forts, I will enc ounter ne w br ands I had not  consider ed orig inally, for example, Asics, B rooks, and Sa ucony.  In this e xample, r ather than f ollowing the funnel me taphor , wher e  the se t of brands I w as aware of reduced to a smaller se t of familiar  brands and an e ven smaller se t of consider ed brands, I added brands  to m y consider ation se t.  This has impor tant implic ations f or dig ital mar keters: First,  traditional, push, mass mar keting me dia activities ar e not ne cessar y.  Second, as c onsumers do r esearch, the y broaden the se t of produc ts  or br ands the y consider . We will se e ho w this has le d to the r apid  growth o f inbound mar keting activities tha t help c onsumers wi th  their pr oblems and help c onsumers e valuate their options. This  is be cause br ands no w understand tha


e valuate their options. This  is be cause br ands no w understand tha t by suppor ting c onsumers  throughout their journe y, the y can en ter c onsumers’ c onsider ation  set and ultima tely mak e a sale.  McKinse y thus pr oposes a c ompe ting model, a circular model  for  the c onsumer journe y. The model is cir cular be cause c onsumers  enter a lo yalty loop wher e the y cycle be tween using a pr oduc t or  brand, bu ying this pr oduc t or br and again, par ticipa ting in post- purchase ac tivities, and so on. The M cKinse y model has the  following stages ( also depic ted in Figur e 2.5 ):  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  33


Figur e 2.5 Consumer J ourney: The Cir cular M odel  1. Trigger: The c onsumer e xperienc es a ne ed, a pr oblem, or  wants to achie ve a goal, which ini tiates their journe y  2. Initial consider ation set : The c onsumer c onsiders an ini tial se t  of brands base d on their e xperienc es, br and per ceptions, and  exposur e to r ecent touchpoin ts. For the ini tial c onsider ation  set, the most inf luen tial touchpoin t is c ompan y-driv en  marketing, such as ad vertising, dir ect mar keting, sponsorship,  and the lik e. Se e a graphic r epresen tation her e.  3. Active evalua tion: This is a ne w stage in troduc ed by McKinse y.  At this stage, the c onsumer ac tively evaluates their options  through inf orma tion ga thering and shopping. Of ten,  consumers will do their inf orma tion ga thering online. I t is a t  this stage tha t consumers add brands to their c onsider ation  set. We are not in a funnel model an ymor e. This is the f irst  34  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


difference impor tant to dig ital mar keters: I t me ans w e can  enter c onsumers’ c onsider ation se t without ha ving to c onduc t  awareness-gener ating c ampaigns. I f we help c onsumers mak e  their de cisions, or if w e have reviews online, f or example, w e  can be c onsider ed by them. M cKinse y finds tha t the most  influen tial touchpoin t for this stage is c onsumer -driv en  marketing, such as w ord of mouth, the inf orma tion f ound  during online se arches, and r eviews.  4. Momen t of pur chase : The c onsumer sele cts a br and and mak e  a pur chase.  5. Post-pur chase experience : After pur chasing a pr oduc t or a  service, the c onsumer builds e xpectations base d on their  experienc e. This will inf orm the lo yalty loop. A se cond  impor tant difference from the funnel journe y happens a t this  stage: Consumers star t creating c ontent for br ands (i.e., the  “consumer -driv en mar keting” ef forts I r efer to in stage ‘3’).  Think about pr oduc ts or ser vices you boug ht recently: Ma ybe  you poste d a pic ture about i t on I nstagr am, maybe y ou wr ote a  review on Y elp!, or ma ybe y ou par ticipa ted in some compan y- suppor ted mar keting ac tivities.  These t wo impor tant revisions to the journe y—the e xpansion o f  the c onsider ation se t during ac tive evaluation and the impor tanc e  of consumers par ticipa ting in c onsumer -driv en mar keting a t the  post-pur chase stage—open up man y content-base d possibili ties f or  digital mar keters. As w e’ve discusse d, our goal in dig ital mar keting is  to represent the customer: What are their ne eds? Goals? Pr oblems?  How can w


represent the customer: What are their ne eds? Goals? Pr oblems?  How can w e suppor t them in addr essing these ? Our obje ctives ar e  not to sell pr oduc ts or talk about our br and. Ra ther, we will se e tha t  we mak e sales online b y suppor ting c onsumers thr oughout their  journe y—helping them understand their pr oblem, helping them  evaluate solutions, helping them be tter understand our pr oduc t.  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  35


Zero Moment of T ruth  In an e xample o f great content mar keting f or themsel ves (i.e., this  concept helps sell Goog le pr oduc ts!), Goog le in troduc ed in 2011  the  concept o f zero momen t of tru th (ZM OT), “a new de cision-making  momen t tha t tak es plac e a hundr ed million times a da y on mobile  phones, laptops, and wir ed de vices of all kinds … tha t momen t when  you gr ab y our laptop, mobile phone, or some other wir ed de vice  and star t learning about a pr oduc t or ser vice (or poten tial bo yfriend)  you’re thinking about tr ying or bu ying. ” It turns out to be qui te a  useful c oncept to think about ho w consumers mak e pur chases in  the dig ital er a.  Figur e 2.6 ZM OT  A momen t of tru th is a c ontact with a br and or a pr oduc t during  which a c onsumer f orms an impr ession ( Carlzon 198 9). T o  understand the ZM OT, it is impor tant to c ontextualiz e it historic ally.  Why is i t called the “ zero” momen t of truth ? Qui te simpl y, prior to  Goog le in troducing this c oncept, ther e were alr eady two momen ts  of truth ( Figur e 2.6):  • First momen t of tru th: When a shopper notic es a pr oduc t in a  36  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


shopping en vironmen t which inf luenc es their bu ying de cision.  • Second momen t of tru th: When a c onsumer e xperienc es a  produc t following their pur chase de cision.  The ZM OT is the momen t of truth—the c ontext be tween a c onsumer  and a br and—tha t happens prior to a shopper noticing a pr oduc t in a  shopping en vironmen t. Concr etely, ZM OT “momen ts” c ould appe ar  while  • performing online se arches,  • talking wi th famil y and friends,  • comparison shopping,  • seeking inf orma tion fr om a br and,  • reading pr oduc t reviews,  • reading c ommen ts online, or  • starting to f ollow a br and.  In contrast, the f irst momen ts of truth happen while  • looking a t a pr oduc t on a shelf,  • reading a br ochur e at the stor e,  • talking to a salesperson,  • looking a t a stor e displa y,  • talking wi th a customer ser vice represen tative, or  • using a sample in-stor e.  According to Goog le, the essen tial char acteristics o f ZM OTs are  that the y happen online, when the c onsumer is in char ge (and this  relates to inbound mar keting), and during multi way conversations.  To capitalize on ZM OTs, Goog le recommends being pr esen t in  momen ts tha t ma tter. By this, the mar keting juggerna ut me ans tha t  you should ha ve content and ads tha t respond to the ne eds,  problems, and goals tha t consumers ar e typing in the f orm o f search  queries in a se arch eng ine. All o f this r equires, as y ou mig ht have  guesse d by no w, a de ep understanding o f your c onsumers and their  journe ys.  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  37


Goog le iden tifies four ZM OTs and brief ly explain ho w these  interact with journe ys her e. The f our t ypes, also sho wn in Figur e 2.7,  are the f ollowing:  • I-want-to-kno w momen ts, wher e consumers turn to a se arch  engine f or a kno wledge-base d quer y  • I-want-to-g o momen ts, when c onsumers turn to se arch to go  some wher e (e.g., “ restaurant near me ”)  • I-want-to-do momen ts, when c onsumers w ant help to achie ve  some thing (Fun fac t! For a while ther e, the most se arched  ‘how-to’ vide o was ‘ho w to kiss. ’ Now, isn’t tha t sweet!)  • I-want-to-bu y momen ts, when c onsumers turn to se arch to  help them mak e a pur chase  Figur e 2.7 Four Types of ZM OT  These ar e impor tant conceptual tools. The y represen t oppor tunities  for companies online to cr eate content. These ar e not simpl y ways  to understand ho w consumers use se arch eng ines and in teract  online. Ra ther, the y are tools to help us cr eate be tter c ontent. What  kind o f content would y ou cr eate for these f our dif ferent ZM OTs?  38  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


Journey Mapping  Now tha t we ha ve the v ocabular y for these c oncepts, i t’s time to  turn our a ttention to using them in pr actice. The journe ys and  ZMOTs are generic w ays to understand ho w consumers go about  buying pr oduc ts. Kno wing ho w consumers c onceptuall y mo ve from  a trigger to making a pur chase to be coming lo yal to a br and or  produc t mig ht be in teresting in i tself, but i t is much mor e useful if  we can ac tuall y use this in r eal-lif e campaigns. Ef fective str ategies  demand a tailor ed understanding. W e cannot sta y at a c onceptual  level. W e ne ed to tr ansla te them to r eal-lif e experienc es. T o do so,  we can perf orm journey mapping .  A journe y map  is a visual r epresen tation o f the journe y of a  consumer . It brings toge ther the c onceptual tools w e ha ve seen in  this chapter: persona, c onsumer journe y, and momen ts of truth.  Journe y maps v ary base d on segmen ts/personas. Each persona  represen ts a dif ferent consumer segmen t. These segmen ts will go  about bu ying pr oduc ts dif ferently. Think about, f or example, ho w  you go about bu ying pr oduc ts and ho w your par ents go about  buying pr oduc ts.  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  39


Figur e 2.8 J ourney M apping / A dapted fr om nngr oup.com  Journe y maps e xist in a wide r ange o f shapes and f orms . The y all,  however, shar e some c ommon elemen ts:  • the persona  • conceptual stages fr om a journe y (e.g., trigger , active  evaluation, pur chase, and post-pur chase; or a wareness,  consider ation, pur chase, and lo yalty)  • concr ete ac tions c onsumers tak e at each o f these stages  • touchpoin ts tha t the y enc ounter (in this c ourse, I str ongly  encourage y ou to include y ours and those o f others, i.e., this is  a consumer journe y, you should be thinking mor e broadly than  only your f irm)  • oppor tunities associa ted with the af oremen tione d actions  40  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


This page pr esen ts a cle ar example o f this kind o f journe y templa te.  Journe y maps ar e useful. The y help y ou understand ho w  consumers mo ve thr ough their journe ys to addr ess their ne eds  and pr oblems. Each ac tion the y tak e represen ts an oppor tunity  for y our br and to cr eate a c onne ction wi th a c onsumer . A cle ar  understanding o f the c oncr ete steps tha t consumers tak e to bu y  produc ts should be the star ting poin t of the cr eation o f your  marketing c ampaigns. W hat do c onsumers do a t the a wareness  stage ? How can y our br and suppor t their ac tions? Do c onsumers  search f or spe cific things? W hat about a t the ac tive evaluation  stage ? In the ne xt chapter , we examine ho w firms c an posi tion  websites on spe cific se arches. This will help cr eate a bridge  between wha t consumers ar e doing online and ho w we can answ er  their se arch queries.  Exer cises  How to U se a P ersona  Let’s tak e as an e xample the f ollowing persona, “R V  Betty”:  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  41


Betty lives in a suburb o f a ci ty. Her husband is also  retired. The y have been talking about tr aveling in an R V  upon r etiremen t for years—this is a long-time dr eam o f  theirs. The kids ar e self -sufficien t and ha ve been out o f the  house f or long enoug h tha t Betty doesn ’t have to w orry.  She’s been retired just long enoug h to be bor ed. W hile she  doesn ’t consider herself w ealthy, she and her husband ha ve  substan tial sa vings and ar e prepar ed to en joy their  retiremen t.  Betty is w orrie d about the log istics of tr aveling in an  RV—how easy will i t be to f ind utili ty hookups, wher e are  the best plac es to sta y if y ou ha ve one, e tc. She also w ants  some thing c omfortable; she plans on spending a lot o f time  in it. She has other r etired friends, so she w ants addi tional  sleeping spac e, and she w ants to mak e sur e the y have  plen ty of room f or food and e ven cooking. She w ants as  much e ase as possible when tr aveling.  Base d on this persona, brief ly sketch thr ee pie ces of  42  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


content. More precisel y, concentrate on the gener al ide a of  what this pie ce of content would be about and dr aft the  following:  1. a first pie ce tha t addr esses a pr oblem or a ne ed she  is facing  2. a second pie ce tha t helps her e valuate her options  3. a last pie ce tha t sells y our pr oduc t  Tip: Make sur e tha t your thr ee pie ces of content directly  addr ess the R V Be tty persona!    Creating a P ersona  Sketch up a persona f or a M ontreal real esta te compan y  specializing in first-time  house bu yers. T o do so,  • iden tify a few sociodemogr aphic char acteristics  (e.g., age and r evenue ), and  • find one gener al ne ed or pr oblem the y are facing.  Tip: Ask y ourself wh y these pe ople  would  need a house.  For e xample, y ou mig ht ask y ourself the f ollowing  questions:  • Why would pe ople mo ve to a house in M ontreal?  • Are ther e dif ferent groups o f first-time house  buyers? W hat differentiates them ? Which one ar e you  concentrating on ?  • Is ther e one ne ed or pr oblem tha t uni tes tha t  group?  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer   |  43


Moving Fr om P ersona to J ourney Map  • Sketch a journe y map f or your r eal esta te persona  using the f ollowing journe y stages:  ◦ awareness  ◦ consider ation  ◦ purchase  ◦ post-pur chase  • Identify two concr ete ac tivities tha t your persona is  engag ing in f or each stage  • Identify two touchpoin ts tha t your persona is  coming in to contact with for each stage  • Identify one oppor tunity for your c ompan y per  activity      44  |  Understanding the Dig ital Consumer


Planning for a Digital  Mark eting Campaign  PIERRE- YANN DOLBEC  Overview  In this chapter , we discuss ho w to use k eywords to cr eate pages  and c ontent tha t respond to c onsumers’ ne eds and goals and ho w  keywords c an help us understand ho w our c ompe titors ar e  positione d online. W e star t wi th a brief in troduc tion to sear ch  engine optimiza tion (SEO) and wh y SEO is impor tant online. W e  then turn our a ttention to r anking fac tors in or der to emphasiz e  why designing pages f or pe ople, b y keeping pe ople ’s needs and goals  in mind is wha t mak es pages r ank hig h. W e then c over customer - related, firm-r elated, and c ompe titor-related implic ations o f SEO .  Learning O bjectives  Understand SEO and k eywords, and wh y the y ma tter for  your f irm, f or consumers, and f or compe titor anal ysis.    Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  45


SEO  SEO is “the pr ocess o f affecting the online visibili ty of a w ebsite or  a webpage in a w eb se arch eng ine’s unpaid r esults” ( Wikipe dia). This  differentiates SEO fr om the use o f paid ads in or der to appe ar at the  top o f search eng ine r esult pages ( SERP s). Take the f ollowing t wo  screenshots, f or example ( Figur e 3.1). On the lef t-hand side, w e have  paid r esults tha t appe ar at the top o f the SERP be cause the c ompan y  has bid on c ertain k eywords use d in a se arch quer y (in this instanc e,  “car rental mon treal”). On the rig ht-hand side, w e ha ve or ganic  search results tha t appe ar be cause the c ompan y has pr acticed SEO  on similar k eywords. I n other w ords, the y ha ve optimiz ed certain  pages o f their w ebsites to maximiz e the chanc es tha t these pages  would r ank hig h when pe ople se arch for spe cific keywords (e.g., “ car  rental mon treal”).  Figur e 3.1 P aid vs. Or ganic Sear ch  46  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


Why is SEO Important?  People use k eywords to in teract wi th c ontent online, and most  online e xperienc es star t with a se arch (Forbes 2017 ). As w e will soon  see, pe ople turn to se arch eng ines f or a wide v ariety of reasons, and  these r easons pr ovide oppor tunities f or your f irm to sho w up when  people ar e searching f or some thing.  Ranking hig h in se arch eng ines also c onfers a c ompe titive  advantage. I n 2015, the f irst spot on Goog le received 35% o f the  traffic for a spe cific se arch. M ore than 50% o f the tr affic w ent  to results loc ated on the f irst r esult page ( Advanced Web Ranking  2015). Se arch ma tters f or ph ysical stor es, too, and loc al se arches  lead 76% o f mobile visi tors to visi t stor es wi thin the da y. Of those  visits, 28% r esulte d in a pur chase ( Goog le 2016 ). SEO also ma tters  because most pe ople ignor e paid ads ( User Cen tric 2011 ). Cle arly,  ranking hig h can benef it a firm: Being w ell ranked provides a cle ar  advantage o ver compe titors.  In or der to understand ho w to r ank hig h, it is impor tant to  understand ho w Goog le works. Le t’s watch the f ollowing vide o from  Goog le:  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  47


A YouTube element has been e xcluded fr om this ver sion of the  text. You can view it online her e:  https:/ /opente xtbooks. concor dia.ca/digitalmar keting/?p=314  So, How D o You Rank High?  The main job o f a se arch eng ine is to ser ve results tha t best addr ess  people ’s search queries. Le t’s say you w ant to kno w ho w to cle an  your c at. You ha ve questions such as wha t kind o f soap to use, ho w  warm the temper ature should be, and ho w you should w ash their  paws. Y ou c an turn to a se arch eng ine to answ er these questions.  People turn to se arch eng ines and use sear ch queries , the “ quer y  base d on a spe cific se arch term tha t a user en ters in to a w eb se arch  engine to sa tisfy their inf orma tion ne eds” ( Wikipe dia). For e xample,  you mig ht turn to Goog le and t ype in “ho w to ba the m y cat,” “easiest  way to w ash m y cat,” “wash a c at,” or “ cat wash soap. ”  We will use the term keyword to talk about the k ey terms pe ople  48  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


use in se arch queries. K eywords ar e central for dig ital mar keters.  They are wha t we use to both talk to se arch eng ines in or der to  ‘tell’ them wha t search quer y a spe cific w ebpage is suppose d to  respond to ( and w e are going to se e shor tly ho w to do so ), but  it is also wha t we use to talk to c onsumers and mak e sur e our  webpage sho ws up when the y search for some thing. K eywords link  consumers’ se arch queries and whe ther or not our w ebpages sho w  up when the y search for some thing spe cific. It is thus impor tant for  us to think ahe ad when cr eating pages about what ar e the k eywor ds  and sear ch queries this webpage answer s?  The se arch queries abo ve all use slig htly dif ferent keywords,  which mig ht indic ate tha t the y are looking f or slig htly dif ferent  things: the f irst user se ems to w ant a tutorial, the se cond an e asy  way to w ash a c at, the thir d is r ather undef ined, and the last one is  more spe cifically focuse d on soap. As a r esult, se arch eng ines will  deliv er slig htly dif ferent result to best addr ess wha t the y think the  person w ants in terms o f inf orma tion (i.e., wha t exactly the y are  looking f or).  The r ole o f search eng ines is thus to deliv er the best r esult  possible f or pe ople who ar e making a spe cific se arch. Thus, in or der  to rank hig h in se arch eng ines, y ou ne ed to create pages that best  answer specific sear ch queries.  You do so b y creating spe cific pages f or spe cific se arch queries.  Each page should ha ve content tha t best ma tches tha t quer y and  keywords tha t are, ide ally, perf ectly aligne d wi th the quer y you  belie ve pe ople will be


perf ectly aligne d wi th the quer y you  belie ve pe ople will be making. This r eflects the impor tanc e of  represen ting ( and understanding) the customer; y our pages ne ed to  addr ess questions, ne eds, w ants, and challenges tha t people ha ve.  In addi tion, y ou should ide ally wri te about topics y ou ar e  knowledgeable about ( or an e xper t in), on which y our si te has  authori ty, and y our inf orma tion should be honest, ac curate, and  trust worthy. This is summariz ed in the EAT acr onym (exper t,  authori tative, and trust worthy).  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  49


Understanding Se arch Alg orithms to Rank High  As sho wn b y the vide o explaining ho w Goog le w orks, ther e ar e  more than 200 v ariables tha t are tak en in to ac count when r anking  websites. Some o f them, thoug h, are mor e impor tant than others .  Namel y, we can iden tify thr ee broad c ategories o f hig hly impor tant  ranking fac tors ( Figur e 3.2 ):  • User e xperienc e  ◦ Direct visi ts  ◦ Time on si te  ◦ Page per session  ◦ Bounc e rate  • Backlinks  ◦ Total r eferring domains  ◦ Total r eferring IP s  ◦ Total f ollow-backlinks  • Keywords  ◦ Keywords in anchor , bod y, densi ty, in total, in me ta  Note: A backlink  is a link back to your website fr om another domain.  For e xample, www .other site.com has a link somewher e on their  website that links to www .your site.com.  50  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


Figur e 3.2 T op Ranking F actor s  Search eng ines use these thr ee broad t ypes o f fac tors be cause the y  are trying to e valuate questions such as “For a spe cific se arch quer y,  which w ebsite should I sho w first? W hich should I sho w se cond?”  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  51


And so on. Again, as a r eminder , the goal o f a se arch eng ine is to  show websites in the or der i t belie ves will best answ er the se arch  quer y. As pr esen ted in the vide o, the r ole o f search eng ines is to  make users happ y: If you c an e asily and r apidl y find an answ er to  what you ar e looking f or, you will c ontinue to use this se arch eng ine.  Your job, as a dig ital mar keter, is thus to cr eate pages tha t best  answ er the ne eds pe ople ha ve when the y formula te spe cific se arch  queries. This is the k ey gener al ide a behind SEO .  But se arch eng ines c annot r ead the whole w eb to e valuate ho w  well a w ebpage answ ers a se arch quer y. Ra ther, the y base  themsel ves on a se t of variables to r ank w ebpages. W ebpages ar e  ranked for each and e very independen t search quer y.  Let’s look a t these thr ee sets of fac tors one b y one to understand  how this af fects our w ork as dig ital mar keters.  User Experienc e  The f irst and most impor tant se t of fac tors r elate to user  experience , or “a person ’s per ceptions and r esponses tha t result  from the use or an ticipa ted use o f a pr oduc t, system or ser vice”  (ISO 92 41-210, 2010 ). Put in v ery simple terms: Do y our visi tors lik e  the e xperienc e of your page, and does i t me et their e xpectations?  Since we are looking a t ranking pages, w e can se e expectations as  answ ering the ne ed associa ted wi th the se arch pe ople ar e doing.  Hence, this f irst se t of fac tors, c oncerning user e xperienc e, relate  to whe ther or not y our page answ ers the se arch tha t people ar e  making and whe


or not y our page answ ers the se arch tha t people ar e  making and whe ther i t does so in a w ay tha t is en joyable f or visi tors.  This is a crucial elemen t in understanding SEO: W e ar e not  optimizing pages f or the sak e of optimizing pages. W e ar e  optimizing pages in or der to answ er spe cific se arch queries made  by people. Optimizing a page should thus be about cr eating the best  page possible to answ er a spe cific se arch quer y. We should optimiz e  pages wi th users in mind.  52  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


This appr oach mak es sense if w e look a t the spe cific fac tors  above. Dir ect visi ts me an tha t people click on y our link when the y  are on the SERP . We can optimiz e our page to maximiz e site visi ts by  creating page ti tles and meta descriptions  that inci te pe ople to click  on our links. Le t’s look a t the scr eenshot in Figur e 3.3 , which sho ws  a result f or the se arch “ho w to ba the m y cat.”  Figur e 3.3 H ow M eta T ags A re Displayed on Google SERPs  If, as a user , I am se arching f or “ho w to ba the m y cat,” my goal is  to find inf orma tion tha t will help me achie ve this task. As a w ebsite  owner ( and per haps, a br and tha t sells ba th pr oduc ts for cats), your  objective is to pr ovide me wi th a page tha t will help me achie ve  my goal. B y doing so, y ou ar e creating v alue in m y life. Later, when  we introduc e conversion-base d mar keting,  we will discuss ho w this  type o f value cr eation—o ffering fr ee content to pe ople—brings  visitors to y our si te and o ffers oppor tunities to turn these visi tors  into le ads.  When cr eating w ebpages and posi tioning them on spe cific se arch  queries, w e ha ve onl y a f ew options to c ommunic ate wi th  consumers. Thr ee of these ar e the page URL , the page ti tle (which  shows up on SERP s and is also wha t you read in y our tabs ne xt to the  website ic on), and the page description. These ar e resour ces tha t  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  53


you cr eate when cr eating w ebpages. The y are par t of wha t is c alled  the “ meta elemen t.”  Ideally, you w ant to wri te your page ti tle and page description in a  way tha t will inci te pe ople to click on y our link r ather than the links  of your c ompe tition. Y our ti tle and description thus dir ectly addr ess  a spe cific se arch quer y, sho w tha t the page has the inf orma tion  required, and pr ovide a call to ac tion to inci te pe ople to click on  your link. I n this c ase, the page ti tle r epeats the e xact same  keywords I use d in m y search. This is gr eat! It mak es me f eel lik e  this page is e xactly wha t I am looking f or. The description c ould be  optimiz ed, but i t provides me wi th first-hand e xperienc e and the  start of a tutorial on ho w to ba the m y cat. I a t least kno w tha t, if  I click this link, I’ll be g iven instruc tions on ho w to ba the m y cat.  Perhaps a be tter description c ould ha ve been (k eeping in mind tha t  a description should be limi ted to about 150 to 160 char acters to  show in i ts en tirety on SERP s):  Learn ho w to ba the y our c at easily! Your c at will lo ve it! No  scratches! Easy 5 step tutorial so tha t you and y our f eline budd y  have a fun time.  Let’s break this do wn: [ Start with a c all to ac tion] Learn ho w to  bathe y our c at easily! [Expr ess some benef it associa ted wi th your  content] Your c at will lo ve it! No scr atches! [T ell pe ople wha t’s on  your page ] Easy 5 step tutorial so tha t you and y our f eline budd y  have a fun time.  In shor t, optimizing f or users me ans ha ving pe ople


time.  In shor t, optimizing f or users me ans ha ving pe ople in mind when  creating y our pages and c onsidering wha t the y are searching f or,  how you can best answ er their ne eds and goals, and ho w to  tell  them tha t you ar e doing so.  This will help addr ess the r est o f the user e xperienc e fac tors: time  on si te, page per session, and bounc e rate.  Time on si te is the time a user spends on y our si te. If your page  is well designe d and r eadily answ ers a quer y, we can assume tha t  users will sta y and spend time on y our si te.  Bounce r ate is the “ percentage o f visi tors who en ter the si te and  then le ave rather than c ontinuing to vie w other pages wi thin the  54  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


same si te” (Wikipe dia). Again, if pe ople ha ve a nic e experienc e, this  should lo wer the bounc e rate.  Since bounc e rate and page per session  (the a verage number o f  pages a person vie ws in a g iven session, wher e session her e can be  substi tuted to a w ebsite visi t; i.e., the a verage number o f pages a  person vie ws onc e the y click ed your link on a SERP ) are associa ted  with mo ving be tween pages on y our w ebsite, it helps if y ou pr ovide  incentives for pe ople to do so.  Typic ally, this is done b y pr acticing cross-linking , or linking  pages o f your o wn w ebsite wi th one another . We often se e two ways  through which w ebsites do this.  The f irst w ay is to inser t links wi thin y our pages tha t bring visi tors  to other pages o f your w ebsite. T ake this e xample f or this page . The  page is on “H ow to do a mask, ” and wi thin the te xt, it provides a  link to a fac e mask sold b y the w ebsite. If you click on this link, y ou  will be visi ting another page on the same w ebsite, incr easing the  average number o f pages visi ted per session.  Another w ay tha t websites in vite y ou to go thr ough multiple  pages is thr ough recommende d articles. H aving a lot o f content is  quite impor tant in maximizing y our r anking f or man y reasons, but  one o f those r easons is to k eep pe ople on y our si te for a longer  period o f time b y having them visi t man y pages. For e xample, a t the  end o f each page f or blog posts, Zoella in vites visi tors to related  articles tha t mig ht interest them ( Figur e 3.4 ).  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  55


Figur e 3.4  Cross-Linkin g Example  Backlinks  The se cond most impor tant set of fac tors r elates to backlinks , or  links back to y our w ebsite fr om other w ebsites. Backlinks c an be  thoug ht of as v otes o f confidenc e from other w ebsites. I t’s like a  populari ty contest: The mor e pe ople endorse y ou, the mor e others  think y ou ar e relevant in a g iven domain. Or , applie d to the w eb, the  more backlinks to y our w ebsite, the mor e relevant search eng ines  think y ou ar e in a g iven domain.  This is impor tant for se arch eng ines be cause if y ou ar e providing  a good user e xperienc e and other si tes link  heavily back to y ours,  chanc es ar e you ar e doing some thing tha t people lik e. People liking  you/voting f or you/linking back to y ou thus be come a good pr oxy  for ho w hig h you should be r anking f or spe cific se arches.  The list o f fac tors abo ve (Figur e 3.2 ) offers thr ee impor tant  backlink -related fac tors, t wo of which w e will discuss her e.  Total r eferring domains  represen ts the total number o f domains  56  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


(e.g., domain1.c om, www.domain2.c om, and so on ) linking back to  your domain.  Total f ollow-backlinks  represen ts the total number o f links tha t  are allo wed for w eb referencing tha t link back to y our page. Wi thout  getting te chnic al, se arch eng ines dif ferentiate be tween t ypes o f  links on w ebsites so tha t the y onl y consider “ real” v otes o f  confidenc e. The y thus e xclude, f or e xample, links back to y our  website done as par t of promotions. Follo w-backlinks r epresen ts  these “ real” v otes o f confidenc e, while no follow-backlinks  represen ts links tha t are not tak en in to ac count for referencing.  Impor tantly, backlinks ne ed to be e arne d or ganic ally, me aning  that the y cannot be inc entivized. Paid pr omotions wi th bloggers,  wher e bloggers link back to y our w ebsite, for example, should be  tagge d as “ nofollow” links. This me ans tha t, to cr eate backlinks,  firms ne ed to think o f strategies tha t will cr eate links back to their  websites wi thout pa ying pe ople to do so. Other t ypes o f backlinks  that should be no follow include links in blog c ommen ts, pr ess  releases and most social me dia and f orums, as w ell as links on all  of the f ollowing social me dia pla tforms: Quor a, Reddit, YouTube,  Wikipe dia, Twi tch, and M edium. I nteresting ly, althoug h social  media backlinks do not dir ectly contribute to the r anking o f a  website or w ebpage, the y can do so indir ectly by incr easing w eb  traffic. Goog le is notoriousl y secretive about i ts algori thm and ho w  it ranks w ebsites. R ecently, it indic ated tha t it ma y follow certain  nofollow backlinks, and several examples


it indic ated tha t it ma y follow certain  nofollow backlinks, and several examples e xist of backlink str ategies  wher e webpages shot up in r anking e ven thoug h the links tha t  contribute d to the incr ease w ere no follow links.  In addi tion to these t wo fac tors, which gener ally represen t the  quan tity of backlinks to y our si tes (i.e., the total number o f domains  and the total number o f links ), it is also ackno wledged tha t your  website ranking will also depend on the quali ty of the backlinks.  High-quali ty backlinks  are “natural,” me aning tha t the r eferring  website (the w ebsite tha t links back to y ou) links back to y our  website in a w ay tha t na turally mak es sense in the c ontext. For  example, i t mig ht use a r elevant, na tural anchor te xt. Anchor te xt  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  57


is the clickable te xt tha t is under lined for a g iven link . Most o f  the h yper links in this chapter g ive examples o f natural anchor te xt.  The closer the anchor te xt to the k eywords on which y ou w ant to  rank y our w ebpage, the be tter. For e xample, if y ou w ant to r ank a  webpage on ho w to ba the a c at, it will help if w ebsites link back to  your w ebpage wi th the anchor te xt how to ba the a c at. High-quali ty  links c ome fr om a uthori tative pages, i.e., pages tha t rank hig h on  search eng ines. The y also c ome fr om sour ces tha t are topic ally  relevant to y our w ebpage. For e xample, if y ou ar e cr eating a  webpage on f itness r outines, backlinks fr om si tes on f itness will  have a gr eater impac t on y our r anking.  Keywords  The last se t of fac tors c oncern keywords. Keywords are terms y ou  include on y our w ebpages to c ommunic ate wi th se arch eng ines and  with pe ople. The y help y ou cle arly iden tify the ide as and topics  on y our w ebpage. K eywords ar e wha t link y our w ebpage to the  SERP thr ough pe ople ’s search queries. K eywords ne ed to not onl y  represen t your c ontent well and na turally but also addr ess wha t  people y ou w ant to a ttract to y our w ebsite ar e searching f or.  The c entral implic ation o f this is tha t you should be cr eating  webpages to r ank on specific sear ch queries that people you want as  customer s are sear ching f or. This is wh y represen ting the customer  and understanding the ne ed, goals, and challenges o f personas ar e  so impor tant!  For e xample, f or the se arch quer y “ho w to ba the a c at,” the  webpages tha t


se arch quer y “ho w to ba the a c at,” the  webpages tha t are posi tione d on these k eywords ar e likely to r ank  first. This is be cause these w ebpages ar e telling se arch eng ines,  “Look a t our k eywords, w e ha ve cr eated a w ebpage spe cifically  for this se arch quer y.” As a r esult, se arch eng ines c an assume tha t  these w ebpages will be be tter a t answ ering the ne eds of people f or  a spe cific se arch quer y. People who ge t good se arch r esults tha t  58  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


answ er their ne eds ar e happier about the se arch eng ine, and the y  will c ontinue to use i t. The goal o f search eng ines is to ha ve pe ople  coming back and use them again. B y helping se arch eng ines answ er  exactly wha t people ar e searching f or, you ar e making sur e you rank  higher.  How do y ou posi tion w ebpages on k eywords? Basic ally, by put ting  keywords in a f ew key plac es on y our w ebsite to “talk” to a se arch  engine and indic ate wha t search quer y a c ertain w ebpage is me ant  to rank on. T o talk to a se arch eng ine, y ou w ant to put the k eywords  on which y ou w ant your w ebpage to r ank in the f ollowing spe cific  places (Figur e 3.5 ):  • page ti tle  • meta description  • page URL  • headings ( the ti tles) in the w ebpage  • the bod y (that is, the te xt)  Figur e 3.5 T op On- Page F actor s  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  59


Take the “What Are Keywords” page on M oz.com on as an e xample.  This page cle arly aims a t posi tioning i tself on se arch queries r elated  to keywords, and mor e spe cifically, the se arch “wha t are keywords.”  How do w e kno w this? Be cause i t has those spe cific keywords  repeated over and o ver again in the f ive aforemen tione d plac es.  • The page ti tle is “K eywords | SEO Best Pr actices [2021] – M oz.”  (You c an easily find an y page ti tle b y looking a t the page sour ce  by rig ht-clicking wi thin a w ebpage and then clicking on the  option “vie w page sour ce” in the menu o f your w eb br owser .)  • The me ta description is: “I n terms o f SEO , ‘keywords’ ar e the  words and phr ases tha t searchers en ter in to se arch eng ines,  also c alled ‘search queries’ to f ind wha t the y are looking f or. A  well-optimiz ed website will ha ve keywords and r elated topics  in their c ontent to mak e it possible f or pe ople to f ind their  website via…” .  • The page URL is https:/ /moz.c om/learn/seo/wha t-are- keywords  • The phr ase “ What are keywords” is r epeated thr ee times in the  first thr ee headings, which ar e  ◦ “What are Keywords?”  ◦ “Why are keywords impor tant?” and  ◦ “What are long-tail k eywords?”  • These k eywords, and r elated words, ar e repeated over and  over again in the bod y.  As w e saw abo ve, the top fac tors associa ted wi th keywords ar e the  following: k eywords in anchor , bod y, densi ty, in total, in me ta.  Keywords in anchor  are not c ontrolled by the o wner o f a w ebsite.  Rather, as e xplaine d abo ve, the y are controlled by whoe ver is linking


e xplaine d abo ve, the y are controlled by whoe ver is linking  to y our si te. Ther efore, w e won’t be c onsidering them in this  section.  The r est o f the k eywords fac tors ar e controlled by the w ebsite  owner .  Keywords in bod y refers to the k eywords use d thr oughout y our  60  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


text in a g iven w ebpage. I deally, you w ant to cr eate a tig ht seman tic  network of keywords tha t relate to one another . For e xample, le t’s  say you ar e creating a page to r ank on the k eywords “best dr esses  at the 20 20 Osc ars.” To indic ate to se arch eng ines tha t this is wha t  you wha t to r ank on, y ou c an put these main k eywords in the URL,  page ti tle, and one or mor e headings. B ut repeating these k eywords  over and o ver again in the bod y of the te xt w on’t feel na tural and  will hinder user e xperienc e. As a r esult, y ou c an c ome up wi th  synon yms to use in the bod y. Here are a f ew examples o f keywords  and possible synon yms:  • best: top, talk ed about, fashionable  • dresses: a ttire, robes, outf its  • Oscars: ac adem y awards, r ed carpe t, sta tuette  Using this appr oach will not onl y help y ou cr eate a w ebpage tha t  fares be tter in terms o f user e xperienc e, but i t will also help y ou  have both a hig h densi ty keywords in the bod y (i.e., a hig h ratio  of keywords to total number o f words) and a hig h total number o f  keywords.  Keywords in meta  refers to ha ving the k eywords in the meta  elemen ts of your w ebpage, which f or the sak e of this c ourse will be  represen ted by page ti tle and me ta description.  To recap, se arch eng ines c onsider mor e than 200 fac tors, but  the top fac tors use d to r ank w ebsite can be gr oupe d into thr ee  categories:  • user e xperienc e  • backlinks  • keywords  When doing SEO , your r ole is to cr eate w ebpages tha t dir ectly  addr ess spe cific se arch queries. This


w ebpages tha t dir ectly  addr ess spe cific se arch queries. This will help y ou cr aft content  that will pr ovide a gr eat user e xperienc e and tie y our w ebpage to  specific keywords associa ted wi th a se arch quer y. In the w orld of  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  61


search optimiza tion, this is r eferred to as on-pag e optimiza tion, which is achie ved by making changes to the page c ode, c ontent,  or struc ture of the w ebsite to mak e it mor e ac cessible f or se arch  engines and impr ove the user e xperienc e.  The other t ype o f optimiza tion talk ed about is off-pag e  optimiza tion, which f ocuses on impr oving the populari ty, exper tise,  authori ty, trust, and r elevance of a w ebsite. For e xample, i t includes  building backlinks, ge tting br and men tions, and incr easing social  media shar es. S trategies to impr ove backlinks mig ht have to do wi th  creating hig hly shar eable c ontent and public r elations ac tivities to  bring a ttention to the c ontent you ha ve created. For e xample, a  strategy we use d in a f irm I w orked in w as to cr eate benchmar k  studies ( studies tha t compar e compe titors base d on a se t of  variables and pr ovide some baseline ). These w ere he avily shar ed by  firms and discusse d in the me dia, which dr ove a lot o f traffic to our  website. Companies lik e McKinse y are continuousl y producing fr ee  content, lik e their “ Featured Insights” website se ction, to gener ate  discussions ar ound their f irm.  Understanding How Consumers U se  Keywords  Since user e xperienc e is c entral to r anking hig h, it becomes qui te  impor tant to understand ho w pe ople se arch for stuf f online. W e are  going to talk about thr ee ways of thinking about this.  A first w ay of thinking about ho w pe ople se arch is to c onsider  the obje ctive of their se arch. Thr ee types o f searches ar e typically  referred to b y SEO pr ofessionals ( e.g., Moz 2016 ; Figur e 3.6).  Consumers perf orm informa tional sear ches  when the y ar e


Consumers perf orm informa tional sear ches  when the y ar e  looking f or inf orma tion about a spe cific topic. Examples mig ht  include  62  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


• “How to run a 5k?”  • “What are beg inner’ s running shoes?” or  • “Best beg inner running shoes. ”  Consumers perf orm transactional sear ches  when the y are looking  to perf orm a tr ansac tion. T ransac tions ha ve be en both narr owly  defined (i.e., buying a pr oduc t) and mor e br oadly def ined (i.e.,  performing an in teraction). Examples o f transac tional se arches  might be  • “Cheap beg inner running shoes”  • “Brooks Ghost 12” or  • “Buy Asics B rooks Ghost 12. ”  Consumers perf orm navigational sear ches  when the y are looking  for a spe cific website. S uch a se arch mig ht look lik e  • “Sports Exper ts”  • “Foot Lock er” or  • “Brooks w ebsite.”  Considering the obje ctives of people perf orming se arch queries is  help ful f or us as dig ital mar keters be cause i t allo ws us to cr eate  webpages to answ er these spe cific obje ctives. The kind o f keywords  on e ach page will be v astly dif ferent.  These obje ctives can also be plac ed in a pr ocess, wher e some one  moves fr om ne eding inf orma tion about a spe cific ne ed or challenge  to w anting to perf orm in teractions ( or a tr ansac tion) to addr ess this  need to w anting to visi t a spe cific website.  The k ey ide a her e is tha t, as dig ital mar keters, kno wing wh y  people ar e searching f or some thing allo ws y ou to cr eate pages tha t  more dir ectly align wi th their se arches. This helps y ou impr ove user  experienc e and choose the rig ht keywords, both o f which should  allow your w ebpages to r ank hig her.  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  63


Figur e 3.6 Types of Sear ch  A se cond w ay to think about wh y pe ople ar e searching is to star t  with their ne eds, challenges, and goals. This has a f ew implic ations:  First, as w e ha ve seen wi th RV Be tty, different segmen ts/personas  have dif ferent needs, challenges, and goals. Tha t me ans tha t you  will ne ed to cr eate dif ferent webpages to a ttract different personas  to y our w ebsite, wher e each w ebpage should addr ess a spe cific  need, challenge, or goal ( and, per haps, c ould do so b y tar geting  different search obje ctives). Thus, when cr eating w ebpages, the f irst  questions tha t should c ome to y our mind ar e the f ollowing: W hat  are the ne eds of my persona ? What goal ar e the y trying to achie ve?  What challenges ar e the y facing when tr ying to addr ess their ne ed  or achie ve their goal? Answ ering these questions should allo w you  to gener ate man y dif ferent content ide as, fr om which y ou c an think  of spe cific se arch queries. W e will c over this in mor e de tail when  we talk about c ontent mar keting. I n this c ourse, w e will emphasiz e  how consumers’ se arches v ary depending on wher e the y are in their  journe y:  64  |  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign


• Early on in their journe y, consumers ar e looking to f ind  informa tion about a pr oblem the y are facing or a ne ed the y are  trying to addr ess ( e.g., “ho w to run a 5k, ” “treating acne fast, ”  “easy w ays to gain muscle, ” or “ getting a job af ter c ollege ”).  • As consumers mo ve to ac tively evaluating the options a vailable  to addr ess their ne ed, the y will star t to w eigh dif ferent options  (e.g., “best tr aining plan f or 5k, ” “retinol vs. benz oyl vs. salic ylic,”  “is cr eatine tha t good, ” or “ should I r egister on link edin”).  • Lastly, onc e the y are closer to making a pur chase, the y will  look a t evaluating or ac cessing the spe cific pr oduc t the y  choose ( e.g., “ sales br ooks g host 12, ” “wher e to bu y benz oyl,”  “creatine online che ap,” “link edin pr omo c ode”).  Similar ly to the thr ee obje ctives o f se arches, kno wing tha t  consumers f irst c oncentrate on pr oblems, then on poten tial  solutions, and f inally on the pr oduc t or ser vice the y are interested  in is the f irst step to cr eating a mar keting c ampaign. K eeping in  mind tha t our goal is to cr eate value f or consumers b y represen ting  them ( rather than talking about our c ompan y), this me ans tha t we  will ne ed to cr eate ads and c ontent tha t (1) inf orm c onsumers about  their pr oblems, (2) help them e valuate their options, and ( 3) posi tion  our pr oduc t as the best or cr eate pr oduc t or ser vice-spe cific  informa tion. W hen w e introduc e the c onversion-base d framework  in the ne xt chapter , we will se e ho w each o f these stages c an


in the ne xt chapter , we will se e ho w each o f these stages c an also  be use d for dif ferent str ategic goals ( namel y, attracting visi tors,  converting visi tors to le ads, and c onverting le ads to customers ).  This is visuall y represen ted in Figur e 3.7 below.  Figur e 3.7 Journey and Sear ches  Planning f or a Dig ital Mar keting Campaign   |  65