Digital Marketing Training

Digital Marketing Tutorials and the Application of Digital Marketing

How can small or medium sized businesses take advantage of digital marketing benefits i.e. economic and effective for sustainable customer centred strategy over long term?

This is opposed to short term and one-off marketing strategy based round costly and low analytic conventional channels such as print, radio and television focused upon indirect ROI or KPIs, especially digitally literate generations?

Digital Marketing Strategy

Advantages of Digital Marketing

The advantage of keeping marketing in house and using digital versus outsourcing include:

• Requires market research into consumer behaviour, with focus upon and directed by existing, prospective customers and stakeholders
• Unique to your business or organisation and target market with your website as ‘shop front’ being visible online locally, regionally, nationally or globally for market reach and penetration
• Analytically rich through variety of channels during search and purchasing process while customer feedback can confirm KPIs as valid
• After initial front loading of technical resources, marketing content and including financial, a living system has been created which can be maintained, reviewed and adapted following the SDLC systems development life-cycle (versus one off strategy or campaigns although not precluded e.g. ‘Best Job in the World’ dependent upon social media)
• The system can run organically through inbound digital marketing techniques attracting targeted traffic through SEO search engine optimisation and customer generated (social) media
• Allows customer and stakeholder input, ownership to inform system and an increased likelihood of success due to authenticity and grounding, or ‘bottom up and lateral’ digital communication channels

Some years ago, the ATDW Australian Tourism Data Warehouse developed the award-winning ATDW Marketing e-Kit downloaded several hundred thousand times, especially offshore.  The kit summarised below is pitched at sole, small or medium businesses who cannot and should not commission large advertising or marketing companies to promote their business, and do not require high level expertise.  Further, larger marketing bodies e.g. Tourism Australia, should have no need to commission global advertising giants for marketing strategy when they have a highly visible shopfront or website already?

1. Who is this document designed to assist?

These ATDW tutorials have been put together to help small and medium Australian tourism operators successfully market their business online. If you don’t have a website for your business or have one that is not performing to your or your customer’s expectations, these tutorials are for you.
Further, the same can be replicated across other sectors or industries whether goods or services, the principles of good (digital) marketing strategy are the same.

2. Roadmap to success

What do I need to do and in what order? Each tutorial can be read independently and no
technological background is required to understand their content.
You will find a list of all the tutorials organised in different sections on the following:

a) The basics
b) Website
c) SEO Search Engine Optimisation
d) e-Marketing
e) Online booking e-Commerce
f) Analysis and statistics
g) Online distribution
h) Social media

3. Why the Internet?

The Internet is a network of computer networks, which anyone can access and participate in using a web-enabled computer. Users turn to the Internet to search for information and interact with other users such as friends, peers and communities. It comes as no surprise that travellers use the “net” extensively to plan and organise their trip. Latest international research shows that more than 80% of travellers do so.

This signifies that- as a tourism business - you need to move your Internet strategy to the centre of your business model. Having a website that sits “on the side”, a Facebook page that isn’t managed and no social media strategy will not allow you to compete in the online world.

Business and organisations need to move beyond the notion of digital (channels) being an added budgetary item for any advertising or marketing spend and leverage their own customer base for feedback, generation of marketing content, transmission or sharing and visibility.

For more blog and articles related to services and digital marketing click through.

Digital 7Ps Marketing for Services

The Marketing Mix 4P’s and 7P’s Explained

The advent of significant service sectors and digital marketing and communications, have changed both marketing strategy and dynamics of business in reaching consumers.

From the Marketing Mix (2018):

‘Before we go into all the elements of the marketing mix, and to avoid confusion between the 4p’s, 7p’s and even the 4c’s – you should pay attention at the image below to understand what makes up the entire marketing mix.

4Ps or 7Ps in Marketing? (Image copyright MarketingMix 2018)

The image above is a simplistic diagram of the elements that are included in a marketing mix.
It is a basic concept, but here’s the cold hard truth…

If you don’t understand it in detail or at all, then there is a fairly certain chance that you are missing out on the key ingredients that will ensure scalable success from the ground up.

It has been said many, MANY times in business that if you don’t know your target market well enough and figured out what they exactly want, you’ll commit entrepreneurial suicide and the business will inevitably fail.

On the other hand, you can be sure to attract mountains of profits when you have a deep understanding of these concepts. Understand this fully and you will know exactly how to maximize profits on your own sustainable business or help become a valuable asset within your company and gain endless promotions.

Sadly, for many existing marketers and aspiring marketers, this concept is glossed over as “everyone seems to know what it is” and is disregarded as basic knowledge. But do you really know what it is? Let’s find out.

Now, what is a marketing mix, exactly?

• Marketing Mix 4P’s Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

 

• Marketing Mix 7P’s People, Process and Physical Evidence.

 

• Marketing Mix 4C’s Customer Value, Cost, Convenience and Communication.’

Of the above key changes have occurred in how ‘people’ ‘communicate’ in a digital environment carrying word of mouth WOM quickly and broadly to attain value from trusted sources, in other words out of the control of conventional marketing.

Reference:

Marketing Mix 2018, The marketing mix 4P’s and 7P’s explained, viewed 17 July 2018, < http://www.marketingmix.co.uk >

EU GDPR Digital Marketing Compliance

What impact will the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have upon advertising, media, marketing and social media channels in both the EU and outside?

How important is involvement of IT/web teams, customers, legal, financial, communications and marketing?

European Commission GDPR General Data Protection Regulation (image copyright European Commission)

The European Commission GDPR

According to the European Commission:

Fundamental rights

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights stipulates that EU citizens have the right to protection of their personal data.

Legislation

The new data protection package adopted in May 2016 aims at making Europe fit for the digital age. More than 90% of Europeans say they want the same data protection rights across the EU and regardless of where their data is processed. (European Commission, 2018)

Scope of the GDPR

From the technology consultancy Trunomi (2018):

‘The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and was designed to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy. The key articles of the GDPR, as well as information on its business impact, can be found throughout this site.

An overview of the main changes under GDPR and how they differ from the previous directive

• IncreasedTerritorial Scope (extra-territorial applicability)
• Penalties
• Consent
• Data Subject Rights
• Breach Notification
• Right to Access
• Right to be Forgotten
• Data Portability
• Privacy by Design
• Data Protection Officers’

Australian context for the GDPR

From the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC 2018):

Key messages

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) contains new data protection requirements that will apply from 25 May 2018.

Australian businesses of any size may need to comply if they have an establishment in the EU, if they offer goods and services in the EU, or if they monitor the behaviour of individuals in the EU.
The GDPR and the Australian Privacy Act 1988 share many common requirements, including to:

• implement a privacy by design approach to compliance
• be able to demonstrate compliance with privacy principles and obligations
• adopt transparent information handling practices.

There are also some notable differences, including certain rights of individuals (such as the ‘right to be forgotten’) which do not have an equivalent right under the Privacy Act.
Australian businesses should determine whether they need to comply with the GDPR and if so, take steps now to ensure their personal data handling practices comply with the GDPR before commencement.

Issues of non-compliance

However, Hern in The Guardian (2018) when observing large personal data using companies states:
Privacy policies from companies including Facebook, Google and Amazon don’t fully meet the requirements of GDPR, according to the pan-European consumer group BEUC.

An analysis of policies from 14 of the largest internet companies shows they use unclear language, claim “potentially problematic” rights, and provide insufficient information for users to judge what they are agreeing to.

“A little over a month after the GDPR became applicable, many privacy policies may not meet the standard of the law,” said Monique Goyens, BEUC’s director general. “This is very concerning. It is key that enforcement authorities take a close look at this.”

Impact on Email marketing

Email marketing software company MailChimp (2017):

The scope of the GDPR is very broad. The GDPR will affect (1) all organizations established in the EU, and (2) all organizations involved in processing personal data of EU citizens. The latter is the GDPR’s introduction of the principle of “extraterritoriality”; meaning, the GDPR will apply to any organization processing personal data of EU citizens—regardless of where it is established, and regardless of where its processing activities take place. This means the GDPR could apply to any organization anywhere in the world, and all organizations should perform an analysis to determine whether or not they are processing the personal data of EU citizens. The GDPR also applies across all industries and sectors…… relevant to MailChimp…

…..Expansion of scope; definitions of personal and sensitive data; individual rights: EU citizens will have several important new rights under the GDPR, including the right to be forgotten, the right to object, the right to rectification, the right of access, and the right of portability and stricter processing requirements

However, the most significant issue are the stricter consent requirements:

Stricter consent requirements

Consent is one of the fundamental aspects of the GDPR, and organizations must ensure that consent is obtained in accordance with the GDPR’s strict new requirements. You will need to obtain consent from your subscribers and contacts for every usage of their personal data, unless you can rely on a separate legal basis, such as those found in number 5 below. The surest route to compliance is to obtain explicit consent. Keep in mind that:

1 Consent must be specific to distinct purposes.
2 Silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity does not constitute consent; data subjects must
explicitly opt-in to the storage, use and management of their personal data.
3 Separate consent must be obtained for different processing activities, which means
you must be clear about how the data will be used when you obtain consent. (MailChimp 2017).

Consent would appear to be both central to compliance and rights of privacy yet problematic for much existing practice in ‘marketing’.

Best Practice Marketing

Meanwhile in Australia Hanson (2018) argues in ‘Mumbrella’ that it’s best practice for both business and customers:

For Australian businesses that want to better serve their customers, the GDPR signals the end of activities that marketers should have abandoned long ago. This means that it’s no longer good enough to buy a mailing list, nor is it appropriate to send cold-call emails or, heaven forbid, actually send spam.

Under the new rules, customers have to explicitly opt-in to getting your communications. In the old days, it was fine to pre-tick boxes on a web form allowing you to send a customer marketing emails. Now you can’t do that. Instead, customers have to give consent to you communicating with them, and that consent needs to be clear, in plain English, as well as informed, specific, unambiguous and revocable.

How to implement GDPR?

What does this mean for marketing in a digital environment or system? According to the Digital Marketing Institute (2018):

Step 1. Get your privacy policy page up to scratch

Step 2. Audit your current databases for opt-in consent

Step 3. Re-opt-in campaigns for current databases

Step 4. Create a process for opt-in consent

Step 5. Get the sales team on board

Step 6. Review third-parties who have access to your databases

Step 7. Have a streamlined process for information requests

Step 8. Prepare for a security breach.

In the short term the direct impact is neither selling nor buying of client email lists, but clear or voluntary consent or opting-in, through organic collection of prospective and existing clients’ details, how?

Using digital marketing techniques for organic inbound SEO search engine optimisation traffic as not just strategy but a living system to attract prospective clients over time. This will ensure compliance and allow prospective clients to opt-in voluntarily for newsletters, follow up etc. with the peace of mind their data will be private and not be shared.

However, organic inbound SEO requires cooperation and input across departments to share inter disciplinary expertise whether strategic management, IT, legal, finance, logistics, marketing, communications and importantly, customers or clients.

Reference List:

Digital Marketing Institute, 2018, ‘Trends & Insights: The Definitive GDPR Checklist for Marketers’, 5 April, viewed 7 July 2018, < https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-au/blog/05-04-2018-the-definitive-gdpr-checklist-for-marketers >

European Commission, 2018, ‘Data protection in the EU’, viewed 7 July 2018, < https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-protection-eu_en >

Hanson, G 2018, GDPR is a great thing for Aussie marketers, Blog, 13 June, viewed 7 July 2018, < https://mumbrella.com.au/gdpr-is-a-great-thing-for-aussie-marketers-522988 >

Hern, A 2018, ‘Privacy policies of tech giants 'still not GDPR-compliant’’, The Guardian, 5 July, viewed 7 July 2018, < https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/05/privacy-policies-facebook-amazon-google-not-gdpr-compliant >

MailChimp, 2017, Getting ready for the GDPR, MailChimp Blog, 9 Oct 2017, viewed 7 July 2018, < https://blog.mailchimp.com/getting-ready-for-the-gdpr/ >

OAIC Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, 2018, 'Privacy business resource 21: Australian businesses and the EU General Data Protection Regulation' <  https://www.oaic.gov.au/agencies-and-organisations/business-resources/privacy-business-resource-21-australian-businesses-and-the-eu-general-data-protection-regulation > 7 July 2018.

Trunomi, 2018, ‘EU GDPR key changes’, viewed 7 July 2018, < https://www.eugdpr.org/key-changes.html >

Student Plagiarism or Copying

Copying and plagiarism have always been apparent for various reasons and manifested in many ways.  Reasons can include rote learning via pedagogy versus andragogy, not coping or under time pressure which can lead to short cuts that can be easily identified by software such as Turnitin.

Why would students copy or plagiarise? (Image copyright Pexels)

From Henrietta Cook in The Sydney Morning Herald:

‘How unis can beat the cheats by finding 'fingerprints' in their essays.

The tell tale signs of a cheat could be lurking in a comma or a seemingly innocuous double space after a full stop.

As universities grapple with a rise in contract cheating – which involves students outsourcing their assessments – technology is clamping down on the unethical practice by monitoring students' unique writing styles.

The software, which has been created by US-based company Turnitin and will be launched later this year, is being developed and tested at Australian institutions including Deakin University, the University of New South Wales, the University of Wollongong and the University of Queensland.

Forensic linguists – the experts who scrutinise ransom notes and suspicious wills – helped identify 70 different factors that feed into a person’s unique writing style.

These include the use of commas, parentheses and dashes, how they list examples and whether they double space after a full stop…

…. Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said universities were continually coming up with new ways to detect cheating.

“There’s a clear message to all students in this: if you try to cheat, it’s very likely that you’ll get caught. So just don’t do it.”’

Advice for students (and institutions) would be learn how to write academically (should be compulsory in all university foundation and/or bachelor degree programs), plan well with time management to include good research of references or sources, use required referencing system (correctly) included in process of note taking, paraphrasing and synthesis, have draft for checking by lecturers, tutors or learning advisors, for feedback.

Further, institutions could provide a generic TurnitIn point for students to check essay or report drafts and be rewarded for process, as well as grade outcomes.

For more articles and blogs about teaching, learning and assessment click through.