Capella University MSH Online Marketing Strategy Case Study

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Capella University

Description

Digital marketing strategy for a new pet food product (or new product or line extension at your employer or future employer.)

Introduction

Digital marketing and social media have completely changed the face of marketing. It is not that the older tools and models no longer work (they do!) but, rather, that these tools and models need to be applied in di?erent ways.

Digital marketing activities are performed while customers are connected to networks through various mobile devices. Among the many things that make digital marketing unique is the trigger of communication. Customers may target the business (pull communication) or the business may target the digital consumer (push communication). Digital marketing can take place through a variety of modalities including email, text, apps, and any other means by which a customer can communicate on a mobile device. Social media takes the marketer into the world of “views,” “clicks,” and “likes” as a means of ascertaining product appeal to the potential market. Digital marketing has changed the landscape of marketing activities.

When measuring the results of social media and digital marketing, we have to measure outcomes to determine the e?ectiveness of a general approach or campaign. If we cannot determine e?ectiveness, how can we possibly know if this is something we want to do again or not? In this assessment, you will gain insight on some approaches to measuring social media and digital marketing e?ectiveness. Unlike other areas of business operations (for example, ?nance), the measurements here are still evolving. However, you need to have at least a foundation for thinking about this very important aspect of marketing.

Introduction

This portfolio work project, a digital marketing plan with a social media strategy, will help you demonstrate competency in digital marketing planning and measurement.

Scenario

The Vice President of Marketing at MSH Brands (or at your employer or future employer company) was impressed with your marketing plan and brand presentation submitted in Assessments 1 and 2. They have now asked you to develop a Digital Marketing Strategy based on this work.

Your Role

You are a Brand Manager at MSH Brands (or at your employer or future employer company). You are being asked to develop a digital marketing strategy for a new pet food product (or new product or line extension at your employer or future employer.)

Requirements

Building on your prior work this term, develop a digital marketing plan using the SOSTAC© model. Your plan must address each of the SOSTAC© elements, including:

1. Situational Analysis

Analyze the current situation in terms of customers, intermediaries, and competencies.

Conduct a thorough competitive analysis and identify what your competitors are doing in terms of Web presence and social media presence.

  • 2. Objectives
  • Develop specific measurable objectives for a digital marketing strategy. Where do you want your company to be?
3. Strategy

Articulate short- (< 1 year), medium- (1 to 3 years), and long-term (> 3 years) digital marketing strategies. How do you achieve your objectives within these terms?

  • 4. Tactics
Differentiate various techniques (for example, website, social media, advertising, pay-per-click, events, press releases, sponsorships) to use for implementing strategies. How will you build your sales funnel?

5. Actions

  • Develop a project plan for executing each tactic. The plan is to briefly capture your execution of the tactics.
6. Controls

Develop specific metrics to monitor tactics. How do you know things are going as planned? How often will you monitor the metrics?

  • Deliverable Format
Requirements:

The digital marketing plan must be at least 8 10 pages in length, in addition to the title and reference pages.

  • Related company standards:
The digital marketing plan is a professional document and should therefore follow the corresponding MBA Academic and Professional Document Guidelines (available in the MBA Program Resources), including single-spaced paragraphs.

Use at least five scholarly or academic sources, formatted per APA.

  • Evaluation

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Apply marketing theories and models to develop marketing strategies.

Analyze the current situation in terms of customers, intermediaries, and competencies.

  • Competency 2: Evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies and methods.
Develop specific measurable objectives.

Articulate short-, medium-, and long-term digital marketing strategies.

  • Competency 3: Use data to support evidence-based marketing decisions.
  • Differentiate various techniques to use for implementing strategies.

Competency 4: Analyze the role of technology and social media in effective marketing strategies.

Develop a project plan for executing each tactic.

Develop specific metrics to monitor tactics.

  • Competency 5: Communicate marketing needs, opportunities, and strategies with multiple stakeholders.

Write coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a business professional.

Unformatted Attachment Preview

1 Digital Marketing Strategy 2 Digital Marketing Strategy Exploiting the power of digital marketing will help MSH drive sales for its new pet food product. Digital marketing allows the company to expand its market share and grow its revenue. Many companies in the pet food industry continue to realign their marketing strategies to include digital channels. This trend makes it vital for MSH to craft a solid digital marketing strategy to promote its new pet product online to many potential customers. Today, many digital marketing strategies can reshape the business. These include Social Media Marketing, Email marketing, SEO, Video marketing, and Content marketing. A practical digital marketing framework determines how these strategies can be implemented to have the best business outcomes. It will help the company understand the required level of investment and resources to channel to digital marketing. An effective digital marketing strategy offers a clear roadmap to follow and achieve its corporate objectives. Below is the Digital Marketing plan for MSH, which has been designed using the SOSTAC© model. The SOSTAC© model identifies specific tactics and methods MSH can implement to boost their decision-making process and refine their marketing campaigns (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). This marketing planning model pioneered by PR Smith will ensure MSH creates a successful marketing campaign for its new pet product DogiCare. Situational Analysis MSH has operated for five years, and during this period, it has established a loyal customer base due to its high-quality pet food products. Many customers have families with a strong passion for pets and have developed a close attachment with them. That is why MSH's product promotional messages have emphasized pet welfare. The company had recorded steady growth during the last three years, with the peak being 2019 when it generated over $100 million in revenues. That could be attributed to an aggressive marketing campaign in the latter part of the year. The company continues to retain 3 most of its customers due to natural ingredients in pet food processing (Chaffey, 2016). The launch of DogiCare will boost the company's growth, and reputation as the new product reflects the corporate objective of creating premium products from natural materials. During the initial stages of operation, MSH focused on traditional marketing strategies such as direct mail, print media like newspapers and magazines, broadcast media like television and radio, Outdoor advertising such as posters and billboards to promote their products. However, MSH has embraced digital solutions in the last two years since they offer an excellent opportunity to establish a large online following. The new pet food product, DogiCare, will help the company increase market share since it fills the demand for premium pet food at cost-friendly rates (Chaffey, 2016). It is also an innovative product made from natural and fresh ingredients to ensure better long-term health outcomes for pets. An internal customer review by management revealed that 80% of MSH clients were active social media users. Another market survey showed that more than 60% of pet owners post their pets multiple times weekly. More than half of pet owners use social media or internet sources to find new products for their pets. About 20% have even created a social media profile for their pets. This emerging social trend of pet humanization allows MSH to conduct aggressive digital marketing campaigns as more people embrace pets as part of their life. It also reveals the popularity of social media for many pet owners (Schleicher, Cash & Freeman, 2019). This means MSH can take advantage of these platforms to advertise their newly launched product DogiCare. An analysis of MSH’s competitors brings out some key insights. First, most competitors have embraced social media marketing on popular platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. They have a large following on these sites and engage with their clients and promote their products. Having an expansive social media presence has helped MSH’s rivals expand their customer base and redesign their products to suit their needs. It 4 has also helped them build and manage their reputation. MSH needs a similar strategy or risks falling behind its rivals on digital platforms (Lorette, 2017). This situation makes it critical for MSH to embrace social media as the core focus of its digital marketing strategy. MSH already has a competitive edge in web presence as its site has continued to generate consistent traffic. However, the rivals are gradually improving and have recently rebranded their websites to create an attractive and informative design that has improved customer experience. One weakness in its marketing plans is the lack of partnerships or collaborations with reputable digital firms and online retailers who can help it streamline its digital marketing campaigns. The increased use of digital platforms for marketing by rivals means MSH will continue to experience stiff competition in the online space (Lorette, 2017). Undertaking a robust digital marketing solution will help the company manage this competition. Objectives Clear objectives are critical for the success of the digital marketing plan. These success outcomes provide a platform for setting key performance indicators that will track and monitor the progress of the digital marketing strategy. Setting business objectives provides direction and guidance that helps MSH implement its digital marketing strategy. Based on the approach of Kingsnorth (2019), the following are the objectives for MSH’s digital marketing strategy. 1. Build MSH brand: the digital marketing strategy aims to grow the brand and reputation of the company. The company will use platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube which are popular among many social media users to improve brand awareness and customer engagements. 2. Generate traffic: MSH’s strategy targets to boost visitors to their social media pages and websites. Higher traffic means more people will see the company’s new and 5 existing products. The digital marketing strategy will use various digital tools such as SEO, visuals, and content to increase social media traffic. 3. Improve conversation rate: The digital marketing strategy aims to boost conversion rates which align with the business objective of increasing customers and growing sales. This new product will help the company raise the conversion rate to 25% in the 1st year, which will boost sales. 4. Uncover deeper market insights: The digital marketing plan aims to enable the company to discover new and relevant market information. By gaining valuable feedback through the digital marketing campaign, the company can improve its brand value and market share. 5. Generate Revenue: The ultimate goal of digital marketing is enhancing business performance. The marketing campaign has the purpose of attracting pet owners to the new product and grow company revenue. These core objectives will ensure the long-term success of MSH as the business will integrate the latest digital solutions to edge the competition and promote its products. It will also have a solid online reputation for creating premium products. In this way, MSH can attract many clients to its business and capture a more significant market share that will enable it to fulfill the vision of being a market leader in pet food products. Strategy A solid strategy is critical for MSH brands to help their new product to achieve the business objectives. Below are the plans to be implemented in this digital marketing campaign. Short-term (< 1 year) Segment the market to cater to the diversity of pet owners. A psychographic segmentation offers the best strategy for pet owners and adapting to the recent pet humanization trend. Using the attachment of pet owners to segment the market enables MSH to create emotional 6 connections with them in their digital marketing messages. Embrace digital channels in disseminating information about the product (Ryan, 2016). Social media ads will be the primary tool to generate quick traffic and drive sales within the first year. Medium-term (1 to 3 years) MSH will expand its position on digital platforms. The priority will be to strengthen its social media presence by creating a large social following to build the brand. It will also use a content marketing strategy through creating high-quality content that will increase leads and conversion rates (Ryan, 2016). The content marketing strategy will enable MSH to rank highly in Search Engines boosting brand visibility and recognition. Long-term (> 3 years) MSH's strategy is to build social media partnerships with large online retailers such as Amazon and Walmart. These online retailers have a massive social following with millions of subscribers on their platforms. MSH will promote its brands on these social media platforms to increase its brand visibility further and grow its sales. Investing in a more attractive website will be crucial in staying ahead of the competition and generating leads and conversions (Ryan, 2016). Combining an appealing web design and compelling content will be essential in staying ahead of the competition. Tactics MSH will use several tactics for its digital marketing campaign for the next five years to attain its strategies. In the short term, it will use the tactic of paid advertisements. Since the company is launching a new product, paid ads are a quick way to generate sales within a short period. The most viable tool is social media ads on popular platforms like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. These paid ads help in increasing traffic to the company's sites and boost brand visibility online. They also help create greater awareness for DogiCare to millions of pet owners who are frequent users of social media platforms. The 7 social media ads can be customized to reflect the diversity of pet owners who come from different ages, lifestyles, demography, and geography. Further, data generated from social media platforms help the company craft personalized messages that target these different market segments (Tiago & Verissimo, 2014). Promoting the new product on these popular platforms will help MSH's brand gain a large social following and grow the company's sales in the first year. In addition to social media, MSH can focus its attention on SEO which involves optimizing its sites using specific keywords that target the audience. This will help generate traffic for the new product and increase its recognition. SEO is a cost-effective tool that will help MSH minimize the cost of new customer acquisition. The company can continue to grow its social media presence by regularly posting quality content in the medium term. This strategy will help the company gain valuable feedback from its audience (Parkin, 2016). These consumers’ insights can help the company to improve their new and existing products. Another tactic MSH can employ is investing in web design by creating an attractive website that appeals to visitors. It involves including aspects such as a mobile-friendly design, sitemap, easy navigation, high-quality multimedia, and fast page speed. After building the website, the most critical element is creating informational content for the audience. This aligns with the content marketing strategy where the company publishes original, informative and optimized content that helps the brand rank high in search engine results. In this context, the company can link social media platforms with their website to increase leads and conversions. Posting compelling content will also ensure MSH edges their competition due to higher rankings that boost brand recognition (Baltes, 2015). In this way, MSH can consistently attract new customers and increase its revenue growth. 8 Sales funnel MSH will use the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action) to build its sales funnel and attract many pet owners to the new product. The first way is to create awareness, where MSH will use popular social media platforms to inform the new development. This includes posting ads on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to catch the attention of pet owners and increase traffic. The second way is to stimulate interest by creating compelling content on the website and social media to persuade pet owners to make a purchasing decision. This includes crafting a persuasive message that mentions the benefits of DogiCare to the audience, like using natural and high-quality ingredients to process it. Third, MSH will help leads convert into customers by offering incentives such as free deliveries or discounts on the orders, which motivates them to purchase. The final part is action, whereas a marketer's goal is to retain and attract customers (Venermo, Rantala & & Holopainen, 2020). This includes appreciating their purchase, encouraging feedback, and offering after-sales support. Actions To execute these digital marketing strategies and tactics, a robust action plan is necessary. According to Charlesworth (2018), the following practical approaches can help MSH achieve its objectives. • Management must conduct regular training on digital marketing trends. New trends and technologies continue to emerge, so staff must stay updated continually. • Identify SEO specialists who will enable MSH to maintain and increase traffic to their website and social media. These experts will ensure MSH brands achieves higher search rankings and improve brand recognition. 9 • Hire a social media manager who will oversee the promotion of MSH brands on popular social platforms. This will ensure the company adopts the latest tools and techniques that will boost its social media presence. • Embrace analytical tools that will help MSH find valuable market insights from data found in digital platforms. Understanding this data will ensure MSH brands monitors and tracks the progress of their digital marketing campaign and make adjustments in their approach. • Establish clear communication channels within the digital marketing department. This will ensure marketing staff executes their roles and responsibilities in line with the business objectives. • Contract a digital marketing agency or consultant who can help MSH streamline its systems and process to implement a digital marketing campaign successfully. For example, they can ensure MSH builds the best website design for its pet food products. Controls MSH must monitor the performance of its digital marketing strategies and tactics to determine their effectiveness. Gaitniece(2018) offers the following Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for digital marketing that can help MSH track progress. It will enable the company to identify its strengths and weaknesses and tailor its approach to suit industry trends. 1. Social Media Engagement-This metric looks at the quantity of followers on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. In this way, the company can track the growth of its social media profile. 10 2. Inbound Link building- This looks at the number of people who visit the company website—the higher the traffic, the better the search rankings, which attracts more customers. 3. Blog Posts Visits- Monitors the content site visitors like to read and helps MSH craft more appealing content to increase traffic. 4. Number of Leads: It enables the company to determine the sales opportunities the digital tools are creating for its brand. 5. Conversion rates: Looks at the number of visitors who convert into customers. Higher percentages mean that practical digital marketing tools are being used. Digital marketing will continue to be critical for the success of every modern business. For MSH to ensure the success of their new product, they must understand their business environment, such as their competitors. This will enable the company to craft effective strategies and tactics to build its brand. They will also design a clear project plan that outlines the specific actions that MSH can implement to attain the required targets. Further, particular metrics are necessary to track the performance and ensure the best business outcomes from these digital marketing strategies and tactics. This digital marketing plan is a practical guidance tool to help MSH achieve its corporate objectives. 11 References Baltes, L. P. (2015). Content marketing-the fundamental tool of digital marketing. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 8(2), 111. Chaffey, D. (2016). SOSTAC® marketing planning model guide. Smart Insights. Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012). Digital marketing: strategy. Implementation. Charlesworth, A. (2018). Digital marketing: A practical approach. Routledge. Gaitniece, E. (2018, September). Digital Marketing Performance Evaluation Methods. In CBU International Conference Proceedings (Vol. 6, pp. 135-140). Kingsnorth, S. (2019). Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online marketing. Kogan Page Publishers. Lorette, K. (2017). A Situational Analysis of a Strategic Marketing Plan. Parkin, G. (2016). Digital marketing: Strategies for online success. Fox Chapel Publishing. Ryan, D. (2016). Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. Kogan Page Publishers. Schleicher, M., Cash, S. B., & Freeman, L. M. (2019). Determinants of pet food purchasing decisions. The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 60(6), 644. Tiago, M. T. P. M. B., & Verissimo, J. M. C. (2014). Digital marketing and social media: Why bother?. Business Horizons, 57(6), 703-708. Venermo, A., Rantala, J., & Holopainen, T. (2020, July). From Sales Funnel to Customer Journey. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 200-206). Springer, Cham.
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Running head: MSH ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY

MSH Online Marketing Strategy
Name
Institutional Affiliation

1

MSH ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY

2

MSH Online Marketing Strategy
Marketing is crucial to the growth of any business. MSH is introducing a brand of pet
foods that is slightly different from the products of the company. Therefore, developing a
marketing plan informed by facts and figures is critical in developing the business. A good
online marketing plan should be easy to evaluate. Therefore, there is a need to develop a good
marketing strategy for the business.
Situational Analysis

MSH is a company that is looking to introduce the pet food category to their line of products
which is offered to farmers and customers in the US. However, the new offerings would require
a good marketing strategy if they can reach the market. The modern approach in marketing
would offer certain advantages to the company when it pertains to giving the newly introduced
brands a chance in the market. The company is associated with farmers' products, and therefore,
the pet food product should require their effort and approach when advertising.

The first aspect to consider would be the production of animal foods for commercial
goods, and pet foods are two different market segments. When the company is marketing food
for the farmers, they market animals using a commercial benefit angle. However, the relationship
between pets and humans is rarely that of commercial benefit. The relationship is interpersonal,
where some pets are treated as family members. Therefore, there is a need to explore new, better
marketing alternatives for pet food products. Therefore, there is a need to develop an approach
that will be valuable for both marketing approaches.

MSH ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY
The marketing strategy at MSH has heavily been farmer-oriented. The advertising
message has focused on the joy farmers get when they discover their animals are healthy. They
have also been a sense of personification of farm animals to indicate they are happy and content
with the foods. Now, a similar marketing approach might not be feasible in helping develop
marketing for pet products. There is a need to ensure that the marketing appeals to most of the
people who have pets. The current market strategy and the underlying message is would
probably not be replicable for pet food marketing. A great deal of market research and feedback
would be necessary to help evaluate the success of the marketing approach, which will be
adopted in the future.

Creating a pet food category would mean that it is necessary to expand the market to
reach a wider audience. Market expansion is an important facet of any business. When
expanding the marketing, the core demographic which is being marketed to is likely to change.
Therefore, a good market expansion strategy should be thought about. There are likely to be
people who would not have bought any other farm food products but might be interested in pet
food products. Therefore, a good marketing approach mu...


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