1a. Explain the concept of digital marketing and critically evaluate the digital business model of an online retail business.
Let me explain how digital marketing works.
Digital marketing is the use of digital media to support marketing activities. Communications facilitated through content and interactive products and services are delivered by digital technologies such as the internet, web, mobile, phone, TV and digital displays and signage (Chaffey, 2019, p9).
Marketing itself is the management process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs to earn a profit (Chaffey, 2019), and achieving marketing objectives through the application of digital media, data and technology is the aim of digital marketing.
The integration of digital and traditional communications throughout the customer lifecycle creates seamless and efficient marketing executions. Social marketing involves the monitoring and facilitating of customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions to create positive engagement with a business and its brands.
Understand the strategic value of digital technologies
Digital marketing tactics can be used strategically to develop and expand markets, products and services, to diversify existing product bases and capture new audiences in new geographical markets to sell more goods and services, building customer relationships to create brand switching. The effects relate to demand side economics, that is, they relate to the consumer competition.
A combination of good strategy and positioning using both traditional and digital marketing with a comprehensive understanding of the competition can give businesses an advantage.
A great example is Amazon, a multinational technology company, e-commerce business, focusing on cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and digital streaming. In 2019 Amazon Australia reported $562 million in revenue and its focus is on building physical operations that complement their online presence, through Amazon Flex, and cloud based web infrastructure (SMH, 2020). Internationally, Amazon have focused on the development of new digital technologies to integrate their retail experience, creating seamless tap-and-go environments for grocery shopping (CNBC, 2020) and investing in automation in the supply chain through robotics, research and development.
Globally Amazon has achieved economies of scale which means that they can reduce supply costs for delivery as consumers embrace convenience. This is a responsive move, and on-demand delivery options for customers who are willing to pay remain popular. Achieving returns by reducing production costs means that Amazon will continue to dominate in a globally competitive market.
References
Barker. et al. Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach, 2nd Edition.
Chaffey, Dave, and Fiona Ellis-Chadwick. Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. Seventh edition. Harlow, England; Pearson, 2019. Print.
CNBC. Tech. 30 July 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/amazon-amzn-earnings-q2-2020.html.
CNBC. Tech. 14 July 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/14/amazon-rolls-out-shopping-carts-that-eliminate-checkout-lines.html.
CNBC. Tech. 21 January 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/21/amazon-go-automated-grocery-store-is-poised-to-launch.html
Roberts and Zahay. Internet Marketing: Integrating Online and Offline Strategies. 3rd ed. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Tuten. and Solomon. Social Media Marketing. Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ USA, 2018. Print.
Digital Marketing 