Strategies+&+Tactics

In order to be successful and achieve our outlined objectives of building consumers, generating brand awareness, and helping our client CBMA, we will have to implement a variety of digital tools and tactics, as well as employ the following strategies and tactics as outlined below.

We would like to employ e-mail marketing since it is an incredibly useful tool for aiding in customer retention. Falling under the category of customer relationship management (CRM), e-mail marketing “can deliver one of the highest return on investments (ROI) of any digital marketing activity” if used effectively (Stokes 170). By using an electronic method to promote our client, e-mail marketing will be a successful strategy because it is “cost-effective, highly targeted, customizable on a mass scale and completely measurable” (Stokes 31). By employing an e-mail marketing strategy and targeting CBMA’s current clientele, we will be able to aid our client in building relationships with both her existing as well as potential customers. If executed correctly, an e-mail marketing strategy will “maximise the retention and value of these customers, which should ultimately lead to greater profitability” (Stokes 170).
 * E-mail Marketing **

Online advertising is a key component of our marketing strategy for CBMA because its main objective is not only to increase sales and customer acquisition but also “brand awareness and share of voice in the marketplace” (Stokes 198). Although, we will have to implement very basic, preliminary versions of advertising to begin with (due to lack of funding), this particular strategy has a great deal of potential, especially as the CBMA brand expands. Since online advertising encompasses all types of advertising on the internet, if successfully implemented, it will help CBMA increase sales by promoting brand awareness. Brand awareness is crucial to our client’s success because “once customers know about the brand, the marketer has taken the first step towards gaining the customer’s trust and patronage” (Stokes 201). By buying advertising space on platforms such as Google and Facebook, we can get ads that are targeted towards our client’s demographic. Best of all, online advertising is less disruptive than its traditional counterpart because users have a choice of whether or not they would like to engage.
 * Online Advertising **

In order to capitalize on the broad reach of popular search engines, we will have to modify our marketing strategy with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. SEO will prove useful in the fields of both customer acquisition and retention. Although this may not be possible in the immediate future, we will be able to optimize CBMA’s online presence to appear in specific search results by including certain key phrases, tags, metadata, etc. Since “social content, such as Twitter messages or YouTube videos, can appear in the SERPs [search engine results pages], and there is a growing indication of social influence on search rankings” (Stokes 273). Successful SEO will ensure that CBMA appears in the appropriate search results, thus reaching potential customers.
 * Search Engine Optimization **

Our most valuable and main marketing strategy is the incorporation of social media platforms, namely Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter for the following reasons: “…social media is useful for branding, raising awareness of the brand story and allowing the consumer to become involved in the story through collaboration. Social media platforms also play a role in building awareness, due to their shareable, viral nature. They can also provide crowdsourced feedback via open graphs and social analytics systems.” (Stokes 32) Essentially, social media is an adept tool to facilitate branding and participation by allowing users to collaborate and connect with CBMA. Since social media is designed to be shared, it is easy for users to promote the brand in addition to being simple for us to track and measure its online success. By representing CBMA in social media, we can understand exactly how digital communities perceive the client. Also, social media provides the client with opportunities for paid advertising, and the possibilities of expansion as her business flourishes. For example, “Facebook offers two paid for advertising solutions: Ad Space Units (ASUs) which can be bought on either a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) or CPC cost per click (CPC) basis, or Facebook Engagement Ads which are bought on a CPM basis with a minimum spend threshold” (Stokes 377).
 * Social Media **

Being the “process by which a brand monitors, measures and manages the conversations that are happening around it online,” Online Reputation Management (ORM) aids in customer retention, branding, and participation (Stokes 33). As search engines and social media engulf the internet, ORM becomes an asset to a client like ours seeing as // “ //all mentions of a brand or individual are only a quick search away, whether they be positive or negative” (Stokes 374). CBMA can manage its online reputation through social media since the platforms allow for our client to “easily, and quickly, either respond to mentions, or find ways to further their own agenda” (Stokes 374). Since social media will be our client’s dominant method of interacting with her customers, it is important for us to monitor exactly what is being said about the CBMA brand. Users may form and respond to certain views that may be damaging to the brand, thus skewing one’s perception of it. This is why it is essential that the social media platforms be monitored for any brand-harming content.
 * Online Reputation Management **

WebPR is essentially defined as “the ways in which you can get your message out online” (Stokes 394). It is more of an umbrella term and seems to encompass most of the abovementioned strategies and more since it “is used to connect with customers and enhance brand awareness, exposure and search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts using various online channels like news sites, article directories, news release sites, industry related sites, online newsrooms, blogs, forums and social media” (Stokes 394). Good WebPR is essential to customer acquisition and branding. We hope that through social media and constant interaction with her clients, CBMA will be able to connect and engage with customers, focusing mainly on their wants and needs. This will help to create a solid brand that clients can depend on.
 * Web Public Relations **