A Digital Marketing Primer for Small Businesses: Digital Marketing Report, SMU, Singapore

OPTION A – Literature Review

Part 1. A digital marketing primer for small
businesses

• This is essentially a literature review of what you’ve learned in class. Be sure to
  support your concepts with relevant and current case studies and examples. You may refer to the first five topics
•  You can do either a wide-ranging array of topics to provide useful information to your audience or choose to specialize in one particular area (e.g. digital marketing strategies for small companies, online transformation, working with influencers, etc). This information would then be a prelude to Part 2 – your company report.

What kind of literature review? Digital Marketing

• Literature review – study what other researchers, writers, authors or academics have said about the subject/topic that you are exploring.
• EXAMPLES
• Topic 1: Digital Marketing – What are some key trends?
• Topic 2: Key Obstacles in Digital Marketing?
• Topic 3: What is Influencer Marketing – Popular, Current
• Topic 4: Updates on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube algorithm, or advertising.
• Topic 5: Integrated Marketing Communication – holistic marketing communications
• Topic 6: Budgeting –how much is required for any digital campaign?
• Topic 7:Key performance indicators – digital marketing? How do you measure the success of any digital marketing campaign = financial and non –financial impact
• Topic Create your own topic

What are the kinds of business?

• Small Medium Enterprises / Startup / Local Listed Companies | Try to avoid MNCs.
• Try not to take on intermediaries – Lazada, Taobao, Grab, online intermediaries. Do not work on these brands.
• Brick and Mortar / Existing e-commerce brand {Own brand] Products/ Services
• Products – Electronics, Games, Production House, Cosmetics, Fashion, Shoes, IT,
• Services – F&B, Spa, Hotels, Hostel, Restaurants, Hawker, Barber Shop
• Discussion with the brand owner / Feasibility Study / Digital Marketing

OPTION A – DIGITAL MARKETING PLAN

• In the company report, you are to plan, execute and analyze the results for a digital marketing campaign. Contact the owner/management of a small business to perform a strategic analysis of the company. You can do a SWOT or Porter’s Five Forces analysis of the company and also depict the business model of the company using the
  Business Model Canvas devised by Alexander Osterwalder.
• From there, examine the objectives of the business and propose strategic recommendations which utilize digital marketing tools for the benefit of the company. The objectives can include increasing awareness, boosting sales, encouraging customer visits to either the website or place of business, and so on.
• Make known your recommendations to the business and carry out the initial campaign across the platforms and tools of your choice. Analyze the results of the initial campaign and do a detailed summary of the events to make further projections and recommendations.
• You can include the feedback from the company to show as part of the presentation and written report. This will also be a useful testimonial for you and your skills as a digital marketer.

Report Structure – OPTION A

1. Introduction to the company and background
2. Current situational analysis
3. Strategic recommendations
4. Digital marketing tools used
5. Implementation [ GANTT CHART], timeline, and budget
6. Initial results and analysis
7. Future action
8. Feedback from the business and conclusion

Introduction of Company| Background, and Industry {F&B Industry – characteristics, 1000 small players, competitive, GDP ]

• CURRENT SITUATION – SWOT / PESTLE

Strengths Weaknesses [INTERNAL], Opportunities- trends, happenings, Threats [EXTERNAL]

• PESTLE [MACRO-ENVIRONMENT FACTORS] SINGAPORE CHOOSE 3
  • Political = Political structure, stability
  • Environment = Environmental issues/concerns
• Social = Demographics, psychographics age, gender, education.
• Technological = hardware development / Soft ware
  • Legal = Laws, bills, legislation = rules governing the sector
• Economic
  = recession, unemployment, high purchasing power

STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS = Digital Marketing Objectives
2-3 Objectives [ SMART OBJECTIVES] Specific, Measurable, Attainable Realistic, time bound]
A – awareness – raise awareness for brand /sub-brand from xx% to xxx%
I- Interest – Build the interest for the brand and relate it ……..something?
D – Desire and foster a strong brand followership /advocates…
A – ACTION – To achieve sales [ HOW MUCH ] for a period of how many months…
To create a youtube channel and hit 5000 subscribers by 3 months.
To create an influencer engagement program and target 10 lifestyle influencer

Digital Marketing tools –
Strategy / Tactics / Tools = PAID< OWNED EARNED
– Related to the objectives mentioned. This is the how. I want to grow my youtube channel. Strategy – Partner with key YouTubers like Jianhao Tan. Tactics {Details ] Programme, Frequency, Genre, etc
– Facebook, Influencers, Youtubers, TSL, Google, etc
– Implementation – Gantt Chart [ Feb – April 2021] Budget = 5% of sales Estimate the sales per month.
– Initial results & Analysis – Predict the results/ Forecast: expected fan number, expected growth
Future Action – What needs to be done from April 2021 onwards 3 points on what the brand focus on long term = Brand building, social media
Feedback & Conclusion: Conclusion – Why this plan would help the business grow. Justify the key strengths of your digital marketing plan.

OPTION B – LIT REVIEW

• Part 1 (2,000 words) A guide to today’s digital trends
• This is essentially a literature review of what you’ve learned in class. Be sure to support your concepts with relevant and current case studies and examples. You may refer to the first five topics
• Related to the ramifications of Social Media
• You can do either a wide-ranging array of topics to provide useful information to your audience or choose to specialize in one particular area (e.g. cyberbullying, social media dangers, gaming etc).
• This information would then be a prelude to Part 2 – your company report. Do not repeat this information in Part 2. You will have to make a pitch for your ideas before writing.

Topics

• Cyberbullying and its current state
• Me2 Movement and rise of Social Media
• Mental Challenges amidst the social media environment
• Self Esteem and Self Validation on Social Media
• Attention Economy and Social Media
• Life of an influencer/Youtuber/ Twitch Gamer

OPTION B – PERSONAL BRANDING

• The assignment would result in you coming up with a detailed plan
  and execution for personal branding for yourself. You can highlight your best points and exploit all the digital tools available in order for you to build an
  impressive presence online.
• You can start with doing a self-audit and use Alexander Osterwalder’s Personal Business Model Canvas to find out what your value proposition is. Determine what you want to achieve from this exercise. This can be building a good case for future job applications or simply promoting your own content creation skills.
• From there, build your online brand using tools like LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and other apps,
• websites,s or media you see fit. You should include evidence of engagement with your audience too. The full 5,000-word report (Parts 1 and 2) is to be submitted via LMS the day before the presentation. The presentation is based on Part 2 and should not last more than 10 minutes

REPORT STRUCTURE

Part 2 Report

1. Introduction – very detailed introduction about yourself.
Family. Your childhood. Your school days. Your Interests and hobbies. Your professional aspirations.

2. Current situational analysis – SWOT [Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats]
self-audit and use Alexander Osterwalder’s Personal Business Model Canvas

3. Personal strategy plan and objectives [WHAT]

GOALS – Personal Goals / Professional Goals [ 4-5 goals ]
Leveling up your music knowledge by attending masterclasses

STRATEGY – HOW [4-5 Strategies] AS DETAILED AS POSSIBLE
1) Get more followers on my IG account by having more contests,

4. Online tools for presence and branding – Facebook, TikTok, IG, Linkedin, Website, Youtube, bilibili, Weibo, QQ?

5. Implementation [GANTT Chart], timeline, and budget

6. Initial reactions to online presence and analysis | Forecast

7. Future action [After April 2021] 8. Conclusion [ Why this plan is important to you