Online Performance Marketing & Magic Of Situation Analysis

The online marketplace is complicated and vibrant; companies should critically analyze the market environment in which they are functional, identify opportunities and then plan how they can compete effectively. Understanding an organization's eco system is a key part of situation analysis, and forms a strong foundation for all types of marketing planning but especially when devising a digital marketing strategy. What should be reviewed in situation analysis? From the perspective of a business creating a digital marketing plan, situation analysis should review these factors;

Customers: Digital proposition and communications should be based around the customer: their characteristics, behaviors, needs and wants. So our view is that marketers should start with the customer when analyzing the situation.

Marketplace Analysis: including intermediaries, influencers and partners resources. This is a summary of the main online influences on buying during the customer journey or path to shopping. We will see that there is a wide range of influences including search engines, publisher media sites, blogs, review sites and social networks which should all be considered. Marketplace analysis also involves reviewing opportunities and threats from digital channels and technology including novel business and financial models.

Competitors: Benchmarking customer propositions and communications activities against competitors can identify opportunities for new approaches and digital marketing activities that is imperative to be polished.

Likewise other critical part of situation analysis involves an internal review of the effectiveness of existing digital marketing initiatives. This will include reviewing current results from digital marketing channels activation by review of key performance indicators (KPIs) and the organizational capabilities and processes used to manage digital marketing strengths and weaknesses. 

And lastly, to be successful in online activation environments it is critical to be vigilant so you can effectively react to changes in the marketplace.

good-luck (Team Digital @Expertek US)