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During the economic deterioration, the social, political and global pressure had affected the development of the organisations. Thus, to cope up with the situation and to maintain the perpetuity of the business activities the business organizations need to take the assistance of improved technology to attain the predetermined goals and objectives. Thus, in this context, the advancement of technology has introduced developed digital sales and market has brought a revolutionary change in the business environment. At the beginning of the 19th century, the concept of digital marketing came into existence for the first time. After globalisation and liberalisation, the business environment has become more competitive and the growth and prospect of opportunity are vast enough. Therefore, digital marketing and sale provide online platform and improved marketing tools to enhance the sales, marketing, and promotion and distribution process of the organisation. The extension of digital marketing process is not only limited to sales and distribution process of product and services but also it covers the areas of digital marketing audit, digital marketing mix, digital marketing strategy and digital marketing plan and evaluation. The study on the necessity of digital marketing and sales tools emphasises the importance of digital marketing and sales in the business organisations irrespective of the size of the organisation and the aspects and tools of the organization. Further, the contribution of the study is analysed with the help of Mark and Spencer. The following paragraph provides a detail discussion on the chose topic.
The concept of digital marketing audit is a process of inspection and analysis of the business strategy, business practice and the expected decisions regarding the improvement of its online existence (Boelsen-Robinson, Backholer and Peeters, 2015). The digital market audit helps to identify the deficiencies and the loopholes in the decision-making process of the organization and provides a proper framework about the improvement of the performance of the business organization in the competitive market environment (Chaffey and Allen, 2015). Therefore without proper implementation of digital marketing audit business organizations cannot determine their position in the market. There are various ways to conduct the digital marketing audit such as:
Search engine optimization audit (SEO Audit)
Content marketing audit
Social media digital marketing audit
Paid Advertising and SEM digital marketing audit (ShopKeep 2019)
The concept of search engine rankings of company websites is one of the most famous aspects of all the Digital Marketing Role. SEO audit is a process of driving the traffic of a particular company website. Therefore, in other words, it is a process where search engines like Google rank the company website as per the performance and the competitors (Phillips, 2014). Again the content marketing audit is one of the most effective tools used by the business organizations to attack the views of the new customers and entertain the existing customers of the company. Further, it helps the organization by providing the suggestion regarding the improvement of the quality of the content of the business organization (Baumgarth, Kaluza and Lohrisch, 2016). In the present competitive business world, social media plays a pivotal role in the recognition of the business organization and to increase the consumers of the products of the business organization. Social media provides a platform to the business organization which reflects the brand image and strengthen the relationship between the customer and the company (Sajid, S.I., 2016). As per the concept of paid advertising, promotion is one of the most important tools that help the business organization to gain maximum consumer for their product. Further, the paid advertising and the SEM digital marketing audit helps the organization to determine how the present strategy and campaigns are enhancing the business performance (Alalwan, Rana, Dwivedi and Algharabat, 2017). Therefore digital marketing audit is a process that provides a broad overview of the strength and weakness of a business in the market. This can be elaborated with the help SWOT analysis of renewed retailer Mark and Spenser. According to the digital marketing audit, the strength of Mark and Spenser states that the company is one of the leading industry in the and the company has enough capability to protect the shares in the existing market (Tuten and Solomon, 2017). The major strength of the organizations is the availability of strong free cash flow that helps the company to arrange enough resources for further expansion. Again the track record of the company states that the company has developed new and innovative product line to retain the maximum customer in the organization. The chosen company has invested a huge amount of money to establish a successful brand portfolio. Again the company has employed skilled and knowledgeable market expertise to enter into the new market.
The major weakness identified through the digital marketing audit report is a lack of technological advancement within the company infrastructure (Fern Fort University 2019). As a result, it would be difficult for the company to expand its business beyond its geographical territory. Again the company has failed to establish coordination among different work culture. Again the ineffective financial plan, inability to detect the market challenges, high rate of workforce erosion would negatively impact the company.
The green drive scheme of the UK has introduced the opportunity for procurement of the products of Mark and Spenser. Again the cost reduction practice of the company has boosted the profitability of the company. The free cash flow, low inflation rate, increase in the consumer expenditure and exploration of new markets have brought a wide range of opportunity for the development of the business organization. However, the increase in complex liability laws in the different countries, rising price of raw materials, fluctuation of product quality, uneven competition are the great challenge towards the success of the Mark and Spencer.
The advantage and disadvantage of Digital Marketing can be defined with the help of Mark & Spencer and its rival retail company Tesco. Tesco is recognised as one of the most important retail giants in the UK. The company has used the social media platform to attack the customers and collects feedback on their product from the customers directly. Tesco has opened different pages for different product and the company updates their portals and social media webpages daily with new information to grab maximum customers and increase the number of the admirer. The company has developed ‘Here to help’ tab that servers the customer grievances accordingly. Therefore it can be said that the creation of attractive websites and using the social media portal have strengthened the business and customer relationship. During the end of the recession in the UK, the customers try to decrease the cost by increasing the savings as a result the company has changed the marketing strategy by providing discounts on their products. With the help of the change in marketing strategy, the market share has increased to 75% since 2013.
Further, in the case of Mark and Spencer, the company has also experienced several benefits regarding the development and growth of the company. With the help of the social media platform as a means of digital marketing the company able to engage with the customers and analyse the demand of the customers. Again the M&S has launched their own e-commerce business and developed an official website to fulfil the customer need and grievances. With the help of digital marketing, the company has increased the production of the company. Therefore it can be said that digital marketing has developed a concrete business strategy.
However, digital marketing has a few limitations. According to M&S and Tesco, digital marketing requires huge maintenance cost and the efficiency of digital marketing depends on the proper implementation of technology. Though there is various limitation without digital marketing company cannot survive in the competitive business world.
In the case of Mark & Spencer the key customers are ‘the showroomer’ and ‘the well-informed shopper’. Therefore, the well-informed shoppers tend to compare the prices of the product, read the description of the product and analyse the reviews relating to the products. Since the chosen company is one of the best company in the retail industry and the customers get more options in the industry. Thus, it can be said that the customers are aware of the product information. Again the customers who are under the group of showroomers, they check out the particular product in person and then they decided to buy it at a less price through online markets.
The term persona refers to a fictional representation of the actual user. Again the importance of persona is crucial in the early stage of development of the product and redesign of the product. The development of persona provides stakeholders with an opportunity to explain the complex features of the redesign. Again the development of persona collects data relating to the demand and the desire of the customers. Based on those data the idea of the development of persona helps to modify and redesign the product. According to the present scenario of the chosen retail company M&S is focusing on the key customers who are quite interested in ‘stylish contemporary clothing’. According to this, the company is redesigning its products accordingly. In case of Mark and Spencer, the development of customer personal requires clear marketing message, development of the product, disclosure of the important features of such product and the company should establish a clear view regarding the product and make it attractive to grab potential customers.
To conduct the digital marketing audit it requires various tools, models and framework. Therefore according to the digital audit of the chosen company M&S, Google, Social medial platform, E-Commerce platforms are the most important tools used by them. Again with the help of digital marketing the company has established its official websites and online store with more features and options. Again the marketing team of the company has launched ‘Digital First Campaign’ for the first time intending to introduce their future product planning for every customers irrespective of their age. Again the company uses various digital channels to increase their online sales.
Figure: Customer Journey Flow chart
Marketing mix in the present business world is one of the most important aspects. In the present marketing scenario, stakeholders are quite interested in the process of marketing strategy followed by the company to evaluate the value of the company. Again from the viewpoint of the customers, the main concern is to know the value of their investment and on the other hand, marketers are concerned in retaining valuable customers. Therefore, the modern theory on marketing mix able to reduce the confliction among the customers and the marketers (Londhe 2014).
Therefore, the marketing mix refers to the fundamental aspect of the company where it is regarded as the marketing tool to establish a standard on the market response of a target market. Thus the concept of the marketing mix is the collaboration of 4p’s which means product, price, place of distribution and promotion (Khan 2014).
Digital Marketing Strategy defines that it is a series of actions undertaken by the management of the company to achieve the goals and objectives of the company with the help of appropriate online marketing channels. These Marketing channels may be paid, earned or it may be owned. On the other hand digital marketing mix the process of adaptation of product, place price and promotion from the viewpoint of digital marketing (Tuten and Solomon, 2017).
The present scenario states of Mark & Spencer states that though the company has modernized its marketing strategy, there are still some loop wholes within the strategy that affected the revenue earned by the company. According to the recent information the revenue earned from the sale of food has declined to 2.1%. Again, the sale of clothing and home decor items has decreased by 2.4%. As a result, the fall in sales revenue of different sectors affected the total earning capacity of the company and the amount of revenue decreased to £3 billion. In this context, the company started to focus on advertising seasonal products instead of focusing on retaining the customers (Blog.bham.ac.uk. 2018). Apart from the reduction in the sale, there are problems in the supply chain of the company and problems in the well-structured publicized market condition that affected the performance of the company. Further, the ineffective marketing strategy provides a negative impact on customer confidence.
Therefore in this context, it can be said that M&S needs to improve and change the market condition. Thus the recommended market strategy to achieve a remarkable market position in the retail industry are as follows:-
Improve the website: After the introduction of online business and online stores, the preference of the customers has changed. Online stores have reduced the cost and increased sales at the desired price of the customer. Further, a company’s official website provides the products to be launched and give attention to customer demand and grievances. Therefore to retain customers the M&S need to improve their official websites of the company properly and update the website with the latest information on a regular basis.
Accumulation of data from various channels: Marketing channels provide various marketing information and establish a relationship between customers. Therefore the M&S need to establish proper marketing channels using the digital agency to identify the customer demand and preferences to increase the sales.
Brand Experience: Since there is numerous retailer in the UK retail market it is very difficult to hold the brand name of Mark & Spencer. Thus the company need to make the brand name more attractive.
The marketing plan is one of the most important aspects of the business. Since without a marketing plan a company cannot sell the goods and services produced by the company. Without any market strategy product of the company cannot be recognised (Sik 2017). Therefore a proper marketing plan is the most crucial part of the business. There is a sharp difference between the business plan and market plan. A business plan is static but the market plan can be altered with the change in market conditions (Palia 2014). Therefore, the main objective of proper market plan helps to provide clear and exact information relating to the market and helps to take the necessary decision for the benefit of the organisation (Brace, 2018). In the case of Mark and Spenser, the company faced a huge loss due to improper market strategy. Thus the company could not able to understand the customer demand, what to produce and what should be the price of the product.
On the other hand performance evaluation refers to the process of measuring employee performance and the responsibility to do the job properly (Brennan 2014). Since employees are the asset of the organisation thus entrepreneurs try to retain the employees by enhancing their skills and performances. If the employees cannot perform well the company cannot ascertain its profitability.
The main purpose of the performance evaluation is to evaluate the employee performance on the regular basis to identify the deficiencies, evaluate the entire the performance of the management, allocation of resources on the productive way to reduce wastage and cost.
Since the chosen company is one of the most popular firms in the retail business in the UK among all the rivals Mark and Spenser have to be cautious regarding the performance of the company and protecting the interest of the employees. According to the annual report and sustainability report of the chosen company the company ensures a favourable work environment for the customers and conducts other skill development programmes. Further, the company provides various facilities like health care facility offered to employees by the Mark and Spenser.
Therefore, from the above study, it can be said that the contribution of digital sales and marketing is undeniable. Thus, in this competitive environment business organisations need to prepare an effective marking plan to achieve success. Since the essence of digital marketing depends on marketing tools thus, the company need to implement proper digital sales and marketing strategy to utilise the tools properly.
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