Chapter 8 - Campaign planning for digital media

Learning objectives

What is the main difference in the communications characteristics between digital and traditional media?


The main differences in communications characteristics between the traditional and digital media is that that traditional media is considered push media, whereas digital media is pull media. With traditional media the company may use print, television, or radio to engage the customer. The information is considered unidirectional or from the company to the customer. Digital media is considered pull media, which means that a website ad will pull the customer to the company. Examples of pull media would be information emails, e-newsletters, and search engine.

What is the main success factor in managing a digital campaign?

The main success factor in managing a digital campaign is for the business to setting the goals and achievements they want to product while running the digital campaign. A business can set such goals as the volume of visitors that they want coming to the website. This could include a goal of 1000 unique visitors or a goal of 100 out of 1000 new visitors making purchases. Other goals might include the number of conversions a company wants to make, or the cost of the company to obtain a new client. The key to the success is for the company to maintain and execute the goals and achievements they have set for themselves.

How is it important to integrate online and offline communications?

Creating a balance of online and offline communications is very important for a company to maintain. Each customer has their own unique way that they respond to a company's communication. If a company limits one or the other, they might be depriving themselves of a specific target market. It is very important that a company has a path to each type of communication, so that the customer will respond to in a way they are comfortable with.

How does a business measure an effective website?

A business measures an effective website when it is meeting the goals and expectations they have laid out when first developing the website. If there are no goals or achievements planned during the initial development of the company website, then the website might be very unsuccessful. In order for the website to be successful, the company must plan goals in which they can measure the success. They must create strategies to meet these goals and unless they have these, then success can not be measured.

Questions for marketers

How do the characteristics of digital media differ from those of traditional media?

The main difference in the characteristics of digital media to that of traditional media is digital media is "pull" media. Traditional media is considered a "push" media, which would consist of a company using print, television, and radio to push their message to the customer. The digital media is considered a pull media and a company can use marketing spaces such as social media, search engines, and websites to pull the customers to them. Digital media allows a company to focus on a smaller number of potential customers allowing them to grow their customer base. In traditional media, the company may use television to send the message to a large audience, but the message may only reach a very small fraction of the audience, making the media more costly. By focusing on a smaller audience, the digital media maybe more cost effective and profitable.

How should I plan an online marketing campaign?

An online marketing campaign involves at least three different decisions that a business must decide on in order to create a successful online marketing campaign. The company must first decide on the level of investment they want to make into the digital media. With the level of investment, they must decide what type of digital media they are wishing to invest in and how that will effect their business strategies. A company must also decide the mix of investment in tools required for the digital media channels and e-communication. There are many tools out there that a company may want to invest long term. These might include tools that will manage the e-commerce, content, graphics, etc. Lastly, the business must decide the level of investment in digital assets, which include display ads, a micro site, email templates, video, audio, and others.

How do I choose the best mix of online and offline communications techniques?

A business must make some decisions about the campaign in order to obtain the best mix of online and offline communications. The business must create clearly defined campaign objectives in order to obtain the best mix. These objectives include the reach of the audience, the appropriate amount of communication to be shown to the target audience, and determine the impact of each type of media being used. By analyzing the objectives, the business can achieve the best mix of online and offline communications for their company.