Digital Marketing and Innovation
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The advent of new technologies, digital innovation, and social media increasingly represents a paradigmatic shift of both management and marketing disciplines: modern companies need to radically change their traditional way to do business and gain sustainable competitive advantage in the long run. Although strategic marketing still relies on traditional frameworks such as segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) as well as the marketing mix (4-6Ps) to provide services and products that effectively satisfy customers' needs and relieve their pains, marketers need to constantly develop innovative strategies able to create tailored and customized touchpoints at every stage of the customer journey (i.e., awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, and advocacy). This is particularly true in digital environments and e-commerce characterized by social media platforms, online communities, virtual landscapes, and two-way interactions between consumers and companies. As a result, one of the main new challenges of marketing refers to creating: (1) user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, (2) optimization of online contents (SEM and SEO), and (3) ground-breaking value propositions to reach product-market fit. Building on this, the goal of the present course is to teach students how successful companies - either B2B, B2C, or C2C - lever differentiation in respect to competitors and thus sustain their position in online and offline markets. Students will work in teams with the aim of creating and implementing a digital marketing plan to launch new products/services in the online environment.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students are expected to have learnt the following topics: be able to strategically scan and map digital ecosystems of modern industries; assess customers' pain points and provide painkillers to fully address their expectations; design innovative value propositions tailored on "buyer persona"; create positioning/perceptual maps through a customer-centric perspective; manage a digital communication funnel/learning process to test and validate product-market fit; critically evaluate companies' profile and position on the main digital channels (Instagram; Facebook; LinkedIn; Google Search; Twitter; YouTube; etc.); present through a final pitch their digital marketing plan and new product development.
Lesson period: First trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First trimester
Course syllabus
1) Introduction to the course (syllabus): what is digital marketing and the e-commerce landscape in modern economy
2) Digital marketing strategy: strategic frameworks and conceptual models for digital marketers
3) Different forms of online presence: UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design; from ROI (return on investment) to ROAS (return on advertisement spent); how to optimize users conversion
4) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM): organic versus paid search (PPC; pay-per-click); SERP strategies (search engine result page) and how to rank high among competitors
5) Digital marketing KPIs: the RACE framework (reach, attract, convert, engage); the new online digital customer journey
6) Online marketplace analysis: how to implement external strategic analyses ("digital" PESTEL, SWOT, and Porter 5 Forces analyses)
7) "Link" strategies (backlinking and referencing) and advanced keyword research
8) From the traditional funnel to the virtual online journeys: developing buyer personas and observing consumer "social" behavior
9) Google Analytics (GA): how the platform works; applications and practical examples
10) Digital "STP" model: segmentation, targeting, positioning; how to reach new customers online and repositioning strategies for brand managers
11) Positioning maps and perceptual matrix: case stdies from a digital marketer perspective
12) MVP: minimum viable product; lead user, early adopters and laggards; product lifecycle in the digital scenario
13) Semrush: business case and how to use the keyword analytics online tools
14) New Product Development: painkillers or vitamin pills? how to survive in a specific industry sector using a customer-centric approach
15) Web analytics: featured snippets, title tag, meta description, headers, widgets, content optimization
16) Ubersuggest: how to use the platform and the online tools for digital marketers
17) Long-tail or short-tail? Keyword analysis and revenue models: CPM, CPC, CPA
18) The SOSTAC framework: how to develop a real digital marketing plan and related strategies
19) TAM, SOM, SAM: segmenting and delivering products/services online
20) Branding online: brand equity, awareness, association and loyalty in online environments
2) Digital marketing strategy: strategic frameworks and conceptual models for digital marketers
3) Different forms of online presence: UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design; from ROI (return on investment) to ROAS (return on advertisement spent); how to optimize users conversion
4) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM): organic versus paid search (PPC; pay-per-click); SERP strategies (search engine result page) and how to rank high among competitors
5) Digital marketing KPIs: the RACE framework (reach, attract, convert, engage); the new online digital customer journey
6) Online marketplace analysis: how to implement external strategic analyses ("digital" PESTEL, SWOT, and Porter 5 Forces analyses)
7) "Link" strategies (backlinking and referencing) and advanced keyword research
8) From the traditional funnel to the virtual online journeys: developing buyer personas and observing consumer "social" behavior
9) Google Analytics (GA): how the platform works; applications and practical examples
10) Digital "STP" model: segmentation, targeting, positioning; how to reach new customers online and repositioning strategies for brand managers
11) Positioning maps and perceptual matrix: case stdies from a digital marketer perspective
12) MVP: minimum viable product; lead user, early adopters and laggards; product lifecycle in the digital scenario
13) Semrush: business case and how to use the keyword analytics online tools
14) New Product Development: painkillers or vitamin pills? how to survive in a specific industry sector using a customer-centric approach
15) Web analytics: featured snippets, title tag, meta description, headers, widgets, content optimization
16) Ubersuggest: how to use the platform and the online tools for digital marketers
17) Long-tail or short-tail? Keyword analysis and revenue models: CPM, CPC, CPA
18) The SOSTAC framework: how to develop a real digital marketing plan and related strategies
19) TAM, SOM, SAM: segmenting and delivering products/services online
20) Branding online: brand equity, awareness, association and loyalty in online environments
Prerequisites for admission
General Management and Marketing Principles.
Teaching methods
Lectures in class, team-work activities, seminars with start-up digital marketers and managers.
Teaching Resources
Book: "Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice" by Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (ed. 2016 or 2019 or 2022).
Slides, reports, and materials provided by the Professor.
Slides, reports, and materials provided by the Professor.
Assessment methods and Criteria
1) Attending students (80% of presence in class and active engagement in team-working activities) will be evaluated on their team's intermediate and final pitch and business report on a new product development project based on digital marketing techniques. Finally, each student will be individually evaluated on a written exam after the successful completion of the teamwork activity.
2) Non-attending students: oral exam on Part 1 (Chapters 1, 2, 3) and Part 2 (Chapters 4, 5, 6) of the book "Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice" by Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (ed. 2016, 2019 or 2022).
2) Non-attending students: oral exam on Part 1 (Chapters 1, 2, 3) and Part 2 (Chapters 4, 5, 6) of the book "Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice" by Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (ed. 2016, 2019 or 2022).
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)