Assignment Cover Sheet

Student Name: Alexander Frahm-Fetherston

Student Number: 3055368
Faculty: BUSINESS
Course: BABH
Stage: Year 2
Subject: Digital Communications & Customer Engagement (DCCE)
Study Mode: Blended Learning
Lecturer Name: Robert Farrell
Assignment Title: Report on Digital Marketing + Hubspot Academy Certifications
No. of Pages:
Additional Information: Proof of Hubspot Academy Certifications, Bibliography (Reference
List) also including personal communications and interviews with
industry experts within the EU. Annex available with further research.

Date Due: 13/04/2022

Date Submitted:

Plagiarism Disclaimer:
I understand that plagiarism is a serious offence and have read and understood the college policy on
plagiarism. I also understand that I may receive a mark of zero if I have not identified and properly attributed
sources which have been used, referred to, or have in any way influenced the preparation of this assignment,
or if I have knowingly allowed others to plagiarize my work in this way.
I hereby certify that this assignment is my own work; based on my personal study and/or research, and that I
have acknowledged all material and sources used in its preparation. I also certify that the assignment has not
previously been submitted for assessment and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised
the work of anyone else, including other students.
SIGNED & DATED:
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston 13/04/2022

PLEASE NOTE: STUDENTS MUST RETAIN A HARD / SOFT COPY OF ALL

ASSIGNMENTS AS WELL AS A RECEIPT ISSUED AND SIGNED BY A MEMBER OF
FACULTY AS PROOF OF SUBMISSION.

0
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
 REPORT ON DIGITAL MARKETING

Introduction
Not long ago, we embarked on this winding road to a Next Normal. An environment
in which businesses and brands strive to not only operate, but to stand out in an
uncertain and fierce marketplace offering a unique digital experience. Difficult as this
may sound, the challenge is even greater now that “customer demands are higher
than ever” (Gartner, 2021).
Key terms such as visibility, reach, usability, user experience, website performance,
ranking and social media shall be further examined throughout this report aiming to
better shape our vision towards an efficient digital marketing strategy and a
successful customer experience.

Good website design improves Customer Engagement.

When it comes to a brand’s website, good design alongside good UX (User
Experience) is, first and foremost, key to increase traffic. Meaning, if the website
offers an overall “easy and interactive navigation”, its audience “will be more
engaged and spend more time on the website”. Your traffic will both grow and “be
more meaningful” (Sardà, 2022).
Hubspot (2018) reports customers wish to engage with a brand that shows
personality. This makes reference to the company building its own “brand voice”,
giving customers something they can relate to, something they will remember. It is
hard to catch the user’s attention the minute they enter a website. In fact, according
to Miró (2022) brands have seconds. Namely, 8 seconds to persuade the user that
the website is worthy of their time and their money. However, not everything is down
to how the website looks (see exhibit 2).

Koding Angels (2022) claims “easy is the way”. A website’s usability should be the
main focus when creating a good website. Interviewee Tommy Frahm (2022),
founder of Koding Angels believes that “a usable website -an easy to use website- is
1000 times more important than the appearance”. It is also “all about delivering a
fast, lazy-friendly-yet-awesome experience”. Something echoed by interviewee
Sardà (2022) stating that a well-designed website means that “it will be better for the

1
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
user to buy or send a form instantly, preferably through Facebook Lead Ad forms,
giving the brand better organic ranking and positioning on google” (Sardà, 2022).

After a brief interview with Casanova, D. (Agència Imagina 2022), I learned that
improving the way a website interacts with its customers during their purchase can
lead to happier customers, “future loyal customers”.
For example, activating technical features to recognise certain behaviours, which
can later activate “landing pages or chats with experts” to assist the user or customer
tom finalise their purchase (Casanova, 2022). A similar initiative was taken by
Apparel company Carhartt. Results showed considerable increase in conversion
rates, and increased its average order value by 10-25% (Coleman, 2021).
Casanova’s digital marketing agency Imagina Digital claims “creativity on social
media elevates the brand and encourages sales and customer engagement”. So, it
seems obvious for brands to gravitate to newer social media channels for that extra
creative je ne sais quoi that drives more traffic to their website. Spanish Marketing
Agency Imagina Digital (2022), for instance explains how brands are starting to turn
to TikTok to do so (see exhibit 1). The more traffic, the more likely a brand’s paid
per conversion rate is to increase. Good websites would usually have between a 2%
and 5%, but even better ones receive conversion rates of over 10% (Wix, 2021).
Interviewee Sardà (2022) also corroborated.

How email marketing improves customer engagement.

Let’s talk numbers. 260 billion emails sent and received every day and an average
expected ROI (return on investment) of $32 for every $1 spent (Commbox, 2019),
(Kolowich, 2018). No doubt email marketing is the go-to marketing tool for many
brands to retain and keep new customers. What is more, with the old cold-calls and
door to door disappearing, email marketing is often the primary method of acquiring
new customers (Koding Angels, 2022).
Social media clearly represents a big part of a brand’s communication. However, no
matter how creative, social media sometimes fails to give brands that organic reach
they are looking for. And, very often, email marketing can be the answer (Casanova,
2022), thus “allowing companies to reach their potential leads and customers more
effectively” (Casanova, 2022).

2
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
Customers actually seem to prefer to communicate with brands via email. One of the
main reasons for this is that it is permission-based (Kolowich, 2018).
Our interviewee Sardà (2022) was also determined to stress on personalising this
communication to help brands create that special connection with the customer.
Designing device-responsive emails is a necessary part of that process too, with a
staggering 70% of emails being opened on mobile devices (Kolowich, 2018).

Like many companies with low marketing budgets, language school Love2learn, for
example, has learned to appreciate email marketing and its value after their your
learning matters email campaign where they asked its recipients to update their
preferences to help them deliver a customised and purpose-oriented learning
experience (Leech, 2022). This is a clear example of an inbound effective customer-
focused email, making them feel like their opinions and needs actually mattered.
Thus, building trust.

Creating rich, meaningful and “S.M.A.R.T-ly-targeted” content will ensure the brand
starts building not only a growing customer base, but a loyal one. Moreover, it can
help to generate awareness amongst those who may not be ready to make a
purchase, as well as further nurturing those leads (Commbox, 2019). Failing to take
this on board can stand to frustrate customers or over “antagonise them” (Kolowich,
2018). In a nutshell, emails will not only drive engagement, but will help brands grow
both their contacts and their business.

Three key metrics used to measure customer engagement.

In this last part, we shall aim to focus on the three key metrics discussed during my
interview with CRM specialist in Barcelona Jaume Sardà (2022). Metrics primarily
help brands understand how customers engage with their products. Without this, it
proves hard for companies to assess those areas in need of improvement.

 Session Time: it is the time spent by customers on a website; often analysed

using Google Analytics. It helps understand how much the company is
engaging its customers with the product in question. Session time on a page
is the easiest way to measure this. This, in turn, can also help in decision-

3
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
 making processes, or identify “what product or page on your website needs
more time and/or money” (Koding Angels, 2022).
 Bounce Rate: corresponds to the percentage of customers who exit a website
after viewing one page. The lower it is, the better for the brand. In other
words, if customers are exiting a brand’s website in a short space of time, it
means that the content was not appealing or the offer was not clear enough
(Sardà, 2022). However, the data does seem rather quantitative in that it does
not differentiate the reasons for customers exiting, making it hard for brands
to improve.
 As owner of a local business delivering learning solutions to the local
community, I found the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to be a particularly
interesting metric. It is the score that measures customer loyalty as well as
how likely the brand is to be recommended to family and friends. This is
usually done through surveys with numerical scales for customers to rate their
experience. However, Leech (2022)1 when asked on its efficacy among
school customers, did highlight that NPS could at times lack context behind
the scores.

1
Leech, G. (2022) Personal Communication. Business partner at Love2learn Language School Waterford.

4
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Casanova, D. (2022) ‘Digital Marketing Research’. Imagina Digital, 2 April.

Coffman, L. (2020) 4 Customer Engagement Metrics and How to Measure Them. Zendesk.
Available at: https://www.zendesk.com/blog/4-customer-engagement-metrics-measure/
(Accessed: 11 April 2022).

Coleman, B. (2021) The Ultimate Guide to Customer Engagement in 2020.

blog.hubspot.com. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-engagement-
guide (Accessed: 9 April 2022).

How Email Marketing Helps Engage with Customers, a Complete Guide. (2019) CommBox
(BumpYard). Available at: https://www.commbox.io/how-email-marketing-helps-engage-with-
customers-a-complete-guide/ (Accessed: 10 April 2022).

Keskin, S. (2021) 7 of the Best Facebook Lead Ad Examples We’ve Seen. Sleeknote.
Available at: https://sleeknote.com/blog/facebook-lead-ads#:~:text=One%20of%20the
%20major%20advantages (Accessed: 5 April 2022).

Koding Angels. (2022) ‘Good Website Design’.

Kolowich, L. (2018) 19 Examples of Brilliant Email Marketing Campaigns. Hubspot.com.

Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-examples-list (Accessed:
11 April 2022).

Leech, G. (2022) ‘Email Marketing’. 9 April.

Maniyamkott, M. (2020) 10 Key Customer Engagement Metrics That Every CX Executive

Should Know. SurveySparrow. Available at: https://surveysparrow.com/blog/customer-
engagement-metrics/ (Accessed: 10 April 2022).

Romano, J. (2021) What Is UX? A Guide to Understanding User Experience and the UX
Design Process. Wix Blog. Available at: https://www.wix.com/blog/2021/07/what-is-ux-
design/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13774768257 (Accessed:
7 April 2022).

Sardà, J. 1. (2022) ‘Digital Marketing and Customer Engagement’. 2 April.

5
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
Swinscoe, A. (2015) Advocate Assisted Commerce Improves Customer Experience | Adrian
Swinscoe. Adrian Swinscoe. Available at:
https://www.adrianswinscoe.com/2015/06/advocate-assisted-commerce-improves-customer-
experience-and-drives-business-results-interview-with-scott-pulsipher-of-needle/ (Accessed:
9 April 2022).

Top Five Marketing Trends and Priorities for CMOs. (2021) Gartner. Available at:
https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/research/five-strategic-priorities-for-cmo (Accessed:
10 April 2022).

HUBSPOT ACADEMY- CERTIFICATIONS

1. Digital Marketing Certified

6
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
 2. Social Media Marketing Certified

ANNEX
Exhibit 1 (Daniel Casanovas. CEO and Founder Imagina Digital).

7
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)
Exhibit 2 (Good websites: Usability vs Appearance)

8
Alexander Frahm-Fetherston (3055368)