Create a digital marketing plan to launch a digital business of your choice. Your two main objectives are to increase traffic to your business and to design tactics to increase conversions. This brief should be presented as an individual management report of no more than 3,000 words and should include the production of digital products/content that support your digital marketing plan. Background: According to a study commissioned in 2017 by Mastercard and The Fletcher School at Tufts University, the UK has one of the best digital economies of any country in the world, ahead of the US and the rest of Western Europe, and is considered part of a small number of “digital elite” that are “both highly digitally evolved and advancing quickly”. In 2014 there were almost 200,000 digital businesses in this country, supporting 1.4 million jobs across whole of the UK. By the end of this module, you will be ready to join this dynamic and fast-paced economy. Don’t panic! I will give you the tools that you need to develop your project, and during the lectures and webinars you will learn the strategic aspects that you need to consider, as well as the technical bits. Depending of the type of digital business that you choose, you will find that other colleagues will also develop businesses in similar fields. TALK TO THEM AND LEARN TOGETHER. However, you need to keep in mind that this is an individual assignment so make sure that your plan develops its unique elements. What can you do as digital business? There are many things that you can decide to do. Or if you’re already doing something in the digital world you could decide to take that project further (e.g. previous years we have had established bloggers, or some other running their own businesses). If this is not your case, my suggestion would be to focus on something that you’re passionate about, and develop it. Chapter 12 of my book discusses some of the main revenue models for blogs, however this can also be applied to other digital businesses. At the end of the day you’re not being assessed on how good (or bad) your business idea is, this is not an entrepreneurship module, but a digital marketing one. What I want to see is how you develop the digital marketing plan, and the tactics that you use on your digital product to reach the objectives set at the beginning of this brief. A few ideas: -A mobile app for UoR students with special discounts and other relevant information -A blog about [insert your favourite hobby] -An ecommerce site selling [things that you’re good at making/baking/creating] -A website with tips on [things you’re really good at] -A website offering your consulting services in …. (why not digital marketing!) Now you might be wondering – how am I going to develop all this? Well, a few of you will have the technical skills to develop any of these things from scratch (yes, I’m talking to those with computer science backgrounds). But most of you won’t, and that’s OK. The beauty of doing digital marketing today (as opposed to 15 years ago) is that there are dozens (if not hundreds!) of tools that are available that can help you develop this on your own, without the need of coding. I will be covering some of these tools during our seminars (a good reason to not miss them), where you will be able to play around with these tools and ask questions. I will also include on blackboard links to other free resources that can be used to develop blogs, websites, ecommerce sites etc. In addition, if you decide to go for the alternative of developing a mobile app, we have licensed the use of a mobile app builder called GoodBarber for the duration of this module. So, the tools will be there for you to work your digital marketing magic. Assessment task Your task is to provide a detailed digital marketing plan to support the first year of launch of your digital business. Your campaign should reflect a deep understanding of the market in which you’re competing, the target market that you’re trying to reach, together with the best digital marketing tactics and content marketing practices that will help you reach your marketing objectives. Potential structure for your report: You may structure your report in any way, and whichever section titles you view as appropriate. However, if you’re lost, here’s a suggestion: 1.An executive summary. Briefly summarise your report and conclusions. This is not an introduction. 2.Statement of problem. Based on the brief explain back what you believe the problem you are addressing is. You should use your background reading to demonstrate you have understood the business context in which the problem lies. 3.Research. Your suggestions should be backed by evidence. Evidence can take one of two forms. The first can be desk research. The second can be the collection of primary research (if relevant). 4.Digital marketing plan Any specific suggestions of strategies, channels and tools that could help your digital business reach its objectives. 5.Implementation This section should include links to any digital product or prototype that you create as part of your digital marketing plan. If the tactics include content creation, you can also include links for sample content that you have created. This is the creative side of the report, where I want to see how you use the different tools covered in the module and the webinars to bring the project to live. Since the submission of the report is after the end of the Spring term, you won’t be able to present your idea. However, you can also include a link to a short video (up to 5 minutes) explaining your project. Length of the report: 3,000 words (+10% allowed) What is not included in the word count? ?Executive summary ?Cover Page & Table of contents ?List of references ?Appendices (up to 3), but be sensible ?Video presentation (if included)