The ebook is in Italian. This page presents its contents in English.
The digital revolution has a profound impact on our society, our behaviour, our lifestyles and the way we do business. Companies’ lifecycles have become ever shorter, while skills are constantly evolving.
Unless we keep transforming ourselves as companies and professionals, we risk extinction.
The push-based model is becoming less effective; we need to rethink how we approach the market. Strategies must evolve towards a more thoughtful form of marketing that takes account of new dynamics and the importance of pull activities: attracting potential customers and nurturing them to generate positive word of mouth and build a lasting path of value between consumers and companies.
Digital marketing is becoming increasingly complex! So many tools, so many options: it is easy to get lost and end up thoroughly confused!
The aim of this book is to provide a clear vision and a comprehensive picture that brings together strategy and action, theory and practice.
This book is for:
- people already working in marketing or digital marketing who want to understand modern strategies and gain a comprehensive, independent perspective
- people who want to become digital marketing professionals and study up-to-date strategies and techniques
- people with a start-up or an established business who want a strategy for making the most of digital and competing on equal terms with large companies
Searches for the keyword “digital marketing” overtake “web marketing”
In the early 2000s, we only talked about web marketing and ecommerce. Today, digital marketing encompasses many fields: SEO, search engine advertising, social media marketing (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.), Google Ads, display advertising, apps, web and mobile sites, affiliate marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing, marketing automation, email marketing, ecommerce, growth hacking, inbound marketing, video marketing, neuromarketing, social and behavioural psychology, native advertising, UX design and testing, digital analytics, big data, AI and more.
Imagine being able to transform your business, or to develop your professional skills and enjoy a better life.
Digital marketing is much more than you think, far more than a Facebook campaign or a banner ad. It can transform companies and people’s lives.
What the book covers
This book gives you an overall view of digital marketing. We will explore each tool and channel in detail, while keeping the strategic perspective and each element’s place in the bigger picture in mind.
All topics are covered with complete independence: I have no ties to agencies or to the major online brands (Google, Facebook, Amazon).
The idea is to provide information and insights you will not find in official guides and courses. For further reading on the basics, there are references to the best free sources online.
We will start by looking at the context of digital marketing, what it means in all its dimensions and the environment in which it operates (chapter 1). We will explore marketing from mindset to the management process (chapters 2 and 3).
In the central chapters (4, 5, 6 and 7), we will see how the digital revolution affects the way we do marketing: from analysis and strategy through to action.
Chapter 8 is devoted to analysing digital channels: their characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, and how to make the most of them.
In chapter 9, we will study a modern digital marketing strategy embracing inbound marketing and growth hacking. We will explore the concepts of the farmer’s strategy, the Marketing Path Matrix, UDV, the value path and trusted advertising. In the following chapter (10), we will take a practical approach and try to build a digital marketing plan.
We will close with a chapter on organisation and mindset in the digital age, to understand how companies and individuals should prepare for current and future transformations.
By the end of this journey, I hope we will be able to use digital to redesign our business (digital transformation is the fashionable term), create a new marketing channel, become better professionals and live better lives, thanks to new dimensions of time and space.
Digital sets you free!
Table of contents
What is digital marketing?
The essence of marketing
- Benefits
- Costs
- Value and satisfaction
- Unique Value Proposition
Marketing management
- Analysis
- PEST
- The market and the customer
- Competitors
- Internal analysis
- Summary
- Strategy
- Segmentation
- Targeting
- Positioning
- Action and the marketing mix
- Objectives
- Product
- Place
- Price
- Promotion
- Control
- Final summary
- Analysis
The digital revolution
Analysis and the new context
- Attention and interruption
- Evolving needs
- Participation
- Information
- The technology platform and new conceptual models
- Web/mobile as a platform
- Web APIs / Web services (WS)
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- The new user interface (UI)
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- 5G and virtual SIMs
- Augmented reality (AR)
- Virtual reality (VR)
- Big data
- Video and streaming
- Vertical social networks
- The future of apps
Strategy
- Value Chain
- Value Network
- Trust
Action and the new go-to-market approach
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
Digital channels
- Social networks
- YouTube
- Other social networks
- SEA (Search Engine Advertising)
- The right keywords
- Maximising the return on traffic
- Cost control
- Ongoing campaign management
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Content
- Search engine friendly
- Links
- The future of SEO
- Display advertising
- Formats, channels and buying methods
- Display advertising formats
- Delivery channel
- Buying methods
- Metrics and objectives
- Problems and risks of display advertising
- Affiliate marketing
- Native advertising
- Influencer marketing
- Social networks
Digital marketing strategy
- Marketing Path Matrix
- Owned digital properties
- Content marketing and UDV
- Email marketing, contact lists and automation
- Digital Advertising Trusted
- Digital analytics
Digital marketing plan
- Objectives
- Analysis
- Internal analysis
- Behavioural analysis and MPM
- Competitor analysis
- Actions and content
- Control
Organisation and mindset in the digital age
- Work structure and mindset
- People and skills
- The future of work
- Creativity
How to read the book
IMPORTANT : by choice, the book is only available in digital format, but you do not need a Kindle e-reader to read it. You can use the following tools:
- on a computer, Kindle Cloud Reader at https://leggi.amazon.it/
- on a smartphone or tablet, the Kindle app (installation link)
Personally, although I own a Kindle device, I only use the smartphone app and the computer version.