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Unit 2 of 4 · MBA Sem 3

Unit 2: Digital marketing planning

Strategic Digital Marketing notes · PTU syllabus (MBA 971-26)

3 min read8 topics10 exam questions
On this page
  1. Unit summary
  2. Digital marketing planning process and framework
  3. Environmental and competitor analysis
  4. STP in digital environments
  5. Online branding and brand equity
  6. Integrated digital marketing communication
  7. Website planning
  8. Customer engagement and retention
  9. Content planning and campaign budgeting
  10. Key terms
  11. Quick revision
  12. Important questions

Unit summary

A digital marketing plan links business goals to channels, content and budgets. This unit covers the planning process and framework, environmental and competitor analysis, STP in digital environments, online branding and brand equity, integrated digital marketing communication, website planning, customer engagement and retention, and content planning and campaign budgeting.

After this unit you can

  • Apply a digital marketing planning framework
  • Conduct environmental and competitor analysis and digital STP
  • Build online brands and integrated digital communication
  • Plan websites, engagement, retention, content and budgets

PTU syllabus topics

  • Planning process and framework
  • environmental and competitor analysis
  • STP in digital environments
  • online branding and brand equity
  • integrated digital marketing communication
  • website planning
  • customer engagement and retention
  • content planning and campaign budgeting
ProcessSOSTAC digital marketing plan
  1. 1

    Situation

    Where are we now?

  2. 2

    Objectives

    Where do we want to be?

  3. 3

    Strategy

    How do we get there?

  4. 4

    Tactics

    Which channels and tools?

  5. 5

    Action

    Who does what and when?

  6. 6

    Control

    How do we measure?

1

Topic 1

Digital marketing planning process and framework

ProcessSOSTAC (PR Smith)
  1. 1

    Situation analysis

  2. 2

    Objectives

    SMART goals — sell, serve, speak, save, sizzle

  3. 3

    Strategy

    Segments, positioning, channels, value proposition

  4. 4

    Tactics

    Channel mix and content

  5. 5

    Action

    Responsibilities, timelines, processes

  6. 6

    Control

    KPIs, dashboards, reviews

  • RACE framework (Smart Insights): reach (build awareness), act (encourage interaction), convert (achieve sales), engage (build loyalty) — with a plan stage before.
2

Topic 2

Environmental and competitor analysis

  • Micro environment: customers, competitors, intermediaries, suppliers, platforms.
  • Macro environment (digital PESTLE): regulation (DPDP Act, IT Rules), economy, social trends (vernacular internet users), technology (AI, 5G), legal and environmental factors.
  • Competitor benchmarking: website traffic and SEO (Similarweb, SEMrush), social share of voice, ad libraries (Meta Ad Library), pricing, reviews, content strategy.
  • Digital SWOT to set priorities.
3

Topic 3

STP in digital environments

  • Segmentation: demographics plus behaviour (pages viewed, purchases), interests, intent signals, device, location, life events.
  • Targeting: precise audiences on platforms — custom audiences (CRM lists), lookalike audiences, retargeting pools, contextual targeting.
  • Positioning: a clear online value proposition (OVP) — why buy from this site or app rather than others (price, range, speed, trust, content).
4

Topic 4

Online branding and brand equity

  • Online branding: consistent identity, tone and visual language across website, app, social and marketplaces; brand stories and purpose; community building.
  • Customer-based brand equity online (Keller): salience (search visibility), performance and imagery (reviews, content), judgements and feelings (ratings, sentiment), resonance (community, advocacy).
  • Measures: branded search volume, direct traffic, share of voice, sentiment, NPS, follower growth, engagement.
5

Topic 5

Integrated digital marketing communication

  • Integration: all channels — search, social, email, display, influencer, PR, offline — deliver a consistent message and hand customers smoothly along the journey.
ClassificationDigital communication tools
Digital IMC

  • Search

    SEO and paid search

  • Social

    Organic, paid, influencer

  • Content

    Blogs, video, podcasts

  • Email and messaging

    Newsletters, WhatsApp

  • Display and video

    Programmatic, YouTube

  • Online PR

    Media, partnerships, reviews

6

Topic 6

Website planning

ProcessWebsite planning
  1. 1

    Objectives and audience

  2. 2

    Information architecture and site map

  3. 3

    User experience (UX) and design

  4. 4

    Content and SEO plan

  5. 5

    Technology, hosting, security

  6. 6

    Analytics and conversion tracking

  7. 7

    Launch, test, optimise

  • Success factors: fast loading, mobile-first, clear navigation, strong calls to action, trust signals (reviews, secure payment, return policy), accessibility.
7

Topic 7

Customer engagement and retention

  • Engagement: interactive content, communities, gamification, loyalty programmes, personalised recommendations, responsive customer service on social and chat.
  • Retention tactics: onboarding sequences, abandoned-cart reminders, re-engagement campaigns, subscriptions, member benefits.
  • Metrics: repeat purchase rate, churn rate, customer lifetime value, engagement rate.
8

Topic 8

Content planning and campaign budgeting

  • Content planning: content pillars, formats by journey stage (awareness — blogs and videos; consideration — comparisons and webinars; decision — demos, reviews, offers), editorial calendar, repurposing.
  • Budgeting approaches: percentage of revenue, objective-and-task, competitive benchmark, test-and-scale.
Key formulasBudget planning from goals

  • Required leads

    Sales target ÷ lead-to-sale conversion rate

  • Required clicks

    Required leads ÷ landing page conversion rate

  • Media budget

    Required clicks × expected cost per click

Example

Target 200 sales; 10% of leads convert, 5% of clicks become leads, CPC ₹20 → leads 2,000; clicks 40,000; budget ₹8 lakh.

Key terms

SOSTAC
Situation, objectives, strategy, tactics, action, control
RACE
Reach, act, convert, engage
Online value proposition
Reason to choose a brand's online offering
Lookalike audience
Users similar to existing customers
Content pillar
Core theme around which content is organised

Quick revision

  • SOSTAC and RACE planning frameworks.
  • Digital environment and competitor benchmarking tools.
  • Digital STP: behavioural segments, custom and lookalike audiences, OVP.
  • Online brand equity (Keller) and measures; integrated digital communication.
  • Website planning; engagement and retention; content calendar; goal-based budgeting.

Important exam questions

Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).

Short-answer questions

  1. Q1.Expand SOSTAC.
  2. Q2.What is the RACE framework?
  3. Q3.What is an online value proposition?
  4. Q4.Name two tools for digital competitor analysis.
  5. Q5.State two measures of online brand equity.
  6. Q6.How is a digital media budget derived from a sales target?

Long-answer questions

  1. Q1.Explain the digital marketing planning process with a suitable framework.
  2. Q2.Discuss segmentation, targeting and positioning in digital environments.
  3. Q3.Explain online branding and integrated digital marketing communication.
  4. Q4.Discuss website planning, customer engagement and content planning.

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