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• CIM Level 4 Award in MarTech
• Prepared by Marwa Mohamed

Recognizing Applications of MarTech

• MarTech applications are recognized across the Customer Journey

Customer Journey and MarTech

• The customer journey is the complete experience a customer has with a brand, from initial awareness to advocacy.
• MarTech (Marketing Technology) tools are used across different stages of this journey to optimize the experience and achieve organizational goals.

Stages of the Customer Journey

Awareness Stage

• Objective: To attract potential customers and create brand awareness
• Applications of MarTech include:
  • AdTech: Programmatic ads for targeted reach using demographic and behavioral data.
  • SEO Tools: Help rank content on search engines, for example, Google Analytics, SEMrush.
  • Social Media Tools: Such as Buffer or Hootsuite for scheduling brand mentions.
  • Content Formats: Blog posts, videos, and infographics to attract attention.

Consideration Stage

• Objective: To engage and educate the audience to consider the brand's offerings
• Applications of MarTech include:
  • Email Marketing Platforms: Personalized campaigns with Mailchimp or HubSpot are good examples.
  • CRM Systems: Tools like Salesforce track leads and interactions.
  • Interactive Content: Webinars, eBooks, and whitepapers demonstrate expertise.
  • Social Media Analytics: Provide insights into engagement and sentiment using tools like Sprout Social.

Decision Stage

• Objective: Convert prospects into customers by emphasizing value and trust
• Applications of MarTech include:
  • Personalization Tools: Dynamic content delivery on websites via platforms like Optimizely.
  • E-commerce Platforms: Tools like Shopify or WooCommerce streamline purchasing experiences.
  • Retargeting Ads: Google Ads or Facebook Ads Manager reconnect with undecided leads.
  • Live Chat Tools: Chatbots or live support using tools like Zendesk or Intercom.

Retention Stage

• Objective: To retain existing customers and encourage repeat purchases
• Applications of MarTech include:
  • Customer Feedback Tools: Platforms like SurveyMonkey to gather insights.
  • Loyalty Programs: Implemented via tools like Smile.io or Yotpo.
  • Email Marketing: Personalized updates and offers maintain engagement.
  • Social Listening: Monitor brand sentiment and identify opportunities for improvement.

Advocacy Stage

• Objective: Turn satisfied customers into brand advocates.
• Applications of MarTech:
  • Referral Programs: Platforms like ReferralCandy incentivize sharing.
  • User-Generated Content (UGC): Encourage sharing reviews, photos, and testimonials.
  • Social Media Communities: Build forums for engagement using tools like Facebook Groups.
  • Influencer Marketing Platforms: Identify and collaborate with advocates using tools like AspireIQ.

How MarTech Enhances the Customer Journey

• Personalization: Tools like AI and machine learning enable tailored experiences at every touchpoint.
• Automation: streamlines tasks like email campaigns and ad placement.
• Data Analytics: Provide insights into customer behavior, enabling data-driven decisions.
• Integration: CRM systems and other tools ensure all customer interactions are seamlessly connected.

Explain the Role of AdTech

• The Role of AdTech is to support paid digital campaigns

Different Content Formats

• Blogs: Short-form articles that build brand awareness and authority, and are ideal for SEO
  • Easy to produce, cost-effective, and good for SEO.
  • Requires consistency, ROI is often long-term.
• Videos: Engage visual content for storytelling.
  • High engagement suitable for social media, and preferred by many audiences.
  • Expensive and are more demanding for time.
• Webinars: Interactive sessions to educate audiences and build relationships.
  • Great for B2B lead generation and detailed product explanations.
  • Requires audience availability and significant preparation.
• eBooks/Whitepapers: In-depth resources offering valuable insights.
  • Excellent for B2B lead nurturing and positioning as an industry expert.
  • Time-intensive to create and less suitable for B2C.

Value and Use Across Organization Types

B2B (Business-to-Business)

• The primary goal is to build trust, establish thought leadership, and nurture long sales cycles.
• Content examples include: Whitepapers, Webinars, and Case Studies
• Delivers trust and credibility in technical industries, which enables decision-makers to make informed choices by providing relevant, detailed information.

B2C (Business-to-Consumer)

• The primary goal is to create emotional connections, drive sales, and encourage loyalty.
• Content examples include: Videos, and Blogs
• Appeals to emotions and helps customers relate to the brand.

NFP (Not-for-Profit):

• The primary goal is to increase awareness, drive donations, and recruit volunteers.
• Content examples include: Social Media Campaigns, Infographics, and Email Newsletters
• Creates emotional connections that inspire action, and builds credibility and fosters trust with transparency in communications.

SEO Considerations

• Keywords: should be identified and integrated high in volume, with relevant keywords in content.
• Metadata: Optimize titles, descriptions, and tags for discoverability.
• Titles & Tags: Craft compelling headlines and ensure correct tagging to aid search visibility.

Programmatic Ad Buying Process

• The programmatic ad buying process refers to the automated buying and placement of digital advertising in real time using technology and data-driven algorithms.
• Replaces traditional methods of buying ads, such as manual negotiations, with a more efficient and precise system that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

Programmatic Ad Buying

Benefits

• Efficiency: Automation reduces manual effort and time. Precision Targeting: Leverages audience data to deliver ads to the right person at the right time.
• Real-Time Optimization: Adjusts campaigns instantly based on performance data. Cost-Effectiveness: Minimizes wasted ad spend by targeting only relevant users.
• Scalability: Enables campaigns to scale across multiple platforms and geographies seamlessly.

Limitations and Challenges

• Transparency Issues: Advertisers may not fully understand where their ads are being placed.
• Ad Fraud: There are risks of bots and non-human traffic consuming ad impressions.
• High Competition: Auctions can lead to high costs for prime ad inventory.
• Privacy Concerns: Regulatory frameworks like GDPR and CCPA require compliance in data handling.

Key Components of Programmatic Ad Buying

• Ad Formats can include: banner ads, video ads, native ads, and even audio ads for platforms like Spotify.
• Data Management Platforms (DMPs): Collect and analyze audience data (e.g., demographics, behavior) to improve targeting.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning: Al optimizes campaigns by analyzing data and making real-time adjustments to bids.
• Ad Exchanges: Digital marketplaces where publishers and advertisers trade ad inventory in real time.

Programmatic Ad Buying Steps

• Advertiser Defines Campaign Goals: Advertisers determine the purpose of the campaign through it's objectives.
  • Setting Campaign Objectives: such as increasing brand awareness, driving webiste traffic, bosting slaes, and promoting a product launch.
  • Audience Targeting Criteria: These parameters are defined to ensure ads reach the most relevant audience, it includes:
    • Demographics, Location, Interests and behaviours, device types
  • Budget Allocation: Allocates a budget for the campaign with a daily and total spend.
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Chosen metrics to measure campaigns.
• Demand-Side Platform (DSP): *is a software platform that automates the process of buying ad space.
  • AI helps make decisions about ads to bid on.
  • Upload details of (goals, audience, budget and creatives)
  • DSP Scans ad-space and matches the best placements based on given criteria.
  • Automated Bidding ensures that costs are optimal.
• Supply-Side Platform (SSP) *: is a platform used by publishers to sell their inventory to advertisers.
  • Publishers list ads on SSPs
  • Ensures inventory is sold to highest bidder in real time.
• Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
  • The auction process that takes place when a user visits a website or opens an app, determining which add is displayed to the user.
• Ad Delivery
• The winning ad happens seamlessly, ensuring a smooth user experience
• The ad can be delivered in all types of forats such as: Banner, Video, and Native.
• Performance Tracking
  • Performance tracking ensures that campaigns are meeting goals and allows adjustments to be delivered in real time
  • Optimization can also allow for adjustments, and improvements such as, creatives and adjusting strategies.