E-commerce websites
In the case of a transactional e-commerce website, you might be aiming to take advantage of access to new markets via the internet and mobile communications technology. Therefore, your strategic thrust is market development and your strategic objective is to build marketshare through acquisition of new customers.

Brand building websites
For a brand building website, your objectives will not focus on acquiring purchasing customers and the movement of goods and services; it will focus on, say, creating interest in your brand.

Digital marketing objectives can be operationalised in three ways:

1. Transaction
2. transition
3. communication

Transactional objectives
Directly related to increasing sales. Transactional websites rely on repeat business. Their objectives focus on customer retention and development, as well as acquisition.

Levels of online customer activity vary. They can be classified as new, active, dormant or inactive.

Transitional objectives

Transitional objectives typically relate to an organisation’s ability to:

• Generate increased leads
• Move customers closer to the point of purchase
• Close the transaction

They are objectives we might expect for an organisation that is at the prospecting level of website development. Eg:

•         Downloading of promotional discount offers
•         Signing up for mailings and catalogues
•         Joining mailing lists

Transitional objectives aim to increase the visitor’s involvement with digital media provision (primarily web-based) with the intention of completing a sale. This might involve aiming to increase:
•         Length of visit to a particular online destination
•         Involvement say in terms of number of pages viewed
•         Level of interaction – number of downloads, catalogue requests, competition entries
•         Number and or type of communications – email / feedback /discussion

Communication objectives
Communications objectives relate to:
•       Increasing awareness
•         Stimulating interest and curiosity
•         Encouraging trial
•         Promoting purchase
•         Diluting post-purchase dissonance

Digital communications should be part of your organisation’s wider marketing communications strategy.

If your website is a brand building website, it is likely to be part of an integrated marketing communications campaign (online and offline) intended to build brand awareness.

Generating traffic to your website is not a communication goal per se. You will generate traffic in order to achieve marketing outcome that contributes directly to the overall marketing plan, e.g. by way of revenue, customer acquisition or retention. However, volume of traffic through your website will ultimately impact on its ability to achieve that higher objective.

Useful metrics for improving organisational performance throughout the customer lifecycle

You can operationalise the metrics shown in this table by creating similar spreadsheets for modelling on a campaign by campaign basis and an over-arching annual plan for website effectiveness.

Ebay objectives example:
Acquisiton – to increase the number of newly registered users on the eBay marketplace.
Activation – to increase the number of registered users who become active bidders, buyers or sellers on the eBay marketplace.
Activity – to increase the volume and value of transactions that are conducted by each active user on the eBay marketplace.

The focus on acquisition, activation and activity will vary according to the strategic priorities for each local market.

The balanced scorecard evolved in part as a response to the shortcomings of traditional objectives that were overly-reliant on financial measures with a tendency to be retrospective rather than forward looking and focused on potential.

The scorecard assesses whether a strategy and its implementation are successful using a spectrum of measurements incorporating:

• Financial metrics, such as turnover and profitability
• Operational data, such as customer satisfaction and internal processes efficiency
• Organisational performance measures, such as innovation, lessons learned and staff development

An allocation of internet marketing objectives within the balanced scorecard framework for a transactional e-commerce site

But don’t forget, it’s also important for you to find ways of creating revenue!

Online revenue contribution objectives can be:

•         Specified for different types of products, customer segments and geographic markets

•         Set for different digital channels such as web, mobile or interactive digital TV

•         Assessed for the overall business and for specific markets or products

Classic marketing literature defines:

•         Efficiency as being concerned with inputs and outputs

•         Effectiveness as operating in the right markets, creating products and services that customers want to buy

An efficient organisation or marketer does things economically and, in so doing, does things right. Being effective is about doing the right things.

Efficiency

Agrawal et al. (2001) proposed a set of performance indicators that focus on ensuring the efficiency of customer acquisition, conversion and retention.

E-performance scorecard

Effectiveness

Effectiveness metrics indicate the contribution digital marketing makes to your organisation. Online effectiveness measures include campaign response rate, cost per acquisition, customer satisfaction and lifetime value.

Effectiveness objectives used in high-level digital marketing plans focus on markets and the organisation’s offering (products and or services).

Customer satisfaction and loyalty are key concerns when focusing on our organisation’s effectiveness.

eTailQ
Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003) identified four key factors affecting levels of online customer satisfaction, which in rank order are:

1. Webiste design – ease of navigation, apporpraite levels of information, effective search, straightforward ordering, appropriate personalisation, appropriate product selection
2. Fulfiment/reliability – Accurate communication to align customers expectaions, delivery opf right product within time frame
3. Customer service – Responsiveness, helpful, willing service, immediacy of response
4. Privacy/security – secure payment facility, secure and private personal information

Customer loyalty in online consumer markets – identified by Srinivasan et al (2003)

1.      Customisation – tailored content
2.      Contact interactivity – dynamic nature of the buyer / seller relationship
3.      Cultivation – relevance of online content
4.      Care – attention retail pays to consumer buying behaviour
5.      Community – online interaction amongst purchasing community
6.      Choice – expectation of greater choice online
7.      Convenience – perceived comparative advantage of online shopping
8.      Character – website design

SMART objectives are:

• Specific
• Meaurable
• Actionable
• Relevant
• Timely or time-oriented, a historical analysis

Objective should have a target marjket, an appropriate and measurable aim and a time frame

It is important to remember that once you have set your objectives, you must then put the right monitoring and control mechanisms in place to ensure your objectives are met.

Influence on digital marketing objectives

Some larger companies identify internet marketing objectives that are consistent with existing business measurement frameworks, for example, the balanced business scorecard.

The balanced scorecard translates vision and strategy into quantifiable objectives relating to efficiency and effectiveness, assessing whether a strategy and its implementation are successful using a spectrum of measurements incorporating:
•         Financial metrics, such as turnover and profitability
•         Customer value
•         Operational data, such as customer satisfaction and internal processes efficiency
•         Organisational performance measures, such as innovation, lessons learned and staff development

Key performance indicators can be structured to form a performance management table. For an e-tailer this table might include tracking metrics, performance drivers (diagnostics), customer centric KPIs, business value KPIs and metrics to evaluate strategy and tactics.

Efficency is achieving goals econimically, doing things right (inputs and outputs)

Effectiveness is doing the right things (operating in the right markets, creating the right products and services)

Types of online presence and related business models:
•         Transactional e-commerce websites
•         Service-orientated relationship-building websites
•         Brand building websites
•         Portal or media websites

The following organisational traits will influence the level of adoption of internet technology:
•         Operating in an appropriate market sector
•         Has visionary leadership
•         Has an internet strategy
•         Has a suitable technology infrastructure

Levels of website development:

Strategic and tactical implications

In order to understand the context in which to develop your planning goals and objectives, you need to:
•         Determine your approach to strategy development
•         Classify your level of technology adoption

1. Prescriptive strategy – Three core areas of strategic analysis, development and implementation are linked together sequentially.
2. Emergent strategy – Strategic analysis, development and implementation are seen as being interrelated and are developed together.

An emergent approach best prepares your organisation to respond to sudden changes in the trading environment. The rigidity or flexibility of your planning process is a critical issue. It impacts on the process of objective setting.

Pathways through the strategic maze:
The 3 strategic formulation dimensions are:

1. Analysis
2. Development
3. Implementation

Each dimension overlaps because, thedynamic enviroment means these planning activities are constantly being redefined.

Three platforms shape the the formulation process:

1. Vision
2. Offer
3. Resources

Almost regardless of context (business, marketing, e-commerce, marketing communications), there are certain generic, sequential steps that are an important part of strategy development

Generic process model for strategy development

Strategy development process
Transactional e-commerce website example

1. Website design and build
A plan to create or relaunch an existing site. It will specify: audience, aims, site style, structure and content

2. Website launch plan
Specifications of online and offline marketing communications to support launch or re-launch. Includes: audience, targeting and media mix

3. Plan for online marketing elements in traditional campaigns
Digital components to integrate with and support traditional TV, print or direct response campaigns. Might include: interactive ad, microsite or viral marketing.

4. Specialist online marketing communications plans
Plans for specific digital marketing tools, including:
•         Search marketing
•         Affiliate marketing
•         Email / e-newsletter
•         Interactive advertising and sponsorship
•         Online ad
•         Mobile marketing campaigns
•         Social media, online community or customer engagement plan
•         Web analytics
•        eCRM

Specialist online marketing communications plans
Continuous e-marketing activities: E-marketing tools such as search marketing, e-newsletters, affiliate marketing and eCRM are executed year round, rather than on a campaign basis.

Depending on the tools, it might be necessary to break the plan down further. Search marketing will be so important for a large e-tailer that they are likely to have separate plans for search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay per click (PPC).

‘Plan’ isn’t always the right word here. For continuous e-marketing activities such as search, e-newsletters and affiliates, ‘initiative’ may be better.