Digital and Social Media Marketing Tesco

Introduction

As competition grow in all business industries globally, organizations are implementing various ways to deal with increasingly difficult, complex, and harsh environments. One of these ways is innovative customer reach using available communication approaches support mainly by technological advancement. Tesco is an organization with a long history of food establishment in the retail industry. The organization has various digital campaign strategies which ensure that it increases its revenue, as has been the case over the past years. However, there is a need to apply other digital campaign strategies at Tesco to ensure that it remains relevant and beats its competitors in customer attraction and retention. One of the best digital campaigns by the organization is to establish a weekly theme to be shared across all social media platforms. The other strategy is the use of a Snapchat campaign to reach a specific target market. Proper strategy and an action plan are necessary for the success of the digital campaign by Tesco, as illustrated by this paper.

Tesco

Tesco PLC is one of the leading retailers across Europe, the United States, and South Asia. The company is a giant in retail sales of various products in these regions. Jack Cohen founded Tesco in 1922. His motivation was the lack of essential products in other retail stores in his local town. He, therefore, took the opportunity to purchase the products that were absent in this to us and placed them in his store. The name Tesco is a combination of two words; ‘Thomas Edward Stockwell’, a company he had bought a shipment of tea in 1924 and his name, Cohen. He combined these initials with the first letters of a surname to come up with Tesco's brand name. By 1939, Jake had already established hundreds of Tesco stores. He later realized that the stock could provide self-service to customers after having a holiday in the United States.

As early as 2011, the organization realized that the customer turnout in its stores was becoming lower. An analysis of the causes and outcomes of this customer behavior lead the company into online marketing. The management at Tesco, therefore, applied various online marketing strategies to maximize customer attraction and retention (Nott, 2020). The fruits of this venture are still being seen today at the organization. The management line has been in its bid to achieve the organization's objectives, led by Ken Murphy as its current chief executive officer. Tesco has a board of directors coming from various backgrounds with tremendous experience in running the company. In 2020 Tesco recorded more than $70 billion in revenue, a milestone increasing by more than 5% in the past financial years. Europe and the United States contribute to the most significant portion of this Revenue. These numbers, according to Bititci et al., (2003) show that the organization must adapt other strategies to beat competition from other rivals like Walmart and IKEA which register potential revenue.

One of the most popular digital marketing Strategies by Tesco is social media marketing. Tesco management adopted various platforms that would ensure that customers could access their arm products at the comfort of their homes (Peeroo et al., 2016). The organization, therefore, ventured into an online shopping platform characteristic to its products and other extended services. Through online platforms, it encouraged shoppers to make the orders and payments remotely without having to go to the store. The application of the first virtual store was launched in South Korea in 2011. Tesco was the first retailer to ever apply online shopping to easy shopping activities for customers (Barnett & Alexander, 2004; Mkansi et al., 2019). This strategic move was fast done in a Subway and recorded a tremendous increase in customers of up to 130%. The Massive turnout by the customers propelled the virtual grocery as it is famously known today not only across Europe but also in all other Tesco outlets.

In 2014, Tesco also realized that market turn out using the digital platform was massive on specific days. The marketing research department discovered that more people were shopping on holidays and Seasons more than other ordinary periods. They are for started eyeing special Days like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, and Christmas Seasons. Tesco showed that specific Commercials and advertisements are running across all its social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. These ads specifically focus on the target group of a specific day as a specialty treatment by the organization. This has been a culture because various shoppers worldwide look up to Special Treats by the organization on these specific days (Clark & Wright, 2007). On the other hand, Tesco registers tremendous customer turnouts these days since it has been a culture that the customers highly welcome

One of the most successful online marketing strategies is having appealing websites and other online platforms. Tesco has a pencil invested in this strategy by adopting various appealing techniques and strategies into its remotely accessible platforms. The Tesco eCommerce Website is one of the most appealing online platforms to customers due to various reasons (Roberts & Thomas, 2003). The website is easily accessible by customers using all types of devices at different locations. All services according to the customers' desire are available via this website, making it valid for customers and making in-person purchases where the website is relatively easy compared to other numerous websites belonging to other companies. This is a strategy that Tesco has adopted to ensure that customer service is satisfactory to all.

Strengths and Weaknesse

Since the Foundation of Tesco, it has continued to attract a skilled workforce throughout its periods of operation. In 2019, the company registered the highest number of workers going up to 344,000 employees across the globe. This number, however, came down to slightly above 300,000. This reduction is potentially attributed to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. The organization has, however, continued to employ more people from various markets relevant to its operations. Tesco also has multiple business partners and other collaboration avenues that assist in doing business in different parts of the world.

The organization has also been engaging in various collaborative Ventures whether the organization. The most recent one is the collaboration with various stakeholders to contain the spread of COVID-19. In line with the government restrictions to curb the spread of government in, Tesco was promoting online shopping using various ads to involve itself with the matter’s community. The organization encourages online shopping platforms, which does not necessarily require one to move around. Various campaigns and messaging techniques have been in the application by the organization to ensure that the customers are safe and well served at the same time. The video shows proof of this technique about shopping safety that has been trending by Tesco in the UK.

Digital Campaigns

Tesco is one of the most diverse retailers across the European market and in other areas to which it has access. The popularity of Tesco is primarily coming from its long history of establishment. However, the world is changing in terms of technology, and customer reach is becoming more virtual and remote. The organization, therefore, needs to invest in various digital marketing. The nature of digital marketing, a study suggests, is a two-way interaction between organizations and customers. Interaction between these two parties comes through the creation of satisfaction. Digital campaigns show various ways of engaging customers’ satisfactorily while sharing information on the brand to customers, and the other way is true. Organizations should use digital campaigns to create happiness when customers visit their premises (Veer & Dobele, 2019). Customers, on the other hand, will respond by heading to the call and being motivated to buy from the relevant seller or service provider. There are two ways through which the organization can boost its digital campaign strategies to assist in customer reach.

The first one is the creation of weekly content. This weekly content should have a specific theme that centres around shopping and customer reach. An excellent example of weekly themed content is Black Friday. Several organizations have adopted # Black Friday to Mark specific Fridays where they sell the products at subsidized prices. Customers to these specific organizations always look forward to these days to the extent of saving money for the buying spree on the specific days. Weekly themes put an organization in the spotlight in regards to a specific day where the customers look forward to various offers and deals by the organization. Tesco should adopt this strategy on a weekly basis to ensure that its customers look forward to a particular day for shopping. The organization can use motivational Monday or throwback Thursday. Having these weekly themes trending makes the organization the centre of focus on specific days in the various platforms like Twitter and Instagram. These themed campaigns should be accompanied by various discounts and other good deals that the customers will enjoy as a way of motivation to be part of the organization.

The other digital campaign strategy that should be adopted by Tesco is the use of Snapchat. Several organizations have shied away from using Snapchat to market their products primarily due to factors such as the number of users and the nature of its contents (Trinh, 2017). However, this should not be the case because an organization like Tesco will massively benefit from the use of Snapchat and its digital campaign. According to research, an average user accesses Snapchat 25 times a day. This is because the content of Snapchat goes away after it has been viewed. The implication here is that it uses Pay undivided attention to all the contents of Snapchat than any other social media platform. Snapchat has more than 180 million users across the globe, 70% of which 34 years and below. The nature of subscribers in Snapchat should be the motivation for Tesco to use it as its marketing target should be millennials. one way of using Snapchat for marketing should involve the use of filters characteristic to Tesco products as a way of promoting its diverse products and services.

The organization has more than 7,000 stores worldwide, with nearly half of them in the United Kingdom alone. With its headquarters in England, Tesco is boasting of a massive number of stores in all United Kingdom countries. More than 300 Tesco stores in the Czech Republic are the second largest market share outside the United Kingdom. Poland takes first place in this category with more than 400 stores. The other half of its stores are distributed across 11 countries in the world. The most significant share of this half is in Asia and the United States. Tesco is looking into new Markets in other potential countries such as Malaysia, which provide a good market base.

Campaign Strategy

Achieving success in a digital campaign requires a plan. A digital campaign plan must therefore follow the following procedure from start to finish. Tesco is eyeing substantial expansion in these areas to increase its market share. Exploring new Markets as well as rejuvenating the existing ones is among the strategies of the organization as a way of increasing its Revenue. As the case organization, Tesco needs to adopt this plan for the success of its digital campaign strategy.

Definition of the Brand

The organization must ensure that the brand is well-defined and is well-known across all devices. Tesco is a global brand that is recognizable in a considerable population of all ages. The digital campaign strategy should provide the platform for brand definition where customers cannot mistake Tesco products from other retail suppliers. Outlining the unique definitions and recognizable features of a brand should ensure that the brand is well-defined. Establishing uniqueness in brand features is also another approach for defining a brand. The organization must therefore ensure that their brand is well-defined for proper recognition in the market.

Building the buyers and the customer base

A strong digital campaign strategy leads to success when an organization has a reliable and stable customer background. The organization registered an increase in its Revenue, and the business expanded as well. Jack, therefore, invited his son to join him in the management. The organization has the biggest market share of any other retailer in Europe, ranging between 15% and 20%. This share has been no significant increase as the one edition continues to inspire in the region, with the same has been the case in Asia and the United States. Tesco, therefore, has to ensure that it has a well-defined customer base. Having a specific target of customers is one step towards creating a buyer platform for an organization (Liu, 2017). Understanding the needs of the customers will enable Tesco to provide appropriate services and goods to specific customers. A customer background check is necessary to develop sources of motivation and other important customer behavior parameters. This strategy will enable the organization to understand and know the needs of its customers and therefore provide relevant products and services.

Creation of S.M.A.R.T goals

A digital campaign strategy should have the roadmap to the end goal. This is achieved by having specific goals. The specificity of a goal in a digital campaign ensures that it has a particular target to be achieved by the end of implementation. The gold should also be measurable by the organization to make them achievable. When setting the digital campaign goals, the organization must ensure that the goals are realistic. Since Tesco has been in business for numerous decades, the management is aware of its goals in a given period. This, therefore, defines the creation of smart goals

Choosing the best Alternative

A consideration of the various available options of the digital campaign should end up choosing the best Alternative. This will enable Tesco to apply the best digital marketing campaign and focus on it as a single venture. The two choices that have been given are the establishment of weekly themes and the use of Snapchat for marketing. The organization should determine its strengths and weaknesses in either of the two and choose the best with the potential outcomes upon implementation. Tesco is dealing in various product and service Lines throughout its outlets in a wide range of markets. The organization deals in sales of books, furniture, clothing, electronics, and toys. Banking services sale of software and internet services are also parts of Tesco operations. This attribute is useful for the organization to settle on the most suitable alternative.

Budgeting

After choosing the appropriate campaign strategy, the organization should establish proper budgeting allocations to help the campaign. Operating digital platforms requires financial input in the form of websites and other managerial requirements. Proper budgeting is necessary in this case to ensure that no delay is witnessed when implementing these strategies. Under budget or over budgeting may lead to unnecessary delay or stoppage of the implementation. Substandard and failure of the strategies may also be witnessed in case of financial incapability by the project. All these problems can be avoided using a well-played plan to finance the entire campaign.

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Launching

Launching their strategy using the target platforms and the plans for the second last stage. It involves putting all the plants and Resources into use to achieve objectives all the campaign. This stage also accounts for tracking systems where the platforms should have appropriate tracking information for later analysis.

Tracking the results

Measuring and monitoring the outcomes of the digital campaign is the final stage. Here the organization should be able to spot the difference when a digital campaign has been implemented. Tracking performance using tools such as Google Analytics is necessary in this case. Tracking the results enables the organization to keep tabs on the return on investments and other necessary adjustments to their campaign strategy.

Action Plan

Monitoring and Measurement

Digital campaigns in organizations are geared towards increasing revenue by attracting. Since Tesco is a giant company with several online platforms upon which implementation of the digital campaigns may be applied. It is necessary to monitor them to know where the organization is headed in terms of customer attraction and retention. Fortunately, several analysis tools can be used to track a site's performance in terms of visitations and other relevant indicators. Google Analytics is one of the most advanced tools that small and large organizations like Tesco can use to monitor their four performance indicators' online platforms (Smailhodžić & Berberović, 2021). These tools also enable companies to detect problems within their online systems and adjust accordingly. There are many approaches to monitor the effectiveness of a digital campaign strategy. The strategy can be observed after correctly implementing them according to the plan. In this case, the application of digital campaigns at Tesco involves Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs for the Campaign.

Since Tesco is a big company, the first key performance indicator to be monitored is the Unique visitors. Digital campaigns involve attracting customers through digital platforms. Monitoring the unique visitors is about paying attention to various site visitations by multiple customers at specific timelines. There will be a variation in the number of visitors at specific times due to the company's size. This number will be necessary for knowing peak and off-peak times of visitations to the website after implementing the digital campaign strategies. The same will be done to page reviews, where the number of clicks will be monitored and compared to previous ones before the implementation. Google Analytics will determine the difference from time to time upon the site on the web pages.

Search engine traffic

The organization will be able to apply Google Analytics to monitor the traffic in its search engines. There are search engines that may be directing visitors to Tesco's website and other online platforms. This group of visitors is known as search engine traffic. It shows how many search engine users are directed to Tesco platforms and clicks on the suggestions to view the information. The information decimated by Google Analytics will enable the organization to adjust accordingly to optimize its digital content. This category of measurement also applies the same techniques like that of the Bounce rate. The difference between the two is that search engine traffic shows the number of visitors directed from other sites to the site of interest, and they end up staying longer or buying a product. In contrast, bouncer involves customers who come to the site but stay for less than 40 seconds. They may be visiting the site to check prices or look for discounts and analyzing these two organizations to know the level of popularity and brand awareness in the digital media platforms.

Having the rate comparison of KPIs in various periods before and after implementing the campaign will be necessary. The management will tell the difference and the effectiveness of the implementation of the digital campaign strategies. Monitor and measurement of the effectiveness of the digital campaign should take place within a reasonable time. The timing should take place between half a year and one year to show the difference from the previous fiscal year. The outcomes will enable the company to adjust to the necessary procedures where the system may not meet expectations.

References

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