Preface to the First Edition

Digital marketing is all about the challenge of balancing both the sides of the marketing wheel while walking tightrope on the rim. On one side lies any marketer’s owned media (websites, apps, social media pages) while the other represents the ever-changing demands and perceptions of his target customer. And this is just the start of the balancing act; one which extends across an advertiser and a publisher’s needs, between CPM (Cost per mile) and CPC (Cost per click) and extends to measuring data and managing privacy concerns. The list is endless and so are the solutions available in the market.

It is these complexities and choices that make digital marketing unique and render a distinct flavor to this field of study. This book aims at helping both digital marketing enthusiasts and practitioners discern such nuances to make informed decisions right from digital marketing environment assessment and strategy development to marketing operations till refinement.

One of the key endeavors of authoring this title was to develop a textbook on Digital Marketing in India which starts from base zero and explains the key fundamentals to those new to the subject. This book will act as a primer not only for management students but also media professionals, marketing managers, brand marketers, budding entrepreneurs and even individuals looking to create a personal brand online and understand the basics of digital marketing concepts, tools, and techniques from grounds-up.

So why should you consider this text for academic, corporate, or personal needs? While there are many international texts available on multiple constituent areas of digital marketing like search, social, display, mobile, video marketing, etc., a need was felt for an India-specific standard text which lays the foundation for the genesis of digital marketing, explains the transition from traditional ‘E-marketing’ to ‘Digital Marketing’ and presents an integrated digital marketing framework to move step by step towards creating a digital presence, and finally benefitting from it.

Fundamentals of Digital Marketing provides unique features along the following lines:

• Outlines the move from ‘E-marketing’ to ‘Digital Marketing’: This is one of the first marketing titles in India which moves beyond the ‘E-marketing’ plank to cover the new digital paradigm which is in essence a movement from:
  1. ‘Traditional Channels’ marketing to purely ‘Digital Channels’ marketing
  2. ‘Supply Orientation’ marketing to ‘Personalized Consumer’ marketing
  3. ‘Product or Service’ marketing to ‘Digitized (Hybrid) Offerings’ marketing
• Underlines a practically-oriented digital marketing model (ASCOR Framework): This is one of the first Indian marketing texts which has a ‘Digital Marketing’ specific Framework: ASCOR (Assessment, Strategy, Channel and Communication, Operations and Refinement) that forms the backbone for the entire ecosystem of digital marketing activities and concepts.
• Provides a detailed orientation to Digital Transformation: To understand ‘digital’ as a concept and establish its importance for marketing, in the beginning of the textbook itself (Chapter 2) we have provided an extensive orientation to ‘digital transformation’ to help students/business owners/entrepreneurs realize how they can best digitize any traditional business at hand through ‘Digital Marketing Models’ and identify key ‘Digital Value Elements’.
• Showcases industry deployable frameworks: This title has been written in a manner which would help readers to deploy digital marketing concepts across each aspect of their industry, and be realistically ready to market each product digitally.
• Details concepts through topical Case Studies of Indian businesses: Each chapter starts with a case study on a prominent India-born or global India-based business, traverses through the company’s growth in digital marketing, key challenges faced and lessons the reader can learn from their business story.
• Includes Digital Application exercises on Indian brands: At the end of each chapter, application exercises on key digital marketing concepts (pertaining to each chapter) have been provided, for students to self-assess their concepts and also apply them to brands which they have seen around/grown with in India since the last decade.
• Devotes a complete chapter to careers in digital marketing: The last chapter of the book is devoted specifically to the kind of jobs available in the market and how to approach those career tracks. Once the reader has mastered the concepts in all preceding chapters, he/she would know exactly the areas where he can look to be employed across digital marketing.

Coming to the structure of the book, this book has been covered across eleven chapters which form a part of five core units as follows:

• UNIT I (Basics of Digital Marketing): The first part introduces the reader to the basics of digital marketing, its underlying technologies and frameworks and establishes the ASCOR digital marketing framework. It further delves into defining the concepts of value chain digitization and digital marketing models creation. It also touches upon consumer behavior aspects for digital marketing including consumer demand management and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) for digital platforms.
• UNIT II (Digital Marketing Strategy Development): This part begins with an elaboration of the Assessment stage of ASCOR Framework which covers the Ecosystem for Digital Marketing, key elements of Digital Marketing Assessment and Digital Marketing Objectives Planning. It is followed by an exploration of the Digital Marketing Strategy stage which includes developing an understanding of the Digital Marketing Mix elements and a deep-dive into the 6S Digital Marketing Implementation Stages.
• UNIT III (Digital Marketing Planning and Setup): In the third part we cover the planning and setup stages of the ASCOR Framework including Digital Marketing Communications and Channel Mix and Digital Marketing Operations Setup. It starts with the coverage of Digital Media Planning stages and provides an introduction to all key digital marketing channels. Apart from this it also covers the basics of conversion marketing, web development and management along with developing an understanding of User Experience, Usability and Service Quality Elements.
• UNIT IV (Digital Marketing Execution): The fourth part drills deep into the basic elements of digital campaigns and their execution across all key Digital Marketing Types (Search, Display, Social, Partner, Direct, Content, Platform marketing). It completes the ASCOR Framework stages with coverage of Digital Marketing Measurement and Refinement. This part concludes with a full chapter on Digital Marketing Execution Elements including Digital Marketing Revenue, Service Delivery & Payment, Security & Privacy Concerns, Legal and Ethical Issues.
• UNIT V (Digital Business-Present & Future): This last part sheds light on key present and future aspects of Digital Marketing starting with the latest trends in digital business to covering the rise of E-commerce along-with discussing emerging digital business models. The book ends with a dedicated chapter on emerging career opportunities for digital professionals which will help readers of the book decide on career tracks they could follow being digital marketing professionals.

This book comprises insights gained from my years of corporate work experience and industry interactions with clients/workmates across multiple sectors, domains and geographies, which I have aimed to transform into practical and actionable frameworks and models. The title has been authored keeping in mind the needs of students, faculty, corporates, entrepreneurs and individuals who want to master the core concepts of digital marketing. I believe the title will best equip readers to begin a career in digital marketing and use the concepts as a launchpad to venture into specific channels, platforms and techniques as they discover them during their digital marketing careers.

And as is beautifully put in the parting words of the iconic and inspiring Pixar animation ‘Ratatouille’, I hope that with the knowledge gained from this book, you don’t just ‘Inspire Others’ but regularly ‘Surprise Yourself’ in the true moments of exhilaration this journey presents!

We, at Pearson, wish you all the best for these digital expeditions.

Puneet Singh Bhatia