CIM Level 6 Diploma in Professional Marketing Mastering Metrics (2201) April 2016 Assignment The assignment comprises THREE compulsory tasks Task 1 is worth 30 marks Task 2 is worth 35 marks Task 3 is worth 35 marks Total marks available 100 Candidate guidance: Answer all tasks The available marks are shown alongside each part of the task Read all tasks carefully before attempting them The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2015 VERSION 1 07.09.15
Scenario: Measuring the effectiveness of digital communications Many organisations are under pressure to adopt new types of digital communications without always assessing their validity and value. Your role is that of a marketing specialist who has been asked to consider how digital communications are used within your chosen organisation. As part of the review of digital communications you should consider their use, effectiveness and how they integrate with other communications methods. To evaluate the use of digital and other communications forms you will need to utilise marketing metrics. Guidance notes: This assignment consists of three tasks which should flow as a single document. Whilst it is helpful to include an introduction and summary, these should be brief, with the main focus being on the content outlined in the assignment provided. FIVE marks will be awarded for the organisation summary, which will form part of the preparatory work, using the headings supplied as guidance. This is included in the marks allocated to Task 1. You should select an organisation where you will have access to relevant statistics and financial data that will enable marketing metrics to be applied. It is important that the data are relevant to digital communications and that the data are recent. Where data is not available, or data is not sufficient to provide analysis, you should research an organisation via resources available to you on MyCIM. You should aim to include how your chosen organisation uses data to evaluate the effectiveness of digital communications and how this could be improved. Therefore, it is important you are able to collect appropriate data on current digital and other communications methods. It is vital that you are able to identify the relevant marketing metrics related to communications, in particular digital communications. Furthermore, in many organisations the profit motive may be inappropriate or less relevant. For example, public sector, not-for-profit and charitable organisations may not see financial profit as commercial organisations might. In these instances, candidates should take a broad view of profit that could include public and stakeholder support, charitable donations, brand reputation, change of consumer behaviour, etc. It is good practice to acknowledge all sources/methodologies/applications using the Harvard referencing system. Good Practice Guidelines for Assessment Production The recommended page/word count limit for this assessment has been set by the examiners as being suitable for candidates to produce a concise, professional document that covers all of the assessment criteria covered by the brief. Submissions that exceed the recommended page/word count limit are likely to contain irrelevant material that can restrict the emphasis on key points relevant to the brief/task and may result in marks not being awarded. Equally, submissions that are below the recommended page/word count limit are unlikely to contain sufficient detail to gain high marks. Page 2 of 8
TASK 1 REPORT Assessment criteria covered in Task 1: AC1.1, AC1.2, AC1.3, AC1.4, AC2.1, AC2.2, AC2.3, AC5.1, AC5.2 Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details. To assist the management process an understanding of the effectiveness of communications methods is beneficial. Using marketing metrics it becomes possible to understand the impact of communications methods in more detail. In sub-task (b) of your report you should provide a basis of the theory surrounding marketing metrics. In addition, the sub-task (c) should consider their application, together with an identification of their role across an entire organisation. The report should then identify how marketing metrics are currently applied in your chosen organisation, together with decisions regarding which digital communications methods are used. Required: (a) (b) (c) (d) Using the organisation summary guidelines, provide a background to your chosen organisation. Explain the role of marketing metrics in the context of marketing and regarding the range of communications methods used in your chosen organisation, including digital communications. You should refer to relevant theory within this sub-task. Discuss which key metrics could be used by your chosen organisation to assess the effectiveness of its digital communications methods. Explain the process of decision-making in your chosen organisation in respect of the selection of different digital communications methods. You should include discussion of the organisation s structure, working practices and decision-making processes. (5 marks) (8 marks) (8 marks) (9 marks) (Total 30 marks) (Task 1 (a)/organisation summary recommended page count limit 1 page) (Tasks 1 (b) to (d) recommended page count limit 4 pages) (Recommended total page count limit 5 pages) Page 3 of 8
TASK 2 DATA ANALYSIS Assessment criteria covered in Task 2: AC1.4, AC2.1, AC2.2, AC2.3, AC3.3, AC4.1, AC4.2, AC4.3, AC5.3, AC6.2, Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details. To understand the effectiveness of different digital communications it is vital to analyse data collected. This data must relate to digital communications. This task evaluates the data and presents it in the format of a marketing dashboard. The dashboard needs to visually demonstrate metrics related to digital communications. Required: (a) (b) (c) Using the chosen organisation and the communications metrics identified, analyse relevant data to determine the overall impact of digital communications on the chosen organisation s marketing effectiveness. As part of this analysis you should consider the level of integration across communications formats in the organisation. This should be undertaken using the marketing metrics identified in Task 1 (c). Prepare a dashboard of the marketing metrics analysis output. This should show a visual/graphical/numerical representation of the key metrics you have used. The purpose of this is to prioritise the key findings on digital communications effectiveness from the metrics used. Using TWO of the key areas of metric output in your marketing dashboard in Task 2 (b), evaluate what potential future trends are likely to either decrease or increase in importance to the chosen organisation. (15 marks) (10 marks) (10 marks) (Total 35 marks) (Recommended page count limit 6 pages) Page 4 of 8
TASK 3 BRIEFING PAPER Assessment criteria covered in Task 3: AC4.1, AC4.2, AC4.3, AC5.2, AC6.1, AC6.2, AC6.3 Please refer to the module specification for assessment criteria details. Having analysed the data, presented the data as a marketing dashboard and identified a range of trends, this task applies your findings in the context of a briefing paper. As digital communications evolve, you should consider how related metrics are likely to change for the organisation in the future. Required: (a) (b) (c) Using your evaluation from Task 2 (c), reflect on the appropriateness of the metrics used by your chosen organisation to evaluate digital communications. Recommend a range of relevant further primary and/or secondary research methods which could assist in understanding the effectiveness of digital communications. Recommend ways in which the chosen organisation can manage digital communications challenges more effectively in the future, including relevant marketing metrics which should be used for this purpose. (12 marks) (10 marks) (13 marks) (Total 35 marks) (Recommended page count limit 6 pages) Page 5 of 8
TASK 1 REPORT Recommended page count limit: 4 pages Guidance notes: Use of relevant theory relating to marketing metrics is key to demonstrating understanding of the concepts within this unit. As such, within Task 1 candidates should be able to identify a range of different metrics. It is critical that candidates are able to relate the metrics to communications and digital communications in particular. A range of digital communications metrics may include for example page impressions, social media activity, bounce rates and downloads. Examples also include e-mail effectiveness, subscriber lists and response rates. The contexts of each organisation will differ dramatically; therefore specific application to the candidate s chosen organisation is essential. TASK 2 DATA ANALYSIS Recommended page count limit: 6 pages Within this section of the report candidates should analyse the data collected using the identified metrics in Task 1. These metrics should relate to digital communications and the integration of communications in general. Guidance notes: To develop the analysis candidates should utilise the range of metrics already identified as being relevant to digital communications in their chosen organisation in Task 1. In order to present a clear picture of these metrics marketing has developed the approach of dashboarding. Marketing dashboards are graphical demonstrations of the analysis of data. They are able to show performance analysis and trends. The dashboarding process uses a selection of the most relevant marketing metrics represented at the same time. Using a range of visually presented metrics often provides a clearer comparison than large amounts of statistical data. Marketing dashboards use graphs and tables rather than simple statistics. To develop the marketing dashboard using key findings candidates will need to analyse key data. The analysis should offer the opportunity to select those metrics which will offer the clearest interpretation of digital communications and the integration of communications within the organisation. The final sub-task is an evaluation of the potential future trends faced when managing key areas of marketing metric output in the marketing dashboard, including evaluation of which key trends are likely to either become more or less important to the chosen organisation in the future, citing appropriate theory. Page 6 of 8
TASK 3 BRIEFING PAPER Recommended page count limit: 6 pages Candidates should be able to present a summary of the findings, data sourced and analysed, the metrics used and an overall conclusion of the findings. Guidance notes: It is recommended that candidates identify additional relevant market research method(s) that would further assist in the chosen organisation s evaluation of digital communications. Candidates should complete this task by putting forward recommendations as to how the chosen organisation can manage digital communications challenges more effectively in the future. This should include recommending which marketing metrics would be relevant for the chosen organisation to use for this purpose. Page 7 of 8
ORGANISATION SUMMARY GUIDELINES Contents will contribute to the FIVE marks available in Part (a) of Task 1. The following headings must be included: Organisation name Type of organisation, for example, profit or not-for-profit, local, national, global, and type of legal entity Size of organisation in terms of turnover and/or number of employees Range of products and services provided Customer base, for example, B2B/B2C Main competitors Other information relevant to the assessment may be included to assist the examiner in understanding the organisation within the recommended page count limit. Page 8 of 8