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Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Situational Analysis .................................................................................................................................... 3
SWOT ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................. 3
Strengths ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Weaknesses ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Opportunities ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Threats .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Evaluation of Past Marketing Plan ....................................................................................................... 5
Marketing Strategy ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Determining the Target Market ............................................................................................................ 6
Market Segmentation and Positioning .................................................................................................. 6
SMART Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 7
Marketing Plan............................................................................................................................................ 8
Tactical Promotion Campaigns ............................................................................................................. 8
Repositioning Strategies ......................................................................................................................... 8
New Service or Product Launch ............................................................................................................ 9
Use of Interactive Workshops ................................................................................................................ 9
Community Engagement Initiatives ...................................................................................................... 9
Budgeting ..................................................................................................................................................... 9
Control and Monitoring ....................................................................................................................... 10
Evaluation of Performance KPIs ......................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 12
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Introduction

Passion and also hobbies can sometimes breed products that become critical to a large

group of people and also help to improve lives at various levels. Dotted 8, which was initially

founded as a freelance venture, is now a web design and also a development agency that has grown

to become an important player in the tech industry. Currently, the organization offers services such

as graphic design, web development, social media management and engagement and also a range

of other services (Chirumalla, 2021). The growth and also the success in the service and product

delivery of the company has been driven by Jeff Johnson’s – the Founder – background which is

essentially a blend of technical skills in the field and also creativity.

It is also important to note that in the world of digital space, aspects such as competition

and the evolution of tech-related products have been growing (Beliaeva et al., 2020). It is with this

context that it becomes imperative to build a marketing strategy that not only helps the organization

to reach its objectives but also improves the general income of a company. In this context, Dotted

8 is perched in an industry that is fast growing and also one that has a very high demand. Therefore,

to exploit these advantages, this paper intends to conduct a marketing proposal through situational

analysis and also the development of a marketing strategy, plan, and budget.
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Situational Analysis

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

• Creative expertise: Dotted 8 was founded by Jeff Johnson who has an extensive

background in graphic design, web design and also UI and UX.

• Client Centric: Dotted 8 is client centric and has a strong commitment to personalized

services and quality which has allowed the company to create a very local clientele. This

is critical in maintaining long-term relationships and also enhancing the overall

reputation of the company.

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• Agility and adaptability: Jeff Johnson has been able to grow the company from

freelancing to an agency that is fully fledged and also managed to acquire a substantial

client-base. This indicates extensive agility and also adaptability.

Weaknesses

• Overreliance on personal brand: Currently, the company is heavily reliant on Jeff’s

personal brand which means his reputation is also tied to the business performance. This

comes with the effect of limited scalability and also impacts any diversification efforts.

• Quality and also consistency: The fact that this field requires extensive skills that may not

be automated, there is a high chance for lack of consistency in the work delivered. This

may also pose some challenges when it comes to operations.

• Constrained resources: Dotted 8 may also face challenges in regards to resources and

especially in regards to expansion and also product development. This is a constraint that

is common with small to medium sized companies.

Opportunities

• Business Digitization: The tech industry is one that that has been growing exponentially

in the past few decades. This presents a huge opportunity for Dotted 8 to diversify into

other aspects such as enterprise systems, mobile applications and also AI.

• UX Design: With the extensive experience in User Experience design, Jeff has the

opportunity to integrate UX more into the existing products and also ensure that the

clients have a great usage experience. This will go a long way into multiplying the client

base and also improving the business’ bottom line.

• Digital Marketing: While the tech industry has arguably the biggest potential, it is also

highly competitive. This calls for adoption of marketing approaches that are also very
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effective. In this context, Dotted 8 can employ Digital Marketing to ensure that its

services are marketed and also publicized to a wide range of clients.

Threats

• Very intense competition: The tech industry is one that has already a heavy existence of

established freelancers and agencies. This means that Dotted 8 is faced with very

extensive competition that may slow down company growth.

• Advances in Technology: Unlike in other fields, there are rapid advances in technology

that may put Dotted 8 at a disadvantage due to limited resources and also a possible lack

of a research and development department.

• Economic uncertainty: Normally, uncertainties in the economy tend to slow down

spending and also may hamper discretionary services. This may negatively affect the

company’s revenue streams.

Evaluation of Past Marketing Plan

An audit of the past marketing plan for Dotted 8 indicates successes and also outlines the

areas that the company could improve. For instance, the company’s approach of leveraging Jeff’s

personal brand has helped the company to grow extensively. However, in order to improve on the

product offerings and also diversify, the company may need to use a more balanced marketing

approach that is intent on creating a strong organizational brand and also one that is customer-

centric and beyond any individual personalities or skills (Pride & Ferrel, 2022).
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Marketing Strategy

Determining the Target Market

In order to come up with the most effective marketing strategy, the company needs to

determine its target market. Largely, this can be achieved through determining who can consume

the offered products and services (Beliaeva et al., 2020). In this context, Dotted 8 offers

experienced services and products in web design and development, branding and also general

design. This means that the primary target market for the company includes businesses across

different industries that are looking to establish their online presence or get their businesses

digitized (Zhu et al, 2021).

Market Segmentation and Positioning

The best segmentation strategies for Dotted 8 include product-related segmentation and

also geographic segmentation. Dotted 8 can adopt a market segmentation approach that uses the

following criteria:

a. Industry and Sector

b. Size of the company

c. Location of the company

d. Specified requirements

Essentially, this will allow Dotted 8 to have the ability to tailor its services and also ensure

that it can customize the marketing messages and product/service packages towards this particular

market (Morrison, 2022).

On the other hand, the company can adopt value propositioning, competitive poisoning,

perceptual mapping and also repositioning strategies. Largely, all these are positioning strategies
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focusing on value, benefits, diversification and also brand differentiation (Varadarajan, 2020). For

Dotted 8, this is critical for business sustainability and also organizational performance

(Chirumalla, 2021).

SMART Objectives

To achieve its marketing vision, the company can adopt the following SMART Objectives:

• Specific: Increase market share in the web development and design by targeting a specified

sector or geographical location that has a high demand for these services.

• Measurable: Measure the outcomes of the marketing strategies through aspects such as

the website traffic gained, leads generated through the marketing, the frequency in which

leads are converted into leads and finally evaluating how KPI’s are met.

• Achievable: To achieve the marketing goals, the company should set realistic goals such

as the number of leads to be generated, the number of customers and also the geographical

region covered. This should be in line with the existent market conditions to improve the

rate of success.

• Relevant: For better success rate, the objectives must be very relevant to the goals and also

the business prospects especially in regards to aspects such as expansion and growth of

revenue.

• Time-Bound: Adopt a timeline that generally outlines what targets should be achieved in

a given time-frame.
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Marketing Plan

Tactical Promotion Campaigns

The first step in tactical promotion will be to launch campaigns that are tailored for

businesses looking for websites and also UI and UX design (Nasution & Nusa, 2021). This step

will include ensuring that the value of the company is communicated and also that clients in this

category understand the service offerings and also the value behind these offerings.

The next step will include creating a compelling message through creative asset generation.

This will be critical in ensuring that the promotion resonate with the audiences and that the

audiences adequately understand what the company intends to communicate (Gunawan et al.,

2021).

Finally, the company will adopt a mix of platforms and channels through which this will

be achieved. These will include the social media and especially the most used social websites and

mobile applications, email marketing, advertising on mainstream media and finally use of

personalized approaches such as direct visits or pitching to potential clients.

Repositioning Strategies

Due to the fact that the tech industry is fast changing, the company will also adopt

repositioning strategies. These will include conducting market research to determine the changes

in consumer preferences and then adapting Dotted 8’s approaches to meet these changes. This

repositioning will also include changing the messaging and also the promotion to ensure that it

captures the new trends in the market. Finally, the marketing strategy will adopt an emphasis on

the company’s innovations, agility and also the commitment to customer satisfaction. This will be

critical in ensuring that potential clients always feel that their needs resonate with what the

company is offering.
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New Service or Product Launch

Before the launch of a new product or service, the company will ensure that this product

is in line with the demand in the market. This will allow the company to conduct adequate

promotion that will help to generate traction before the product launch. This approach will also

include a very comprehensive go-to-market strategy that will include pricing, promotion and also

product positioning (Ferrell et al., 2023). Finally, the company will leverage the existing clientele

to ensure the drive for initial product or service launch is successful.

Use of Interactive Workshops

Apart from the traditional marketing approaches, the company will also adopt interactive

virtual workshops such as webinars with the intention of discussing aspects such as the best

practices in web design, UI and UX and also how best to brand and digitize. This will help position

the company as a market leader in the industry which will promote the value proposition of the

company.

Community Engagement Initiatives

Community engagement is another major approach that Dotted 8 will use. Essentially, this

will include the use of forums both online and physical to improve collaboration and interaction

with potential partners and clients. In addition, this will foster sharing of knowledge and also allow

the company to grow its professional network, improve its skills and also gain support from

external parties.

Budgeting

Marketing Initiative Budget Allocation

Social Media Advertising Campaigns $10,000
Content Creation $5,000
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) $3,000
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Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising $7,000

Email Marketing $2,000
Technology Tools $3,000
Personnel $10,000
Miscellaneous Expenses $5,000
Total Budget $45,000.00

The company intends to spend approximately $45,000 in its marketing. This will include

the allocation of the funds in various areas including social media and personnel. Largely, this is

intended to drive the visibility of the brand and also improve the leads. In addition, it will help to

improve the company relationships with the clients. A large chunk of the budget is allocated to

social media and it will go towards leveraging platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook

and WhatsApp Business. $5000 will be set aside for content creation which largely will include

design of materials and customization. These materials will include blog posts, videos and

infographics that showcase Dotted 8’s potential. The rest will go into PPC ($7,000), SEO ($3,000)

and $2,000 for email marketing.

Control and Monitoring

Control and monitoring will be undertaken in the following approaches:

a. Monthly budget Review meetings

This will involve the comparison of actual spending against the budgeted amount where

spending will be halted in the case it is determined that the spending is beyond the budgeting and

the generated clientele on the same is not in line with the spending (Olson et al., 2021).

b. Performance evaluation
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Each quarter, the company will evaluate the performance of the marketing activities against

the already set KPIs. This evaluation will include website traffic, conversion of leads to customers

and also generation of leads.

c. Adjusting strategy and budgetary allocation

Depending on the performance and also the income generated from the marketing, the

company will adjust the budget to increase or lower the allocation. This will be to cut excessive

spending where results are not great and also to improve the allocation where results are attractive.

d. Approval for additional allocation

To ensure that excessive spending beyond the budgeted amounts does not occur, approval

based on performance will be required. This will be essential for ensuring that each allocation is

maximized towards improving company visibility and client base.

Evaluation of Performance KPIs

a. Website traffic and conversion: This will include evaluating unique visitors, the page

views, the number of total visits and also direct contacts and leads generated through

these activities.

b. Lead Generation: Lead generation will be evaluated through the number of leads that

each marketing channel generates.

c. Social media engagement: Another key KPI is social media engagement. Essentially, the

company will monitor metrics such as the comments, shares, likes and also click-through

to determine how the audience is engaged.

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d. Return on Advertising Spend: The company will also check the ROAS through

computing the revenue generated against the amount spent. This will be critical in

determining the effectiveness of the marketing strategy.

e. Customer Lifetime Value: This will include computing the amount of revenue generated

from a customer. This metric is critical to understanding the soundness of a marketing

strategy.

f. Customer Acquisition Cost: This is another cost that relates to the performance of the

marketing strategy. Low cost means high performance while high cost means low

performance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this Marketing Proposal for Dotted 8 seeks to ensure that the company is

able to reach a wide range of customers and also at the same time improve its performance in

regards to revenue generation and client base. Additionally, the proposal provides a strategy and

also the plan to make this a success. Finally, this proposal provides a budgeting, control and

monitoring together with evaluation of KPIs to ensure that the entire process is a success.
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