🚀 DIGITAL MARKETING MASTERY

🎯 Scenario

A local café is losing customers to Starbucks. Revenue is down 40% in the last 6 months. The owner is desperate and has turned to your team for help.

🎯 Mission

• Identify 3 digital channels to focus on (and justify why)
• Create 1 hero content idea that will capture attention
• Allocate a budget of ₹50,000 across chosen channels
• Project expected results within 30 days (be realistic!)
• Prepare a 5-minute pitch presentation (maximum 3 slides)

🔥 The Twist

Each team faces a different constraint to simulate real-world challenges:

• Team A: No social media allowed (client doesn't believe in it)
• Team B: Only ₹10,000 budget (massive constraint)
• Team C: Must launch campaign in 7 days (time pressure)
• Team D: Can only target 18-25 age group (narrow audience)

🎯 Your Assignment

Each student receives one of these products/services to work with:

• Luxury Apartment: ₹1.5 Crore+ property in prime location
• Budget Smartphone: ₹15,000 device targeting first-time buyers
• Online Coding Bootcamp: ₹50,000 program promising job placement
• Organic Skincare Brand: Premium products at 3x market price
• Quick-Commerce Grocery App: 10-minute delivery service

📝 Create Detailed Persona Including

• Basic Demographics: Name, age, profession, income bracket, family situation
• A Day in Their Life: Hour-by-hour timeline from 6 AM to 11 PM - what are they doing, feeling, thinking?
• Pain Points & Desires: What keeps them up at night? What do they dream about?
• Digital Footprint: Where do they spend time online? Which platforms? What content do they consume?
• Purchase Triggers: What would make them actually buy? What's the final push they need?
• The Perfect Message: Write one Instagram DM they would actually respond to

🔥 The Critical Twist

"The Rejection Reason" - You must also write why this person would NOT buy. What objections do they have? What alternatives are they considering? This makes your persona realistic, not aspirational.

🔄 Peer Review Process

• Exchange personas with a classmate
• Critique each other's work - is the persona believable?
• Would you target this person if you were running the campaign?
• What's missing from the profile?

🎯 Your Mission

You'll audit a real website (instructor provides 5 different local businesses/small brands). Working in pairs, become SEO consultants and find everything that's broken or could be improved.

✅ Required Deliverables

• Find 10 SEO Problems: Missing meta descriptions, slow page speed, broken links, poor mobile experience, thin content, duplicate content, missing alt text on images, poor URL structure, no SSL certificate, orphan pages
• Identify 5 Keyword Opportunities: Use free tools to find keywords the site could rank for but currently doesn't - look for low competition, decent search volume keywords relevant to the business
• Analyze Top 3 Competitors: For one target keyword, who's ranking? What are they doing right? How many words in their content? What's their domain authority? How many backlinks?
• Write 3 Optimized Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: Take existing pages and rewrite them with proper keyword placement, compelling copy, and correct character limits (title: 50-60 chars, meta: 150-160 chars)
• Create Priority Action List: If the client can only fix 3 things this month, what should they be? Justify your choices with expected impact vs. effort required

🛠️ Tools You'll Use

• Google PageSpeed Insights: Check loading speed and get optimization suggestions
• Ubersuggest (Free Version): Keyword research, competition analysis, and backlink overview
• META SEO Inspector (Chrome Extension): Quickly view all meta tags, headers, and structured data
• Check My Links (Chrome Extension): Find broken links instantly

🎯 Campaign Scenario

You're launching a new online course priced at ₹4,999 with an early bird discount of 30% off. The offer is limited to the first 50 buyers only. You have 7 days to make this campaign work.

📧 Build Complete Campaign in HubSpot

Step 1: Create Free HubSpot Account
Instructor will guide initial setup process, connecting domain (optional), and navigating the dashboard.

Step 2: Design Lead Magnet
Create an opt-in offer to build your email list first. Options: free chapter of the course, 7-day trial access, exclusive video lesson, downloadable workbook.

Step 3: Build Welcome Email Sequence (3 emails)

• Email 1 - Immediate After Signup: Deliver the lead magnet, thank them, set expectations, soft introduction to the course
• Email 2 - Day 2: Value-first content with one key lesson from the course, build authority and trust, soft pitch the full course with mention of upcoming launch
• Email 3 - Day 4: Launch announcement with early bird discount details, create urgency (limited to 50 people), strong CTA to enroll now

Step 4: Create Launch Email
This is your main promotional email announcing the course is now open. Include: compelling subject line, hero image or video, clear value proposition, social proof (testimonials if available), discount details with countdown, multiple CTAs.

Step 5: Build Follow-up Email
Day 7 - Final countdown email. Last chance messaging, remind about 50-person limit, emphasize what they'll miss out on, final CTA to enroll.

✍️ Writing Requirements

• Write all 5 subject lines (test 2 variations for launch email)
• Craft email copy for all 5 emails (greeting, body, CTA)
• Design simple email template using HubSpot drag-and-drop editor
• Set up basic automation workflow connecting all emails
• Add personalization tokens (first name, custom fields)

🔄 Peer Exchange

All students will subscribe to each other's campaigns using alternate email addresses. In the next session, we'll review which campaigns got the best engagement (open rates, click rates) and analyze why.

🎯 Choose Your Client

• Local Restaurant Chain (5 outlets): Increase online orders by 40% in 90 days. Currently at 200 orders/week across all outlets. High competition from food delivery apps. Budget: ₹2 lakh for 3 months.
• New Sustainable Fashion Brand: Launch with zero budget for paid ads (all organic). Need to acquire first 1,000 customers. Target conscious millennials and Gen-Z. Must build brand awareness and drive e-commerce sales.
• Real Estate Developer: Sell 20 luxury apartments priced ₹80L-₹1.5Cr each. Long sales cycle (6+ months typically). Need to generate 500 qualified leads in 90 days. Budget: ₹8 lakh.
• EdTech Startup: Acquire 1,000 users for free trial of online learning platform. Convert 10% to paid ($299/year subscription). Competing with Coursera, Udemy. Budget: ₹3 lakh.
• Personal Brand - Freelance Consultant: Help a marketing consultant get 10 high-value clients (₹5L+ projects). Build thought leadership and authority. LinkedIn-focused strategy. Budget: ₹50,000.

📊 Presentation Structure (8 minutes each)

1. Situation Analysis (1 minute)

• Current state of business and market
• Problem statement clearly defined
• Competition landscape overview
• Key challenges to overcome

2. Strategy & Goals (2 minutes)

• SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely)
• Target audience deep dive with persona
• Key messaging and value proposition
• Channel selection with clear rationale (why these channels?)

3. Tactical Execution Plan (3 minutes)

• Week-by-week content calendar (what happens when)
• SEO strategy with keyword targets and content plan
• Social media strategy across chosen platforms
• Paid ads strategy if applicable (platforms, targeting, budget split)
• Email marketing funnel from awareness to conversion
• Budget breakdown with actual numbers allocated to each channel

4. Measurement Framework (1 minute)

• KPIs to track (leading and lagging indicators)
• Reporting cadence (daily, weekly, monthly)
• Success metrics and how you'll measure ROI
• Analytics dashboard mockup

5. Creative Showcase (1 minute)

• Sample ad creative (mockups of actual ads)
• Sample social media posts (3-5 examples)
• Sample email (screenshot or mockup)
• Landing page wireframe or mockup

📄 Required Deliverables

• 15-slide presentation (maximum - less is fine if it tells the story)
• One-page campaign brief (executive summary)
• Sample creative assets (ads, posts, emails, landing page)
• Budget allocation spreadsheet
• Content calendar (30 days minimum)

⚖️ Evaluation Criteria (Total: 100 points)

• Strategic Thinking (25 points): Is the strategy sound? Does it align with business goals? Is the channel selection justified?
• Creativity & Innovation (25 points): Are the ideas fresh? Will the creative stand out? Is there a unique angle?
• Feasibility & Budget Realism (20 points): Can this actually be executed? Is the budget realistic? Are timelines achievable?
• Presentation Quality (15 points): Clear story? Professional slides? Confident delivery? Time management?
• Understanding of Channels (15 points): Do they really understand how each platform works? Is the tactics sound?

👥 Evaluation Panel

Instructor + invited local marketing professionals (if available). Panel asks 2-3 questions after each presentation to test deeper understanding.