Volume 12 (2024-25)

Each volume of Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing consists of four 100-page issues in both print and online. 

The articles published in Volume 12 are below.

Volume 12 Number 2

  • Editorial
    Simon Beckett, Publisher
  • Case Study
    Data enrichment and customer insights for hyper-personalised experiences: An automotive case study
    Chanuttita Chitmanasak, Regional CRM and Marketing Automation Lead — East Asia and Australia, Michelin ROH Co

    In our increasingly interconnected world, companies are seeking to connect with their customers through multiple touch points, both offline and online. For companies specialising in products and services, success is no longer about gaining one-time momentum but rather about creating deeply personalised interactions with customers along their purchase journey. Meeting the customer’s needs requires providing them with the right information at the right place and the right time. This paper argues that those companies that are collecting and enhancing consumer data will find themselves developing the most effective targeting strategies. The paper examines how data enrichment plays an integral part in providing a better customer experience and why hyper-personalisation should be at the core of your commercialisation strategy. By way of illustration, the paper describes how Tesla Motors embarked on a programme of data enrichment and personalisation. The paper concludes with key takeaways for companies looking to achieve sustainable engagement in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
    Keywords: automotive; personalisation; customer experience; customer data; data enrichment; innovation; digital transformation

  • Practice Papers
    Are you AI-ready? A roadmap to mastering marketing technology in a data-driven world
    Britta Daffner, Head of Data Strategy and Data Culture, O2 Telefónica

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a game-changing technology that learns from data to deliver hyper-personalised experiences and predict consumer behaviour with unprecedented accuracy. This paper discusses how it is revolutionising marketing strategies and empowering businesses to thrive in the digital age. In particular, the paper explores how marketers are harnessing AI to create personalised strategies tailored to individual customer needs, augmenting the power of content marketing in order to engage customers across diverse channels and touch points. As this paper explains, however, for a company to transition from AI experimentation to mastery, it needs more than just technological prowess. Rather, it requires a holistic approach that integrates technology, strategy and people, supported by a data culture leader: a visionary tasked with aligning AI initiatives with strategic goals and fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making within the organisation. This paper provides actionable insights and thought-provoking questions to guide organisations in their quest for AI mastery. From assessing technological infrastructure to defining strategic objectives and cultivating a culture of innovation, the paper explores the key pillars of AI-driven marketing success.
    Keywords: artificial intelligence (AI); digital marketing; data-driven strategies; marketing transformation; data culture leadership

  • The power of social content: Transforming digital commerce
    Liz Griffin, Global Vice President of Social Commerce, Bazaarvoice

    In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, brands must adopt innovative strategies to stay competitive and engage effectively with their target audiences. Social content, traditionally confined to social media platforms, has proven to be a powerful tool for brand awareness, customer engagement and driving sales. However, to fully harness its potential, brands must integrate social content across the entire marketing funnel. This approach not only enhances customer experience but also leads to significantly better commercial performance. This paper explores the importance of utilising social content throughout the marketing funnel, discusses different types of social content, examines how content can be made shoppable and provides robust evidence that brands employing this strategy outperform those that do not.
    Keywords: social shopping; UGC; social commerce; e-commerce; shoppable social content

  • Effective emoji use for public agencies
    Warren Kagarise, Digital Engagement Manager, King County, Washington

    Emoji offer a way to convey information quickly in a visually appealing format, engender positive feelings among audiences, appear more relatable in conversations and encourage user engagement. Emoji offer a free, entertaining way to jump into the conversation but the low barrier to use does not always mean low risk. For public agencies, emoji use must balance considerations related to clarity, accessibility and representation. With more than 3,700 emoji now available and audience attitudes changing, understanding emoji use in official communications is growing in importance. This paper examines how public agencies can use audience data, best practices and historical context to better connect with the public through effective emoji use.
    Keywords: civic engagement; emoji; government; government social media; social media; social media strategy

  • The future for chief marketing officers in financial services
    Lindsey Ogan, Chief Marketing Officer, Stride Bank

    The role of the chief marketing officer (CMO) has undergone significant scrutiny and transformation in recent years, particularly within the context of rapid technological advancement and industry disruption. This paper examines the evolving landscape of marketing leadership, exploring the challenges faced by CMOs in adapting to changing market dynamics and the imperative for redefining their roles within organisations. Drawing on insights from the financial services industry and broader market trends, the study analyses the strategies and competencies required for CMOs to navigate the complexities of modern marketing. By synthesising theoretical frameworks with empirical evidence, the paper offers actionable recommendations for enhancing marketing leadership effectiveness in an era of digital and social media marketing. The research methodology involved a review of existing literature, including books, academic journals, industry reports and case studies, to identify key themes and trends affecting the CMO role. Additionally, qualitative interviews with business leaders from various industries were conducted and referenced to gather first-hand insights and experiences to validate the conclusions.
    Keywords: marketing leadership; brand innovation; digital marketing trends; financial services disruption; marketing strategy evolution; customer behaviour analysis

  • Research Papers
    Instagram as a communication tool in sports: A case study of handball
    Diego Berraquero Rodríguez, PhD Student, Ana María Gallardo Guerrero, Doctor, San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia, Carlos Chavarría-Ortiz, Managing Director, and Rafael Baena-González, University School of Osuna

    Social networks are essential digital marketing tools that allow brands to build relationships with consumers. However, there is little evidence of their value in the field of sports. This study investigates what motivates handball fans to interact with handball organisations in four different countries, identifying digital communication patterns, and exploring the role of Instagram as a tool for participation. The paper focuses on one handball league from each of the study territories, namely: Liga Asobal (Spain), Liga Andebol (Portugal), Ligue Nationale de Handball (France) and Liqui Moly HBL (Germany). Using a sample of Instagram posts made over a three-month period, the study identifies trends in digital communication strategies, as well as peculiarities. The results indicate that all four leagues had a daily presence on Instagram, although ASOBAL and ANDEBOL showed significant difference in their use, participation and success on Instagram compared with HBL and NHL. The study concludes that the opportunities for interaction offered by social platforms and other means of two-way communication are not being fully exploited.
    Keywords: sports; digital marketing; social networks; digital communication; engagement

  • Marketing priorities and digital tactic effectiveness: A business strategy perspective
    Eric M. Olson, Professor of Marketing and Strategic Management, Andrew J. Czaplewski, Professor of Marketing and International Business, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Kai M. Olson, College of Business, Colorado State University, and Thomas Aicher, Dean and Professor of Sport Management, University of Colorado Colorado Springs

    Digital marketing has emerged as a key component of marketing strategy and by extension has become an important source of competitive advantage for the firm. Firms adopt digital marketing strategies and tactics to address specific marketing priorities (eg sales growth, brand building etc). Digital marketing strategies represent the adoption of specific sets of digital marketing tactics. While these tactics are widely recognised, little attention has been paid to determining the conditions under which some digital marketing tactics are more effective than others. In this exploratory study, marketing managers were surveyed to understand the comparative importance of seven alternative strategic marketing priorities and the perceived effectiveness of seven alternative digital marketing tactics in addressing those priorities. Responses from 236 senior marketing managers/executives were analysed through a series of paired t-tests and one-way ANOVAs in SPSS Version 26. Significant differences were observed between firms pursuing prospector, analyser, low-cost defender and differentiated defender business strategies. These findings provide marketing and general managers alike with practical insights into the management of their digital marketing strategies.
    Keywords: business strategy; marketing strategy; digital marketing tactics; competitive advantage; strategic marketing priorities

Volume 12 Number 1

  • Editorial
    Simon Beckett, Publisher
  • Practice Papers
    How to increase response by triggering hardwired human behaviours
    Nancy Harhut, Chief Creative Officer, HBT Marketing

    Marketers constantly seek ways to optimise engagement and response rates. Yet they often overlook the scientific evidence that reveals how people actually make decisions. Research shows that although people think they know why they do what they do, very often there are other factors at play that influence their decisions — factors that customers and prospects are unaware of. This paper demonstrates how marketers can take advantage of this phenomenon by embedding proven triggers of human behaviour into marketing strategy and execution. By using behavioural science principles such as autonomy bias, reciprocity and loss aversion, marketers can prompt decision defaults and considerably increase the chance that people engage with and respond to their communications.
    Keywords: behavioural science; autonomy bias; reciprocity principle; loss aversion; decision defaults; engagement; response; consumer behaviour; human behaviour; marketing strategy; behavioural triggers

  • Instinct over strategy: The pivotal shift in social media marketing
    Tom Sweeney, Global Vice President, Influencer, Brainlabs, and Harriet Phillips, Founder, Turn the Tables

    Strategic planning on social is starting to give way to another tactic — instinct. With AI integrated feeds dominating platforms like TikTok brands must adopt a more fluid approach to marketing. Success in this arena is based on pace, the right creatives and collaboration. The brands that can quickly identify emerging trends (by detecting ripples) leverage them (by riding waves) will reap the benefits long term (with the power of tides). This paper details how to blend data analysis with the right creativity to help ‘manufacture luck’ on social and foster genuine connections in the new era of social media.
    Keywords: influencer marketing; social media marketing; marketing; social strategy; performance marketing; creative strategy; AI

  • Creativity: Firing on all generative AI cylinders
    Andrew Pearson, Managing Director, Intelligencia Ltd, Macau

    Generative AI is unquestionably having its moment in the digital sun. It is currently being used to build applications that can generate new content quickly, efficiently and responsibly, as well as to augment the skills of workers. As this paper will show, however, its ability to create text, images, music, animation, video and even build software code from simple, user-generated text prompts will simplify business processes in a multitude of ways. With generative AI having already demonstrated its ability to ‘see’, ‘hear’, ‘speak’, ‘move’ and ‘write’, the power of its creativity will be increasingly embraced. It will not only be associated for image, audio and video content creation, but will also help with content personalisation, content automation, coding creation and assistance, augmenting customer support, augmenting workers, product design and content repurposing. The potential support it can provide to business is almost limitless.
    Keywords: artificial intelligence; generative AI; Gen AI

  • Research Papers
    Female motorsport fan engagement on social media-based brand communities
    Elisabeth Lick, Software Engineer, Aston Martin F1 Team, Rashid Bakirov, Visiting Fellow, Bournemouth University, and Tauheed Ahmad Ramjaun, Principal Academic in Corporate & Marketing Communications, Bournemouth University

    This study explored the engagement of female motorsport fans within F1 team brand communities on Twitter (now ‘X’). Specifically, we sought to investigate why and how female fans were engaging with social media-based brand communities managed by F1 motorsports teams, and to gain better insights into the factors that encourage or deter female fan engagement within such communities. Our research methods combined online surveys and content analysis of Twitter posts. The investigation revealed that female fans seemed hesitant to engage actively within motorsports team brand accounts due to a fear of receiving negative reactions to their comments. The findings also identified differences between the participation activities of female and male fans, as well as interest in different content categories. This study recommends that motorsports team brand community managers or social media managers give greater consideration to the well-being of female fans interacting on their social media platforms and communities. They also need to be aware of gender-based differences in engagement as well as the specific issues faced by female publics.
    Keywords: social media marketing; Formula 1; motorsports; Twitter; online brand community

  • Segmenting e-sports players: Consumer profiles of generation Z e-sports enthusiasts
    Claudia Brauer, Professor of Business and Management, MCI Internationale Hochschule GmbH, Kirstin Hallmann, Director of the MSc Sport Management Programme, German Sport University Cologne, and Anita Zehrer, Head of the Family Business Center, MCI The Entrepreneurial School

    Generation Z people born between 1995 and 2006 cite gaming as their favourite media and entertainment activity. For this reason, e-sport continues to be developed as a key channel for interactive marketing. This study aims to segment generation Z e-sports enthusiasts and create meaningful consumer profiles. This exploratory study employed an online survey (n = 429) to collect data on generation Z e-sports enthusiasts. A two-step cluster analysis was conducted based on motives. Socio-demographic information and behaviours served as descriptor variables to create consumer profiles. Four clusters were revealed: excitement lovers, sportscape experience seekers, immersed players and spectators, and entertainment and excitement adorers. Differences across the clusters merged across age and gender, but also hours played per week, games played and watched, and other behaviours. This study adds to the still limited body of academic segmentation studies on e-sports consumers, focusing on generation Z.
    Keywords: market segmentation; e-sports players; e-sports motivation; buyer personas

  • Who shows more emotion when interacting with a company on social media? A study of political orientation and tweet sentiment
    Jong Seok Lee, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee, and Jeffrey P. Kaleta, Assistant Professor, Appalachian State University

    This study provides insights into how consumers interact with companies on social media. The study draws upon the theory of personality and political orientation to examine the relationship between consumers’ political orientation and the emotion used in their online interactions with companies. To provide additional understanding of this relationship, the study incorporates the political orientation of companies as a moderator. Leveraging Twitter (now known as ‘X’) as a research context, the study provides empirical evidence that more conservative consumers show less positive emotion when interacting with companies. The findings suggest that this relationship is weaker when the company involved has a more conservative (or less liberal) political orientation. Finally, the main effect follows a non-linear pattern that becomes stronger at an exponential rate among the most conservative consumers.
    Keywords: social media; consumer behaviour; consumer emotion; political orientation; Fortune 500 companies; tweet sentiment; congruence of political orientation.