1.
Introduction
The report examines the fundamental theories and key trends in the digital marketing industry. The main purpose of the report is to provide different perspectives and insights through empirical research on the theories and analysis of their practical applications. The report provides a synthesis of the theories and research and their practical applications on brands, social media platforms, websites and current digital marketing trends, thereby providing a clearly referenced and comprehensive assessment of these important marketing concepts.
2.
The Ladder of engagement
The engagement ladder theory, or interaction ladder, serves as a concept or framework, and is seen as a strategic tool for brands to understand and build and develop the relationship between a company, organization, brand and its target audience over time. As Barefoot, Tsazo and Lamb (2014) stated, "all organizations have audiences that connect with them at different levels of awareness, passion and commitment". Therefore, based on the different needs of expression and levels of interaction of the target audience, brands need to design separate ways of communicating and interacting with each separate target audience group according to each level of connection and current commitment of the brand (Niosi, 2020).
The core idea of ​​the model is a progression of engagement levels from simple to complex, from passive perceptions that are nurtured and gradually developed to meaningful actions (Lusty, 2020). This progression is similar to building personal relationships, when two people meet, the first impression and chemistry is what attracts them to each other, from which deeper interactions begin (Reis, Regan and Lyubomirsky, 2022). Regarding Lewis (2007), companies need to build attraction and trust with their target audience before asking them to engage in more specific interactions, contributions, ownership, or leadership.
Each level on the ladder represents an increasingly deeper level of engagement, often requiring a greater investment of time, resources, personal data, or emotional energy from the supporter (Sturgess, 2023). The ultimate goal is to move the target audience from casual observation or passive support to active participation, contribution, advocacy, and leadership (Sturgess, 2023).
In addition, depending on the characteristics of each business, the ladder of engagement can change in number and name to suit the structure of each business. However, almost all different ladders of engagement always include similar processes:
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Observing: This basic level represents individuals who are just beginning to become aware of the brand or business (Sturgess, 2023). Interaction includes exposure or encounter with the brand through search engines, social media, online or traditional advertising, or word of mouth. The main goal of the organization at this stage is to be visible in places that can attract the attention of the target audience.
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Following: The target audience of the brand at this stage sees value or interest in maintaining a connection with the brand (Sturgess, 2023). Actions may include following the brand or company on social media, subscribing to an email newsletter, or downloading free content. This represents a low level of engagement, often involving sharing basic contact information in exchange for value. However, brands often focus on nurturing this initial interest to build a deeper level of engagement through a variety of activities and content streams.
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Endorsing: The level of engagement of the target audience is further demonstrated when they begin to publicly link or share information about the brand or company through liking posts, and to a greater extent, sharing posts on social media, providing brand rankings (Chaffey and Smith, 2023). At this level, the information provided by the brand is valuable or credible enough for the target audience to spread the word within their personal networks. ratings, reviews, and discussions in the lower half of their engagement ladder.
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Contributing: At this level, interactions with the brand, the company from the target audience are more detailed and subjective (Sturgess, 2023). Common forms of contribution such as leaving comments, giving suggestions or participating in personal content creation communication campaigns are activities that occur regularly
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Owning: At this level, the interactor can consider the organization as “theirs” in a certain way (Sturgess, 2023). In essence, at this time, the interactor will be able to become a regular sponsor, volunteer or contribute ideas and participate in co-creation with the brand. They will act as a proactive brand representative to spread the brand
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Leading: This level is the highest level of interaction with the brand, where the target audience becomes individuals who take on the role of leaders of community opinion groups, brand representatives leading opinions that influence the brand in a formal or informal way (Sturgess, 2023). For example, some roles like brand representative, brand community admin,...
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Take Starbucks, a brand that effectively engages customers at multiple levels of the Engagement Ladder, leveraging a combination of traditional and digital channels through social media, loyalty programs, and in-store experiences (Starbucks, 2025).​​
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Observing: Potential customers learn about Starbucks through its presence in prime locations, exposure through display advertising on social media platforms, digital lcd, ad networks. Initial engagement can be as simple as seeing a store or an ad with the Starbucks name or image.
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Following: Customers can follow Starbucks on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, X, or TikTok. In addition, consumers downloading the Starbuck mobile app and signing up for the free Starbucks Rewards program, expressing interest and allowing Starbucks to collect initial data and establish a communication channel is also an important engagement step.
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Endorsing: Customers interact more by liking or sharing Starbucks social media content, reviewing products, commenting on posts.
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Contributing: The most basic form of customer contribution is purchasing or pre-loading a Starbucks card, which is also a form of revenue contribution.
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Owning: Customers come to Starbucks as a habit in their daily life. In addition, customers also own Starbucks cup collector communities, stores that sell or exchange Starbucks merchandise
3.
Evaluation of a Social Media
Platform: LinkedIn
The social media landscape is growing increasingly complex with the emergence of many different social media platforms. However, to simplify this complexity, Tuten’s (2020) “Social Media Zone” framework is applied to organize social media channels based on their primary objectives. This report uses Tuten’s four-zone model to evaluate the professional networking platform, LinkedIn, analyzing its features, user activity, and overall position in the contemporary social media ecosystem.
Tuten’s model divides the social media zone into four distinct zones, providing a structure for marketers and analysts to understand platform functionality and strategic applications.
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Zone 1: Social Community: This zone focuses on the relationships and common activities that people engage in with others who share similar interests. Here, these platforms emphasize two-way and multi-way communication, collaboration, and relationship building as the main reasons for users to interact.
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Zone 2: Social Publishing: This zone focuses on activities that share content, knowledge, news, and perspectives from users in various formats from text, images, and videos.
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Zone 3: Social Entertainment: This zone includes channels that provide opportunities for fun and enjoyment in many forms such as games, music experiences, and art.
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Zone 4: Social Commerce: This zone is related to commercial activities, sales, customer care, and linking the sales channels of businesses together.
Assessing LinkedIn through Tuten's framework:
Zone 1: Social Community - Strong​
LinkedIn operates as a Social Community built around establishing and nurturing professional relationships through transparent profiles and ways to connect. Features such as connection requests, messaging, endorsements, and recommendations directly facilitate relationship building and maintenance at the heart of the platform. This LinkedIn enables the sharing of experiences and resources across the LinkedIn community through sharing tools and focuses on career advancement, knowledge exchange, and business development rather than personal interaction.
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Zone 2: Social Publish - Strong​
LinkedIn serves as the primary hub for users to create and distribute professional content. Users and brands, companies actively post status updates, long-form articles, newsletters, videos, and presentations to share expertise, build thought leadership, and disseminate industry news. This mirrors the function of blogs, microblogs, and media sharing sites described in Zone 2.
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Zone 3: Social Entertainment - Negligible
LinkedIn does not actively provide entertainment-based channels as defined by Tuten, only some basic entertainment elements.
Zone 4: Social Commerce - Moderate to Strong
LinkedIn incorporates elements of Social Commerce by facilitating commerce primarily through B2B marketing and lead generation, connecting employers with talent, and selling premium subscriptions that offer advanced features.
However, LinkedIn’s focus is niche. Unlike typical Zone 4 examples that focus on consumer goods or transactions, LinkedIn’s commercial activities revolve around B2B recruiting and business networking services.
4.
Website Checklist and Evaluation
5.
Digital Trend Analysis:
AI-Driven Personalization
Websites serve as a vital digital hub for a brand, acting as the primary interface for interacting or transacting with customers (Weber, 2009). Website checklists and assessments are presented through the evaluation of design, performance, SEO, accessibility, etc (Moon, n.d.). Detailed checklists include the following elements:
Application checklist to Nike.com (Nike, 2024)
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Design, Branding & UI: Nike.com demonstrates brand consistency with prominent use of the logo and tagline “Just Do It.” The design is aesthetically pleasing, professional, and uses high-quality, engaging imagery with an organized layout. Strong mobile responsiveness
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Navigation & UX: Home page effectively communicates value proposition through imagery and branding. Images and videos are engaging and relevant to the target audience (athletes).
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Performance & Security & Safety: Page loading speed, error rate and cross-browser compatibility are well optimized and have many security features, many security tools and user behavior tracking
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SEO: The website is well designed, meta tags and tags are well organized, and the content is highly optimized. Additionally, the website uses HTTPS and links to the Terms of Sale, Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy are clearly provided in the footer, along with privacy selection controls.
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The role of personalization is increasingly being considered by retail businesses in the context of changing user behavior (Raji et al., 2024). Instead of producing content with the goal of reaching as many people as possible, creating specific messages, with the right time and touch points for each target group to optimize conversion rates is becoming the new strategy (Iyelolu, Toluwalase Vanessa et al., 2024)
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In addition, advances in Artificial Intelligence have brought more intuitive data sources (Lu, 2019). The development and ability of AI to process and analyze more data than humans has helped businesses improve the process of predicting customer behavior and needs. Through this, AI can recommend a specific item or offer, or even a personalized advertisement at the right time (Kumar, Ashraf and Nadeem, 2024).
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The core mechanism involves collecting diverse data and applying AI/ML algorithms to identify patterns, predict future behavior and intent, and then automatically deliver personalized outputs across multiple touchpoints (Kumar, Ashraf and Nadeem, 2024). For example:
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AI videos help businesses create personalized New Year greeting videos, attaching brand images to unique greeting messages (Dinh, 2024). In addition, each customer will receive a unique video with a personal style, creating a deep impression and connecting with the brand. For example, customers can receive a New Year greeting video with their own image, or family moments combined by AI into a meaningful short video. Other examples include birthday greeting videos, personal celebrations or special occasions.
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Text AI has the ability to create creative, branded greetings and poems, creating a subtle and creative way to connect with users (Dinh, 2024). For events such as Tet, birthdays or other special occasions, Text AI helps users feel the care from the business, making them feel more attached and closer to the brand through unique and personal greetings.
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By tracking and analyzing content performance across multiple channels, AI helps businesses identify successful content and optimize strategies based on real data (Roetzer and Kaput, 2022). This allows businesses to focus on the types of content and channels that deliver the highest performance and revenue growth (Iyelolu, Toluwalase Vanessa et al., 2024). A successful example of personalization by leveraging AI to deeply analyze data on music preferences, listening behavior - Spotify has created intelligently personalized playlists (Spotify, 2023). Not only that, Spotify also uses AI to send notifications, marketing emails containing music recommendations tailored to each individual, encouraging users to explore more new songs and upgrade to premium service packages.