This plan presents in details why would a school go into the transformation from traditional schooling into an e-business / e-Learning operation and how to best do it within budget and cultural limitations.
As part of the Chartered Institute of Marketing programs, Naja Faysal was enrolled in the Professional Development Award in e-Marketing via Cambridge Marketing College
2024.03.23 What do successful readers do - Sandy Millin for PARK.pptx
CIM/e-Marketing Award-Assignment # 3 and #4 (combined): A Full Fledge e-Marketing and e-Business Plan for a Private School in Lebanon
1. E-MARKETING PLAN
FOR A PRIVATE SCHOOL IN LEBANON
By: Naja Faysal
CIM / Professional Development Award in e-Marketing
Cambridge Marketing College
Final Report
June 1st, 2009
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 Executive Summary
2.0 Introduction
3.0 Situation
4.0 Objectives
5.0 Strategy
6.0 Tactics
7.0 Action
8.0 Control
9.0 Resources
10.0 Conclusion
11.0 Appendix
12.0 Bibliography
13.0 References
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 2 02/06/2009
3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Education as other industries has also been changing at a rapid paste. The use of
technology has evolved the way people pursue education and the way knowledge is
shared and generated. We think that as technology has become more than ever available
and affordable to a vast number of people around the world, it projects a big opportunity
for us to utilize it to deliver a world class education in Lebanon. This plan creates a base
for an e-business platform that is built to endure, evolve, and put the school on a higher
level.
The school needs to overcome the challenges set by micro and macro circumstances in
order to thrive. Knowing the small budgets and limited capabilities, the school’s only
solution is to focus on the most efficient, measurable and effective tools to reach where it
want to be. It has to dissect its objective into smaller tasks and move slowly yet
persistently towards a well developed set of objectives. Important to consider the culture
and the people’s behavior in those villages and towns in the mountains of Lebanon, and
respond to their needs effectively and profitably.
This plan revolve around a basic principle of selecting a group of ideal customers,
effectively communicating and convincing those customers to join in, putting all efforts
to satisfy them so they come back and stay loyal, then eventually extend the relationship
with them by providing more features and more services.
Technology is understood to be a long term investment which would be a key asset and a
major differentiator. It is as important also to identify a Human Purpose of the school far
beyond making money and put all efforts in delivering on a set of values and principles
that elevate the society as a whole.
We are confident that this plan if implemented in the right ways will achieve the desired
outcome of putting the school ahead of competitors and setting new standards of
education in Lebanon and the Middle East.
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 3 02/06/2009
4. INTRODUCTION
The e-marketing plan is part of a set of plans and strategies that guides an organization to
create and sustain greatness in the market place. This plan will provide an understanding
of how to use technology to achieve business results and to siege the opportunity offered
by online media in order to lead the market and achieve sustainable growth.
This report is structured to discuss the following:
o Analyze the situation
o Draw up realistic objectives
o Develop sensible strategies
o Support strategies with appropriate tactics
o Schedule and organize implementation with detailed action plans
o Control, monitor, measure, report and adjust
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 4 02/06/2009
5. SITUATION:
The school currently doesn’t have any e-business activity. As a result, enquires are not
dealt with properly, sales are not managed systematically, market share is not measured
and return on investment is not calculated. (To know more about the school, please read
Appendix – A)
SWOT Analysis: (for detailed analysis, please see Appendix – B)
Strengths: Weaknesses:
o Excellent and close student care o Bad Reputation
o Suitable location of campus surrounded by o Poor quality of teachers employed
nature o Limited resources/infrastructure
o Starting from scratch o Lack of innovation
o Passion and entrepreneurial spirit o Outdated educational tools and systems
o Poor financial management
o Lack of purpose
o Lack of Customer Relationship
Opportunities: Threats:
o Customers Expectations is relatively easy o Customers attitudes towards technological
to satisfy development
o Competitors Weaknesses are easy to find o Competitors counter attack
o An era of political stability o Possibility of political deterioration
o A promising economic situation o Economic downturn
o Increase in internet adoption o Changing people’s behavior in an extreme
o Technology trends are easy to predict religious and political affinities
o Inconsistent performance of technology
providers
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 5 02/06/2009
6. OBJECTIVES
There are five broad benefits, reasons or objectives of e-marketing. These can be
summarized as the 5Ss. We need to decide whether all or only some are going to drive
our e-marketing plan. The below objectives are subject to SMART criteria, which makes
sure all objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-related.
Sell: Although the school’s website will not be build for e-commerce or to generate direct
sales, though the website can be a great influencer of sales.
Obj. #1: Lead sales from 30% of site visitors in 3 years of the website launch.
The website can also generate revenue through affiliate marketing.
Obj. #2: Generate 5% of the school’s total revenue from affiliate marketing within the
first 3 years of site launch.
Serve: The school’s website is going to not only present the school’s profile or its
approach and vision, but also it is going to add value through delivering content that is
relevant and important to the target audience.
Obj. #3: Update the website on weekly basis with relevant, interesting, engaging and
important content and features
Speak: It is a great opportunity to use the internet to start a dialogue with our potential
and existing customers
Obj. #4: Regularly engage (daily or weekly) with the people on our site and on other
sites and get closer to them by joining their conversation and monitoring their
behavior.
Obj. #5: To create a database system that can:
1. Be integrated online and offline
2. Be easy to use
3. Provide a big level of flexibility to categorize and profile the data and use it
instantly
Save: The internet also provides an opportunity to save money, time and effort. Good
systems help customers to service themselves and minimize the cost.
Obj. #6: Acquire 70% of internet users in the Shouf area to be a registered members
who visit our website at least once per week in the first 3 years of website launch. This
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 6 02/06/2009
7. will save us time, effort, and money of communicating to them (printing,
distributing…etc).
Obj. #7: Get feedback from the people about our website on monthly basis or anytime
there is a need to do so, and heavily invest in self service features on site every 3
months to ensure customers satisfaction.
Sizzle: The internet offers new opportunities to build and strengthen the brand. We can
measure this by asking the following question:
On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely you would recommend the school’s website to a friend
or colleague? Why? What can we do better? Scores 9&10 are classified as promoters,
7&8 are neutral, and 6 & below are destroyers of the brand. The Net Promoter Score
(NPC) is the ratio of promoters over destroyers, neutral do not count. (The 4 imperatives
of leadership - Stephan R. Covey).
Obj. #8: Run the NPS test every 3 months and thrive for high scores by captivating,
impressing, entertaining and engaging site visitors with the brand and establish a
relationship based on trust and confidentiality, so they can recommend us to their
friends, colleagues & family members.
It is also important for the site to create an online community where people participate in
discussions and share information.
Obj. #9: Create and seed an online community around the school’s culture and
activities
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8. STRATEGY
Strategy summarizes how do we get there? In other words, it summarizes how to achieve
the objectives and guides all the subsequent detailed tactical decisions. Strategy is
influenced by both the prioritization of objectives and the amount of resources available.
Strategy should also exploit distinctive competitive advantages. Playing to our strengths -
assuming the market/customers want it.
Prioritization of objectives:
When thinking of prioritization of objectives we need to identify what is most important
and most urgent goal for the school. While the school is pursuing a renovation process,
two major things needs to be on its priority:
First, how the school is going to change the people’s perception towards the brand
Second, how the school is going to generate enough revenues to stimulate growth and
create systems and process.
The below table lists the objectives in priority order and provides the strategy of how to
achieve each:
No. Objectives Strategy
1. To run the NPS test every 3 months and Develop a visually appealing website,
thrive for high scores by captivating, optimized for search engines, quick to
impressing, entertaining and engaging site download, simple to navigate, easy to use,
visitors with the brand and establish a secured and accessible for all.
relationship based on trust and
confidentiality, so they can recommend us
to their friends, colleagues & family
members.
2. To create a database system that can: Search and study available options that
o Be integrated online and offline meets the objectives within an appropriate
o Be easy to use cost.
o Provide a big level of flexibility to
categorize and profile the data and
use it instantly
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9. 3. To update the website on weekly basis with Identifying sources of information
relevant, interesting, engaging and whether internally (school generated
important content and features content) or externally (news & other
information from around the world)
4. To regularly engage (daily or weekly) with Identify people’s behavior on other sites
the people on our site and on other sites and organize a group of people to watch,
and get closer to them by joining their and respond to discussions &
conversation and monitoring their conversations occurring on our site and
behavior. other sites.
5. To acquire 70% of internet users in the Launch a Traffic Generating campaigns
Shouf area to be a registered members on different occasions using online and
who visit our website at least once per offline media
week in the first 3 years of website launch.
This will save us time, effort, and money
of communicating to them (printing,
distributing…etc).
6. To lead sales from 30% of site visitors in 3 Use the website to present evidence why
years of the website launch. this school is better than others and how
to reach the school for further orientation
and registration. Include the approach to
education, environment and value for
money.
7. To get feedback from the people about our Survey launch on site, by email or using a
website on monthly basis or anytime there focus group to monitor what is working on
is a need to do so, and heavily invest in the website and what is not. Web analytics
self service features on site every 3 months are also to be used to identify what pages
to ensure customers satisfaction. are on demand and what are not.
8. To generate 5% of the school’s total Promote e-shopping as a concept and give
revenue from affiliate marketing within real guarantees for people to trust in it.
the first 3 years of site launch.
9. To create and seed an online community Use a traffic generating strategy to bring
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 9 02/06/2009
10. around the school’s culture and activities people into discussion forums and seed the
conversation by raising hot topics that are
interesting to the target and
responsiveness.
As mentioned in the executive summary, we are setting big objectives and the only way
to be achieved is to dissect the objectives into small and specific goals with time-frames
and move slowly and persistently towards them. As the school starts to get the cash flow,
progress will become faster and the leaps will become bigger.
Key questions:
What segments are being targeted online? Who is the target market?
The Chouf area in the mountains of Lebanon is made out of a collection of villages and
small towns. Youngsters find it difficult to get entertained. There is nothing much to do
besides having a walk, watching TV or meeting with friends and family. As these
youngsters started to go online, the opportunity rises; especially that they can influence
the decision of which school to be enrolled with.
So, we think the best segment to target would be the Teen Agers living in Chouf Area
coming from a medium-high social class.
This segment is important for the following reasons:
1. They have a big stake in the decision making
2. They reflect a young attribute of the brand
3. They are crucial for the long term brand equity
4. They are relatively easy to reach, attract and convince
5. They are neglected by competition
6. They are bored, frustrated and ambitious
It is also crucial not to forget the parents whom in the end of the day are the decision
makers. Parents vary, but the most important segment for our brand is the newly married
or the relatively young parents who are open minded and place big importance on the
education of their children. In the end, the brand needs to look young in theory and in
practice.
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11. Should new or existing products be sold into all existing segments and markets, or
can specific or new segments and markets be targeted?
There are big ideas and great opportunities when it comes to market development and
product innovation in the Shouf area/mountains of Lebanon. Our strategic approach here
includes all areas of the matrix below, however with different time frames. Some
strategies are short term others are long term, to see full details about this please read
Appendix - G
Source of differentiation – what is the online value proposition? Can new digital
products or services be developed?
The Online Value Proposition is created by analyzing the benefits of the online services,
positioning, and the differential advantages:
o The school’s website is the first of its kind utility in Lebanon that brings together
schooling and social activity making education more entertaining and academic
excellence easier to achieve.
(To read a detailed analysis of how we came up with the above OVP, please read
Appendix – H)
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12. How do we deal with competition?
Knowing the culture of the Chouf area, especially that politics and corruption are part of
the daily life, implementing an aggressive strategy wouldn’t be smart. We are young
comparing to competition with limited capabilities, so we need to be smart and steal
market share slowly and consistently. To read more about our strategic approach
towards competitors please read Appendix – F.
TACTICS
Tactics are the details of strategy. We need to list all the e-tools we plan to use, in the
sequence of stages set out in the strategy.
First Stage: Developing the Website
The “Website” is the first step. For this the following e-tools are considered:
o Search Engine Optimization by having quality inbound links and incorporate key
phrases in the body copy, Title Tags, Meta Tags and Graphic Tags. To view
further details, please read Appendix - D
o Implement a suitable CRM platform that links the website with an integrated
database offline and online. Understanding that people are different and
delivering personalized messages and services will build a strong bond with the
people.
o Extranets: Use password protected content and a variety of services delivered for
people who register to our website in the following forms:
Site members
Registered Students
Teachers, Coaches, Staff and Administration
* Use email reminders of passwords
o Straight on the home page, a small space for newsletter subscribers will do the
job.
o Opt-in email: ask site visitors if they wish to receive our emails or third party
emails.
o Create online communities using Forums and Discussion Boards
o Deploy usability and accessibility measures
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13. o Build trust by a clear Privacy Statement
o Generate Feedback using Web Poll, Vote Caster, Contact us and Call Back
facility
o Online Calendar to keep track of events, holidays and national days, schedules
and examination dates.
o Create Photo and Video Album on flicker and youtube platforms
o Guest Map to find school location
o Affiliate Program with amazon.com, where we get commission based profits over
selling books and other education items
o Headline News using RSS and an opt-in SMS
o Site Search
Second Stage: Promoting the Website
We will follow the communications techniques described in the e-Business and e-
Commerce Management by Dave Chaffey:
o Search engine optimization and registration in major directories
o Maximizing positive mentions on blogs, social networks, podcasts and portals
o Establish Online Partnerships with a variety of organizations, institutes, industry
bodies, not-for-profit organizations, governmental institutions and many others
o Interactive banner ads and online sponsorships
o Opt-in Email
o Viral Marketing
o Give credibility of the website with offline communications
Last Stage: Maintaining the Website
This stage is about maintaining and improving the website. It is also about retaining site
visitors to come again. We will do this by having a technical people on board solving any
occurring problem, watching the website performance and generating weekly reports
using web analytics. Another group of people should be employed to generate content
and add features to the website to keep it up-to-date. Opt-in email is also used in the stage
by sending emails to members to remind them about a certain feature and to keep them
up-to-date with school news and top stories/photo/video…etc, Social Networks are also
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 13 02/06/2009
14. used in this area to encourage repeat visits from network members or registered members.
Finally, offline communications can also be used to bring people back.
ACTIONS
Risk Management
What are the things that could go wrong? What is their impact and likelihood? What
would be the contingency plan?
A risk management process should be in place should any of the below incidents occur:
o Lack of budget
o Hardware failure
o Virus Attacks
o Hacking and Hijacking
Action Plan
The below chart describes the action plan for the year
Activity Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Building the team X
Allocate an e-business Budget X
Create the website look and feel X
Choose an e-CRM system X
Choose a web development platform X
Launch an informational brochureware
X
website
Optimize website for search engines X
Integrate database online and offline X
Implement registration, opt-in email and
X
other features on the website
Launch usability and NPS surveys X X X X
Create a Launch event and invite media X
Send Press Releases and e-Press Releases X
Run banner ad / PPC / PPM campaign X
Run a social media campaign X
Run email campaign X
Search for affiliate partners X
Create a viral campaign X
Offline Communications X
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 14 02/06/2009
15. CONTROL
Technical and marketing team should set control process over the website. Many
websites actually damage brands with their broken links, dead ends, cumbersome
downloads, out of date content, impossible navigation and unanswered emails. Getting
continuous feedback from users, reviewing web analytics report and checking on the
latest technological and consumer trends must become a habit.
We want a site that is easy on the eye and clear to the reader and lightning fast to
download. If that means dispensing with some of the techies’ zanier ideas… well our
customer will thank us for it.
A control process should be set in place to assess whether the e-marketing plan is
working or not. This would be discussed every quarter of the year, where facts, results
and reports are put on the table and challenged. This is where we know if the objectives
we have set were Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-related
(SMART). It is not recommended however to change the objectives regularly. According
to Jim Collins’ “The good to great”, we can change strategies and tactics to achieve our
objectives but not the objectives, we always need to have something to measure our
success accordingly.
The below figure summarizes key issues that could be used in the control process:
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 15 02/06/2009
16. Performance is measured against detailed targets based on the objectives and strategy.
For our website the below metrics are to be considered:
o Sales
o Online revenue contribution
o Subscriptions
o Conversion rate
o Enquires
o Number of unique visitors
o Number of repeat visitors
o Average duration
o Churn rates
o Termination rate or attrition rate
o Awareness levels
The answers of most of the above metrics are available via the “web analatics”. A bi-
weekly report is to be reviewed and assessed. Customer awareness, satisfaction and
attitudes are to be researched continuously.
RESOURCES
The three key resources are:
Men (and women) – Human Resources
Human resources are becoming a key denominator in today’s economy. Great companies
always assert high level of importance to the people. Jim Collins in his book “the good to
great” stressed continuously that companies who want to achieve greatness must put the
right people on the bus, wrong people of the bus and the right people in the right seats
even before choosing which direction the bus is going.
Knowing the limited capabilities of the school, we cannot afford less than a highly
dedicated and qualified hardworking team for this e- business plan to be successful. Strict
criteria will be implemented when hiring on the basis of “if you have doubt, don’t hire”.
It is also vital to know how to attract qualified individuals and make the job appealing.
We need them to be excited, enthusiastic, highly motivated and united on one purpose –
to grow the school to international standards bar none.
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 16 02/06/2009
17. This plan needs the following talents to put in place:
o IT/Web Developer
o Graphic Designer
o Accountant/Finance
o Marketing Executive / Assistant
o Secretary
(You can read a full description of these vacancies in Appendix – E)
Money – Budgets
E-Marketing like marketing is an investment. A certain budget should be identified and
allocated for this project.
This budget is to be divided to the following sectors:
o Web Development and Hosting Server – Rental fees
o Website programming and design – development cost
o Cost of hardware
o Cost of software
o Maintenance cost
o Operational costs
o Payroll slips
o Other expenses
Minutes – time scales and time horizons for production, delivery, service, etc
The internet is fast growing and needs quick adaptation and implementation of strategies.
The e-marketing world is used to shorter timescales: you might need three months to
prepare a TV campaign or twelve months to create a new pack; but you could build a new
website in a lot less time. The time scales, schedules, and deadline are to be respected.
This is the culture we need to implement in order to succeed.
This e-marketing plan is to be considered for the coming 3 to 5 years.
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 17 02/06/2009
18. CONCLUSION
The school’s website is expected to help the school create a major edge in a virgin
market. We have an opportunity to establish an e-business, in which we deploy our
strategies and tactics to earn the market leadership and most importantly to talk to our
most important target audience.
The key for success is to use what is relevant and what is efficient and effective for the
school. Leverage the e-Marketing understanding with the web development expertise can
create breakthrough results and establish trust with people.
Finally, the school is a humanitarian organization in which its main purpose is to serve
the society and provide brighter future for the students. We should never forget the
human purpose of the brand and the reason it exists. Technology can help us but if it
wasn’t aligned with a bigger purpose, the school would just be a fad that will disappear
tomorrow or after tomorrow.
*** END ***
Word count: 3,886
Appendix, Bibliography and References follows
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 18 02/06/2009
19. APPENDIX - A
Methodology
The SOSTAC (Chaffey et al) framework is used as an overall outline for the plan:
1. Situation: Where are we now?
o The following analytical areas are to be used:
KPI – key performance indicators which identify the business’s
success criteria, results data and measurements against benchmarks
SWOT analysis – identifying internal strengths, and weaknesses,
as well as external opportunities and threats.
PEST – political, economic, social and technological variables that
shape our marketplace.
Customers – how many are online, how many are familiar with
technology…etc
Competitors – who are they? New online adversaries or the same
old competitors as always?
Distributors – are new, online, intermediaries emerging while old
offline distributors are being wiped out (disintermediation)?
2. Objectives: where do we want to be?
o The 5Ss are to be used:
Sell
Serve
Sizzle
Speak
Save
3. Strategy: how do we get there?
4. Tactics: how exactly do we get there?
5. Action: what is our plan?
6. Control: did we get there?
A plan without Resources will fail. The three key resources are:
1. Men (and women) – Human Resources
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 19 02/06/2009
20. 2. Money – Budgets
3. Minutes – time scales and time horizons for production, delivery, service, etc
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 20 02/06/2009
21. APPENDIX - B
School Overview
The school is located in a town called Baakline Al Chouf in the Mountains of Lebanon
that is very different from many other parts of Lebanon. The area is known by its extreme
political and religious affinity. In addition, although it is only 45 minutes far from Beirut
City, the area is still struggling with poverty and stagnation. Only recently, you start to
see some youngsters using the internet, usually at an internet café. This and many other
factors make this project a challenging one, yet a big opportunity to lead the market.
People, for instance, are using the internet for basic tasks, like email, instant messaging,
doing simple research for educational purpose and some social networking sites like
facebook.com. The quality of internet in that region is considered poor. Most households
depend on dial up connectivity, where some internet cafés use slightly better connection
yet nothing even close to the broadband speeds that we know in most developed
countries.
Lebanon’s public schools are perceived to have the lowest quality in education. “The
worst thing parents can do for their kids is to register them in a public school”. Private
schools in contrast, are perceived as a better quality but usually much more expensive.
In 1989, the school was founded to satisfy a niche of female high school students. Parents
of those students were religiously conservative and demanded a female-only private high
school. It was the only school at the time to provide girls who are coming from a
conservative background with high school education, however in some time other schools
provided sections for female-only in their schools to respond to the need. Since other
schools had bigger capabilities, the founder of the school gave up on that niche segment
and opened a mixed-gender school catering for all levels of education from kinder garden
all the way up to high school diplomas. The founders of the school were driven to
continuously decrease its tuition to compete in the market; this made the school attract
low-income families who were not even able to pay what they promised. The school
started to struggle financially since then and as a result compromising the quality of
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 21 02/06/2009
22. education. As its reputation drained year after year with debts accumulating, the founder
decided to let the school to external management for a ten-year-contract; however this
new management broke the contract on year five leaving the school in a vague future.
The past two years (since 2007) were an attempt to re-launch the school by family
members who, with their new blood, are making more activities, caring more about the
quality of education and going an extra mile in providing more service for the students
and parents. Despite the slow progress, there is a lot to be done. The school management
should realize the challenges and opportunities ahead of them to create a brand that stand
out the competition and make success a reality.
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 22 02/06/2009
23. APPENDIX - C
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths:
1. Student Care: because the school is currently small hosting a very small number
of students, extra care and attention is being delivered.
2. Location: unlike some other schools in the area, the school is in a middle of nature
surrounded by trees and has a great view to on the mountains.
3. Starting from Scratch: the fact that the school is starting up from scratch is a
strong point since we are building up a new system far advanced from any other
competitors and we don’t have an extra cost of removing old systems and its
consequences.
4. Passion and entrepreneurial spirit: leadership is key strength for the school; it
requires a culture of discipline, dedicated team, passion and determination to be
the best in the world.
Weaknesses:
1. Reputation: Through the years the school accumulated a bad reputation and
distrust.
2. Quality of teachers hired: School were not able to compete unless it lowers the
quality of teachers to be able to pay for expenses.
3. Limited resources/infrastructure: The school building wasn’t designed as a school
in the first place. The roads leading to the school are narrow. The campus in
general lack parking area, indoor playgrounds, central air conditioning, and many
others…
4. Lack of innovation: throughout the years, the school didn’t create an innovative
idea whether it is educational or recreational that sets it apart of competition.
5. Outdated educational tools and systems: the school still uses traditional tools and
instruments. The use of a chock board, lack of computers, lack of accountability
and systematic educational programs.
6. Finances: The school’s lack of management processes and measurability of
revenues has lead to a freeze in the development of the school.
e-Marketing Plan by Naja Faysal Page 23 02/06/2009
24. 7. Lack of purpose: the school was always struggling to survive. It has never
believed it has a mission or a vision. It didn’t deliver any distinctive value that
people admire.
8. Lack of Customer Relationship: The school has never put the customer on its
priority list, it has never invested in having customer database, customer loyalty
program, customer care committee, a website, emergency contact number,
effective communication with parents… etc
Opportunities:
1. Customers Expectations: customer expectation can be a great opportunity for the
school to differentiate itself and deliver value. It’s easier to satisfy a customer in
the Lebanese mountains who is not exposed to world class schools. This applies
online as well. People would appreciate to have a website for the school where
they actually benefit from comparing to a crowd of junk websites of competition.
2. Competitors Weaknesses: it’s easy to find weaknesses in our competition to strike
when setting up the marketing strategy. It applies online as well.
3. Political situation: Lebanon is a country that has never had political stability. It is
a country struggling in war every now and then. For the past year or so, the
country is getting stabilized more and more. If this continues, we expect the
government will take regulatory steps to improve governance of schools and other
circumstances that can directly or indirectly help in the growth of our business,
examples could be the e-government.
4. Economic Situation: As the political situation is getting stabilized, economic will
be no different. The economic growth will increase the buying power of people
who will then have the choice to register their kids in private schools. This will
also impact the consumer behavior in adopting technology and the internet in
particular, which in tern present a big opportunity to lead the online schooling and
have a world class website that our competitors will find it very hard to compete
with.
5. Social situation: building on the above, the social behavior will be influenced by
the economical growth we are expecting. Adoption of internet will link people
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25. together in a virtual world they know a little about. So we have the opportunity to
lead this process, deliver value and gain loyalty.
6. Technology: the advantage of the 3rd world countries is that they are followers
and not innovators of new technologies and trends. So, we as marketers can easily
predict the future based on what was adopted and successful in the 1st world
countries and expect it to work in our countries. This posts a great opportunity for
us to be well prepared to embrace on technology that effectively leads the school
to an upper level.
Threats:
1. Customers might reject our new approach and respond with disbelief. They might
even challenge the modernism including technology and perceives it as de-
humanization of certain processes.
2. Competitors might spread rumors and counter attack with bigger budgets and
investments sensing how important this is to their business.
3. Political situation might deteriorate at any time. Knowing the fabric of Lebanon
and the way the country is being lead, no one can expect sustainable stability.
This however, doesn’t impact our business model directly but it might make our
life harder with old rules and governance processes. It also might lead to illegal
attacks from parties who feel their interests are being affected.
4. Economic situation can be an important variable. If economic situation
deteriorates, so would the buying power of the people. This will effect the tuition
level, thus the ability for the school to keep investing in state-of-the-art education
and the human resources needed for sustained growth.
5. Social situation might not help the adoption of a new and modern vision for this
school. With people stuck with extreme religious and political affinities, change
as a concept is hard to be communicated and implemented. Any activity, any
picture on the website, any communication material…etc might have negative
impacts on the school.
6. Technology: although technology can be our biggest asset, it can also be our
worst killer. It is a two-ended sword. Competitors might strike their big
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26. capabilities into greater technology. Our own use of technology might impact the
brand in a severe way if it was done the wrong way.
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27. APPENDIX – D
Search Engine Optimization:
Frequency of occurrence in body copy: When developing the website, we need to take
into consideration the Search Engine Optimization factor. So we need to write content
that uses frequently the words of what we do, where we are, what industry are we in,
what is our main attributes and competitive advantages… etc. Those key phrases should
be written in the headings (<H1>, <H2>) as well. Also we need to link anchor text in
hyperlinks and use a higher density towards the start of the document.
Number of inbound links (page rank): the more links we have from good quality sites, the
better our ranking will be. So, we need to make sure to have associate sites linked to our
website. This could be industry bodies, educational organizations and institutes, Not-For-
Profit organizations, Social communities, Social network sites, governmental sites and
others that are related to our business. Also, we should be listed in major directories
globally and locally, offline and online.
Title HTML Tag: This is significant in search engine listings since if a key phrase
appears in a title it is more likely to be listed higher than if it is only in the body text of a
page. Important to note here is that greater weighting is given to key phrases at the left of
the title tag and those with a higher key-phrase density. It is also important since this title
tag is the text underlined within the search results page, which forms a hyperlink through
to our website. So we need to make this title page a relevant call-to-action that
demonstrates relevance to the content of the page in a customer-centric language.
Meta-tags: the best practice is to incorporate some key phrases in the meta-tag while
developing the website so that we ensure that search engine that uses spiders and robots
can find or website relevant.
Alternative Graphic Text: Since we might be using a lot of graphical material, we don’t
want to miss the opportunity of increasing our chances for listing. Thus, we need to use
the “ALT” tags to give a brief description about the image used and include our key
phrases.
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28. APPENDIX - E
Human Resources – Selection Criteria:
IT/Web Developer:
The person filling this position should have the following attributes:
o Have the programming capability to create state-of-the-art features and web
applications
o Having an extra ordinary knowledge about IT especially the internet
o Keeps him/herself updated with latest trends and technologies and continuously
advising and suggesting new ideas
o Continuously investing in himself to learn more and an attitude to be teachable
o Having a track record of excellence in his field
o Trust worthy
The person filling this position is asked to perform the following tasks:
o Set up the hardware and software that is most efficient for the school
o Build an internal network between employees (intranet)
o Advice and assist in choosing an e-CRM platform
o Advice and assist in choosing a web development platform
o Develop the website with coordination with the marketing team
o Link all database together and advice on the best database solution
o Advice and set up the telephone system according to marketing requirements
Please note that the above individual may not be found as a full timer, in this case it
might be adequate to be hired as a freelancer on project base compensation. He is also
asked to provide consultation services.
Graphic Designer
The person filling this position should have the following attributes:
o Be trendy, young, and internet freak
o Have excellent knowledge about graphic art especially web design
o Perfectionist by nature
o Have a fresh style and impressive portfolio
o Accept criticism, is open to other points of view and flexible enough to adopt
someone else’s idea
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29. o Trust worthy
o Master the software required for graphic design including:
Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, In-design, After
effects and Dream weaver
Apple Final Cut
Macromedia Flash
The person filling this position is asked to perform the following tasks:
o Work quickly and efficiently on artworks whether for printing or for digital use
o Coming up with concepts and ideas whether it was including design or not
o Help setting up the Corporate Identity of the school
o Help designing the website
o Perform variety of task assigned to him with consideration not only to the artistic
value but also to the business value
Accountant/Finance
This person is not necessary recruited for the e-marketing unit but could be for the entire
school. He/she should have the following attributes:
o Is a certified accountant
o Young and up-to-date with the latest technologies in his field
o Trust worthy
o Have more than 3 to 4 years of experience with a track record of excellence
o Have a great understanding of marketing and the business of schools
He/She is asked to perform the following tasks:
o Unify the accounting systems in the school into a one comprehensive platform
o Secure backup plans if any problem occurs
o Manage governmental issues and taxes
o Manage payrolls for employees and suppliers
o Manage revenues and provide monthly report on cash flow
o Present reports on the finance situation on quarterly basis (4 months)
o Help allocate budgets based on his knowledge of financial situation
o Understand the return on investment measure and risks
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30. Marketing Executive / Assistant
The person handling this title should have the following attributes:
o Have a clear understanding of marketing and business in general
o Not only should be teachable and open to other points of view, but also has to
have his own analysis and opinion
o Extremely positive, ambitious, enthusiastic and energetic
o Hard working
o Young and had a great work ethic
o Excellent communication skills
o Trust worthy
o Presentable
o Team player
o Creative and committed to self improvement
o Fluent in english language (written, read and spoken)
o Very good computer skills especially the following:
Microsoft office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
Adobe acrobat
Internet explorer
o Ability to conduct research in the most efficient way
o Highly active on social network and chatting sites
o Socially active – opinion leader within his peer group
He/She would be asked to perform the following tasks:
o Assist the overall processes in researching, planning and executing business and
marketing plans
o Develop and perform key presentations on behalf of school management
o Perform variety of tasks assigned to him/her in excellence within the deadlines set
o Represent school management on any social occasion and brag about the school
the right way
o Help in the sales force by identifying prospects and converting them to leads and
clients
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31. Secretary
The person hired here has to have the following attributes:
o Multi-tasking
o Trust worthy
o Positive, funny, enthusiastic and self motivated
o Hard working
o Teachable
o Creative
o Excellent communication skills
o Presentable and socially active
o Understands the business of school and have previous experience in schools
o Have excellent project management capabilities
o Pays attention to details
He/She would be asked to perform the following tasks:
o Answering phone calls
o Answering website visitor’s quires in a time-frame
o Arrange meetings
o Assist the entire team in pursuing their jobs
o Active on social networks online and offline
o Represent the school in variety of events
o Help in organizing events and conducting research
o Data Entry, Typing, Filling Process Forms whenever required
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32. APPENDIX – F
Strategic approach towards competition:
Flanking Attack can be used to strike the areas in which competitors are weak at, but we
can’t be so clear about it. We should use this strategy below the line, in social networks,
social gatherings and fuel it so people spread it for us and avoid confronting our
competition in their faces.
Surround and cut-off strategy can be used strongly with exclusive rights of teachers…
knowing the number of good teachers in the Chouf area is very little, having exclusive
rights for quality teachers would surround and cut-off chances of our competition and
builds our brand.
Blocking attack is also to be used by offering value-added services should it be online
and offline.
Guerrilla attack is a direct attack of competitors using guerrilla tactics like online PR can
be used similar to flanking attack without signing off the name of the school.
Territorial defense is a great strategy of approaching the YOUTH in advance of
competitors.
Mobile defense is achieved by developing new online functionality that is one step ahead
of competitors.
Stealth defense is achieved by not revealing information about tactics and services
provided online or offline so existing players find it difficult to find out about what we
are doing. Thus, use direct sales, networking and word-of-mouth instead.
Diplomatic nous is achieved by partnering with content providers to increase the value of
our site compared to competitors.
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33. APPENDIX – G
Options for market development and product innovation:
Market Penetration: This is where the majority of the customer acquisition is going to
take place. Finding and hitting on the gabs of other schools, providing the attributes of
great school, communicating the brand values, differentiating it from competition,
promoting the new approach to education, and many other marketing exercises are meant
to increase sales in current markets.
Product Development: Here is another aspect we need to hit hard with because we don’t
have the capability to beat other schools in their home court. We don’t have the luxury
building, equipments and state of the art teachers to compete, all what we have is the
expertise to continuously implement a process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying
student and parents requirements profitably. In particular we want to choose the “the one
thing” we know we can be great at and focus all the efforts on it. In other words a well
identified PURPOSE. It can be a different approach to education, say for example
“having fun while learning”, it can be “the best english teaching school”, it can be “the
best school in preparing for university”…etc
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34. Thus, ideas are all what we need. Ideas that can enhance the way we do schooling. Let it
be the INTERNET for example. The strategy of using technology to enhance the learning
experience is a great one in this scenario.
It can also be events and activities done on regular basis.
Market Development: For the market development, the school can expand its market
segment to cater the needs of elder individuals to continue education. Classes can be
developed after school time or in the summer time for people between 30-50 years old
looking for “English language courses”, “how to teach your kids at home” courses or
other courses we find on demand. The “Continuing Education” is of high importance as
there is very few competition exist
Another market to tap into would be the “pre-school” specialization, where we would
utilize the school capabilities and deploy the latest technology to provide a complete
educational solution starting from year 1 up to year 70.
Diversification: For the diversification, we can open up other companies that compliment
each other. For example an Advertising & PR Agency starting with the school as a first
client and getting more clients eventually; An Event Making agency launching events
where the school could be a major part with; A Book Store that sell the schools’ books
and other books and student accessories; A Recruitment Agency for the Shouf area its
main objective is to link talents to employers. Its first client is the school; A Coffee Shop
and Restaurant brand that has its first location on campus where has ambition to expand
outside. A Professional Sporting Club which facilities are used by the school but is
registered in the Lebanese official federations in a variety of sports (football, basketball,
volleyball, horseback riding, Olympic sports, and others…) and represent the Chouf area
in general. A Media Agency that create several media ideas like Web Portal/Media Site
built exclusively for the Chouf area; a Magazine printed and on the web presenting the
Chouf outdoor activities and entertainment events (similar to “What’s up” Jeddah); a
Radio Station or taking the exclusive operation of one of the leading English speaking
stations in Lebanon to be accessible in the Chouf area; an Outdoor exclusive rights for
producing and displaying ads; other POS ideas.
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35. Finally, although the strategies presented above are very interesting, applying them all at
once wouldn’t be a smart idea. We need to prioritize our strategies and drive the school to
one direction at a time then move to another. First maybe we should focus on cash
generating ideas that will help us invest in the future.
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36. APPENDIX – H
Coming up with the Online Value Proposition:
The online value proposition is defined as:
“A statement of the benefits of online services reinforces the core proposition and
differentiates from an organization’s offline offering and those of competitors” (e-
Business and e-Commerce Management - Dave Chaffey)
Customer Value is a combination between product quality, customer service quality,
fulfillment time and price that matters most to the ideal market segment. It consists of the
following:
Positioning: In order to start the journey of rebuilding the school, we need to know what
perception we want to create in the customers’ mind. Here are some positioning
statements we think useful:
o We want to be perceived as the school of the 21st century that uses an up to date
educational practices and provides international standards bar-none.
o We want to be the easiest school to communicate with, we listen to what the
students and the parents have to say and carefully take action to ensure their
satisfaction.
o We are a social responsible institute that continuously helps the community
through raising the quality of education and fighting illiteracy.
Differential Advantages:
o We deliver what is more than education, we are a social place that builds the soul
character of individuals and potential leaders
o We use technology to deliver value-added services and best educational practices
available
o We continuously launch activities and events that breaks through the routine of
studying and learning, yet keeps the purpose of the school alive
o We are the only school that looks and acts young, and implement education in a
fun way
Benefits of the online services are:
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37. o Present our approach to learning
o Make it easy for parents to monitor their children’s education progress and easily
connect to school administration and academic team
o Facilitate learning activities
o Create a community of scholars, educators, students, parents and alumni
o Communicate the school policies, news, activities and events
o Publish rich and resourceful content about education
o Help graduates decide their future by providing not only resourceful articles but
also personal coaching
o Publish the students work, whether an article, visual, audio, or audio-visual
pieces.
Thus the Online Value Proposition is:
o The school’s website is the first of its kind utility in Lebanon that brings together
schooling and social activity making education more entertaining and academic
excellence easier to achieve.
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38. BIBLIOGRAPHY
e-Business and e-Commerce Management by Dave Chaffey (Third Edition)
e-Marketing Excellence by PR Smith and Dave Chaffey (Second Edition)
Good to Great by Jim Collins
The 4 imperatives of leadership - Stephan R. Covey
The world is flat – Thomas Freidman
REFERENCES
www.bravenet.com
http://sutherla.blogspot.com/2009/03/arab-countries-analysis-of-tariffs.html
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