Project Title: A Digital Strategy for Spotify

Author: Maura Hickey

Date: 10th February 2017

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

1. Situation Analysis 6 1 a) Current Digital Presence 6

Brand Health Check 6 Social media channels evaluation 7 SWOT ANALYSIS 13 Website Heuristics Evaluation 14

1 b) Customer Analysis 19 Buyer Persona 1 19 Buyer Persona 2 20 Buyer Persona 3 21

1 c) Competitor Analysis 22 Competitor Brand Health Check Analysis 23

1 d) External Factors 24 PEST ANALYSIS 24

2. Objectives 25

3. Digital Marketing Channels strategy and tactics 26 3 a) Owned, paid and earned channels and the role of each 26 3 b) Integration of tactical tools 27 3 c) Content marketing calendar 30

4. Measurement and Control 31 4 a) Proposed measures for each channel 31 4 b) ORM Strategy 32

ORM Database 43

5. Strategy Implementation 45 5 a) Roles and responsibilities of team members 45 5 b) Proposed timeline 48 5 c) High level stages 48 5 d) Key milestones 48

References 50

Appendices 55 Appendix 1 56

Social Listening 56 Appendix 2 60

Strategy Implementation 60

Introduction Spotify is a digital music streaming brand, offering music, podcasts and videos on desktop, mobile,

tablets and entertainment systems, such as TVs, speakers, cars, smartwatches and playstations.

(Wikipedia 2017). In 2006, it was founded by Daniel Ek from Sweden (The New Yorker, 2014). The

service is available in over 50 languages and in numerous countries around the world; Europe, the

Americas, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia. It has over 100 million monthly active users and

over 40 million paying subscribers; there are free and paid subscriptions. Spotify Premium and Spotify

Family are the two paid subscription services which enable users to control the playing order of songs

they listen to, and are free from ads (Wikipedia 2017). Spotify has millions of songs and organises

music by genres, moods, playlists, artists, new releases, charts, concerts and lots more. Plus, it makes

music recommendations for users based on their listening history and even suggests concerts in their

locality to attend (Spotify app). Over 52% of users listen to Spotify on mobile devices (TechCrunch

2015).

Figure 1: Spotify's main menu on music streaming app

Figure 2: Charts

Figure 3: Genres & Moods

Figure 4: Concert recommendations

Spotify for Brands Part of Spotify’s services is Spotify for Brands which provides large consumer brands like Reebok,

BMW, Vodafone, Nike, L’Oreal and many others the opportunity to increase brand awareness by

designing music playlists and ads to target specific audiences on Spotify (Spotify for Brands website,

2017).

Spotify Artists Spotify offers music artists and managers the chance to distribute their music to fans via Spotify and

grow their listener base (Spotify Artists website, 2017). By using Spotify Fan Insights, the number of

daily and monthly listeners can be tracked, in which countries they’re located, which singles, albums

and playlists perform the best, and an artist page can be created to feature the latest image to present

the artist (Spotify Fan Insights, 2017).

1. Situation Analysis

1 a) Current Digital Presence There are only 3 social media channels displayed on their website: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook,

although Spotify has social media presence on other online channels: YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+.

It also has a blog and an online community.

Brand Health Check

Metric Reach Posts Feedback Average Response Time

Instagram 811K Followers 1 post every 1 – 4 days

4K+ Likes and 100 comments per post

No responses

Twitter 2.04M Followers 1 -4 posts daily

25.1K Tweets and 37 – 200+ retweets daily

30 minutes

Facebook 63,473 Followers 1 post every 1 – 4 days

36 Likes and 10 comments per post

30 minutes

YouTube 111,729 Subscribers

175 Videos 40.9M+ Views No responses

LinkedIn 234,991 Followers

2 – 3 posts every week

500 Likes and 10 comments per post

N/A

Google + 125,309 Followers

1 post every month

58 comments and 29 shares per post

No responses

Blog - 4 posts a month

0 – 3 Likes No comments per post

No responses

Online community

6,167,303 Members

169,721 posts

300 Likes 0 – 4K+ comments per post

2 days

Social media channels evaluation

Twitter

Twitter appears to be their most active social media channel, having over 2.04 million followers. Post

frequency is good with 1 to 4 posts daily and lots of user engagement retweeting and sharing.

Feedback is very responsive within 30 minutes.

Instagram

Instagram reach could be increased and the frequency of posting needs improvement. One post every

1 to 4 days isn’t frequent enough and as a result, little engagement occurs. According to Brand24,

Spotify is mentioned more by the public on Instagram than any other social media channel. Figures 5

and 6 below display results for the last year (15 January 2016 – 14 January 2017).

Figure 5: Brand24 – Spotify mentions on Instagram from 15 January 2016 – 14 January 2017

Figure 6: Brand24 - Spotify mentions on Instagram

Facebook

When you click on the Facebook icon on the Spotify website, it takes you to @SpotifyIreland which is

an existing but inactive Facebook page. The page has 12.8M Likes and 12.8M Followers. The last post

was on 23 January 2015. Posts were inconsistent, with only one post generated every month or two.

There were only 20 Likes and 3 comments in most cases.

Spotify’s Facebook presence consists of hundreds of different individual Facebook pages that were

created in many locations around the world. Some are unofficial Facebook pages that have been

created by Spotify users and employees of the company. For example, there is an unofficial Spotify

Corporate Office Facebook page where Spotify users and employees can post, but there are no posts

generated by Spotify itself and no replies or interactions from Spotify.

Customers post product reviews, share their favourite songs, playlists and new albums, plus rant about

Spotify’s service. Spotify employees occasionally post about their wonderful job at Spotify. Normally,

one post is generated every 1 to 2 days and Likes are ranging anywhere from 2 to over 800 per post.

Engagement levels are generally low with the majority of posts having no comments or shares. The

Spotify Corporate Office Facebook page has a total of 2,488 Likes and 4,726 Visits. No information on

the number of followers was available.

Other individual Spotify Facebook pages are:

Facebook Page Number of Followers Spotify Music 94

Spotify NYC 5,525 Spotify France Fan 22 Spotify Online Web Music Player 346 Spotify Premium 23 Spotify Design 3,717 Spotify Mexico 39

Spotify San Francisco 713 Spotify Chile 147 Spotify Brasil 10 Spotify Playlist Trade 10

However, SpotifyCares Facebook page appears to be the main official active Facebook page for the

company, with over 63,000 followers. SpotifyCares is the customer support department that handles

customer enquiries, payments and any other issues. One Facebook post is made every 1 to 4 days. On

average, there are 36 Likes and 10 comments per post and response time to customer enquiries is

around 30 minutes.

According to TechCrunch, 55% of all current Spotify users connect their accounts with Facebook, so

there’s a huge opportunity for Spotify to increase its reach and user engagement on Facebook.

According to Brand24, the most interactive mentions about Spotify are on Facebook. Figure 7 below

displays results for the last year (15 January 2016 – 14 January 2017).

Figure 7: Brand24 - Most interactive mentions about Spotify on Facebook

YouTube

Spotify’s YouTube channel hosts 13 Playlists consisting of 175 videos, mainly featuring music videos,

exclusive Spotify music sessions, interviews of music artists and customer case studies from their

Spotify for Brands marketing platform. There are between 3 to 27 videos posted per playlist. Videos

are posted every 1 to 4 months. Views range from 2,000+ to over 5M per video. The more popular

videos generate over 1,000 Likes and over 200 comments. Comments are disabled for videos of

sponsored music sessions and corporate brand case studies.

Google+

Although, the website doesn’t display the Google+ icon with a link to Spotify’s Google+ page, it should

be considered. Social mentions of the Spotify brand occur daily on Google+. Figures 8, 9 and 10 below

show Spotify coverage on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for January 15th, 16th and 17th respectively.

Figure 8: Mentions about Spotify on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ from Google Alerts on 15 January 2017

Figure 9: Mentions about Spotify on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ from Google Alerts on 16 January 2017

Figure 10: Mentions about Spotify on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ from Google Alerts on 17 January 2017

Spotify Blog Spotify posts on average 4 blog posts per month. Between 0 to 3 comments are posted per blog. Its

blog content is well written and focuses on contests, deals, exclusives, interviews, marketing,

nominations and awards, life at Spotify, among other categories. There’s a great opportunity here for

Spotify to share this content across all social media channels and promote contests, deals and

marketing, something which doesn’t appear to be currently happening. Also, an icon linking to the blog

is missing from the website.

Spotify Online Community Spotify’s online community has four separate forums: help topics, music chat, rock stars and ideas.

There are 6,167,303 members and 169,721 topics. The majority of topics are in the Help forum. 330

ideas out of 29,863 were generated from the Ideas forum. Between 0 to over 4,000 comments are

posted per topic. Most Likes occur in the Ideas forum, with each post averaging 300 Likes each.

Response time is two days. For an evaluation on social listening, please see Appendix 1.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

● 52% of traffic is from Google Search

and 38% is Referrals ● Website bounce rate is 48% ● Website and app is designed well

and user-friendly ● Social media presence across many

SM channels ● Blog content is well written ● Twitter has high reach, frequent

posting and strong user engagement

● Positive sentiment on Twitter ● Facebook social mention

interactivity is high

WEAKNESSES

● Facebook’s number of followers is

low ● Infrequent posts on SM channels ● Few videos on YouTube ● Blog, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube

channels missing on website ● Inconsistent content posting across

channels ● No responses to users on some

channels ● No content management

integration exists across SM channels

● Too many irrelevant individual Facebook pages

OPPORTUNITIES

● Increase reach and user engagement on SM channels

● Upload more music videos to YouTube

● Post more consistently on SM channels

● Create quality Facebook pages for worldwide markets in different languages

● Contests, deals and marketing should be promoted across all SM channels

● Blog posts should be shared across all SM channels

● Keep content consistent across all SM channels

● Improve customer relations by responding promptly to users online

● Capitalise on online PR and influencers

THREATS

● Bad publicity from music artists and

media authors ● Lose users to cheaper competitors

or competitors with superior music streaming services

● Disruptive technology ● Changes to music streaming

regulations ● Tax increases

Website Heuristics Evaluation Visibility of system status

Upgrading from a free Spotify account to a premium one is very simple to do on the website and app.

Also, starting a free trial of the Premium version of Spotify is easy to perform on the website. Each step

of the process is made clear to users. Differences between Free and Premium accounts are clearly

explained, their different functions and pricing.

Help and documentation

There is a FAQ in the Help section of the website. Also, a Search tab is provided so users can quickly

search for solutions to their problems. Furthermore, there is a community forum on the website that

users can join should they want to chat with other Spotify users and discuss Spotify’s services,

problems and solutions.

Flexibility and efficiency of use

There is a Search button on the app which allows users to quickly find what music genre or artist

they’re looking for. Play, stop, forward and back buttons are clearly displayed on the app.

Downloading the app is user-friendly, fast and efficient. The green Spotify icon is easily recognisable on

users’ devices.

Figure 11: Spotify icon/logo

Recognition rather than recall

Downloading the music app from the website is very easy to perform. There is a Download option on

the website’s homepage menu. Also, logging in again as a user on the website is simple and they’ve

made it even easier for users by allowing them to connect their account to Facebook for logging in

convenience. Once users are logged in, an account overview is instantly provided and making changes

or edits to an account is extremely simplified. See Figure 12 below.

Figure 12: Account overview on Spotify's music streaming app

Consistency and standards

Sign Up, Download, Help and Log In options are displayed on the top right of the website’s homepage.

Aesthetic and minimalist design

The Spotify website is visually presented well, with bold, fun colours and simple uncomplicated

language. Basic information on the product’s services, features and pricing is easy to find and

understand.

The tagline “Music for everyone” is simple and straightforward. The user instantly knows what the

service offering is. Refer to figure 13 below.

Figure 13: Tagline "Music for everyone" on Spotify website

Strong visuals of album covers and keywords such as music, playlists, new releases are used to display

the product’s features.

Figure 14: Visuals and keywords: music, albums, playlists, new releases on Spotify website

Search, browse and discover are keywords used to demonstrate the product’s functions.

Figure 15: Keywords: search, browse, discover on Spotify website

Spotify Free and Spotify Premium with pricing information is clearly indicated.

Figure 16: Pricing information for Spotify free and premium services displayed on website

The main goal of the website is to encourage the potential customer to download the music app;

therefore, minimal but a sufficient amount of information is provided on the website.

Regarding aesthetic and minimalist design of Spotify’s app, it is presented well with menu options laid

out in a logical flow. Categories are clearly organised by songs, albums, artists, radio, charts, genres,

moods, new releases etc. Effective visuals of album covers and photos of artists are used to display the

categories.

User control and freedom

On the free version of Spotify users do not have the freedom to control the order of the songs in which

they play, they can skip a few songs forward but not backwards nor to a specific song they wish to play.

Also, users must tolerate 30 second commercials. On the Spotify Premium version however, users have

the freedom to skip forwards or backwards as many songs as they wish and don’t have to listen to ads.

Figure 17: Screenshot of button control panel on Spotify music streaming app

1 b) Customer Analysis

Buyer Persona 1

MIKE MURPHY

Background

● Full-time college business student ● Interests are house and electronic

music, independent movies and plays rugby

Demographics

● Male ● Single ● 22 ● Income: None ● Lives with parents in Dundrum, Co. Dublin

Online Characteristics

● Follow sports highlights on smartphone ● Messages friends on Facebook messenger and WhatsApp ● Watches YouTube music videos on his laptop ● Listens to music on his smartphone

Goals/Challenges

● Wants low cost entertainment options ● Wants quick access to information at his fingertips

How we can help

● Offer a 50% student discount on Spotify Premium ● Advertise friend referral programs on Facebook ● Recommend house and electronic music songs that appeal to Mike’s taste on Spotify ● Advertise the latest Spotify music videos on YouTube and encourage sharing via promos

Quotes

● “I’m on a budget so I need cheap entertainment options” ● “I like to listen to music on my headset while traveling on the bus to college” ● “I like to keep up with the latest music trends”

Buyer Persona 2

JOHN FITZPATRICK

Background

● Manager of Irish punk rock music band ● Interests are punk rock music, attending

concerts and travelling Demographics

● Male ● Married with 2 kids ● 50 ● Income: $80,000 ● Lives in Boston, MA

Online characteristics

● Works on laptop ● Travels with iPad ● Checks emails and tweets on Twitter using smartphone ● Posts pictures on Facebook and Instagram on smartphone

Goals/Challenges

● Time pressed and needs to make decisions quickly ● Wants to know best places to tour and promote band ● Wants to protect music rights and ensure band is fairly compensated ● Need to keep up with music trends in the industry

How we can help

● Offering Spotify Fan Insights to provide him audience demographic information ● Provide tracking and insights on music band’s performance on Spotify ● Help him plan tours and promote to the right audience ● Help him create playlists, albums and an artist page ● Recommend him new releases of songs and albums ● Grow the fan listener base ● Offering a low cost advertising and promotion channel

Quotes

● “I’m on the road a lot so I need to know the best places to tour” ● “I need to grow the fan base and know my target audience well” ● “I need to make sure music is copyrighted and we’re fairly compensated”

Buyer Persona 3

MICHELLE SCHULZ

Background ● Brand Manager for Nivea ● Interests are having a work/life balance,

listening to all kinds of music, going to the gym and attending creative arts performances

Demographics

● Female ● 35 ● Married ● Income: €50,000 ● Lives in Munich, Germany

Online Characteristics

● Listens to acoustic, classical and live music on Spotify while working on her desktop ● Shares interesting articles in her LinkedIn groups and on her Twitter account ● Posts articles on LinkedIn and reads articles and news shared by her network on her feed ● Browses Google+ for stories and trends in her networks ● Travels with laptop ● Browses news and scans articles on smartphone ● Listens to Spotify’s running and workout stations while at the gym

Goals/Challenges

● Creating cost effective campaigns that target niche market segments ● Increasing brand awareness ● Identifying new market opportunities ● Maintaining a positive brand image ● Handling a brand image crisis ● Keeping up to date with the latest industry marketing and branding tactics

How we can help

● Spotify for Brands can help her aim specific campaigns at niche audiences ● Design music playlists, soundtracks and ads for targeted segments ● Increase brand awareness with access to a huge online audience ● Offer cost effective campaigns ● Provide tracking and insights on Nivea marketing performance on Spotify

Quotes

● “Responding effectively in times of an image crisis is crucial to maintaining a credible brand”

● “I’m always looking for unconventional and new ways to increase brand awareness” ● “It’s very important for me to keep up with industry trends and what our competitors are

doing”

1 c) Competitor Analysis Spotify has many competitors: Apple Music, Google Play Music, Amazon Prime, Napster, Deezer,

iHeartRadio, Jango, Pandora, Slacker Radio, Accuradio, SoundCloud and many more. Here, I will focus

on analysing 2 main competitors: Pandora and SoundCloud.

Spotify Pandora SoundCloud

Year Founded 2006 2000 2007

Number of Subscribers: Registered Active

100M 40M

250M 80M

40M 175M

Arts & Entertainment Category Rank

4 5 2

Klout Score 92 81 90

Total visits to site on desktop & mobile in last 6 months

229.7M 183.5M 302.4M

Site Bounce rate 48.42% 57.56% 48.73%

Av no. page views/visitor 4.05 2.47 4.49

Av time on site 4 mins 2 secs 2 mins 55 secs 5 mins 26 secs

Countries visiting the site US, UK, Brazil, Germany and Mexico

US, Australia, Poland, Puerto Rico, New Zealand

US, UK, France, Germany, Egypt

Sentiment Level (Social Mention) Neutral - Positive Neutral Positive

Sentiment ratio 3:0 0:0 3:0

Reach 2% 0% 0%

# Av. hours/mention 1 9 15

Traffic sources on desktop: Direct Search Referral Social

64% 20% 7% 7%

79% 10% 8% 1%

54% 17% 8% 19%

Social traffic sources: 63% Facebook 16% YouTube

46% Facebook 32% YouTube

56% Facebook 25% YouTube

Mobile App Availability iTunes and Google Play Store

iTunes and Google Play Store iTunes and Google Play Store

App ranking by music & audio category

# 1 in UK # 1 in USA # 3 in USA

App traffic sources 53% search 38% referrals

79% search 15% referrals

70% social 26% search

Brand24 Mentions: Most frequent mentions Most interactive mentions

Instagram Facebook

Twitter Facebook

Facebook Facebook

Competitor Brand Health Check Analysis Spotify Pandora SoundCloud

Facebook

Reach 63,473 Followers 6,708,737 Followers 6,426,230 Followers

Posts 1 post every 1 – 4 days 1 post daily 1 post daily

Feedback 36 Likes and 10 comments per post

208 Likes and 17 comments per post

27 Likes and 4 comments per post

Av Response Time 30 minutes No responses No responses

Twitter

Reach 2.04M Followers 545K Followers 2.17M Followers

Posts 1 – 4 posts daily 1 – 2 posts every 1 – 3 days 1 post every 1 – 3 days

Feedback 25.1K Tweets and 37 – 200+ retweets daily

154K Tweets and 3 – 113+ retweets daily

14.1K Tweets and 19 – 257+ tweets daily

Av Response Time 30 minutes No responses 30 minutes

Instagram

Reach 811K Followers 80.4K Followers 342K Followers

Posts 1 post every 1 – 4 days 5 posts weekly 4 posts weekly

Feedback 4K+ Likes and 100 comments per post

1,500 views and 5 comments per post

1000+ Likes and 45 comments per post

Av Response Time No responses No responses No responses

YouTube

Reach 111,729 Subscribers 87,235 Subscribers 10,464 Subscribers

Posts 175 Videos 267 Videos 6 videos

Feedback 40.9M+ Views 35.05M Views 167,334 Views

Av Response Time No responses No responses No responses

Google+

Reach 125,309 Followers 638,572 Followers 3,877,799 Followers

Posts 1 post every month 2 posts weekly 2 posts weekly

Feedback 58 comments and 29 shares per post

7 comments and 5 shares per post

57 comments and 2 shares per post

Av Response Time No responses No responses No responses

LinkedIn

Reach 234,991 Followers 110,233 Followers 77,072 Followers

Posts 2 – 3 posts every week 4 posts weekly 3 posts weekly

Feedback 500 Likes and 10 comments per post

68 Likes and 2 comments per post

65 Likes and 2 comments per post

Av Response Time No responses No responses 1 week

Blog

Reach - - -

Posts 4 posts a month 1 post every 5 days 2 posts a month

Feedback 0 – 3 Likes and 0 comments per post

2 – 3 comments per post 0 – 10 Likes and 0 – 3 comments per post

Av Response Time No responses Within 6 hours No responses

Spotify Pandora SoundCloud

Online community

Reach 6,167,303 Members - 84,587 Members

Posts 169,721 Topics - 20,732 Topics

Feedback 300 Likes and 0 – 4K+ comments

- 27 comments 5 Likes

Av Response Time 2 days - 1 day

1 d) External Factors

PEST ANALYSIS

POLITICAL

● Some countries like China and

Turkey ban/restrict music streaming services

● Newly imposed legal regulations for the music industry, such as new licensing deals and music copyright

● Larger streaming companies will acquire smaller streaming services

ECONOMIC

● Changes to funding of music streaming

companies ● Pricing changes to music ● Music services may no longer be offered

for Free as the number of subscriptions rise

● Premium listening services might be too expensive for certain market segments

● Pricing will be adjusted to data usage with a maximum rate of $10/month

SOCIAL

● Music listening trends change ● Music subscriptions will rise ● Trend veering towards watching

video than passive listening ● New music genres will be

introduced, such as Country Dance, Air Pop, Power House and Folk Punk

● Trend toward independent music acts than mainstream labels

● Exclusive music albums offered on music streaming services

TECHNOLOGICAL

● Disruptive technology might change how

music is delivered ● Interactive music experiences ● Future VR introduces video music ● Alternative forms of entertainment

2. Objectives

Social Media Platform Quantitative KPIs for the next year

Twitter 10% growth in the number of followers 20% growth in the number of retweets 20% growth in the number of mentions 10% increase in CTR of the links posted in tweets 20% increase in number of visits to website from tweets 5% increase in subscriptions from tweet links

Facebook 20% growth in the number of likes 30% growth in the number of followers 20% growth in the wall response time 20% increase in the number of comments and shares 5% increase in subscriptions from Facebook ads 20% increase in the number of Facebook pages created for international languages

Instagram 20% growth in the number of likes 20% growth in the number of followers 50% growth in the wall response time 20% increase in the number of comments and shares 5% increase in subscriptions from Instagram ads

YouTube 50% growth in the number of videos posted 30% growth in the number of videos viewed 5% increase in subscriptions from video ads 20% growth in the number of unique visitors 15% increase in number of visits to website from YouTube 10% increase in positive comments 10% increase in average rankings of videos by viewers

Google+ 50% growth in the number of likes 30% growth in the number of followers 50% growth in the wall response time 20% increase in the number of comments and shares 15% increase in number of visits to website

LinkedIn 20% increase in the number of connections 10% increase in the number of recommendations 20% growth in posts and comments in discussion groups 20% increase in the number of group members 15% growth in the number of questions answered or asked 5% increase in sponsorships from LinkedIn ads

Blog 30% increase in the number of views 25% growth in the number of subscribers 30% increase in the number of Likes 10% increase in the number of comments 50% growth in the wall response time

Online community forum 20% growth in the number of members 20% growth in the number of topics and threads 25% growth in the number of solutions 25% increase in the number of ideas

E-zine articles 30% growth in the number of published articles 20% growth in the number of article views 30% growth in article syndication rate 20% growth in the number of inbound links from syndicated articles

3. Digital Marketing Channels strategy and tactics

3 a) Owned, paid and earned channels and the role of each Media Type

Current Proposed The Role

Owned

● Website ● Mobile App ● Blog ● Social Profiles ● Organic SEO ● Sales promos:

free trials, discounts

● Online community

● Organic SEO ● Sales promos ● Expand Facebook pages to

more languages ● Email marketing to

corporate customers

To maintain and build long-term relationships with existing and potential users.

Paid

● Bing ads ● Video

advertising on YouTube

● Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn & Twitter ads

● Bing ads ● Mobile banner ads ● Video advertising on

YouTube ● Influencer marketing

To support owned media and create earned media.

Earned

● Online PR ● Viral videos ● Shares ● Retweets ● Reposts ● Reviews ● Ratings ● Community

Discussion ● Facebook Fan

pages ● Co-marketing ● Partner

marketing

● Online PR ● Viral videos ● Shares ● Reposts ● Retweets ● Reviews ● Ratings ● Community Discussion ● Facebook Fan pages ● Co-marketing ● Partner marketing with

music festivals & charities

The result of well-managed owned and paid media. Instills credibility among existing and potential users in the brand.

3 b) Integration of tactical tools The following key tactics will be deployed to help strengthen Spotify’s brand: Facebook

● Post content for the student and youth market, such as new releases of singles and albums, popular music artists, new music genres, concerts and events in their localities, YouTube videos

● Post content at least once daily ● Humorous ads to lead traffic to website ● Offer free trials, student discounts and promos to increase subscriptions and increase number

of likes and shares ● Create Facebook pages for relevant international audiences in their respective languages ● Include link to Facebook on all marketing communications

Twitter

● Respond to questions and comments promptly ● 10 tweets daily and use hashtags frequently and in campaigns ● Tweet interesting articles and videos relevant to student, youth, music artists and corporate

audiences ● Follow 2 new people daily using Twellow to increase number of followers ● Retweet content to encourage shares ● Coupons and giveaways once a month to increase followers ● Include link to Twitter on all marketing communications

LinkedIn

● Employees should have a full LinkedIn profile with recommendations for credibility ● Profiles should include link to all social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+,

YouTube, the website and blog ● Post case studies to increase sponsorships with corporate brands ● Post blog and e-zine articles to build brand awareness ● Post links to podcasts to build relationships with music artists ● Participate in industry discussions once a week to build brand awareness ● Connect with one new industry leader a week

YouTube

● Post music videos of most popular artists, new releases, singles, albums etc. to increase subscriptions and number of followers

● Post videos on brand case studies to increase sponsorships, cobranding and partner marketing initiatives

● Post exclusive music sessions and music artists’ interviews to increase number of artist sign ups ● Upbeat, energetic and eye catching ads to lead traffic to website ● Respond to comments on YouTube

Instagram

● Identify 3 influencers weekly to leverage their networks to promote brand ● Post pictures and videos new releases of singles and albums, popular music artists, fans,

concerts and events once daily to increase likes and shares ● Host visually appealing ads to lead traffic to website ● Respond to comments promptly ● Include link to Instagram on all marketing communications

Google+

● Post content on new releases of singles and albums, popular music artists, new music genres, concerts and events, music awards, festivals, nominations, YouTube videos etc.

● Post content at least once daily ● Offer free trials, event tickets, discounts and promos to increase subscriptions and number of

followers ● Respond to comments ● Include link to Google+ on all marketing communications

Spotify Blog

● Post content once a week on life at Spotify, case studies exclusive music sessions, music awards, nominations, music artist interviews, music festivals, new music genres etc.

● Promote promos, discounts and deals using links in content ● Follow 5 new bloggers a week ● Respond to comments ● Include link to blog on all marketing communications

Online community forum

● Start one discussion daily on the forum ● Post discussions, questionnaires and polls to gather ideas and solutions for new product ideas ● Respond to comments promptly ● Solve issues and concerns from customers on help forum ● Promote promos, discounts, free trials, concert tickets, events to increase subscriptions and

number of followers ● Include links to blog and social media channels

Email marketing

● Create email list of all corporate customers and music artists ● Use co-branded and third party email lists to leverage partner brand ● Use rented email lists to contact 50 new corporate customers weekly ● Promote free trials, discounts, promos, events and concert ticket deals in content ● Use MailChimp to construct email content about corporate brand case studies, new music

artists signed, popular music singles, albums and artists, YouTube videos, e-zine articles ● Email once daily to increase corporate sponsorships and music artists sign ups ● Include links to blog and social media channels

Online PR

● Write e-zine articles once a week to boost branding efforts ● Write content about milestones achieved and customer success stories ● Coordinate with tech, music and industry digital magazines in relevant countries ● Schedule publishing around themes or seasonal events ● Include links to website and social media channels on all articles

3 c) Content marketing calendar

Google+

YouTube ST. PATRICK'S Blog

Twitter MARCH

CAMPAIGN LinkedIn

Facebook Online

community

Instagram Online PR

WEEK 1

TIME MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

6 MARCH 7 MARCH 8 MARCH 9 MARCH 10 MARCH 11 MARCH 12 MARCH

9.00 Popular Irish music artist podcast

Brand case study Industry discussion Industry leader connect

Irish artist interview

video

Article

10.00 Popular Irish music artist podcast

Brand case study Student premium discount ad

Event ticket promo

Irish artist interview

video

Article

11.00 Popular Irish music artist video

Brand case study Promo ad Irish artist interview

Celtic rock music video

Irish Folk ballads music video

Celtic woman video

12.00 Customer success story e-article

Exclusive music session with The

Irish Rovers

13.00 Popular Irish artist video

Brand case study Coupon Irish artist interview

tweet

Celtic rock music video

Article Family Sunday tweet

14.00 Popular irish artist video

Free trial Tuesday Student premium discount ad

Event ticket promo

Irish artist interview

video

Irish Folk ballads pic

Sunday concert fan

pic

15.00 Popular Irish artist video

Free trial Tuesday Student premium discount ad

Celtic rock music video

Friday event post

Coupon Sunday concert post

16.00 Favorite Irish pub song discussion

Free trial Tuesday Student premium discount

Concert ticket promo

Friday event post

Idea questionnaire/

poll

Sunday concert post

17.00

WEEK 2

TIME MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

13 MARCH 14 MARCH 15 MARCH 16 MARCH 17 MARCH 18 MARCH 19 MARCH

9.00 Popular Irish music artist podcast

Brand case study Industry discussion Industry leader connect

St. Patrick's special video

Article

10.00 Popular Irish music artist podcast

Brand case study Student premium discount ad

Event ticket promo

St. Patrick's special video

Article

11.00 Popular Irish music artist video

Brand case study Promo ad Irish artist interview

St. Patrick's special video

Irish Folk ballads music video

Celtic woman video

12.00 Customer success story e-article

Exclusive music session with The

Celtic Tenors

13.00 Popular Irish artist video

Brand case study Coupon Irish artist interview

tweet

St. Patrick's special video

Article Family Sunday tweet

14.00 Popular Irish artist video

Free trial Tuesday Student premium discount ad

Event ticket promo

St. Patrick's special video

Irish Folk ballads pic

Sunday concert fan

pic

15.00 Popular Irish artist video

Free trial Tuesday Student premium discount ad

Celtic rock music video

Friday event post

Coupon Sunday concert post

16.00 Favorite Irish pub song discussion

Free trial Tuesday Student premium discount

Concert ticket promo

Friday event post

Idea questionnaire/

poll

Sunday concert post

17.00

4. Measurement and Control

4 a) Proposed measures for each channel

Social media channels

1. For platform insights, use Facebook Insights, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter Analytics.

2. Ensure personnel is in place to maintain quality Facebook pages for the worldwide markets in

different languages.

3. Set up a hashtag Spotify alert on Twitter to track mentions of the brand.

4. Use TweetReach to tap into your most influential followers on Twitter.

5. Use Social Bakers to find out the best days/times to posts on social media channels.

6. Deploy HootSuite to manage social media accounts, schedule posts and perform real-time

analytics.

Email marketing

1. Use MailChimp to track email campaign performance, monitor audience growth and

engagement. View subscriber activity, campaign trends, revenue reports, bounces,

unsubscribes, location information and compare with competitors’ email campaigns.

Social Listening of social media channels

1. Perform social listening using Klout, Mention, Brandwatch, Twazzup, Sprout Social, Social

Mention, TweetDeck, Google Alerts and Brand24 to track brand mentions, social media

performance, competitor activity and industry leaders.

2. HootSuite Insights will track influencers, stories, trends, perform social listening, social media

monitoring and visualise metrics.

3. The Brandwatch app in HootSuite measures brand mentions on blogs, forums, news, videos and

review sites.

4. The Geopiq for Instagram app on HootSuite monitors and engages with users on Instagram in

specific locations.

Website and app analytics

1. Monitor online performance of website and create analytics reports using Google Analytics,

SimilarWeb and Alexa. Compare site and app performance from that of competitors.

Dashboards

1. Use Cyfe to provide a complete dashboard of metrics from all analytics sources for the website,

social media channels and the brand.

4 b) ORM Strategy

Step 1: Monitor

There are several types of searches one can perform on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo;

however, I chose Direct search on Google, since Spotify is a well-known brand name in the music

streaming industry and most searches are performed on the Google search engine. As per figures 18

and 19 below, Spotify appears in the top results on page 1 of Google. Images, maps, news and videos

are shown in figures 20 – 23.

Figure 18: Google first page results for Spotify

Figure 19: Google first page results for Spotify

Figure 20: Google Images for Spotify

Figure 21: Google Maps

Figure 22: Google News

Figure 23: Google Videos

Furthermore, keyword searches can be performed by using some tools on Google, such as Google

Alerts, Google news, Google blog search and Google patent search. See figures 24 – 28 below.

Figure 24: Google Alerts results for keyword search "Spotify"

Figure 25: Google Alerts results for keyword search "Spotify"

Figure 26: Search results for keyword "Spotify" on Google News

Figure 27: Search results for keyword "Spotify" on Google blog search

Figure 28: Search results for Spotify patents on Google patent search

Step 2: Measure Analytics about Spotify’s website are as follows:

Figure 29: Category ranking for Spotify app. Source: SimilarWeb

Figure 30: Total visits on Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

Figure 31: Traffic by country on Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

Figure 32: Traffic sources on Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

Figure 33: Referral traffic to Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

Figure 34: Search traffic to Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

Figure 35: Social traffic to Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

Spotify visitors are mainly typing in the keyword “Spotify” into a search engine.

Figure 36: Top keywords from search engines sending traffic to Spotify website. Source: Alexa

26% of people visited google.com before visiting Spotify’s website.

Figure 37: Upstream sites to Spotify's website. Source: Alexa

Visitors to the Spotify website mainly went to the web player, news, support and developer information.

Figure 38: Pages visitors navigate on Spotify website. Source: Alexa

The majority of visitors on Spotify’s website are college educated males and browse Spotify at work.

Figure 39: Visitor demographics on Spotify website. Source: Alexa

ORM Database

URL OF MENTION POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, NEUTRAL

SOURCE CREDIBILITY

INFLUENCE ACTION

https://twitter.com/WIIHAMB/status/824924006994341888

Positive

Twitter

Credible

Widely read

Product support promptly responded within 4 minutes and resolved the customer complaint

https://twitter.com/SpotifyStatus/status/823578894380965888

Negative

Twitter

Credible

Widely read

Product support responded in 1 hour and 2 hours later asked the customer to email them their email address so they look at the problem backstage

https://twitter.com/amy_blahhh/status/790162776102674432

Negative

Twitter

Credible

Widely read

Product support explained within 30 minutes to the customer the reason for the song being deleted due to licensing issues and provided them with a link to more information

Step 3: Managing Utilise social listening tools like Brandwatch, Brand24, Google Alerts, Social Sprout and Social Mention

to track mentions and sentiment. Spotify needs to be on the alert for any negative mentions which

may impact the brand’s reputation. Negative mentions must be dealt with in a timely and professional

manner. Less is more, so responding minimally is more effective. Anything the brand says online can be

traced back to at a later stage.

Responding

Response feedback to users should be prompt. A quick response to complaints is necessary, as the user

should never be left in the dark for long. Users are accustomed to responses being more instantaneous

on social media. Thank them for bringing the issue to your attention and try to take the conversation

off social media to email or phone if the problem cannot be solved immediately online and more time

is needed to investigate the complaint. Always keep them informed on the status of the issue and

notify them when resolution occurs. Offer free concert and event tickets, friend referral programs,

music prize giveaways and coupons to appease the dissatisfied customer.

Digital Crisis Management Plan

The following digital crisis management plan should be in place for dealing with negative complaints:

1. Monitor constantly

Negative mentions should be tracked at all times so you can respond swiftly to customer

complaints.

2. Respond immediately

Don’t leave the customer in the dark. Be sure to respond to acknowledge the complaint right

away.

3. Keep messaging consistent

Use simple and coherent language in communications so there’s no miscommunication and act,

don’t just promise.

4. Educate employees

Employees need a set of guidelines as how to respond in difficult situations. A risk escalation

protocol should be established.

5. Establish a digital crisis strategy

Appoint a digital crisis team to manage social media issues. Tap into your influencer network to

help promulgate good news about the brand and coordinate online press releases in tech,

music and industry e-magazines to help revive a positive brand image.

Step 4: Maximise All the data gathered about Spotify’s online audience can be used to plan online campaigns, future

product launches, online promos, deals, contests and content publishing to target the audience

segments at the right time and day on the most appropriate channels.

You need to know the best time and day to publish the company blog and publish social media posts to

get people’s attention at the right moment. Learn the online behavior of your audience and attain

knowledge and insights into user patterns that can contribute to social media and campaign

management. Deploy a real-time system to track social mentions and sentiment so customer

appreciation responses can be issued quickly and digital crises can be dealt with promptly and

effectively.

5. Strategy Implementation

5 a) Roles and responsibilities of team members The team members required to implement the digital strategy are the following:

1. Project manager

2. Social media manager

3. Email campaign manager

4. Content writer

5. Social media coordinator

6. Product support

7. Community manager

8. Web designer

9. Digital marketing consultant

ROLES RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Manager

● Facilitates the definition of project scope, goals and deliverables ● Deliver deliverables on scope, time and budget ● Set tasks, schedules, resources and critical path items ● Produce and maintain project documentation: initiation, Gantt chart and

RAID Log ● Establish effective communications with all stakeholders ● Conduct regular team meetings to discuss tasks, issues, risks, timelines and

deliverables ● Maintain progress reports and manage any arising changes ● Drive project to a successful outcome within deadline

Email Campaign Manager

● Implement innovative email campaigns for customer acquisition and

retention plans ● Design, manage and build marketing automated campaigns ● Coordinate email campaigns around marketing efforts ● Analyse customer data and produce reports ● Proficient with online marketing tools

Content Writer

● Create relevant and engaging content for website, blog, e-articles and social

media channels ● Write online press releases and e-articles ● Write promotional content for online marketing and email campaigns ● Generate content for online competitions, contests, deals etc. ● Source relevant images, videos and photo content ● Generate SEO content for web optimization

Social Media Coordinator

● Work closely with the Social Media Manager in successfully implementing the

digital strategies ● Publish daily content across social media channels ● Upload images, videos and photos on all digital platforms ● Update the company website & blog ● Publish online press releases and e-articles ● Create and reply to posts and positively engage with online users ● Respond timely to online customers ● Promote content across social media channels

Product Support

● Adhere to guidelines and risk escalation protocol ● Respond promptly to customer issues and solve them in a timely manner ● Thank customers for sharing appreciation and positive mentions ● Provide feedback to management on most common issues arising ● Contribute ideas to enhancing the customer experience

Community Manager

● Extend the brand awareness to prospects and customers ● Create the guidelines for handling any issues and concerns ● Cultivates relationships with members via social media, email and phone ● Engage with members online ● Post updates, relevant news and links ● Coordinate communications for events, promos and customer appreciation ● Manage and track members’ lists and keep records of customer interactions ● Relay insights gained from online conversations in the community and provide

analysis to the team

Web designer

● Maintain a high quality visually appealing website ● Design innovative customer experiences and optimize existing pages and

flows ● Enhance site navigation to feed funneling traffic ● Develop wireframes and high fidelity mock ups ● Develop cross browser and multi-platform compatible site ● Design digital graphics for desktop, tablet and mobile ● Design interactive web pages and email formats ● Coordinate with content writer, social media manager and others to create

content, graphics, images, icons, banners, ads etc. ● Update landing pages for websites and ads ● Integrate SEO and SEM keywords

Digital Marketing Consultant

● To consult on company-wide digital marketing initiatives ● Conduct digital presence and brand audit ● Conduct competitor research ● Perform SWOT and PEST analyses ● Perform customer analysis and develop buyer personas ● Evaluate social media channels ● Evaluate website heuristics ● Identify influencer networks, LinkedIn groups and industry leaders ● Determine online advertising strategy ● Provide final recommendations for future projects

5 b) Proposed timeline

● A duration of 3 months, commencing 2 January 2017 and completion by 30 March 2017

5 c) High level stages

● Initiation ● Planning and Control ● Assessment ● Production and Design ● Budgeting ● Launch ● Review and Refine

5 d) Key milestones

M1 INITIATION 2 January 2017

Gather project requirements, set goals, develop strategy and conduct research.

Proposal reviewed.

M1 PLANNING AND CONTROL 16 January 2017

Conduct workshop, document costs, create WBS and scope statement.

Workshop, costs, WBS and scope statement defined.

M2 ASSESSMENT 1 February 2017

Audit brand, evaluate social media channels, perform SWOT and PEST, analyse customer and competitors.

Brand audit, social media evaluation, SWOT, PEST, customer and competitor analysis implemented.

M2 PRODUCTION AND DESIGN 13 February 2017

Content and marketing preparation for launch. Set up digital crises team.

All criteria ready for launch and digital crises team established.

M2 BUDGETING 21 February 2017

Estimate costs and set up approval process.

Costs and budget approval process finalised.

M3 LAUNCH 2 March 2017

Launch the St. Patrick’s March online campaign.

Content calendar executed and tracking and analysis performed.

M3 REVIEW AND REFINE 24 MARCH 2017

Review project performance and conduct review team meeting.

Final reports produced, insights generated, review meeting held and recommendations made.

M3 CLOSE 30 MARCH 2017

For more information on strategy implementation and for a detailed work breakdown schedule (WBS),

please see Appendix 2. The WBS details the individual tasks within the high level stages, their

durations, whom the tasks are assigned to and their completion status.

References Company’s current digital presence

1. Spotify, (2017). Music for everyone – Spotify. [online] Available at: https://www.spotify.com/us/

2. Wikipedia, (2017). Spotify-Wikipedia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify

3. Spotify Artists, (2017). Spotify Artists – Fan Insights . [online] Available at:

https://artists.spotify.com/features

4. Spotify News, (2017). Blog-News-Spotify. [online] Available at: https://news.spotify.com/us/category/blog/

5. Instagram, (2017). Spotify Instagram Photos and Videos . [online] Available at:

https://www.instagram.com/spotify/

6. Twitter, (2017). Spotify Twitter . [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/Spotify

7. LinkedIn, (2017). Spotify LinkedIn. [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/207470/

8. Facebook, (2017). Spotify Facebook . [online] Available at:

https://www.facebook.com/games/get-spotify/?fbs=1101

9. Google+, (2017). Spotify Google+. [online] Available at: https://plus.google.com/+Spotify

10. Spotify for Brands, (2017). Success Stories – Spotify for Brands . [online] Available at : https://spotifyforbrands.com/us/gallery/

11. Groupon, (2017) Spotify Promo Codes & Discount Codes 2017 – Groupon . [online] Available at:

https://www.groupon.com/coupons/stores/spotify.com

12. Spotify, (2017). Spotify Student. [online] Available at: https://www.spotify.com/us/student/

13. Spotify, (2017). Spotify Support. [online] Available at: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/spotify-new-subscriber-offers/

14. Facebook, (2017). SpotifyCares – Facebook. [online] Available at:

https://www.facebook.com/SpotifyCares/?fref=ts

15. Google Play, (2017). Google Play . [online] Available at: https://play.google.com/store?hl=en

16. Apple, (2017). iTunes-Apple. [online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/itunes/

17. Spotify Artists, (2016). Spotify Artists Blog . [online] Available at: https://artists.spotify.com/blog

18. YouTube, (2016) Spotify YouTube . [online] Availabe at: https://www.youtube.com/user/spotify

19. Spotify Artists, (2016). Spotify Artists – Blog . [online] Available at: https://artists.spotify.com/blog/welcome-to-the-new-spotify-artists

20. YouTube, (2016) Spotify YouTube . [online] Availabe at: https://www.youtube.com/user/spotify

21. Spotify Community, (2016) The Spotify Community. [online] Available at:

https://community.spotify.com/

22. Constine, J. (2015). Spotify makes the shift to mobile with 52% of listening now on phones and tablets . TechCrunch [online] Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/10/music-is-a-mobile-linchpin/

23. Seabrook, J. (2014). Spotify:Friend or Foe? The New Yorker. [online] Available at:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/24/revenue-streams Competitor analysis

24. Apple, (2017). Music – Apple. [online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/music/

25. Wikipedia, (2017). Pandora Radio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_Radio

26. Wikipedia, (2017). SoundCloud – Wikipedia . [online] Available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoundCloud

27. SoundCloud, (2017). SoundCloud – Hear the world’s sounds. [online] Available at: https://soundcloud.com

28. Pandora, (2017). Pandora Internet Radio – Listen to Free Music You’ll Love. [online] Available at:

http://www.pandora.com

29. Twitter, (2017). SoundCloud Twitter . [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/SoundCloud

30. Twitter, (2017). Twitter Pandora. [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/pandoramusic

31. Facebook, (2017). Facebook SoundCloud. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/SoundCloud/

32. Facebook, (2017). Facebook Pandora. [online] Available at:

https://www.facebook.com/Pandora/?fref=ts

33. Instagram, (2017). Instagram Pandora. [online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/pandora/

34. Instagram, (2017). Instagram SoundCloud. [online] Available at:

https://www.instagram.com/soundcloud/

35. LinkedIn, (2017). LinkedIn SoundCloud. [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/200200/

36. LinkedIn, (2017). LinkedIn Pandora . [online] Available at:

https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/26479/

37. Google+, (2017). Google+ Pandora . [online] Available at: https://plus.google.com/+Pandora

38. Google+, (2017). Google+ SoundCloud [online] Available at: https://plus.google.com/s/soundcloud/top

39. YouTube, (2016). YouTube Pandora. [online] Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/user/pandora

40. YouTube, (2016). YouTube SoundCloud. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/SoundCloudChannel

41. Pandora Blog, (2016). Pandora Blog. [online] Available at: http://blog.pandora.com/

42. The SoundCloud Blog, (2016). The Official SoundCloud Blog. [online] Available at:

https://blog.soundcloud.com/

43. SoundCloud Community, (2016). SoundCloud Help Community. [online] Available at: https://soundcloudcommunity.com/

44. Rivalfox, (2016 ). Spotify Competitors – Rivalfox. [online] Available at:

https://rivalfox.com/spotify-competitors

45. Smith, C. (2016). By the Numbers: 72 Interesting Pandora Statistics (December 2016). DMR Stats|Gadgets. [online] Available at: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/pandora-statistics/

46. Risley, J. & Bishop, T., (2015). Chart: Apple Music Vs. Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody and the rest of

the streaming competition . GeekWire. [online] Available at: http://www.geekwire.com/2015/chart-apple-music-vs-spotify-pandora-rhapsody-and-the-rest-of-the-streaming-competition/

PEST Analysis

47. McIntyre, H., (2016) Streaming is the future of music – but it’s shaky. Forbes. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2016/03/16/streaming-is-the-future-of-music-but-its-shaky/#59bccfcb3464

48. Reddit, (2016) What’s the future of music streaming?: Let’s talk music . [online] Available at:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LetsTalkMusic/comments/4majwl/what_is_the_future_of_music_streaming/

49. Clark, B., (2016) SoundCloud acquisition could offer a glimpse at the future of streaming music. The Next Web. [online] Available at: http://thenextweb.com/opinion/2016/09/29/soundcloud-acquisition-could-offer-a-glimpse-at-the-future-of-streaming-music/

50. The Maniac Agenda, (2016) 6 new music genres you need to hear coming in 2016. [online]

Available at: https://maniacmusic.net/home/blog/6-new-music-genres-you-need-to-hear-coming-in-2016

51. Jarvis, T., (2016) 2017’s house music scene has a new genre. The Edit. [online] Available at:

http://www.theeditgcu.com/music/2017s-house-music-scene-new-genre/

52. Titlow, J., (2015) 5 ways streaming music will change in 2016. Fast Company. [online] Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/3054776/5-ways-streaming-music-will-change-in-2016

53. Solsman, J., (2014). Attention, artists: Streaming music is the inescapable future. Embrace it.

Cnet. [online] Available at: https://www.cnet.com/news/attention-artists-streaming-music-is-the-inescapable-future-embrace-it/

Social media monitoring tools

54. Brand24, (2017). Brand24 – Social media monitoring tool. [online] Available at: https://brand24.com/

55. Social Mention, (2017). Advanced Search – Social Mention . [online] Available at:

http://www.socialmention.com/advanced_search

56. Social Mention, (2017). Social mention search. [online] Available at: http://www.socialmention.com/search/?t=blogs&q=spotify&btnG=Search

57. TweetReach, (2017). How far did your tweets travel? TweetReach. [online] Available at:

https://tweetreach.com/

58. HootSuite Blog, (2017). 11 Powerful social media monitoring tools. [online] Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-monitoring-tools/

59. SimilarWeb, (2016). Spotify.com Analytics – Market Share Stats & Traffic Ranking. [online]

Available at: https://www.similarweb.com/website/spotify.com

60. SimilarWeb, (2016). Spotify Music App Ranking and Market Share Stats in Google PlayStore. [online] Available at: https://www.similarweb.com/app/google-play/com.spotify.music/statistics

61. Mindruta, R., (2013). Marketing: Top 15 free social media monitoring tools. Brandwatch Blog.

[online] Available at: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/top-10-free-social-media-monitoring-tools/

Email marketing

62. MailChimp, (2016). Email marketing platform – MailChimp. [online] Available at: https://mailchimp.com/features/reports/

Owned, paid and earned media

63. Facebook Business, (2017). Learn how to advertise on Instagram | Facebook for Business. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/business/a/advertise-instagram

64. Machin, E., (2016). What is earned, owned and paid media? Titan SEO. [online] Available at:

https://www.titan-seo.com/newsarticles/trifecta.html

65. Chaffey, D., (2015). How Spotify built a $5bn business with more than 50 million subscribers. Smart Insights. [online] Available at: http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-business-revenue-models/spotify-case-study/

Measurement and control

66. Google Alerts, (2017). Google Alerts – Monitor the Web for interesting content. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com/alerts

67. Alexa, (2017). Website traffic, statistics and analytics. [online] Available at:

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo

68. Social Bakers, (2017). Social media marketing, analytics and performance tools. [online] Available at: https://www.socialbakers.com

69. Sprout Social, (2017). Social media management software. [online] Available at:

http://sproutsocial.com

70. Cyfe, (2017). All in One Online Business Dashboard. [online] Available at: http://www.cyfe.com

71. Klout, (2015). Klout – Be known for what you love . [online] Available at: https://klout.com/home

Strategy Implementation

72. LinkedIn, (2017). Jobs - LinkedIn. [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/

73. Smartsheet, (2017). Smartsheet: Work Management and Automation Solutions. [online] Available at: https://www.smartsheet.com

Appendices Appendix 1 Social Listening………………………………………………………………………………………… 56 Appendix 1 Strategy Implementation………………………………………………………………………………60

Appendix 1

Social Listening According to Social Mention, sentiment towards Spotify leans from neutral towards positive with a

sentiment ratio of 3:0. Spotify is mentioned on social media every 1 hour a day but reach is at 2%,

meaning the number of authors referencing the brand online is low.

Figure 40: Screenshot of data from Social Mention about Spotify mentions

64% of all desktop traffic to Spotify’s website is Direct, and mainly coming from the USA. The website is

ranked # 4 in arts and entertainment globally (SimilarWeb, 2017).

Figure 41: Traffic sources on desktop to Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

The average visitor views 4 pages in total and spends an average duration of 4 minutes on the site.

Figure 42: Engagement stats on Spotify website and app. Source: SimilarWeb

Secondary to the USA, most visitors are coming from the UK, Brazil, Germany and Mexico.

Figure 43: Traffic by countries for Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

20% of all traffic is coming from Search and 93% of it is organic search.

Figure 44: Organic and paid search stats for Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

7% of all traffic is from social media with 63% from Facebook.

Figure 45: Social traffic by source to Spotify website. Source: SimilarWeb

The mobile app is available to download on the website, on Google Play and iTunes store. The app is ranked # 1 in the UK. 53% of traffic is from Google Search and 38% from Referrals sites.

Figure 46: Traffic sources for Spotify app. Source: SimilarWeb

Appendix 2

Strategy Implementation Strategy implementation requires project planning, which involves flushing out details regarding project requirements, resources, timeline and objective feasibility. Advance planning helps the team prepare ahead and factor in any potential risks and hurdles. The purpose of a plan is to provide a timeline commitment, to give team members an understanding of the overall goals of the project, provide a work breakdown structure (WBS) and measure progress. Steps of project planning Scope Define the project scope, i.e. the product definition or product description, by gathering project requirements, creating a WBS and controlling the scope. Time Defining and sequencing activities, estimating resources, assigning activity durations, developing and controlling the schedule. In reality, most projects will have activities running in parallel to one another. It is the responsibility of the project manager to create and manage the project plan. Critical Path Analysis Flagging activities that cannot be delayed, as they would delay the entire project. WBS This breakdowns project deliverables into smaller components, which are assigned a task owner and a completion duration. It is normally drafted as a Gantt chart. Budgeting Estimate costs by reviewing previous projects, gather price quotations, set budget assumptions and include a contingency amount of at least 10%. Establish a budget approval process, monitor and draft a final report with post-project cost analysis. Work Breakdown Schedule See pages 61 - 62.