Key Assignment Outline

Flashback Games is a relatively small video game retail store that launched in the heart of Colorado Springs Colorado in 2005. Since then the store has expanded to ten locations across the state. The company sells games for current and aging platforms, but specializes in classic and retro titles. The store’s multiple locations has brought nostalgic gamers together across the state, however word has traveled across the nation and it is clear that gamers all across the country are interested in Flashback Games. The company intends to begin marketing games online in the coming months but wants to ensure that the proper amount of planning and research is conducted prior to launch. The following research article takes a closer look at the company’s e-business plan for incorporating an online retail platform.

Over the past thirteen years Flashback Games experienced great success through traditional marketing methods. The store began its marketing strategy in the mid 2000’s with an ad in the local newspaper that detailed the grand opening of a video game store with more to offer than the typical game shop. Afterwards, the marketing team began to exercise more personal marketing ideas such as: in-store video game tournaments, raffles, and rewards for frequent buyers. In-store video game tournaments were not only an excellent way to advertise a game and get new customers in the store, but the idea aided advertising efforts significantly through word-of-mouth. Pretty soon the whole town was talking about the small game store and it moved to a larger facility. Billboards were posted next to the interstate on the north and south ends of town, and kids would drag parents to the down town location to browse games that were sure to incite nostalgia. Posters that detail Flashback Games’ raffle and reward systems line the street in a seven block radius from the original location. The company used this successful offline marketing campaign throughout the launch of the nine other locations and saw similar results. Presently, the company sees steady profits from traditional offline marketing methods, but wishes to stay current and not fall behind the advertising curve.

Developing an online marketing plan for Flashback Games will be a rewarding endeavor. While not all offline marketing methods carry over into the online world, there are many that have apply similar concepts. For instance, it will be strongly recommended that advertising remain focused on the same demographics, however in an online setting these ads will be right in front of the viewer as opposed to hanging from a billboard. The first and possibly the most important item during online development is the construction and tailoring of the company’s new website. “A quality website is clean, well-organized, easy to navigate, clear/concise, modern (in terms of style and layout), functional, branded, and motivates the visitor to do business with you. Information such as hours of operation, location, and contact info should be extremely easy to find.” (Prolific Marketing, 2018) Aside from the clean and welcoming appearance, the website must include the right features and abilities to allow for secure online sales. This website will serve as a whole new platform for sales and must be updated every bit as often as the retail stores. By utilizing the system that is already in place across each of Flashback Games’ locations, the website’s inventory will be kept up to date automatically after each sale.

Once the website is generated it is important to ensure it can be easily accessed and accessed. This is why search engine optimization (SEO) is necessary during implementation. “An important aspect of SEO is making your website easy for both users and search engine robots to understand. Although search engines have become increasingly sophisticated, they still can't see and understand a web page the same way a human can. SEO helps the engines figure out what each page is about, and how it may be useful for users.” (MOZ, 2018) Due to the fact that the online world is heavily saturated with gaming stores, correctly configuring SEO to work for Flashback Games is a must. Another online marketing effort that will be incorporated heavily during the initial standup is advertising under related content. Through the use of Google AdWords, internet users with common interests in video game related media will be sure to see advertisements for Flashback Games. This sort of advertising is sure to reach the customer base that is much less likely to see offline advertisements such as television ads or newspaper articles.

The final addition to Flashback Games’ online strategy is the incorporation of social media and email marketing. Social Media is without a doubt one of the most powerful marketing tools on the internet. The fact that over two billion people use social media to socialize and connect with people, companies, and groups of interest is a large part of it, but one of the biggest advantages to social media is the fact that it gives a company a sense of personality. No one person can represent the entire company in a manner that would benefit online marketing efforts, however the right sort of posts, photos, and comments on social media can portray a company that would appear desirable in the eyes of future customers and employees. While email marketing is less focused on company personality and more product advertisement oriented, it is still vitally important to retaining and recruiting customers. The right amount of email marketing is perfect for advertising sales, discounts, but most importantly it enable Flashback Games to more efficiently advertise the video game tournaments that attract so many customers.

Multiple offline marketing methods will continue under the new integrated approach. Television and radio ads are especially useful for local advertising, but the company will replace newspaper advertising with internet ads that are capable of reaching far more people for significantly less money. Flashback Games has incorporated many interesting illustrations over the years that will serve as great website and social media graphics. Re-using recognizable images and slogans across offline and online marketing platforms is important to maintain a single image of the company. This image must be positive in nature and represent the very best parts of the company.

Flashback games has developed a brand that is unique to the gaming industry. “Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors'. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.” (Williams, 2018) Flashback Games’ unique brand represents a company that specializes in selling video games that span from current titles to Atari. Most importantly, the company owns a personality that will be much better represented in an online marketing method. “Brand personality is a framework that helps a company or organization shape the way people feel about its product, service or mission. A company's brand personality elicits an emotional response in a specific consumer segment, with the intention of inciting positive actions that benefits the firm.” (Investopedia, 2018) Traditionally, Flashback Games did the best it could to represent a personality that was honest, comical, and informative. This proved to be rather difficult when advertised in a solely offline sort of fashion. However, with the integration of online marketing the company will be able to own these personality traits and represent them through social media and other media advertising. With proper planning and execution, Flashback Games’ integrated marketing method will highlight the best parts of the company in a way that offline methods could not perform alone.

Before Flashback Games can begin integrating the marketing process there are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that must be established. While moving to the cyber world of marketing sounds like and excellent plan in theory, a business must first understand that there is a certain amount of risk and reward with regard to online marketing. KPIs help to understand these risks and measure the amount of reward each of them brings. Throughout this section the company will analyze the most important online marketing business goals and associated KPIs that are intended to measure and track these goals.

The first goal that Flashback Games has set is to increase overall sales through its new online platform by 20%. The KPI measurement for this goal is an increase in online conversion rate. This will be performed by analyzing exactly how customers use the new Flashback Games website, specific product pages, and landing pages from advertisements. Once this information is compiled and reviewed, the company can then make necessary changes that will improve the amount of leads that are converted into online sales. This could be accomplished by changing the consoles or games listed in the advertisements or by changing various other illustrations or layouts that the metrics will point out. The formula for tracking this KPI is (conversion rate = total number of sales / number of leads * 100.)

The second goal is to invest in the overall website functionality and ensure it is easily navigated, informative, and tuned for performance. The KPI to measure this investment goal is project rate of return (PRR), which is commonly referred to as internal rate of return (IRR). This KPI will help to analyze the amount of money spent and earned while the company invests in the website. Ideally the company will earn more money through web sales than what would have been earned by spending the money elsewhere. The formula for PRR is complex and confusing but luckily there are a multitude of tools at the company’s disposal that will ensure financial accountability. One example is a formula used in Excel to help track the PRR which can be found in the referenced link below title Collins. “To simplify this process, Excel offers three functions for calculating the internal rate of return, each of which represents a better option than using the math-based formulas approach.” (Collins, 2017)

Flashback Games’ third goal will be to break even on investment costs within the first month that the website is live. The KPI that is used in this case is the break-even point (BEP). A BEP analysis will ensure that the company accounts for the costs and profits associated with the website launch. It will allow the company to determine how many games and console sales must be made in order to break even on the investment. “The break-even point formula is calculated by dividing the total fixed costs of production by the price per unit less the variable costs to produce the product.” (My Accounting Course, 2018).

The fourth goal for the company will be to increase the rate in which visitors return to make additional purchases by 30%. The KPIs that will be used to measure the store’s progress in this matter are the returning visitor metrics. Keeping metrics on the frequency that the site is visited is crucial to understanding the overall success of the company’s online marketing strategy. Metrics that show visitors who only see the site once or only view the page for a very limited amount of time says a lot about the page. The formula for capturing this KPI is fundamental as it is simply counting the number of times someone on the same device or with the same captured cookies visited the site. Simply using free software such as Google Analytics will suffice.

The fifth goal for Flashback Games is to reach 10,000 likes on Facebook. This will be measured with the social media reach and engagement KPI. Part of becoming a successful online game store is ensuring that people online know about the company. The reason the company is so interested in Facebook is because the more people like the page the more the page is seen. Using free social media is not only a great way to market the brand and present a sort of personality, but it allows satisfied customers to assist in marketing efforts every time the company page is liked. The formula for this KPI is as simple as adding up all of the times the page has been liked since the day the page is complete. Fortunately, Facebook displays this information free of charge.

The company’s sixth and possibly most time consuming goal is to launch a successful email marketing campaign. The KPI that proves the worth of this marketing idea is known as email marketing performance, and successful in this regard is defined as 10% of email recipients returning to make a purchase. Within each email from Flashback games is a one-time-use code that earns the customer a 5% discount from the total purchase. Additional KPIs are measured within email marketing performance such as: delivery rate, unsubscribe rate, open rate, and conversion rate. The formula for measuring the company’s email marketing performance is the total of emails sent to recipients divided by the sum of all codes used within a month.

Flashback Games’ seventh goal is to achieve a 20% landing page conversion rate within the first three months of launching the website. “Landing pages are constructed exclusively to guide website visitors into a conversion. But if the content on your landing page stinks, and is not properly SEO’d, then these people won’t end up sticking around and your conversion rate will suffer.” (McMahon, n.d.) The landing page conversion KPI is incredibly important to ensuring the content that Flashback Games presents on the landing page is relevant and interesting. The formula for calculating the landing page conversion rate is to simply take the sum of all users who make a purchase on the first visit to the company site.

Goal number eight is to reduce the amount of time that potential customers have to wait for an answer from the ‘contact us’ website option. The KPI to measure this goal is the customer service related metrics provided by Google Analytics. Currently, potential customers are forced to wait for up to 15 minutes on hold while store clerks and managers deal with other customers face to face and in person. By establishing an online FAQ, representative chat system, and email system that is ran by a separate staff the company can be sure to cut the wait times, which will surely return more sales. The equation to calculate this useful KPI is to add up all the cases in which customers contacted the company with questions and that contact resulted in a sale.

Flashback Games’ ninth goal contains metrics that are closely tied to the company’s social media marketing campaign. It is to achieve 10,000 Twitter followers within one month of the online launch. The Twitter follower’s metric is an important KPI because the amount of followers that a company has is a direct reflection of the company’s online presence. “When companies tweet, their followers will have those tweets in their own personal feeds and have the opportunity to retweet and like posts, which will then reach their own followers. The more Twitter followers a company has, the higher the possibility for engagement and reach.” (Klipfolio, 2018) The formula for this KPI is simply the sum of the followers received from the time of the website launch to the 30-day mark.

The tenth and final goal for the company will be to reach 20,000 total number of visits within the first three months of launching the website. This important metric will keep the company informed of the amount of times the website is accessed. This KPI is important to track because it is crucial for companies to know whether or not their website is being seen. Additionally, if the site sees thousands of views but minimal purchases it is safe to assume that something about the site needs to be changed. In this case, the formula for measuring this KPI is contained in analytical software such as Google Analytics.

Flashback Games does not intend to jump into the online realm without thoroughly researching and documenting how the company plans to achieve success. To accomplish this the company has defined its vision along with six business goals and strategies to reach those goals. By making these goals and setting out an action plan to reach them, Flashback Games will ensure that their vision is not just a whimsical idea. This information is depicted below.

· Vision – A successful online platform in which Flashback Games is able to market products, services, and display inventory.

· Mission – To create a customer-friendly website that enables the sale of products and services online while seamlessly integrating online marketing strategies.

· Strategy – Review online gaming sites for details such as appearance, layout, and structure.

· Goal – Build a website that gamers find aesthetic.

· Strategy – Establish online marketing methods that target customers outside of the storefront’s local area.

· Goal – Reach new clientele that have not previously heard of the company.

· Strategy – Create a page on the website that displays the company’s inventory across all locations for customers to view.

· Goal – Maintain the same real-time inventory of products housed in-store on the company’s website.

· Strategy – Work with USPS, UPS, and FedEx to determine ideal pick-up times to ensure speedy product delivery.

· Goal – Provide fast shipping options to customers who are unable to visit the storefront.

· Strategy – Ensure Flashback Games maintains an ample inventory of historic titles and nostalgic games from all platforms.

· Goal – Offer a greater inventory of retro games than any other video game company on the market.

· Strategy – Remain constantly vigilant of social media and online review sites, and address all alleged failures and shortcomings in a professional manner.

· Goal – Earn a reputation as the trusted source for video games and game accessories.

Now in order for Flashback games to reach these goals the company must first formulate an action plan. Without an action plan these goals would merely become wishes and dreams. Tackling the first goal of building a site that gamers find aesthetic should prove simple enough.

· 1st Goal Action – Take a poll from Flashback Games’ customers over their favorite video game heroes and populate the site with the most favored characters. Then include game related references and animations throughout the site to encourage user-interaction.

The second goal of reaching new clientele that have not previously heard of the company will be crucial to the company’s success in online expansion.

· 2nd Goal Action - Launch an aggressive ad campaign using Google AdWords in order to present Flashback Games’ logos and information to online gamers.

The third goal of maintaining the same real-time inventory of products housed in-store on the company’s website will be extremely beneficial to customers.

· 3rd Goal Action – Create a webpage with a built-in XML search function that calls on the inventory database used in-store. Make the search page minimalistic in nature for low bandwidth requirements and place a tag next to listed items that states its availability.

The fourth goal of providing fast shipping options to customers who are unable to visit the storefront will give Flashback Games a leg up on the competition.

· 4th Goal Action – Arrange package pick-up times with USPS, UPS, and FedEx at all Flashback Games locations. Post pickup times on the website with a timer that shows customers expected arrival date of product based upon distance and pickup time.

The fifth goal of offering a greater inventory of retro games than any other video game company on the market is a very large goal, but Flashback Games is confident that the company can succeed.

· 5th Goal Action – Utilize the new online platform to better market the company’s interest in buying and accepting old games to be added to stock.

The company’s final goal is to earn a reputation as the trusted source for video games and game accessories. This goal will not occur overnight and will require an ample amount of hard work and dedication from employees of every level.

· 6th Goal Action – Monitor all forms of social media and popular review sites for less than stellar reviews. Attempt to address any and all discrepancies named by customers in the most reasonable and professional manner possible.

Flashback Games has seen a steady climb in sales over the last 12 months, but it has become increasingly apparent that the lack of an online presence is greatly affecting the company’s growth. In terms of benchmarking, the company would like to see online sales rival that of the big-name competitors in the local area. The company’s conversion goals are listed a few sections below, but sales trends for the summer time would suggest that now is the perfect time to launch the website if the company expects to stand a chance among its well-equipped rivals.

As previously stated, now is the ideal time to begin the website build. With children out of school and families having more time for activities, Flashback would like to ensure that there aren’t any opportunities missed. The company expects to be in the “build” phase for the remainder of June, with a predicted website launch date of July 1st. Simply put, the budget is the least of the company’s worries as this project is well funded. Early earnings will be set aside for the unexpected which is sure to happen during a website launch. If all goes well the company will be operating smoothly under the new online platform and looking to open more stores within three months time.

Through the use of Google Analytics, the company would like to implement four conversion goals. These goals will be measured in real-time through the powerful metrics that can be viewed daily or in the weekly email report. The first conversion goal is to ensure that the company’s total abandonment rate never peaks 20%. The second conversion goal is to achieve a total of 500 registrations within the first month of launch. The third is to reach 20,000 site visits through the company’s four campaign URLs (UTM codes). Finally, Flashback Games would like to reach 500 completed online purchases within the first month of launch.

Flashback Games will use different marketing mediums to assist with the website launch. Some of these mediums will be tracked via Google Analytics and will present very useful metric information that reveals how shoppers found the company’s site. This information can be found in the report which is sent out weekly (example photo below links.) In order to accomplish this, the sites must first be associated to a UTM link. These mediums will include Google, Bing, Facebook, the local news site The Chronicle News. These four mediums have been associated to the following links:

Analytics and metrics provide incredibly useful bits of information such as where a company’s weak areas are and what items are selling more efficiently than others. This sort of information is incredibly useful, but not everyone takes the time to study it. Google analytics provides useful dashboard tools that allow companies to keep an eye on the metrics that mean the most and in real-time too. The below dashboard screenshots are examples of the sort of real-time analytics that Flashback Games will utilize to stay ahead of the game.