Get to know your client

Assignment 1 Get to Know your Client
DMK 101: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
© McMaster University Centre for Continuing Education 1 of 4
Assignment 1 – Get to know your client
This assignment will help you do the research required to get a solid background on the history of
your client’s business, their business objectives, and demographics of the target audience as well as
an overview of the industry competition. This will provide the information needed to create a digital
marketing plan tailored to your client.
This assignment provides you with an opportunity to demonstrate the achievement of the following
course learning outcomes:
 identify the components of an effective digital marketing campaign and how they can support a
traditional marketing campaign
 analyze tools in order to recommend integration tactics across digital platforms and with
traditional marketing tools
 define and gather the main elements of a digital marketing campaign including market,
competitors and audience
 segment audiences
 define objectives for your digital marketing activities – outline exactly what you want to
accomplish with your activities and by when
Key Information
 Type: Individual
 Weight: 10%
 Delivery: A2L – Assignment folder
 Due Date: Check the Detailed Course Schedule in the About the Course module
Expectations
You are expected to complete this assignment individually.
Respect for academic integrity is crucial to your success. Make sure you understand what constitutes
acts of academic dishonesty in the page: What is Academic Dishonesty?
Structure
Throughout the course you will develop a digital marketing plan for a client, populating a section
every two weeks and submitting it for marking. Each of these bi-weekly assignments will be worth 10
percent of your final grade. I will give you feedback that you can integrate into your work, in order to
strengthen your plan as it’s developed. For your final assignment, you will integrate all of the
assignments into a digital marketing plan for your client.
For assignment one, you will complete the following sections of your plan:
Description
Throughout the course you will develop a digital marketing plan for a client, populating a section
every two weeks and submitting it for marking. Each of these bi-weekly assignments will be worth 10
percent of your final grade. I will give you feedback that you can integrate into your work, in order to
Assignment 1 Get to Know your Client
DMK 101: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
© McMaster University Centre for Continuing Education 2 of 4
strengthen your plan as it’s developed. For your final assignment, you will integrate all of the
assignments into a digital marketing plan for your client.
For assignment one, you will complete the following sections of your plan.
Section 1: Client Background (1 percent)
Choose a client or invent a client. If you choose a real client, for example your employer, please make
sure that you have their permission to use their information. Also, please make sure that you aren’t
using any information that would be considered private or could be harmful to the company if
released. Your client should already have a basic marketing plan. If your client doesn’t have a simple
marketing plan, please use the template marketing plan for Bonnie found in lesson one to develop an
outline of a plan for your client.
This section should indicate where and when your client’s business originated, the scope of your
client’s business or what your client’s business does or sells and opportunities for expansion. To add
the digital component to this section, you will talk about any major digital activity that your business
will undertake for next year.
Section 2: Objectives (2 percent)
This section should include an introduction of the business’s overall goals. Following this you can
provide detail on sales and profit goals, and well as any other goals for the organization. Make sure
that you are using objectives that are SMART per this week’s course materials and that you are
incorporating digital objectives.
Section 3: Audience (2 percent)
What is your client’s target audience and how did you determine this?
Section 4: Competitors (5 percent)
Who are your client’s direct competitors and how did your determine this? What is the total market
share of your business? What percentage is that of the total market?
Format
 Length and space: 2 pages max., single spaced
 Font type: Arial or Calibri
 Font size: 12 points
 Citation guide: APA Style
 File type: [Portable Document Format (PDF) (Recommended), Microsoft Word (DOC or
DOCX), Microsoft Excel (XLS or XLSX), Rich Text Format (RTF).
Resources
You are encouraged to use the resources provided in Library, Research and Writing Assistance,
under the Getting Started module. Noteworthy tools include the Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and
Style Guide and Grammarly.
Before you begin your assignment, review the rubric to understand the assignment’s expectations.
Also, use the rubric to ensure inclusion of all marking criteria before submitting your assignment.
Assignment 1 Get to Know your Client
DMK 101: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
© McMaster University Centre for Continuing Education 3 of 4
How to Submit Your Assignment
Please note that the following instructions pertain to this specific assignment. Instructions for other
assignments may differ.
To submit your assignment:
1. Click Assessments (top navigation bar)
2. Select Assignments
3. Click the Assignment #1 folder
You may only submit once to assignment folder. Be sure to include all necessary files with your
submission.
General Guidelines
 Ensure that the name of your file does not include special characters such as symbols or
punctuation. Such characters may cause problems when uploading your file.
 Unless otherwise instructed, please submit only ONE file per assignment (i.e., combine
all documents into one file).
 Do not zip your files.
 Keep a copy of your assignment in case of technical problems.
 If your submission is successful, you will receive an Email Confirmation Receipt sent to your
@mcmaster.ca email address. If you do not receive an Email Confirmation Receipt, please
double-check your submission and re-submit if necessary.
 Keep all Email Confirmation Receipts until the course is over as proof of submission.
Late Submission Policy
Late assignments will be subject to a 2% per day late penalty (includes weekends and holidays) for
up to seven (7) days. After this date, no assignments will be accepted and a grade of zero (0) will be
applied. Extensions for course work must be approved by the instructor before the due date (see
Academic Regulations below), and will be granted for illness or emergencies only. Students may be
asked to submit supporting documentation for an extension request.
Assignment Rubric – DMK 101
Far Exceeds Standard Exceeds Standard Standard Below Standard
Organization Writing and structure
show high degree of
attention to logic and
reasoning of points. The
submission clearly leads
the reader to the
Writing is coherent and
logically organized with
transitions used between
ideas and paragraphs to
create coherence.
Overall unity of ideas is
Writing is coherent and
logically organized.
Some points remain
misplaced and stray from
the topic.
Writing lacks logical
organization. It shows
some coherence but
ideas lack unity.
Significant number of
Assignment 1 Get to Know your Client
DMK 101: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
© McMaster University Centre for Continuing Education 4 of 4
conclusion and stirs
thought regarding the
topic.
present. errors.
Level of
Content
Content indicates
synthesis of ideas, indepth analysis and
evidences original
thought and support for
the topic.
Content primarily
demonstrates original
thinking and develops
ideas with sufficient and
firm evidence and
creativity.
Content indicates
thinking and reasoning
applied with original
thought on most but not
all ideas.
Content shows some
thinking and
reasoning but most
ideas are underdeveloped and
unoriginal.
Grammar &
Mechanics
Submission is free of
distracting spelling and
grammar errors.
Submission has few
spelling, punctuation, or
grammatical errors
allowing reader to follow
ideas clearly. Very few
fragments or run-ons.
Most spelling,
punctuation, and
grammar correct,
allowing reader to
progress though essay.
Some errors remain.
Spelling, punctuation,
and grammatical
errors create
distraction, making
reading difficult;
fragments, comma
splices, run-ons
evident.
Errors are frequent.