BUSI 436 Week 4 Internet Marketing Plan Outcome Paper 2 Example

Internet Marketing Plan, Part 2: Target Segments, Personas and Positioning for Harbor Leaf Tea Company

Why Target Segments

Roberts and Zahay (2018) stress that effective Internet marketing begins with a clear choice of target markets, because the web's reach tempts businesses to speak to everyone and persuade no one. Harbor Leaf Tea Company's first outcome paper set objectives for traffic, conversion, email growth and repeat purchase. Reaching them requires focusing a small budget on the customers most likely to buy online and return. This paper defines those segments, describes each through a persona, maps how each moves from discovery to loyalty, and sets out the positioning that will guide every message.

Target Segments

The plan targets three segments drawn from the company's sales records and customer survey. The first is tea enthusiasts, adults who brew loose-leaf tea daily, buy several times a year and seek rare teas and brewing knowledge; they are the most valuable online customers because they reorder. The second is gift buyers, who purchase teas and teaware for others, mainly in November and December and before holidays such as Mother's Day; they value curated sets and reliable delivery. The third is occasional drinkers who care about wellness, who return to a few herbal and green teas and are drawn by health and calm rather than connoisseurship; they are numerous and can be converted to regular buyers with simple reorder tools.

Customers who only buy in person, often older shoppers who enjoy the shops' atmosphere, remain important to the business but are not a focus of the Internet plan, except as a source of reviews and referrals.

Segment Size and Value

The three segments differ in size and value, which shapes how much effort each receives. Enthusiasts are the smallest group, perhaps a fifth of current customers by the owners' estimate, but they account for a much larger share of sales because they buy often and try new teas; online, they are the segment most likely to subscribe and to write detailed reviews that help other shoppers. Gift buyers are numerous in the fourth quarter but buy once or twice a year; their value lies in volume during the holidays and in the new names they add to the email list, since each gift recipient is a potential customer. Wellness-minded casual drinkers form the largest group by count, with modest individual spending, but their regular consumption of familiar teas makes them ideal for automatic reorders, which turn occasional purchases into steady revenue. The plan therefore invests most in content and email for enthusiasts, in seasonal search and gift pages for gift buyers, and in simple reorder tools and approachable content for wellness drinkers.

Personas

The personas are composites based on the survey and staff experience. They will shape content, offers and channels throughout the plan.

Paths From Discovery to Loyalty

The paths show why integration matters. The same customer may first see Harbor Leaf on a phone, read reviews on a laptop and buy in a shop, so each touchpoint must carry the same promise.

Two research findings shape the paths. First, local mobile search matters for gift buyers like Marcus. Ghose et al. (2013) found that search costs are higher on mobile devices, so users click more on top-ranked results, and that mobile users favor geographically close businesses more strongly than desktop users. A gift buyer searching on a phone will rarely scroll past the first few results, so ranking well in local search is worth more to the shops than almost any ad. The plan will therefore prioritize local search listings and mobile-friendly gift pages.

Second, social media can deepen loyalty among existing customers like Priya. Kumar et al. (2016) tracked a retailer's customers and found that those who engaged with the firm's posts raised both their spending and the range of categories they bought, so steady, useful posts can build loyalty among buyers the shop already has. The plan will use social content mainly to engage existing customers with brewing tips and calm-evening routines.

What Each Persona Needs From the Website

The personas also translate into specific requirements for the website that the third outcome paper will turn into tactics. Dana needs depth: detailed tasting notes, origin stories, brewing parameters and a section for new and rare arrivals, along with the option to buy samples before committing to a larger bag. Marcus needs speed and certainty: a gift section organized by price, clear delivery dates near the top of the page, gift wrapping and a message option, and a mobile checkout that takes less than two minutes. Priya needs simplicity: a small set of recommended teas with plain descriptions of flavor and benefits, a starter bundle and a one-click reorder button. Designing for all three does not require three websites; it requires clear paths from the home page, such as "explore rare teas," "find a gift" and "reorder your favorites," so each customer quickly reaches what matters to them.

Positioning

Harbor Leaf's positioning statement is: For tea drinkers who want to know exactly what they are brewing, Harbor Leaf is the family tea shop that brings the expertise of its two local shops to every online order, because good tea should come with good guidance. The proof points are its staff's tasting notes on every product, brewing guides written by its own tea specialists, a freshness guarantee and the credibility of physical shops customers can visit. This position separates Harbor Leaf from marketplaces that compete on price and from national brands that cannot offer personal expertise, and it builds on the strength identified in the situation analysis.

Differentiation From Competitors

The positioning is chosen with competitors in mind. National brands talk about lifestyle and convenience, and marketplaces talk about price. Small independent online sellers often talk about expertise, but few can point to people a customer can meet. Harbor Leaf's combination of expert content and physical shops gives it a claim others cannot easily copy, and it will reinforce that claim by naming its specialists on tasting notes and inviting online customers to visit. A shop that can be visited is also a powerful trust signal for first-time buyers.

Connection to the Plan

The segments, personas and positioning defined here will guide the third outcome paper, which will set out tactics, budget and measurement for each touchpoint in the tables above, and the final project, which will combine all three papers into one plan.

References

Ghose, A., Goldfarb, A., & Han, S. P. (2013). How is the mobile internet different? Search costs and local activities. Information Systems Research, 24(3), 613-631. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1120.0453

Kumar, A., Bezawada, R., Rishika, R., Janakiraman, R., & Kannan, P. K. (2016). From social to sale: The effects of firm-generated content in social media on customer behavior. Journal of Marketing, 80(1), 7-25. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.14.0249

Roberts, M. L., & Zahay, D. (2018). Internet marketing: Integrating online and offline strategies (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.