About 20 years ago, Pete and Anna Cortez started a small retail storeCortez Creationsselling custom and personalized gifts.

About 20 years ago, Pete and Anna Cortez started a small retail store—Cortez Creations—selling custom and personalized gifts. Pete is the businessman, and Anna has the creative eye and people skills to identify new lines of merchandise for the store. What started with jewelry, picture frames, and glassware for weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays, their store now has a full line of personalized promotional items for businesses, a custom T-shirt line, and items that can be personalized for pet lovers, sports fans, and other special-interest groups. The Cortezs have opened two other retail stores over the years and have a thriving small business.

When the Internet became a source for commercial transactions in the late 1990s, Pete invested in a Web site for Cortez Creations. The Web site has navigation (via an online catalog), online ordering (including payment by credit card), and information about retail store locations. The Web site also has a page on which consumers can sign up for e-mails and obtain special offers, which can be redeemed in the retail stores or online.

The Web site is maintained by Pete and Anna's son, Pedro, or "Re-Pete" as the family affectionately calls him. Re-Pete is a tech-savvy, 20-year-old who has learned a lot about Internet Web sites from personal study, his tech-savvy friends, and some courses at the community college. However, Pete and Re-Pete both know that there is a lot they don't know about how to improve the Web site and how to add new ways to communicate with consumers to capture more sales.

Pete and Anna have some aggressive business objectives for Cortez Creations. They want to expand sales from the local retail trading area, and they envision an improved Web site that uses other digital marketing as the strategy for success. They are concerned that retail store sales from the ground stores may not be viable in the future because lease costs for retail space continues to rise. In addition, the nature of the personalized and customized gifts business is that it is highly seasonal, with Christmas, Mother's Day, and other holidays providing a lift in sales. With all of that in mind, Pete and Anna wonder if they should begin planning for a future with just one retail location and a warehousing and distribution operation that supports Internet sales.

Pete and Re-Pete have heard about Web 3.0, digital marketing, mobility marketing, and other concepts and ideas that can help improve their Web site. It is up to you to teach them about Internet-based marketing and to complete and present a plan that is consistent with their business objectives. Cortez Creations can be positioned for a successful future if the strategies and tactics for the company's Web site are on the mark.

You have learned about Cortez Creations and the current situation with the company's Web site. In addition, you have studied ways to improve the Web site and add digital marketing, including social media and mobility marketing. You have communicated what you have learned to Pete, Anna, and Re-Pete and made some preliminary recommendations. Now is the time to compile the information you have learned and complete a tactical marketing plan.

Prepare a tactical marketing plan with the objective of improving Cortez Creations' Web site and incorporating social media and mobility marketing. You need to use materials presented in the previous weeks of this course. The tactical marketing plan should include the following:

• Three or more clearly stated objectives. Specifically, the objectives should addressImprovements to the search rankings for the Web site using SEO,
• Additional social media and mobility marketing methods of communication (two or more), and
• Use of a database for relationship marketing.
• A discussion of the importance of SEO as a way to improve search rankings and at least three specific SEO tactics for Cortez Creations' Web site.
• A detailed tactical plan for two or more social media or mobility marketing describing how the communications will be implemented, monitored, and improved.
• A description of at least one method for using a database to build and sustain relationships with loyal customers.
• A discussion of the knowledge and skills needed for a world-class Web site and digital marketing program. Include budget considerations for equipment, staffing, and related costs.

Add this section to the draft of the tactical marketing plan. Then, compile the tactical marketing plan as shown below.

Organize the completed sections of the tactical marketing plan. Pete, Anna, and Re-Pete are anticipating your first draft of the marketing plan. Use the information gathered in Phases 1-3, add material for Phase 4, and organize the tactical plan as follows. NOTE: The tactical marketing plan should be 1,200-1,500 words. You must add section headers so readers can quickly find information within the plan.

1. Title Page
2. Executive Summary
3. Overview of the company, including description of current Web site and Internet-based communications
4. SWOT Analysis
5. Customer Analysis, including description of demographic and behavioral characteristics of consumers who shop on the Internet
6. Tactical Marketing Plan, including at least three objectives, discussion of SEO, description of at least two social media or mobility marketing opportunities, description of a relationship marketing program using a company database, and discussion of knowledge and skills for Web site management including budget considerations
7. Reference Page, showing resources you used in preparing the marketing plan