Digital Marketing Strategy Formulation to Increase Engagement in Course and Training Institution Industry (Case Study: PT Karisma Garuda Mulia)

: PT Karisma Garuda Mulia is a course and training institution located in Malang City, East Java. The training programs created by PT Karisma Garuda Mulia are centered on developing IT and digital technology skills which include courses in Microsoft Office Professional, graphic design and multimedia, web development, digital architecture, civil engineering application, and digital marketing. Along with the emergence of online e-learning platforms, the business started to experience some difficulties. The problem faced by PT Karisma Garuda Mulia is the low engagement and lack of digital marketing strategy to help its business generate sales. The purpose of this research is to create an appropriate digital marketing strategy to increase the engagement to help smooth the customer journey. This research is conducted by identifying problems internally and externally using STP Analysis, Marketing Mix (7Ps), PESTEL analysis, Porter’s Five Forces and competitor analysis. After doing those analysis, researchers also analyze the PT Karisma Garuda Mulia’s digital marketing efforts by incorporating the Hierarchy of Effects model. This research is conducted using qualitative method. The researchers conduct an in-depth interview with several employees of the company to gain insights about the company’s digital marketing efforts. The result of the interviews indicates that there is a lack of appropriate digital marketing strategy used by the company. Using the interview insights, the researchers construct a digital marketing strategy using a RACE planning framework. The result of this research is that the company needs an appropriate digital marketing strategy with a clear marketing channel in each stage of the RACE planning framework. The marketing channels used are search engine marketing and content marketing in reach stage, website and demo classes in act stage, email marketing and customer service support in convert stage, and lastly community building and feedback surveys in engage stage.


INTRODUCTION
Indonesia, as one of the countries with the largest population in the world, is certainly faced with employment problems.Providing people who are competent and ready to work is certainly one of the targets that must be achieved by Indonesia.As of August 2022, out of a total of 209.42 million people who fall into the category of Working Age Population, there are 8.42 million people who fall into the category of unemployed [1].Of course, the Indonesian government will try to overcome this problem with various educational programs, such as providing support in various forms to Course and Training Institutions to help create a decent work force.Institutions offering courses and training are non-formal educational settings set up for community members who require support in order to grow personally, get employment, or advance their education.Along with the many needs of the community in developing their natural potential and human resource potential, the course and training institution is present as an institution that accommodates the urges faced by the community, starting from the lack of utilization of natural potential and the low economy of the community.The establishment of course and training institutions is also based on the world's economic growth and the development of industry in the world which requires Indonesia to have competent, creative, and multitalented human resources.The course and training institute is one of the institutions that is currently being promoted as a balancing and supporting medium from formal channels in the context of preparing quality human resources [2].As a non-formal educational institution, course and training institution complements formal education in the form of short education that focuses on improving the competence of skills in certain areas of interest to students.The short and dense learning hours in the course program allow students to hone their skills quickly, so that students can immediately work or start a business based on the skills they have acquired.As of 2023, there are thousands of courses and training institutions spread across Indonesia.However, there is no data that explains the actual number of courses and training institutions in Indonesia.From data on the education business industry released by Tirto.Id in 2017, in just 5 provinces alone, the total number of courses and training institutions counted has exceeded 8900 institutions [3].
There is also data on course and training institutions that received assistance in the form of the Program Kecakapan Kerja (PKK) in 2021 with a number of recipient institutions exceeding 2,350 institutions.Despite the huge numbers of course and training institutions in Indonesia, many institutions don't perform well.Although many course and training institution managers want to succeed, their management does not encourage it.What causes this? unwilling to bother 19%, Don't know how to do it 36%, know how to do it but don't do it 23%, Finally quit after trying but failing 22% [2].
Among the many problems that occur in course and training institutions, one that occurs is the marketing problem that is implemented.With a lack of marketing effort, courses and training institutions will certainly be left behind by rapid technological developments, especially with the emergence of many e-learning platforms.

BUSINESS ISSUE
With the rapid development of the world of technology, the public's need for knowledge and ability to keep up with technological developments has also increased dramatically.This development will certainly be able to provide opportunities for course and training institutions to provide programs that can help people improve their literacy and ability to keep up with technological developments.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia as one of the course and training institutions that focuses on providing training and courses related to technology-related sciences such as web development, digital marketing, graphic design, and others certainly sees this situation as a golden opportunity to develop its business.One way to do business development is to do effective and efficient marketing.In this case, by following the times, marketing carried out by entrepreneurs and also businesses have shifted from traditional marketing to digital marketing.
In carrying out its marketing processes, PT Karisma Garuda Mulia also uses digital marketing.There are several efforts that have been done by the company for several years.As an example, the company has a comprehensive website that had been running since 2008 with the domain https://www.karismaacademy.com/.The company had been keeping the website SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly by posting articles and also doing on and off page optimizations since its establishment.The company also owned some social media accounts such as Facebook and Instagram account with the name @karismaacademy.As of March 2023, the Facebook account has 1,100 followers while their Instagram account has 10,417 followers.In these two accounts, the company had been on and off in posting contents in the form of images and videos and also been using it as a tool for engaging with their audience.However, the results of digital marketing run by the company have not shown satisfactory results.Despite having a long experience in the industry, lately, the number of students enrolled in the courses seems to be declining.As explained by the two evidences above, it is possible that one of the causes of this downtrend is that the company's usage of digital marketing seems to not work as it intended.Firstly, it is very vital to understand that customers before making their purchase have to go through several steps, which is usually known as a customer journey.In this case, digital marketing plays a crucial role to help customer go through the purchasing journey by accommodating each stage with the appropriate way that customers prefer and create promising engagement with customers.
In relation to the above statement, the company seems to underutilize the possible media marketing tools that they possess such as their website, Instagram and Facebook account, and other platforms.The underutilization of these media platforms will be reflected in the customer journey and later affect the company's performance to deteriorate, especially with the emergence of many online elearning platforms that pose a threat to the company's business.Using only these tools without an adequate strategy might not be enough to attract a meaningful engagement with the customers then eventually attract more potential customers.Thus, the company needs an appropriate digital marketing strategy in order to create a strong engagement and help boost the company's performance.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In carrying out this research, the authors will use a conceptual framework that has been designed to make it easier for the authors to help solve the business problems previously mentioned.The first step that will be taken by the authors is to do market analysis.There are many methods for conducting market analysis that can be used, but in the context of this business problem, the authors choose to use two environmental analysis that are suitable for the company with existing business problems, namely by using PESTEL analysis, Porter's Five Forces and competitor analysis.The second step that will be taken by the authors to overcome existing business problems is to do market selection.This market selection will be carried out using three steps that are very commonly used, namely segmenting, targeting, and positioning.This step is a very crucial process in business planning or for planning digital marketing strategies because the performance of the business or marketing campaign will depend on the selection of the market.Businesses nowadays must be customer-focused if they want to survive in the cutthroat industry.Businesses are aware that, at the very least, not all customers in a market can be profitably served in the same way.Therefore, they must decide which segments to service more effectively than others [4].
In the third stage, the authors will examine the marketing mix owned by PT Karisma Garuda Mulia.The marketing mix generally has 4 aspects consisting of 4P, namely: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.As Service-based industries present unique marketing difficulties, the conventional 4Ps of goods marketing are not sufficient to deal with issues arising from marketing services and it also fails to cover the customer interface.As a result, the marketing mix needs to be modified [5].Apart from the 4Ps mentioned earlier, the adapted marketing mix will also implement 3 more aspects, namely People, Process, and Physical Evidence which can help identify better about the business marketing mix.In this fourth stage, the authors will analyze the digital marketing efforts that have been carried out by PT Karisma Garuda Mulia so far.The authors will focus on assessing whether these efforts have been carried out properly or not and also analyze whether these efforts have contributed to providing a good experience for the customer journey and contribute a meaningful engagement for the company.In this stage, after the authors and the company have carried out market analysis, market selection, and analysis of the marketing mix and digital marketing efforts, what needs to be done next is to carry out the digital marketing strategy formulation phase.In the process of making this digital marketing strategy, the authors will later refer to the RACE model.The authors chose to use this model because the RACE model provides a structured approach to planning and setting objectives for each stage of the customer journey.

METHODOLGY
This study will use both primary data as well as secondary data.Data that has been gathered from firsthand experience is referred to as primary data.The facts are more trustworthy, genuine, and unbiased even though they have not yet been published.Whereas secondary data are the data that has been published at any form [6].Primary data will be collected by the authors using a qualitative approach, while secondary data will use related books, articles or relevant websites that contain valuable information.
When conducting qualitative research, we have the natural openness and flexibility to change our focus and design as we go along in order to look for new correlations and discoveries [7].The qualitative research conducted by the authors will be taken using indepth interviews with several stakeholders such as CEO and the employees, all of whom are related to the issues listed in this report.
To analyze the qualitative data, the authors will use thematic analysis approach.Thematic analysis is one of the methods used in analyzing data which aims to find patterns or themes through the data that has been collected by researchers.This strategy is one of the most effective methods for research that wants an in-depth and detailed analysis of the data it has to find important themes that emerge.In fact, this thematic analysis is considered as core skills or basic knowledge for conducting analysis in qualitative research [8].

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
The problems that occur at PT Karisma Garuda Mulia certainly require an appropriate solution so that they can be handled.However, before the authors can formulate a solution, the authors must first analyze several factors that might affect the business problems that occur and the company's overall business performance to get a more detailed picture.
A. PESTEL Analysis PESTEL analysis is a method for strategic planning with a focus on the market.Overall, it seeks to gather and highlight the most significant Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal variables in order to understand the business environment in which a firm operates [9].PT Karisma Garuda Mulia has favorable opportunities for business development based on a PESTEL analysis.Politically, the Indonesian government's emphasis on improving the quality of human resources aligns with the company's focus on developing skilled graduates.Economically, Indonesia's economy is expected to grow by 5.0% in 2023, and although the education sector's contribution to GDP is relatively small, the transaction value is projected to increase significantly.Socially, globalization has led to cultural changes and an open outlook on technology, particularly among Generation Z, which constitutes a significant proportion of the population and creates growing demand for PT Karisma Garuda Mulia's services.Technologically, Indonesia has experienced rapid growth in internet users, providing opportunities for efficient business operations.While environmental factors have minimal impact on the company, it should stay updated with any changes.Legally, the government's focus on improving vocational education presents sustainable market opportunities for PT Karisma Garuda Mulia.

B. Porter's Five Forces
Porter has shown that there are five key elements that impact and shape competition in a given economic sector: rivalry among competitors, supplier and buyer negotiating power, threat of new entrants, and threat of substitutes [10].Competitive rivalry, the first force, is determined by the next four forces and depends on the quantity and quality of competitors.Profitability is negatively impacted by each force's intensity [11].Porter's Five Forces analysis reveals several key dynamics in the course and training industry in Indonesia.The threat of new entrants is medium, as while government assistance programs can attract new players, the high initial investment required poses a challenge.The threat of substitutes is high, with online e-learning platforms offering flexible and affordable alternatives to traditional education.Buyers have a high bargaining power due to the availability of multiple options and can impact pricing and services.Suppliers have low bargaining power as they can be easily replaced, and institutions can choose from various providers.Competitive rivalry is high, driven by strong buyer power and the abundance of substitutes, requiring institutions to differentiate themselves through value propositions and customer experiences to succeed in the competitive landscape.

C. Competitor Analysis
In the competitor analysis, it is evident that PT Karisma Garuda Mulia offers a wider variety of courses compared to Citra Computer.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia stands out by providing private 1-on-1 classes with live instructors, while GLS Academy offers various class options.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia's prices are higher due to their comprehensive curriculum.All companies are based in Malang city center for easy access.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia has the most active social media presence and informative website.The process of searching for courses and consultation is similar across the companies, but PT Karisma Garuda Mulia has a unique portfolio and testimonial compilation process.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia also has the highest number of employees, followed by GLS Academy and Citra Computer.Lastly, all companies have brochures to showcase their products to customers.

D. Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning
STP is a general strategy that involves segmenting customers into target segments, choosing those segments, and implementing marketing initiatives to strengthen a company's position inside those target segments [12].In this study, the authors segmented PT Karisma Garuda Mulia's potential customers into several segments based on geographical, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral aspects.Below is the detailed information about the segmentation.Based on the consumer profile information above, the most suitable profiles for the company's business are the High School Graduates and Diploma/University Graduates.It is because the company is well suited for those segments as the company offers unique opportunities for them to add their skills and enable them to create their own portfolio to add their credibility.Besides that, the company also offers several internship opportunities when it is available to their customers through the company's wide range of networks.Finally, based on the segmentation which was continued by the targeting, it is time for the positioning.Positioning is how the company positions themselves in their target market that enable them to outperform their competitors and able to capitalize a larger portion of the market share.The company's positioning statement is as follow: "For high school or diploma graduates who have difficulties finding a platform to enhance new skills, PT Karisma Garuda Mulia which has an A accreditation in the 2022 Work Industry Based Course & Training Institute Performance Assessment Results, offers various relevant and up-to-date course programs.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia implements a one-on-one teaching method and flexible timing which enables students to learn new skills in a more convenient way and be ready to be a part of the work industry".

E. Marketing Mix
The Marketing Mix, which is frequently divided into instruments related to price, product, promotion, and distribution, is at the center of the firm's operations and procedures for "creating [product], communicating [promotion], delivering [distribution], and exchanging [price] offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large" [13].The 4Ps tool evolved into the 7Ps in service marketing by including people, processes, and physical evidence.The many benefits a service has to provide are frequently insufficient to ensure the success of marketing a product.The company must also implement a marketing mix strategy if it wants to maintain its profitability and outcompete rivals in the market [14].PT Karisma Garuda Mulia offers a range of course programs in areas such as online business, digital marketing, graphic design, web development, and architecture (Product).They have specific courses like Microsoft Office, Online Business, Full Stack Web Developer, Graphic Design, and Digital Architecture.Each course is priced differently based on its content and duration ranging from Rp750.000 to Rp23.400.000(Price).The company has an office located in Malang City, East Java, Indonesia, which is easily accessible and provides parking facilities (Place).They promote their courses through their website, social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, and customer testimonials (Promotion).Customers go through various processes from online search, to consultation with customer service, course selection, learning session with instructors, portfolio creation, testimonial and course completion (Process).The company has 17 employees divided into different divisions, but there are overlaps in responsibilities, especially in the marketing division.Clear job descriptions are lacking, and social media management is handled by administration staff rather than the marketing team (People).The office is well-equipped with facilities such as a multi-purpose room, meeting rooms, and computer devices to create a conducive learning environment for students (Physical Evidence).

F. Digital Marketing Effort Analysis
In this section, the authors want to dissect what digital marketing efforts have been made by PT Karisma Garuda Mulia based on their marketing channel and what results they have gotten so far.To get an even deeper understanding about the impact of its effort, the authors will also be highlighting the possible impact of each digital marketing effort's aspect to the consumer's customer journey based on the Hierarchy of Effect theory.The five levels of the hierarchy of effects (HOE) model as shown in the figure aboveawareness, knowledge, liking, preference, and conviction-under three mental phases-cognitive, affective, and conative-are shown to have a significant impact on consumer purchase decisions about certain goods or services [15].PT Karisma Garuda Mulia has implemented various digital marketing efforts to promote its products and engage with potential customers.The company's website, www.karismaacademy.com,serves as a primary channel for delivering information to customers.It provides essential details about the company's profile, history, and track record, which can build trust and credibility among customers.The website also features comprehensive information about the courses offered, including package details, content, and pricing, enhancing customer 'Preference' towards the company.Customer testimonials and portfolios create a sense of 'Conviction' and 'Consideration' for potential customers.The website includes call-to-action buttons to encourage interaction, such as initiating a chat via WhatsApp for purchase inquiries.However, some buttons like "Register Now" and "Try for Free" are nonfunctional, and the "Download Brochure" button redirects to a booking form instead of a brochure.The website design lacks visual appeal and has excessive text, potentially discouraging visitors from staying and taking specific actions.Website performance analysis reveals a high bounce rate, low pages per visit, and short average visit duration, indicating a need for improvement.Despite these limitations, the website generates promising leads for the company through effective search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.The company's SEO strategy, which includes blogs, articles, and backlinks, contributes to customer 'Awareness'.However, the company has not recently focused on SEO due to resource constraints.Overall, there is ample room for improvement in PT Karisma Garuda Mulia's website and its digital marketing efforts.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia utilizes social media marketing, with a particular focus on Instagram, to promote its brand and engage with customers.Their content marketing strategy includes educating, entertaining, and trendy content to influence customers in the 'Knowledge', 'Consideration', and 'Preference' phases.Educating content provides basic knowledge related to their courses, while entertaining content engages audiences through quizzes and games.Trendy content, unrelated to their services, aims to entertain and attract attention.However, despite creative content, the company's Instagram account performance is unsatisfactory, with low reach and engagement rates.The inconsistency in content marketing is attributed to resource constraints and a shift in focus towards other programs.The engagement rate of 0.05% falls significantly below industry standards.A summary of social media analysis reveals the need for improvement in terms of content frequency, types, reach, and engagement.Overall, PT Karisma Garuda Mulia's social media marketing requires enhancement to enhance their online presence and deliver more valuable information to customers.PT Karisma Garuda Mulia recognizes the significance of customer service in influencing customers' decision-making process and driving conversions.The customer service team acts as facilitators, providing in-depth information about the company's products and encouraging customers to make a purchase.When potential customers express interest and seek additional information, they are directed to the customer service via WhatsApp.Here, personalized assistance is provided, with customer service representatives offering brochures that contain detailed information about the company's services.The layout of the brochure differs slightly from the website's product details.The customer service team guides potential customers in choosing suitable courses and packages based on their interests and preferences, adding a personalized touch.In the 'Conviction' and 'Purchase' stages of the customer journey, the customer service team plays a vital role.They also follow up with potential customers to further engage and increase the likelihood of a purchase.However, the company has not offered any discounts or promotions for a considerable time, which may affect their ability to convince customers to choose their services, especially as people often look for reduced prices.The declining number of enrolled students reflects this challenge, despite an increase in inquiries.The authors emphasize the importance of addressing this situation by optimizing their digital marketing efforts, specifically focusing on each customer touchpoint in the customer journey.

BUSINESS SOLUTION
The authors in this section will propose a digital marketing strategy that may help enhance the performance of the company's digital marketing efforts and overcome their problem.In formulating the digital marketing strategy, the authors will use the RACE planning framework where each phase will be able to help smooth the customer's touch-points in accordance to the Hierarchy of Effects model.The RACE digital marketing planning framework has five separate phases.Plan, Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage are the phases.RACE is an acronym made up of the final four phases.This model is occasionally referred to as PRACE, while RACE is a far more common abbreviation [16].Each step of the RACE planning framework will later be supported by one or more marketing channel and how to optimize it.

A. Reach
In this first stage of the RACE planning framework, the aim of the company is to create awareness about the brand and also the services provided by the company.This stage entails using multiple marketing channels that suit the target audience to get familiar with the company.This stage of Reach is meant to touch the 'Awareness' and 'Knowledge' phase in the customer touch points based on the Hierarchy of Effects model.For this stage, the authors will suggest the following points below.
Search Engine Marketing: In the search engine marketing, there are basically two techniques of it.First is the search engine optimization (SEO) which is done organically, and second is called paid search or usually known as pay-per-click (PPC).In the organic method using the SEO, it is already discussed how the company did some optimization before but has not been paid attention to lately.Through the use of search engine optimization, users can find the most pertinent results for their internet searches [17].In order to enhance the performance of the website's SEO, it must be remembered that SEO is not a one thing action, but rather it is an ongoing process that needs continuous monitoring and optimization.To enhance the company's SEO performance, there are several actions that can be taken continuously.Firstly, conducting keyword research is crucial to identify relevant and high-value keywords related to the company's products.These keywords can be used to create relevant blogs or articles.Keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ubersuggest can be utilized for this purpose.Secondly, on-page and off-page optimization should be consistently carried out.On-page optimization involves incorporating relevant keywords into page titles, headings, meta tags, and other website elements.Creating well-designed internal links can also improve navigation.Off-page optimization involves acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable websites, directing traffic to the company's website.Both onpage and off-page optimization should be ongoing efforts.Thirdly, the company should continuously create valuable and relevant blog or article content that addresses customer intent.After creating the content, it's important to optimize it by incorporating keywords, image tags, and other on-page optimization techniques.It's worth noting that organic SEO efforts require continuous optimization and do not yield instant results.Despite this, the company should maintain ongoing optimization efforts as part of a long-term strategy.Additionally, the authors suggests considering paid search through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.To implement PPC, thorough keyword research is necessary to identify competitive keywords that represent consumer intent.The company can create a campaign structure with separate ad groups for each service, incorporating different relevant keywords for each group.Compelling ads with attractive headlines and texts that include relevant keywords can help increase website visibility in search engines and capture audience attention.Content Marketing: In order to help build awareness and knowledge among the customers about the company and the services provided, content marketing can be one of a useful mean.All brands should place content marketing at the center of their digital marketing strategy because it powers all the major platforms for reaching people online.Content that increases a brand's visibility, engages its audience, and generates leads and sales is necessary for search, social media, conversion rate optimization, and email marketing [18].It is essential for the company to plan their content marketing strategy in order to produce quality and relevant contents for the audience.To enhance content marketing efforts, the authors suggest the following actions.Firstly, it is important for the company to establish a regular weekly or monthly content marketing planning to maintain consistency.By planning content in advance, the company can ensure a steady flow of posts.Aim to create enough content to be posted once a day or every two days, allowing for an active and engaging online presence.Secondly, the company should focus on creating various types of content that align with the interests of the target audience.This can include both trendy and educational content.Continuing with the creation of trendy content, as done before, is recommended.However, to make the content even more powerful, it is suggested to incorporate educational content that reflects current trends or phenomena in the market.For example, the company could explore topics such as the marketing programs related to the planned visit of Argentina's national football team to Indonesia.Such content types are widely utilized on online learning platforms, where educational content intersects with trending subjects.Regularly producing this type of content, following thorough market research about the latest trends, can generate relevance, attraction, and interest among the audience.Thirdly, it is important to encourage audience engagement and sharing.The company can achieve this by incorporating sharing button highlights in their content, making it easy for readers to share it through their social media accounts.Additionally, using captions that invite people to share their opinions and engage with the content can further stimulate interaction.By actively encouraging sharing and engagement, the reach of the company's content can be expanded, reaching as many people as possible.Apart from content creation, the authors also suggest utilizing social media activities to interact more with people.This can be accomplished by actively participating in discussions or promoting the company's services in the comment sections of posts on other Instagram accounts that have a high audience reach.This approach is commonly employed by many prominent businesses on Instagram.By engaging with other accounts, the company can increase its presence and visibility among the target audience without solely relying on content production.

B. Act
Act is the second phase of the RACE planning framework.In this stage, after going through the reach phase where people are in an aware situation, the aim is to encourage the audience to take a positive action towards the company's offerings.This stage is meant to touch the 'Consideration' & 'Preference' phase in the Hierarchy of Effects model.Here are some points that need to be paid attention to by the company for this stage.
Website Optimization: As it is discussed before, website acts as one of the most important channels for the company to deliver their message to the audience.The website contains various critical information for the customer to digest before they decide to take certain actions.A successful website must have a good website design because it will affect the kind of user experience visitors will have.They will return if they had a nice experience; otherwise, they won't [18].To optimize the company's website and stay relevant to the audience's interests, the following actions can be taken.Firstly, it is crucial to redesign the website to create a captivating and impressive design that encourages visitors to stay longer and take action.The current website lacks visual appeal, contains excessive text and information, and has uninteresting fonts.It is recommended to refresh the website design by adopting a simpler, more coherent layout, selecting appropriate fonts, and presenting information in a less crowded manner.Secondly, the call-to-action (CTA) buttons on the website need to be restructured.As discussed previously, there are issues with the CTA buttons not properly redirecting users to the desired pages.This issue should be addressed promptly by fixing the redirection problem.Additionally, it is advisable to redesign the CTA buttons to make them clear, compelling, and visually distinct, effectively catching the audience's attention.Currently, some of the CTA buttons on the company's homepage appear as simple blue highlighted text, which may not attract users.A proper CTA button should be clearly visible and stand out, prompting the audience to take action.Free Webinars & Demo Classes: Another action that the company may take in order to persuade people to take actions is to conduct free webinars and demo classes for the audience.It is recommended for the company to conduct webinars and demo classes that cover each of the field that the company is offering.This webinar & demo class could be used to introduce further about the company's services and showcase the contents, teaching style, and the instructor's expertise in order to push people's interest in taking the courses.The webinar and demo class can also be a perfect occasion to highlight several benefits that the students may have when taking the courses.By conducting this webinar and demo class, the company could also collect useful lead generation during the registration process such as the audience's email addresses and phone numbers that can be leveraged further to conduct targeted follow-up communication.

C. Convert
In this third stage of the RACE planning framework which is the convert phase, the aim is to turn potential customers into paying customers by purchasing the company's services.This stage touches two of the Hierarchy of Effects model phases which are the 'Conviction' and 'Purchase' phase.Several actions can be taken by the company to increase the possibility for people to make purchases.
Offer Discounts and Limited Promos: It is very common for businesses to offer discounts and promos to encourage people to make purchases.In this case, it is also highly recommended for the company to take this action.The company should offer discounts or promos for their audience in an appropriate way so that it would not devaluate the company's product but rather make people to have a sense of appeal for the offers.It is also highly recommended for the company to create a sense of urgency for the offers and discounts by offering limited-time discounts or exclusive offers for a specific period of time.By doing this, it may help the company to receive immediate conversions from the customers as they could be prompted to make a faster decision.It is also important for the company to communicate these offers or discounts across multiple platforms such as social media, website, during webinars or free demo classes, or email marketing.
Email Marketing: In order to increase people's conviction and persuade them to do purchases, email marketing is one channel that the company is suggested to use.There are several actions that the company should conduct when choosing to use this email marketing campaigns.First of all, the company should gather potential customers' email list and later segment them into different segments based on the customer's course interest or preference.This email list can be gathered through other efforts such as the free webinars and free demo classes already discussed above.Secondly, the company should make the email contents specifically personalized for the customers and highly relevant for them by leveraging the data gathered previously to match the customer's intent and preferences.The company could also persuade people by offering tailored discounts and promos for the audience in the emailing list.By doing this, it may increase the possibility for audience to take the desired action.Then, the company can incorporate a compelling and persuasive call-to-action buttons for them to make purchases.
Customer Service Support: In this stage, the customer service plays a very significant role in turning potential customers into purchasing customers.There are several ways that the company could utilize their customer service better.First of all, the company should ensure that the customer service is always readily available to assist potential customers throughout their purchasing decision making.Secondly, the customer service should also precisely guide the customer through the features and benefits of the services provided.This can be helped by delivering brochure and guide the customer to understand the content of it.Thirdly, it is also important for the customer service to ask specific questions to the potential customers about their personal interest and intent to later offer personalized recommendations.Lastly, the customer service should always ensure to help simplify the purchase process for the customers and once the purchase is done, the customer service should also offer additional post-purchase supports to help the enrollment process smoothly.

D. Engage
The last stage of the RACE planning framework is the engage stage.In this stage, the main aim for the company is to have a longterm engagement and relationship with its customers to provide a business sustainability.This stage will touch the additional two customer-journey touchpoints of Hierarchy of Effects model which are 'Retention' and 'Advocacy'.There are several ways that the company could act upon to increase the quality of customer relationship.
Community Building: One of the ways to deepen engagement and initiate a long-term relationship with customers is to build a dedicated community for the brand, in this case for PT Karisma Garuda Mulia.It is highly suggested that the company starts to build a community where past customers can communicate with each other and also communicate with the company in an easy way.To create a strong community building, the following actions can be taken.Firstly, the company should establish an appropriate platform for communication.WhatsApp or Telegram group chats are suitable options as they are commonly used by people.Since the company has multiple disciplines, it is recommended to create separate communities for each field to cater to specific interests and discussions.Secondly, the company should actively encourage conversation and participation within the community.Initiating discussions and inviting members to share their opinions can foster engagement.It is crucial to cultivate a safe and welcoming environment where community members feel comfortable expressing themselves.Thirdly, the company can utilize the platform to share valuable content related to each community's interests.This can include educational articles, helpful tips and tricks, or industry insights to provide fresh and informative content.Job opportunities can also be shared to support community members in their career development.Sharing such content can attract new members and foster a sense of belonging within the community.Lastly, offering exclusive rewards or benefits through the platform can strengthen the relationship with community members.This can involve providing special discounts, personalized offers, or access to exclusive resources reserved for community members.By providing these incentives, the company can deepen participation and further connect with the community.Feedback Surveys: It is crucial for the company to gather insights from their customers to help the process of making the business conduct a continuous improvement.It is highly recommended that the company asks for feedback about several points throughout the customer's journey in purchasing the services using an appropriate and simple platform such as Google Form.The company could ask questions about where do they get information about the company, how complete was the information about the courses, how well did the customer service assist the purchasing decision, how well the learning experience is, and other relevant questions.These feedbacks and insights thus can be leveraged by the company to evaluate their efforts and improve it to nurture a satisfactory service for their customers.Overall, the strategy that the authors suggest will cover the customer's purchasing journey as a whole by incorporating each digital marketing channel or effort with the customer's touch-points.To better understand the overall strategy, the authors also construct a customer journey map that touches with the digital marketing channels.However, the sequence of the customer journey will not reflect all customers, as each customer may have a slightly different approach when making a purchasing decision.Below is the customer journey map that the authors had constructed.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
In this section, the authors will suggest the proposed implementation plan based on the solutions given above.Besides the implementation plan, the authors will also suggest the proposed key performance indicators that the company may look up to in order to keep track the digital marketing strategy will later be implemented.
In the reach stage, the authors propose two strategic actions.Firstly, search engine marketing, both organic and paid, should be optimized in the first two weeks of each month to ensure continuous improvement.Secondly, content marketing should be executed consistently every week throughout the month, with at least one content piece per day or every two days.Moving to the act stage, the focus is on providing an exceptional user experience on the company's website.The authors suggest optimizing the website in the first two weeks of each month, aligning it with the reach stage's search engine marketing efforts.Additionally, free webinars and demo classes should be conducted regularly, preferably in the first and third weeks of the month, to encourage people to take action.
In the convert stage, the authors recommend offering special discounts and promotions during the first and last weeks of the month, as well as on occasions aligned with relevant events or phenomena.Email marketing and customer service support should receive attention every week, with a strong connection between email marketing and content marketing.Customer service support should always be active and ready to assist customers.In the engage stage, building a community is crucial.The company should establish a platform and maintain constant relevant communication within the community.Additionally, conducting feedback surveys regularly, on a weekly basis, is essential to gain insights and value customer opinions, enabling continuous business improvement.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Company's Number of Students (Source: Company's Internal Data)

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Customer Journey Map Based on RACE Framework (Source: Authors' Processed Data)