Short answer: digital marketing and AI in AQA A-Level Business 7138 covers how firms win customers online: SEO vs PPC, cookies, CRM and data analytics. You measure results with click-through and conversion rates, and calculate return on marketing spend. Then you judge whether the technology really makes the business more competitive [1].
What the 7138 specification asks
This topic sits in 3.1.3 Marketing, which is examined on Paper 1. In summary, AQA wants you to understand [1]:
- the purpose and value of digital technology, including AI, in social media campaigns, content marketing, SEO, PPC and website cookies;
- digital measures of success, such as search performance, click-through rates, time on site, conversion rates, users or subscribers, and advertising revenue;
- CRM: customer acquisition, customer retention, lead generation and pipeline management;
- data analytics: segmentation, campaign tracking, personalisation, predictions and dynamic pricing;
- how digital marketing can affect competitiveness, and how to calculate return on marketing spend.
Most of this is new. SEO, PPC, cookies, CRM, AI in marketing and return on marketing spend do not appear in the old 7132 course. Dynamic pricing was already there.
SEO vs PPC: the core comparison
SEO (search engine optimisation) means improving a website so it ranks higher in the free, "organic" search results. PPC (pay-per-click) means buying adverts, usually above those results, and paying each time someone clicks.
| SEO | PPC | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | None, but content and skills cost money | Paid on every click |
| Speed | Slow: often months to rank | Fast: live within hours |
| Control | Low: the search engine decides rankings | High: choose keywords, budget, audience |
| When spending stops | Traffic usually continues for a while | Traffic stops at once |
| Best for | Long-term, low-cost visibility | Launches, sales events, testing |
The exam rarely wants "one is better". It wants you to say which fits this business, now. A new firm with no ranking needs PPC to be seen. An established firm with strong content may cut PPC and save money.
Cookies: data, consent and the law
A cookie is a small file a website stores on your device. Cookies let firms remember baskets, count visitors and track people for targeted adverts.
In the UK, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) control this. Unless an exception applies, a site must explain its cookies and get consent first. Refusing must be as easy as accepting [2]. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data regulator, lists five exceptions, such as cookies that are strictly necessary or used only for basic visitor statistics. Advertising cookies always need consent [3].
The ICO enforces this. On 4 December 2025 it reported that 979 of the UK's top 1,000 websites now passed its cookie checks. 564 of them improved only after ICO contact [4]. For marketers, the trade-off is clear: every visitor who rejects advertising cookies is one the firm cannot track or target.
CRM and data analytics
CRM (customer relationship management) is the system a firm uses to record every contact with each customer. It supports four jobs:
- Lead generation: collecting details of possible customers, such as email sign-ups.
- Pipeline management: tracking each lead from first contact to sale.
- Acquisition: turning leads into first-time buyers.
- Retention: keeping existing customers buying again.
Data analytics turns this record into decisions. Firms segment customers into groups, personalise offers, predict what people will buy, and use dynamic pricing, where prices change with demand. AI makes this faster and cheaper at scale.
Tesco is a strong UK example. In its results for the 26 weeks to 29 August 2026, Tesco said it rolled out "Your Clubcard Prices", personalised loyalty prices, to around 2.5 million customers. It also reported online sales of £3.7bn, up 8.4%, and 17% growth in active advertisers at Tesco Media [6]. That last figure shows customer data can become a second income stream.
Dynamic pricing: the Oasis case
Dynamic pricing can raise revenue, but it carries risk to trust. In September 2024 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK competition regulator, investigated Ticketmaster's sale of Oasis tickets. Its update of 25 September 2025 found fans were not told standing tickets came at two prices [5].
The CMA said it found no evidence that prices moved in real time with demand. The anger came from poor information, not the algorithm. Ticketmaster agreed, without admitting wrongdoing, to show price ranges and give 24 hours' notice of tiered pricing [5].
Measuring success: a worked calculation
The numbers below are ILLUSTRATIVE. They are invented to show the method and do not describe any real business.
| ILLUSTRATIVE data | Campaign A: PPC ads to new customers | Campaign B: CRM email to past customers |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions (times seen) | 40,000 | 10,000 |
| Clicks | 1,200 | 600 |
| Click-through rate = clicks ÷ impressions × 100 | 3% | 6% |
| Sales (orders) | 48 | 60 |
| Conversion rate = sales ÷ clicks × 100 | 4% | 10% |
| Revenue from campaign | 48 × £60 = £2,880 | 60 × £50 = £3,000 |
| Marketing spend | 1,200 × £0.80 = £960 | £400 |
| Return on marketing spend = (revenue − spend) ÷ spend × 100 | (£2,880 − £960) ÷ £960 = 200% | (£3,000 − £400) ÷ £400 = 650% |
Some textbooks show the simpler ratio of revenue ÷ spend instead (3:1 for A, 7.5:1 for B). Use the version your course materials give, and always show your working.
Campaign B looks far better, so retention seems cheaper than acquisition. But B can only reach people who already buy. A business that never acquires new customers will shrink. Also, revenue is not profit: neither figure deducts the cost of the goods sold.
Practice question, in our own words: Assess whether a small UK online clothing retailer should move most of its marketing budget from PPC to SEO.
Analysis: SEO has no cost per click, so once the site ranks, each extra visitor costs almost nothing. Therefore the cost of each sale falls over time, which raises return on marketing spend and lets the firm price more competitively.
Evaluation: However, SEO is slow and rankings are outside the firm's control. A small retailer with weak cash flow may not survive months of lower traffic. So the switch makes sense only if the firm can afford the wait. A gradual shift, cutting PPC as organic traffic grows, is likely to be safer than a sudden move.
Notice the structure. The analysis is a chain joined by "so" and "therefore". The evaluation names the condition, cash flow, and ends with a judgement on this business.
Practise the calculations
Our free Business pack has more worked numbers and practice questions with UK businesses.
Get the free packFor timed practice on this topic, try "Digital Marketing: SEO vs PPC" on the CC Business platform, Year 12 track. Most tutors teach the subject. We teach the criterion.
Sources
- AQA (2025). AS and A-level Business 7137/7138 specification, version 1.0, October 2025.
- Information Commissioner's Office (2026). Guidance on the use of storage and access technologies: What are the PECR rules?.
- Information Commissioner's Office (2026). Guidance on the use of storage and access technologies: What are the exceptions?.
- Information Commissioner's Office (2025). ICO action secures increased cookie compliance, 4 December 2025.
- Competition and Markets Authority (2025). CMA secures changes from Ticketmaster following Oasis tickets investigation, 25 September 2025.
- Tesco PLC (2026). Interim Results 2026/27, 7 October 2026 (copy of the regulatory announcement).