This article discusses the concepts of digital and internet marketing and analyzes the classification of digital marketing communications. The purpose of the study is to develop criteria, a methodological approach to selecting the most appropriate digital marketing tools for a particular enterprise and market, and a system of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of the marketing communications complex. The methodological approach is applied to small businesses in the retail market of cut flowers. For a specific company digital advertising, launching an internet site, maintaining social networks and search marketing were selected. Calculations of marketing communications performance indicators have shown that the use of digital marketing tools leads to a positive financial result. The survey has established that digital marketing is broader than internet marketing and includes the following media channels: social media marketing, digital television, content marketing, e-mail marketing, web site, SEO, Banner Ads, mobile marketing, streaming platforms, digital billboards. For specific purposes and markets it is sufficient to use not all, but part of the digital communication tools. The criteria for their selection are proposed: the marketing budget, the goals of the marketing strategy, the age of the audience, the competence of the company’s staff and the frequency of use of digital marketing tools. To assess the effectiveness of digital marketing communications a system of indicators is proposed that includes such indicators as: ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment), site traffic; profitability of sales on the Internet, increase in net profit, NPV (Net Present Value), popularity of certain pages of the site; information about the sources of transition to the site; duration of stay on the site; triggers for performing targeted actions; conversion and Web Analytics indexes. Keywords: digital marketing, digital marketing communications, digital media channels

The current stage of higher education development is featured by a complex and dynamic environment, new threats associated with the coronavirus pandemic. These challenges dictate the need for universities to maintain firm competitive positions. Taking into account the peculiarities of the higher education and the subjective assessment of a number of factors, it is necessary to adapt the models of assessing the competitiveness of educational organizations to the specifics of the market. The purpose of the article is to modernize and test Porter's model of Five Competitive Forces for the education market system. The object of the study is the educational services market of the Sverdlovsk region. The most significant attention in the proposed model is paid to identifying and describing the features and structure of the five forces of competition. The authors propose to consider the power of internal and external consumers of university educational services as the power of customers, and the threat of online education and the creation of corporate universities of large companies as a threat from substitutes. The main attention of the authors is paid to an empirical study of the competitiveness of brands of universities in the Sverdlovsk region using the results of a survey of 177 graduates of the 11th grade of Yekaterinburg, conducted in 2020. The analysis of the applicants' motivation showed that the most important motives in choosing a university are the possibility of free education and the qualification of the teaching staff, further material benefits, such as fair wages and favorable employment. The most popular sources of information for applicants are the official website of the high school, as well as relatives, friends and acquaintances. As a result of the analysis, it is concluded that it is necessary to develop a marketing strategy to increase the competitive position, awareness and the level of public confidence of the university. The authors suggest universities to personalize relationships with students in order to increase loyalty to the university, use information technology to implement flexible programs of interaction with consumers of educational services.