Impact of Online Marketing on Growth

Introduction

With the development of the internet and the shift of virtually all business activities including sales, marketing and distribution of products on the web, a wide number of key business organization and markets are increasingly adopting the digital space for business transactions. Major business lines and sectors including the retail, manufacturing and service sectors are increasingly setting up infrastructure and strategies to maximize on the digital network for increased sales development and growth of their activities. As such the business market is predominantly shifting to online domain especially with increasing development of fast and secure home delivery methodology for bought products and services. Maximizing on online/Digital marketing as such not only impact exploitation of a larger consumer market, but also impact access to a larger global customer range. However does investment in online/digital marketing also yield other progressive benefits and impacts such as customer loyalty? The study sets out to critically analyze the various concepts, impacts and effectiveness of online marketing to organization growth and development. Specifically, the study also sought to find out whether enhanced investment on digital marketing could impact increased customer loyalty. The study will include five distinct chapters with the first one providing an effective introduction to the study; highlighting the study background, problem statements, Aims and Objectives of the study, the study questions and the justification of the study. Chapter two highlights the literature review, chapter three the research methodology, chapter five the data presentation and analysis and the final chapter highlighting the conclusions and recommendations of the study.

Background of the Study

Online marketing also referred to in other parts of the world as digital marketing, web marketing or internet marketing is a general term that includes all marketing processes and products that employ the internet as a medium of communication. Andrus (2020) advances that digital marketing also includes the use of mobile phones in marketing efforts and activities as well as display advertising and any other digital medium. With the effective development of technology and its increasing application in business processes as well as the increasing predominance of personal and mobile technological devices, marketing within the digital domain is increasingly replacing the traditional marketing strategies. According to Sathya (2015) the concept of digital marketing has grown in popularity over time, particularly in certain countries such as the USA, UK, Italy and France where online marketing is currently the most prevalent marketing technique adopted by major business companies and organizations. Bala and Verma (2018) outlines a wide range of digital marketing strategies to include; Serch Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Content automation, Influencer marketing, e-commerce marketing, Content marketing, campaign marketing and Social Media marketing. Other strategies also include Social media optimization, display advertising, optical disks and games, direct E-mail marketing, e-books and call back messages. These different types of digital marketing strategies have continually grown over the past couple of decades, both in terms of number and effectiveness refining their efficiency in reaching a wider and targeted consumer market and as such replacing traditional marketing strategies in the contemporary market. Kannan and Li (2017) advances that the way in which digital marketing has developed since the 1990s and 2000s has changed the way brands and businesses utilize technology and digital marketing for their marketing. Digital marketing campaigns are becoming more prevalent as well as efficient, as digital platforms are increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people use digital devices instead of going to physical shops.

Extensive internet connection across the world and increased use of smart phones on various social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp provide increased opportunities for digital marketing and the attraction of new customers as a result of the deep connection between the users on these social media sites (Bala and Verma, 2018). Maximization of companies and organizations to using these sites and other digital marketing strategies according to Yasmin, Tasneem and Fatema (2015), provides significant potential benefits and impacts to companies and organizations. For instance, a wide range of digital marketing strategies and techniques are inherently cheaper compared to traditional techniques providing a significant budget cut for the marketing department. Digital marketing also enables access to a wider consumer base on the internet given its global scale which impacts the potential for increased sales and revenue for the organizations. In addition companies can further engage effective targeting marketing through the online domain to enhance the development of a customer base. Sathya (2015) highlights that online marketing provides 24 hour services to customers of various organization, keeping them updated of any latest or trending products or various updates and upgrades that they may be interested in effectively appealing to their loyalty. Awareness of consumer's motives is important because it provides a deeper understanding of what influences users to create content about a brand or store. This significantly impacts the digital marketing effort to enhance its effectiveness and efficiency. Further Yasmin, Tasneem and Fatema (2015),argue that knowing which social media sites, or which digital strategies a company's target market utilizes is another key factor in guaranteeing the success of online marketing.

Research Problem

Despite the various advances made by technology to company/organization endeavors including facilitating online sales and marketing strategies which significantly impact the supply chain, it is not clear whether online marketing impacts increased consumer loyalty to companies and organizations. According to Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004), marketing increasingly bring organizations and brands close to consumers’ daily life, thereby impacting their changing role as co-producers of value in the product market. Given the increasing importance of value to customers, development of more instantaneous and interactive marketing strategies in digital marketing has led to increased consumer engagement and retention. Khan and Mahapatra (2009), advances that technology plays a vital role in improving the quality of services provided by the business units. Primarily as such, digital marketing enhances a reduced cost of marketing and enhanced reach of a significant portion of the consumer market. In addition, social media marketing allows firms to reach customers that may not be accessible due to temporal and locational limitations of existing traditional distribution channels (Watson et al. 2002; Sheth & Sharma 2005). However digital and social media marketing for companies and organization involves “encouraging customer communications on company’s own website or through its social presence.” Chaffey (2011) advances that the encouragement of socialization between the company and the customer is geared towards enhancing retention of customers and ultimate consumer loyalty to the company’s brand and products. Companies can use digital marketing, specifically through social media to distribute their messages to their target audience and engage in a consistent and progressive interaction with their various customers leading to the development of trust and customer information satisfaction. According to Giese and Gote (2000), customer information satisfaction (CIS) for digital marketing among customers is a critical prerequisite to their retention and can potentially lead to the development of consumer loyalty. They advance that CIS can be conceptualized as a sum of affective response of varying intensity that follows consumption and is stimulated by focal aspects of sales activities, information systems (websites), digital products/services, customer support, after-sales service and company culture. As such this study looks to evaluate the different digital marketing strategies and their impact to a company’s growth and development especially focusing on whether or not they impact customer loyalty.

Research Aims and Objectives

Research Aim

The study aims to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of Online/Digital marketing to organization growth and development with a specific focus on whether it helps to build customer loyalty. To be able to effectively dissect this study question, the aim is further disintegrated into specific research objectives to achieve focus.

Research Objectives

To intensively evaluate literature with regards to digital marketing strategies and techniques

To evaluate the differences and as such benefits of digital marketing to business organization and companies

To identify the impact of digital marketing to the contemporary business environment

To find out if digital marketing can influence customer loyalty to companies and organizations

Research Questions

What are the major differences and therefore benefits of digital marketing over traditional marketing strategies?

What is the impact of digital marketing in the contemporary business environment?

Can digital marketing help companies and organization build customer loyalty?

Justification of the Study

As the internet takes over the business industry centering all business operations including business transactions, supplying and marketing of products and services, it is significant for all companies to maximize and optimize on internet use such as internet marketing for maximum benefits. A majority of companies and organizations across the world are already effectively shifting their operations and focus to the online domain leveraging the internet for their benefits especially when it comes to cutting costs and reaching a wide market (Yasmin Tasneem and Fatema, 2015; Sathya, 2015; Kannan and Li, 2017; Bala and Verma, 2018). This study goes further to evaluate the effective benefits and impacts of digital marketing, especially unearthing whether and how it impacts customer loyalty. Ultimately the findings of the study will be significant for different companies and business, enabling effective and efficient adoption of digital marketing strategies in enhancing consumer retention and customer loyalty. Despite extensive adoption and application of the internet on a global scale as well as the use of Smartphone’s with access to the internet by a significant population of the world, the application of technological strategies and utilization of the digital domain is yet to be effectively exploited. According to Clement (2020), up to 2.6 billion people making up a third of the world’s population own smart phones and use social media worldwide in 2021. With the number having doubled over the last 5 years a significant increase in the adoption of technology by consumers across the world is significantly clear. However only 21% of companies surveyed across the globe by the Forbes business magazine think they have successfully completed a digital transformation of their business activities and processes (Morgan, 2019). 70% of companies surveyed either have a digital transformation strategy on place or are working on the development of one and on average only 40% of all technology spending in these companies go towards digital transformation (Deloitte, 2020). This highlights that businesses and organizations are yet to exhaustively adopt technology on different business processes and strategies and consequently are yet to maximize on reaping the benefits and impact of different digital technological applications such as digital marketing. Partly this can be attributed to the limited literature and information with regards to the adoption of different digital strategies and processes by companies on their business processes. As such, this study contributes towards development of literature relating to the application of digital processes and strategies for enhanced company and organization benefits such as building customer loyalty.

The study builds on the already existing information with regards to digital marketing strategies and techniques. It demonstrates how such strategies especially the use of social media as a marketing tool can be leveraged by a company to develop customer loyalty and build a market base which eventually impacts its growth and development. Given the limited adoption of digital marketing strategies by companies and businesses in the contemporary market as well as the wide range of digital marketing techniques in a highly complex and dynamic consumer market which often lead to the adoption of wrong digital marketing strategies by different companies and organizations, the study is timely and responds to an existing and significant need in the contemporary market place.

Research Methodology

Research Techniques

Given the nature of the study to critically analyze the impact and effectiveness of Online/Digital marketing to organization growth and development, especially whether or not it helps build customer loyalty the study will apply a qualitative research technique. The study aims to demonstrate the benefits and impacts of application of digital marketing by companies and organization and specifically determine whether digital marketing can be adopted to enhance customer Loyalty. As such it will involve a collection of ideas and opinions as the raw data from workers in marketing departments of different companies and organization. These can only be effectively analyzed using qualitative research techniques as opposed to Qualitative techniques that are highly dependent on numerical data for analysis.

Philosophical Paradigm

Philosophical awareness guides researchers through the challenges and relevant strategies required to conduct research. According to Yin (2013), questions such as why the researcher is actually conducting the research in the first place, how to research and when to research are among the key determinants of which philosophical approach to be adopted within a research study. The study will apply the interpretivism research paradigm. According to Corley and Gioia (2011) this philosophy and approach are the most effective and suitable for studies involving descriptive first hand data. The philosophy is also effective given the nature of the study involving socio-economic perspectives of aspects of businesses and the society.

Research Approach

According to Gobo (2011), a study approach is a plan to be followed procedurally through the consideration of broad developed assumptions about the topic of study and that significantly highlight the course of the study. Three research approaches exist including: inductive, deductive and abductive approaches. While deductive approach bases a study on a particular premise thereby conducting a study towards crediting or discrediting the premise, the inductive approach bases the study on defined and achievable objectives from which inferences are then drawn to answer the problem of the study. Dubois and Gadde (2002) however highlight that an abductive approach systemically combines the two approaches and can explain, develop or change the theoretical framework of a study before, during or after the research. The evaluation the impact and effectiveness of digital marketing to organization growth and development, especially whether or not it helps build customer loyalty is based on the research aim and objectives and on the premise that digital marketing has significant benefits and impacts on companies. Building from this, abductive approach is best suited for evaluating these impacts and benefits and whether the development of customer loyalty is one of them.

Population of study

The study aims to critically analyze the impact and effectiveness of digital marketing to organization growth and development, especially whether or not it helps build customer loyalty. The population of study as such involves Marketing and digital information experts within different organizations and companies. This is a relatively wide population as such to narrow it down the study will target, social media or digital marketing experts within fortune five hundred companies that have effectively adopted online marketing technologies and effectively benefited from digital marketing.

Sampling

According to Blaikie (2010), the awareness of a researcher with regards to the range with which they can pick an effective sample is significant in the eventual decision of sampling techniques to adopt. While the population of digital marketing specialists within different organizations is unlimited across the world focusing the study to successful and practicing experts from established companies will ensure both credibility and effectiveness of information collected. To be able to select an effective and adequate sample as such, Purposive sampling will be adopted. Only respondents involved in the marketing department of a major company and that is involved in digital marketing and has been successful in gaining market and consumer loyalty through digital marketing will be involved in the study. The researcher will identify up to ten different companies that have successfully adopted digital marketing and pick 2 respondents from each company.

Research Methods

Given that the qualitative study technique chosen for the research as well as the aim to determine the impact and effectiveness of digital marketing to organization growth and development, especially whether or not it helps build customer loyalty, a significant amount of descriptive data is expected. Qualitative research methods such as interviews and questionnaires as well as focus groups as such make the best data collection methods to be used. However given the nature of respondents work and the possibility of limited time for data collection with each one of them, a short semi structured questionnaires to be administered to the respondents followed by short casual interviews are the best data collection methods available. The appropriateness of the method is further emphasized given that the research will be conducted during official working hours and limiting the time of engagement with the respondent is essential.

Data Analysis

The study will use thematic analysis in the analysis of collected descriptive data. According to Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis as a qualitative study analysis methodology, engages in identifying and demonstrating significant links between data towards the answering of the study question. The analysis method engages in identifying and analyzing patterns, themes and any linkages between raw data to enhance understanding and meaning. The study analysis as such will be able to establish the perspective of the digital marketing experts with regards to the various benefits and impacts of digital marketing as well as whether or not and how digital marketing can be adopted to create customer loyalty by companies.

Ethical Considerations

The study involves extensive collection of information from individuals some of which may be personal and provide considerable risk towards the individuals’ daily livelihood. Ethical issues in this aspect often arise on account of the relevant courtesy afforded to these respondents. Based on the British Psychological Association (2013) this information collection may amount to invasion of privacy thereby highlighting a legal and ethical issue. However the issue will be significantly addressed by only accepting willing participants to respond to the study questionnaires. Further their identities will remain anonymous to even the researcher to aintan confidentiality

Limitations of the Study Methodology

The study methodology chosen is the most effective methodology to develop accurate and dependable inferences to be adopted in digital transformation of organizations marketing departments. However among the limitations it presents is need for extensive study time and periods which is nit effectively available for the study at hand. The study methodology also leads to the collection of large amounts of descriptive information in ideas and opinions that must be sorted and sifted to develop the ultimate inferences.

References

Blaikie,N. (2010). Designing social research: The logic of anticipation (2 ed.). Cambridge, England: Polity Press.

Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101

Dubois, A. and Gadde, L., 2002. Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case research. Journal of Business Research, 55(7), pp.553-560.

Khan M. S. and Mahapatra S. S. (2009). Service quality evaluation in internet banking: an empirical study in India. Int. J. Indian Culture and Business Management, vol. 2, no. 1, (2009), pp. 30-46.

Prahalad, C.K. and Ramaswamy V. (2005). The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press.

Watson, R.P., Leyland, F.P., Berthon, P. and Zinkham, G. (2002). U-commerce: expanding the universe of marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 30 no. 4, pp. 333-47

Yin, R. K. 2013. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Google Scholar