EFFECT OF DIGITAL MARKETING ON PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES
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EFFECT OF DIGITAL MARKETING ON PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background for the Study
The emergence of globalisation has resulted in advancements in information communication and technology, including the usage of the internet, which has led to the emergence of social media.
In recent years, business owners have increasingly relied on social media to market their products and services to consumers (Paquette, 2013). Some organisations now use the media as part of their marketing plan to engage with potential clients and this trend has continued to bring substantial changes to how business is done now compared to three to four decades ago.
It should be noted that, while social media was originally designed to be a social platform, some marketers have recognised the economic prospects it provides and have elected to use it to expand their enterprises.
According to (Neti, 2011), social media is a marketing opportunity that eliminates the traditional middleman, connecting businesses directly to customers. Social media has so altered how consumers and marketers communicate and conduct commercial transactions (Balasubramanian, 1997).
In Nigeria, it is assumed that the government is responsible for providing jobs to the people, creating an enabling economic environment for businesses to thrive, and driving economic progress.
However, economic reality has proved that government alone cannot provide full employment for the entire population of those wanting to work. However, the government has the economic machinery to reduce unemployment by implementing policies that encourage people to start small businesses.
As a result, the Nigerian government’s reaction to reducing unemployment has been to promote entrepreneurial activity and provide support for the establishment and promotion of small and medium-sized businesses. Nonetheless, the entrepreneur must have a passionate marketing view of all entrepreneurial functions.
He must consider marketing not as a business activity, but as an integrated part of the overall company process. Entrepreneurs should be more marketing-oriented, preoccupied with the thriving and buzzing conditions of the outside world
to which the enterprise will eventually address itself. This is because marketing is on the front lines of change, having the largest impact on the company.
Customers can also use the Internet to research, choose, and buy items and services from businesses all over the world. Peer communication via social media has emerged as a new type of consumer socialisation, with far-reaching implications for consumer decision making and
as a result, marketing methods. Consumer socialisation theory suggests that communication among consumers influences their cognitive, affective, and behavioural attitudes (Al Kailani and Kumar, 2011; Ward, 1974).
As a result, the internet might be viewed as a significant agent of consumer socialisation. In Ghana, both major and small company owners have joined millions of internet users in advertising and offering their products and services to existing and potential clients. This study investigates what motivates these business owners to switch from traditional marketing to online commerce.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Because of the widespread acceptability and popularity of digital media, anyone interested in starting a business of any kind can do so at any moment. However, numerous kinds and large corporations are reaping the benefits of so many diverse sorts, but SMEs are still lagging far behind in adapting to this revolutionary technology of the present century.
It is an unsettling issue that SMEs are kept back in the competitive world in terms of profit earnings when compared to multinational corporations, mostly because they do not apply new tactics such as Digital Marketing in their commercial activities, marketing, and advertising campaigns.
As a result, it is critical that a research be conducted to identify and highlight the likely benefits, associated shortcomings, and management solutions for the potential drawbacks of Digital Marketing so that SMEs may compete economically and commercially with quickly rising firms. This study will investigate at the impact of digital marketing on the performance of small and medium-sized businesses in Lagos.
1.3 Research Objectives
The broad or primary goal of this study is to explore the impact of digital marketing on the performance of small and medium-sized businesses in Lagos. The precise aims include:
To determine the influence of online marketing applications on business processes in small and medium firms.
To determine the nature of the relationship between digital marketing and small and medium-sized firms’ productivity.
To determine the effect of digital marketing on business processes in small and medium firms.
To discover the marketing methods employed by SMEs in Lagos to make their products and services appealing to clients.
1.4 Research Questions.
The research questions that will guide the project are as follows:
Does an online marketing application have a major and positive impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized enterprises?
What is the relationship between digital marketing and small and medium-sized business productivity?
Does digital marketing have a major and positive impact on business processes in small and medium-sized enterprises?
What marketing methods do SMEs in Lagos employ to attract clients to their products and services?
1.5 Research Hypotheses.
The following research theories will guide the investigation.
Online marketing applications have a considerable impact on the business processes of small and medium-sized organisations.
Digital marketing has a tremendous influence on the business processes of small and medium-sized organisations.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study’s conclusions will benefit both organisations and enterprises, particularly in terms of the need to focus on digital marketing, individual, group/team, and organisational innovation.
Furthermore, the findings of this study will serve as a channel of awareness and enlightenment on the numerous environmental issues that have impacted organisations in recent years, as well as present potential solutions to such problems as they arise.
Not only that, but its findings will serve as a platform for professional managers, CEOs, and other workers involved in staff training, administration, and management to learn how to motivate their employees for maximum human creativity and invention.
By doing so, several organisations would be better equipped to develop a repertoire of techniques (management control systems) for improving average employee performance while also increasing management efficiency by enforcing worker cooperation and standardisation of work methods, particularly in creative organisations.
In conclusion, the findings of this study will contribute to the management of national culture in terms of cultural individualism, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and multiple cultural dimensions that may influence an individual employee’s preferences for and reactions to management control systems in interactive ways; and it will serve as a systematic knowledge base for researchers.
1.7 Scope of Study
The scope of this study would include all Small and Medium Enterprises in the Lagos metropolis that use online marketing tools and have their own internet websites.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Medium-sized firms are defined as those that employ fewer than 250 people and have an annual sales of no more than N50 million or an annual balance-sheet total of less than N43 million.
Small enterprises are defined as those that employ fewer than 50 people and have an annual turnover and/or balance sheet total of less than N10 million.
Micro enterprises are defined as those that employ less than ten people and have an annual turnover and/or balance sheet total of less than N2 million.
Digital Marketing: This term encompasses all forms of internet advertising, internet payment systems, internet marketing, internet customer assistance, and internet ordering and delivery.
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