DIGITAL MARKETING AND PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effect of digital marketing and performance of small and medium scale enterprises in University of Benin. Data were primarily sourced through the physical administration of questionnaires of which 50 was retrieved and used for the analysis. The descriptive (frequency, mean and percentage) and inferential statistics (regression) were adopted for the study’s analysis. Specifically, the regression analysis revealed the following that: there is a significant relationship between digital marketing and the performance of SMEs; there is a significant relationship between social media marketing and the performance of SMEs; there is a significant relationship between affiliate marketing and the performance of SMEs; there is a significant relationship between online advertising and the performance of SMEs Based on these findings, the following recommendations were made that: SMEs should foster deeper connections with customers by enhancing their online customer experience. This could involve implementing live chat support, personalized email marketing campaigns, and interactive content to engage with customers at every stage of the buyer's journey and build long-term relationships. SMEs should hire trusted affiliate marketers (third-party publishers) to promote the goods and services of their organization through its website as it will save the time and effort in reaching their target customers and share some of their revenues with the affiliates. They should allow individuals to become affiliates and reward their successful referrals to the business. With the increasing usage of smartphones and mobile devices, SMEs should prioritize mobile advertising to reach consumers on-thego. Mobile-optimized ads, responsive landing pages, and location-based targeting can help SMEs effectively engage with their mobile audience and drive conversions. SMEs should conduct thorough research to identify the most suitable online advertising channels (e.g., social media, search engine marketing, display advertising) based on their target audience, industry, and marketing objectives. By implementing these recommendations, SMEs can harness the full potential of digital marketing and its impact on the performance of SMEs.