Impact of Digital Marketing in Retail Sector

Digital Marketing is a form of marketing and advertising which uses the Internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers. It includes email marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, many types of display advertising (including web banner advertising), and mobile advertising. Like other advertising media, online advertising frequently involves both a publisher, who integrates advertisements into its online content, and an advertiser, who provides the advertisements to be displayed on the publisher's content. Other potential participants include advertising agencies that help generate and place the ad copy, an ad server which technologically delivers the ad and tracks statistics, and advertising affiliates who do independent promotional work for the advertiser. 

The various research objectives of the study are:

• To define the concept of digital marketing and innovative sales promotion techniques.

• To review as to how much sales promotion through digital marketing has penetrated in the market place

• To demonstrate about functioning of digital marketing and benefits of digital marketing for the businesses as well as the customers.

• To assess the feedback of companies and customers towards different sales promotion strategies using digital marketing techniques.

• To suggest the potential marketers on use of digital marketing for improving their business.

Problem Definition

Today, for any organization or firm to survive in this competitive world, it depends on its ability to be dynamic and be different from the competition to be unique in the industry. For this, it is very important in knowing competitive/marketing strategies of a company. We need to understand and analyze marketing strategies to create an interaction that will reach to the ultimate desired goal of a company. Implementation of marketing strategies helps every organization to keep the existing customer and to build new customer.

Whilst once the domain of the information seeker and the passive web surfer, the Internet has evolved to become a truly social media environment; an interactive environment that now sees a free-flow of information and conversation. In line with this evolution, we have seen the balance of power shift from the marketer to the consumer, from the communicator to the receiver through social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Currently it is estimated that during an average adult’s day, a total of nine hours is spent surfing the net. It is anticipated that this time commitment will increase significantly as social networking becomes mainstream. Since consumers are now able to control the ebb and flow of information, marketers and advertisers are coming to recognize that, in order to succeed in the new digital world, they need to re-think their strategies. 

Digital media is seen as an emerging communication environment for many. Indeed it appears that many media practitioners, marketing agencies and advertising agencies are continuing to apply traditional planning strategies in this new environment. In this report, my objective is to highlight the growing importance of online advertising in the digital media environment. Digital Marketing is widely used across virtually all industry sectors. 

Many common online advertising practices are controversial and increasingly subject to regulation. Online ad revenues may not adequately replace other publishers' revenue streams. Declining ad revenue has led some publishers to hide their content behind pay walls. The purpose of this study is to study the latest digital marketing strategies adopted by companies to cater to the needs of desired mission and vision. The reach of Internet may not yet be as wide as that of other mass media, but given its unique advantages, it is undoubtedly the communication medium of the future. Marketers around the world have from time to time tried to reach their target audiences through various media. Scientific and technological advances have and will continue to create newer media to improve communication, and marketers will try to use the same to effectively address their audiences. Internet is one of the latest to join the list of such media inventions.

Methodology to be used

Research data can be characterized by two different aspects, which are quantitative and qualitative strategy. Quantitative is a collection of data analysis that leads to numerical data and qualitative data collection leads to analysis, which leads to non-numerical data such as words and images Qualitative data can be used to ‘develop theory from your data’ and in addition it can include both ‘deductive and inductive approaches’. The objective of the study is to explore how digital marketing is used to influence consumers. Using a quantitative strategy will not be relevant to the research question. The study aims to find out qualitative data concerning the marketing tools used, the technologies used by brands to engage consumers and how this influences them. The researcher will use qualitative data to justify the link connecting customers and the Internet. 

In this framework, the questionnaire method is the appropriate method. A well-structured questionnaire is formed and distributed to the internet users. All the questionnaires have the same questions in an identical sequence. The questions are concise, easy to understand, and aimed to secure applicable and reliable information. In addition the questionnaire method is suitable for collecting data related to the influence of digital marketing on companies and consumers. The data collected from this method will be helpful for the acknowledgement of digital marketing strategies that could be implemented by brands for their digital marketing approach. 

The Questionnaire method will assist the research to get up to date information and in addition information which is relevant as it will be data collected from individuals who use internet more frequently. Furthermore this method ensures accuracy as respondents give answers in their own time and own words. The questionnaire can be issued in a large sample, which makes this method more consistent. 

Before commencement of the questionnaire the participants are sufficiently prepared for the questions. Therefore, at the beginning of the questionnaire there is a short summary about the subject and the purpose of the questionnaire, in addition some key phrases are defined. The questions are concise, easy to understand, and aimed to ensure valid and dependable information. The logical design of the questionnaire followed the deductive method, which begins with respondents answering general questions moving on to specific questions. Furthermore, emailing the questionnaire allows for a faster rate of communication with participants and response to the questionnaire and additionally can be seen as ‘environmentally friendly’ as there is no paper involved.

The main focus is not to produce official theories regarding digital media as a marketing tool but to provide descriptive explanation of its influence on consumers. Therefore grounded theory research can assist in summarizing data as its central idea is that there is a strong link between theory and practical studies therefore its data is derived from the research stage. The research will then proceed to analyse data from the results produced; the research will then decide what information to provide. Results are then concluded and conclusions are drawn which relate to the research aim and lead to knowledge, which is integrated, into the existing field of knowledge.

Customer Relationship Management in Information Technology Companies

Most companies have been spending a lot of time and resources in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) framework, keeping in mind of the significance of being more customer-centric, as well as with the objective of better managing with their clients. However, an extensive number of CRM projects wind up struggling or failing. While many studies have been directed about tools, procedures, and hypothetical conceptualizations of CRM, there is something that underlines the important steps and key challenges to the successful execution of CRM.

The concept of Customer Relationship Management is widely-known business concept these days. Today managers in every company are endeavoring to build and keep up a good relationship with the client - given the significance of client lifetime value. For many managers, handling client relationships has been a biggest challenge, as the ideas of CRM and client lifetime value are well understood and established by various managers. A few firms have executed software tools for customer relationship management, and significantly more number of companies wants to follow the same. Few companies have even established offices for customer relationship management: account managers, client partners, and program managers etc. Despite of this many efforts, many managers are noticing that it is difficult to manage client relationships.

Customer relationship management is the most essential modern idea of marketing. In the recent past, CRM has been characterized barely as a customer data management action. It includes dealing with detailed information about individual clients and cautiously handling customer "touch items" keeping in mind the end goal to increase customer loyalty. Nonetheless, customer relationship has a broader meaning. In a broader view, customer relationship management is the general procedure of building and keeping up beneficial client relationships by conveying satisfaction and higher customer value. CRM generally deals with all facets of maintaining, acquiring, and growing customers. CRM has entered the standard and has gone from being a vital edge in the business world to an essential instrument for survival.

It has been a vital organizational competency for many companies to manage relationships with customers. Customer Relationship Management is a system that uses exceptionally advanced technologies and is the best approach to slice to the 21st Century business pursue. CRM can help companies to oversee customer interactions more viably to assert competition in the current economy. 

As more companies today understood the importance of being customer centric in the competitive time, they introduced CRM as an important business methodology and invested intensely. CRM is a reconciliation of relationship marketing and information technology. It offers the information that encourages to build a long haul relationship with clients at an enterprise wide level.

Effective CRM execution is an intricate, costly technical project. CRM is a business approach which perceives the significance of clients as the main impetus behind the failure or success of any business. It empowers the business organization to analyze, maintain, and act up on the data which the business distinguishes as significant to enhance its relationships with the customers, and subsequently improve its fortunes of success.

Literature Review

According to Mishra & Mishra (2015), While executing big scale integrated systems, such as CRM or ERP, organizations generally confront considerable challenges. Execution of a CRM framework was ascertained as an important need to adjust to the business strategy of offering services, rather than products. The execution was driven by the business clients, with IT playing an alleviating part, thereby ensuring that clients get highest value from implementation. The CRM framework may get into an impact mode (after successful execution), and may challenge business methodology. 

According to Alipour & Mohammadi (2011), One of the prerequisites of competitiveness is the ability of the company to alter themselves with the client needs rapidly. Increasing competition enables the companies to maintain more contacts and have relationships with the clients in the realm of business sectors. CRM is a business procedure in the B2B environment, which sets up the hierarchical structure to enhance and survive in trading. CRM is a vital procedure of support, against the rivals in the market, by giving value to the purchasers and vendors, and increasing phenomenal benefits.

Osotimehin, Hassan and Abass (2015), in their study observed that the capacity of organizations to deliver quality service is seen as a fundamental system for the success and survival in the competitive market. Customers’ involvement in light of relationship with service providers, and the conduct in which administrators are given, energizes or obstructs efficiency and survival of the organizations. Giving immediate and improved service will extend customer's commitment to services, since customers constitute the mainstays of any business.

Levels of Customer Relationships

The relationship amongst seller and buyer can be recognized in 6 different levels. Of the six levels, Level-1 is considered as the lowest level of relationship and level-6 is considered as the most profound level of relationship.

Level-1: Public utility need

Level-2: Convenience need

Level-3: Physical ease / comfort need

Level-4: Individual recognition need

Level-5: Self-expression need

Level-6: CO-conception Need

The customer lifetime value is modest at level-1 and is most astounding at level-6, from a marketing perspective. This is likewise reflected in the sales or revenues from a customer. So, it is the best interest of the vendor to have profound relationship with the customer.

Customer Relationship Management helps organizations to enhance the profitability of their connections with customers, and at the same time making the connections seem benevolent through individualization and personalization of services. 

This management incorporates Data Mining with the assistance of which Customer Life Cycle can be overseen well in acquiring new clients, retaining good clients, and enhancing the value of those clients.

The important steps for effective CRM in Data Mining are:

1. Specify business issue 

2. Establish advertising database 

3. Investigate information 

4. Develop the data for demonstrating 

5. Build-up a model

6. Deploy model and results

The organization can then utilize the information to find out about the conduct of its customers and enhance the way to do the business. The company can also take a gander at repeating complaints from various customers to solve the issue, which would somehow go unchecked with basic formats and management system of the organization.

A narrow viewpoint of customer relationship management is database advertising, accentuating the special aspects of marketing connected to database endeavors. Another narrow perspective is to consider CRM as client retention in which an assortment of after sale advertising strategies is utilized for client bonding or keeping in touch after the sale is done.

Conclusion

CRM is a data industry term for software, methodologies, and Internet capacities that help a company to look after customer relationships in the most organized way. For instance, a company may build a database about its clients that depict relationships in adequate detail so that salespeople, management, people providing service, and maybe the customer instantly can access information, match client needs with product offerings and plans, recognize what type of products a client has purchased, remind customers with service requirements, and so on. To build strong relationships with customers, information technology and worldwide web are the best opportunities for any company to survive in the market. Today organizations have prominent ability to set up, support, and sustain long haul customer relationships, by combining their capacities to respond specifically to customer requests and to furnish the customer with an exceptionally intelligent, customized experience.

Lecture on Social Media Marketing

Nowadays, you can't afford to be not on web-based networking media, since it is one of the most ideal methods for interfacing and building relationships with your prospective clients and customers. For some, social media is just Facebook, where there are a billion and a half people. But, social media is significantly more than that. I will explain how to utilize social media viably, and with restricted assets to showcase your business by adding a social segment to your organization by taking a gander at it from your client's perspective, in this session.

A couple of years back, there were two ways of publicizing your business houses: one being traditional advertising and the other through verbal communication. Social media is a verbal exchange on steroids. It gives you an approach to associate and assemble relationships with your clients. It's not a hard offer like many advertisements we see. Social media is similar to that of marketing, with a very small difference. A few business people think social media is simply one more channel to discuss your business. But that’s a wrong opinion. It is just about your customer and the way you help them to resolve. If you are effective on social media, you will have a chance for a one-one interaction with your customers, extend your connections, and gain their trust although when they are not on your store or in your website.

The initial step is moving your focus on marketing from you to your clients. You need to step into their shoes and attempt to see the universe through their eyes. Pose yourself that, what social networking channels they are on and whether they need to communicate with you there. At that point, outline your clients' torment calls attention to make sense of the sort of substance you can make to take care of your clients' issues when they require it. This will probably incorporate a mix of white papers, blog posts, forums, visuals, videos, and obviously, social networking upgrades that open up your substance and build a group. Once you comprehend your clients' needs, you can begin to make sense of how to associate with them on different web-based social networking channels and build up your online image identity. 

Marketing through social media is a long haul responsibility. So make certain that you have the resources to look after it. The most essential thing to recall is go where your clients are. Try not to make them come to you. Nowadays, the vast majority of the people are on social media networking systems. While a few people post an abundant excess data, private businesses can utilize web-based social networking deliberately to aware people and develop relationships with clients. The key is to choose the right stages for your audience, and make the kind of substance they can't go anyplace else, afterwards. 

Let’s discuss about the platforms that you would choose for your business. The conception of mass media was redefined by Facebook, with the fact that the platform is used by over 11.6 billion people. Facebook is used by most of the companies to advertise, publish news, post updates and host contests. Not to forget, it is a pay to play platform. The regularly done unpaid updates, called Organic posts, on Facebook do not get equal response from the public when compared with the paid advertising. A good customer interacted post of yours will be beneficial in paid promotion. Social media made market intelligence like do-it-yourself (DIY), so you should be selective in targeting the audience. Further, you can’t grant it for free, but then you will have to spend time on researching and analyzing and then discovering the insights. Social media is easily accessible than in the past. 

Social media marketing depends on four primary pills, i.e. Budget, Resources, Goals, and Customers. It works best when you mix it with your other promoting programs. Nowadays, you often hear the term integrated marketing a lot, however what do you mean by integration? Integration is just an approach to consolidate your different marketing activities deliberately. We should take a gander at the integrated model. Say your business promotes on radio since you know your clients drive to work. Perhaps you are supplementing that by utilizing PR to reach media and bloggers, and after that one of your representatives proposes moving everything over to social networking in light of the fact that it doesn't cost anything. At that point, once you build up your objectives, you have to set up a procedure to gauge regardless of whether you are accomplishing them. One approach to do that is to urge customers and prospects to subscribe for a newsletter that could, for instance, show contextual analyses of how you are accomplishing desired results about for customers by making the best cakes on the planet. But, is that social media objective? Are social media objectives not quite the same as general marketing objectives? 

When building up your business' social media plan, a standout amongst the most essential things to consider is picking the best channels and times to associate with your clients. You need to comprehend the conduct behavior for every stage, by keeping in mind of effectively achieving a specific end goal. You can discover a great deal about client social networking propensities by listening and seeing where, when, and how they are generally dynamic. Watch whether they are utilizing social media actually to associate with loved ones, or on the off chance that they additionally connect with brands. Possibly, they utilize social media to assemble information on the product or seek customer service when they have an issue and expect an expedient reaction, even night-time. Get acquainted with your clients' conduct by watching what they do in the social networking world. 

Social media is a two way discussion. That is a best aspect regarding it, as well as one of the scariest in light of the fact that you never know when something will turn out badly. At the point when it is set well, social media can acculturate your independent business and make a strong bonding with your clients. However, what happens on the off chance that one of your representatives takes that easygoing tone too far with your best client and the aftermath happens in broad daylight? This underscores the significance of having a social media policy and imparting it unmistakably to your employees. 

Step one is our objective, where we need to wind up; next comes the key considerations. This is the point at which we investigate the business scene and what things could prevent us from accomplishing our objective. After that, we have to put in some quantifiable objectives to figure out if we are moving towards our objective or on the off chance that we need to straighten out accordingly. 

Your objectives shouldn't be too simple or excessively troublesome, making it impossible to accomplish. Majority of the private businesses can't bear the cost of the advantage of a full-time online marketing group. The obligation, sometimes, tumbles to the proprietor who is excessively bustling juggling the various needs and might not have time to give social media the consideration it needs. Perhaps you attempt to spread social media duties among your staff and they begin grumbling that they are exhausted. A few organizations outsource social media to small agencies or freelancing consultants. Despite the course you take, a few abilities like imagination and visual narrating are key for social media's team. 

Social media is a visual medium, just like the Internet, so that individuals who oversee it for your business ought to have a few aptitudes in video creation, plan, and photography. Your social media group ought to incorporate an essayist, who can make updates and blog entries, and a conversationalist who adores interacting with and helping your clients. You likewise require a specialist researcher who can discover thoughts and content to edit and recognize which influencers you need to associate with. 

One of the greatest difficulties for private businesses, when it comes to social media, is that it's dependably on, notwithstanding when you aren't. Since you have restricted time and a little staff that can make it appear as though you're swimming against the current. So, by what means would you be able to compose your staff to keep high engagement levels, without giving up the time they have to work at their current jobs? Here are a couple of tips to advance your business resources and time. 

You cannot be everywhere, so think ahead and get composed. You need to pick the channels your clients are on and where you can have the greatest effect. Set up a simple social media policy and impart it to your staff. At that point, you ought to consider what sort of substance you will make, how frequently you will post, and what you will do if there should arise an occurrence of an issue or an emergency. Then set up a calendar, a month to month plan for your posts. 

We hear a lot the word, content, now a day. In basic terms, content is all the ways you recount your organization's stories and express your image identity on the web and off. That consists of your site or blog, Facebook and Twitter overhauls, and it comprises a YouTube video, a photograph on Instagram, or a digital advertisement. Content likewise incorporates non-computerized resources, similar to sales material, brochures, sign boards, public exhibition booths.. 

The key to making incredible content is moving into your client's shoes and making sense of how you can help them. Begin by recording every one of the queries they ask, then gather the queries into topics and set up a two line respond in due order regarding each. While you are doing this, envision which arrangement or stages would work best for that specific subject, and then add it to your calendar. 

Numerous individuals trust online networking speeds up the relationship-building process, and that is consistent with a point. Enduring relationship are based on trust, and that doesn't occur overnight. As it's been said, activities talk louder than words, and your conduct on social stages sets the tone for how your clients will carry on with you. All relationships depend on give and take, called as reciprocal behavior. One of the greatest advantages of social media is that it's trackable. In the event that you don't characterize in advance how will gauge achievement, you can never know whether you've really acquired it.

You have to build up a social media marketing program, and understand that nothing is an unavoidable reality. That is the reason you ought to test and adjust your strategies, and be set up to modify your campaign continuously, if your measurements let you know you're not heading where you need to go. 

To wind up, I've shared tips and thoughts demonstrating to make social media advertising work for your necessities. Start it by listening to what your clients are discussing and asking key inquiries like, on which social platforms your clients are on? At the point when and where might they associate with you? What sorts of substance would you be able to deliver superior to any other person? What's more, how would you be able to draw in your group? At that point, build up your objectives, build up an arrangement, and figure out which metric you will use to quantify success. Find your staff's shrouded abilities and get everybody included, contributing thoughts for your content.  

Sample Project on the Effect of Internal Service Quality on the Profit and Growth of Vodafone Group

Introduction

In an unstable business circumstances, which has turned out to be a standard nowadays, it has ended up vital for each business organization to investigate how they can influence their competitive advantage. In this exertion, it is critical for organizations to make each activity to keep its clients happy and satisfied, with the goal that they can earn profits and development in their businesses. Vodafone Group India (VGI) is no special case where it contends with such a large number of different contenders who give similar services.

Vodafone, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group, is one of the largest telecommunications company in the world. In May 2007, Vodafone acquired Hutchinson Essar, which led to the establishment of Vodafone brand in September 2007 in India. The company offers devices and phones to businesses and provides various telecom services, including voice, data, and messaging services across mobile and fixed networks. It also offers audio conferencing, enterprise web solutions, hosted business solutions, and wireless services, and machine to machine solutions. With over 31 million customers operating from a single operational base, Vodafone offer its services to over 180 million customers in 22 telecom circles across the country.

According to information provided by the nation's telecom controller, Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India's cell phone subscriber base accomplished the 1 billion client mark. India and China are the main two nations on the planet with over a billion people. China crossed the 1 billion mobile user historic levels in 2012. There were 306 million mobile web / internet clients in India in December 2015, of which 219 million users are from urban India, recording a year-on-year development of 71%, while the customer base in rural India has increased by 93% from December 2014, to reach 87 million users in December 2015 (Rai, 2016). 

The present dissertation is an attempt to study the effect of internal service quality at Vodafone on the profitability and growth of the company using different theories like Service-Profit Chain. In general, the Service Profit Chain builds up a relationship among different variables, such as loyalty, employee satisfaction, profitability, productivity, and customer loyalty. Growth and profits of an organization are basically fortified by consumer loyalty. Generally, loyalty is an immediate after effect of consumer satisfaction. Satisfaction, to a great extent, is determined by the value of services that a company provides to its customers. Value is built by loyal, and productive and satisfied employees. Employees of an organization primarily gets satisfied with the job, by seeing the policies and support services provided by the company, which enable them to render better services to its customers. The service profit chain dismembers the levers that transform the services offered by a company into profitability. The result of measuring and empathizing these levers for the organizations that have done it is an expanded concentrate on empowering an organization's employees (Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser, & Schlesinger, 2008).

Research Scope

The present research will determine how the internal service quality influences the company’s profit and growth. The research aims to collect data from employees in Vodafone GI in Punjab, with the help of secondary data. The data will be collected for the past year. The research aims to prepare a questionnaire to collect data from around 150 employees working in Vodafone Group India. The research will also collect data from different secondary sources like journals, text books, newspapers and internet.

Motivation of the Study

According to Indian Brand Equity Federation (2016), India is currently the second-largest player in the telecommunications market registering a strong growth in the last 15 years. Key players in the market include Airtel, Idea, Vodafone, Aircel and Reliance Communications. The Indian telecom sector is likely to grow around 10 per cent year-on-year to reach over 100 billion by 2020. Mobile telephony market is confronting an enormous pressure more than ever, with the entry of Reliance Jio offering free calls and data, post the merger declaration of Reliance Infocomm and Aircel, making the consolidated passage the third largest network in India. With the expanding rivalry, the clients are turning out to more demanding and the telecom area has now turned into a buyers’ market. After the announcement of mobile number portability (MNP), customers now have the opportunity to change from one service provider to other service provider, without changing the current cell phone number, which is prone to have an impact on competition. In light of these, the service providers need to give careful consideration to service quality apart from high pricing and giving additional value added services (VAS) for ensuring their prosperity. Henceforth, the present study entitled 'A study of the effect of internal service quality on the profit and growth of Vodafone Group India' was chosen to resolve the aforementioned issues for Vodafone.

Research Objectives 

1. To measure the internal service quality of Vodafone Group India employees for the year 2015

2. To identify and evaluate the effect of internal service quality on the profit and growth of Vodafone Group India.

Outline of Dissertation

• The first chapter introduces Vodafone and the growth of Mobile Telephony Sector. This chapter covers the brief introduction to the growth of telecom sector in India, services of Vodafone Group India, need of the study, research objectives, research questions and the importance of service quality in the telecom sector.
• The second chapter consists of Review of Literature covering various research objectives. This unit explores the research conducted by different researchers related to internal service quality. It provides a conceptual understanding of the Employee’ Perception towards Service Quality and the impact of the same on the profitability and growth of telecom companies.
• The third chapter Research Methodology presents the formulation and identification of current research problem, research design, data collection sources, development of research instrument, sampling design and sample size, statistical tools and techniques used for analysis.
• The fourth chapter deals with the Analysis and Interpretation of the data concerning employees’ perception on the factors that influence the internal service quality at Vodafone. It also includes the study on impact of internal service quality on the profitability and growth of the company.
• The last chapter being the concluding chapter summarizes the major findings of the present research work. Various suggestions are offered to solve the issues in internal service quality at Vodafone and improving the financial performance of the company. In this final chapter, certain areas are identified and recommended for future study.

Summary

Finally, the present research is an attempt to contribute to theoretically available literature while also proposing suggestions for mobile service providers that can be used for monitoring and improving the service quality which is directly related to the profitability of the company. It is hoped that the present study would stimulate future research focusing on service quality and its impact on competitiveness for telecom companies.