The Gold Rush of Digital Marketing: Assessing Prospects of Building Brand Awareness Overseas

Abstract

Advertising through digital channels—known as Digital Marketing—is recognized for its transformative impact on companies and for its immense effect on brand–consumer relationships, as it enables interactions with customers at any time and in any place. Based on these realities, this study analyzes several digital platforms and practices that have proven to be effective and assesses digital media dynamics to examine whether they can increase brand awareness on an international level. By employing a survey methodology approach with 200 respondents as a final sample, this study shows that digital marketing represents a huge potential for small- and medium-sized enterprises, giving internationalization a dominant digital attribute. Additionally, the findings reflect the noteworthy and rapid emergence of different digital marketing techniques serving different market segments. Finally, the study discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings and proposes several avenues for future research.

Keywords

Digital marketing social media international marketing online customer behavior brand awareness SMEs

Introduction

Over the past decades, the Internet has become dominant in everyday life, enabling inexhaustible amounts of information, whereas widespread consumer adoption of smart mobile devices has put the Internet in everyone’s pocket, and the social media revolution has completely changed consumer behavior and the consumer–company relationship (Lamberton & Stephen, 2016). These technological innovations led to a major transformation of marketing and the creation of a new approach called Digital Marketing which is defined as: “an adaptive, technology-enabled process by which firms collaborate with customer and partners to jointly create, communicate, deliver, and sustain value for all stakeholders” (Kannan & Li, 2017, p. 23).

Digital Marketing is an ever-evolving beast that spreads its tentacles into every single process that businesses have used for decades, altering the appearance of industries globally. The digital transformation of marketing has led companies to embrace Artificial Intelligence, cognitive computing capabilities, and other new technologies, which help firms capture significant gains across the value chain and promise to alter behaviors, interactions, and experiences in the near future (Loebbecke & Picot, 2015; Lombardi, Lardo, Cuozzo, & Trequattrini, 2017).

Thus, more people than ever before have access to the Internet, shifting the power away from companies and enabling consumers to take control (Berthon, Pitt, Plangger, & Shapiro, 2012; Makrides, 2017). Their role has changed from passive to active, choosing what type of information to receive, how, and when (Lamberton & Stephen, 2016). By placing consumers in the driver’s seat, the future of Digital Marketing lies in personalization and transparency. As digital channels enable two-way interactions, companies increasingly seek to create a digital relationship with customers and to become partners with them to drive customer loyalty and advocacy as well as business value. When technology takes on that level and brings the world closer, businesses can interact with consumers more effectively and in diverse ways, as well as reach out to new markets that they would not otherwise reach, thereby exponentially increasing their brand awareness.

Furthermore, the increasingly fierce competition in today’s market poses enormous challenges to companies, and, as the marketplace, consumer behavior, and the world itself experience constant change due to technology, what may be considered as competitive advantage today can become an ordinary trait tomorrow; hence, the ability to stay ahead is not a permanent situation (Christofi, Vrontis, Leonidou, & Thrassou, 2018; Makrides, 2017). By ignoring the dynamic nature of the business world in the present context, firms can be left behind (Day, 2011). This competitive pressure drives companies across all industries to adopt digital marketing tactics. Solutions related to digital media bring great value to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that consider internationalizing through saving resources (Chong & Pervan, 2007; Lohrke, Franklin, & Frownfelter-Lohrke, 2006) and opening digital channels to allow richer conversations with consumers and commercialization of their products and services (Shideler & Badasyan, 2012). The significance of digital marketing for business growth is evident in a report released by Borrell Associates, indicating that in 2016 businesses spent an estimated $613 billion in order to polish their digital presence (Borrell Associates, 2016).

A substantial body of research published in marketing journals has examined the domain of digital marketing and its effects on brand awareness and business growth, and many researchers have presented their views on its future directions (Kumar, 2018). Yet, researchers suggest future research to address unanswered aspects of digital marketing pertaining to the roles that each digital touchpoint plays in consumers’ overall decision-making and how a firm can coordinate across device and channels to engage customers (Kannan & Li, 2017). Also Kannan and Li (2017) suggest that empirical research is needed to identify how firms can use the technology to better promote their products and services based on firm characteristics and competitive market factors. Adding to this, the process of adopting new technological innovations in SMEs has been extensively analyzed by many researchers (Carroll & Wagar, 2010; Chatzoglou, Vraimaki, Diamantidis, & Sarigiannidis, 2010; Lohrke et al., 2006; MacGregor & Vrazalic, 2005; Parker & Castleman, 2007), but how SMEs can use digital channels as part of their overall marketing strategy in a beneficial way requires more in-depth knowledge (Taiminen & Karjaluoto, 2015).

This research complements prior studies on digital marketing and sheds some light on these gaps. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to assess how digital marketing tactics can impact a company and to examine how SMEs can use digital media to enhance brand awareness outside the domestic market.

The article is organized as follows. First, we discuss the digital touchpoints that play a key role in creating a successful digital marketing plan, followed by the formulation of the research question. Then, we describe the methodology, analyze the findings, and provide recommendations. Finally, we present the limitations of our study, as well as an agenda for future research.

The Digital Marketing Revolution

The Internet has made it easy to reach customers around the globe considering that the use of Internet is constantly increasing with the number of Internet users reaching 4.021 billion worldwide (Kemp, 2018). Most people believe huge companies, such as Apple and Amazon, are getting all the benefits that digital technologies can offer, and small or local companies are struggling to garner any benefit. Yet, by moving toward a single global marketplace, the prospects of building brand awareness on an international scale are no longer just pie in the sky. Setting a goal to boost brand awareness overseas through the implementation of digital marketing tactics means that a well-thought-out plan must be in place, which can successfully embrace new technological advancements. Therefore, an effort to analyze digital media and tools and to understand practices and patterns that have proven to be effective will ultimately help utilize these digital channels as a strategic instrument that can yield positive outcomes.

The Social Media Parallel Universe

At its core, social media is about relationships and connections between people and organizations (Nair, 2011). Nowadays, social media marketing is an integral part of a company’s digital marketing strategy, and, with hundreds of social media channels at consumers’ disposal, the challenge of any firm is to find the right platforms to focus on and to develop a different communication strategy for every digital media tool. Being on too many social media networks is time-consuming and can lead to a weak presence, so this study will focus on four of the best-known platforms, namely Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The decision was based on two criteria: which social media channels are recommended by social media specialists as the best platforms for marketing and which ones can offer the greatest return on investment.

Facebook

Facebook is the market leader and the first social network that exceeded 1 billion registered accounts, and it currently has 2.27 billion monthly active users (Statista, 2019). Also, over the years, Facebook succeeded to create ads that are more effective and often cheaper than other online media. There are many success stories (del Vecchio, Secundo, & Passiante, 2018), including that of WTC, an Israeli boutique travel company specialized in luxury vacations. WTC used a variety of impressive images and aggressive calls to action during its campaign, and taking advantage of Facebook’s ad targeting options based on age, location, and interests, it reached 850,000 people and generated 4,000 leads in 10 months with 80 percent lower cost per lead compared to other digital platforms (Facebook, n.d.).

Instagram

Instagram is one of the fastest growing social networks, and it can be considered as an extension of Facebook because account data are shared between these two social media channels. This means that the targeting options of Facebook are available for Instagram campaigns. Since Instagram is a mobile social platform, a company has the opportunity to select certain devices. Device targeting is extremely useful as it can help a firm reach a specific target group and results in a lower Cost-Per-Lead. For instance, if a company wants to promote a luxury product, it can target users of the latest high-end smartphones. Also, considering that Instagram ads include images and video, it is crucial to split test in order to identify which visual has the greatest impact on the target audience and to optimize the campaign as it is still running so as to produce profitable results and avoid unnecessary spending.

Twitter

Twitter is the perfect social network for identifying customers based on their interests. In fact, Twitter lists are all about segmenting users by industry, job title, or specific keyword. By using Twitter’s targeting options, a firm can find the right prospects and discover trending topics, thereby developing ways to deeply engage consumers in a conversation that they are most probably interested in participating in. Using Followerwonk, it can also identify its followers and where are they located, find new prospects in its niche or even compare its Twitter activity to competitors (Moz, n.d.). Since thousands of tweets are posted every minute, another effective way to keep up with the trends and news is to set up custom alerts, which enable businesses to respond immediately when someone tweets about them or track mentions or tweets containing specific keywords or selected competitors. There are several apps, such as Warble, which can automate the process and email regular reports on chosen Twitter activity (Smith, n.d.). Another great tool is Buffer, which not only can help a company schedule its tweets but can also recommend optimum times for posting and can analyze tweets’ performance (Smith, n.d.).

There are several tips on how to make a company page shine on LinkedIn. A company should use relevant keywords throughout the page in order to be displayed in LinkedIn search results, post images, or rich media with eye-catching features, join groups relevant to an industry in order to be updated on industry trends, share content, and stimulate discussion, so that it can present itself as a trusted source, to name but a few. If a firm wants to establish itself as an industry authority, it can also publish content on LinkedIn Pulse to expand its reach and exposure. While all other platforms are used for sharing pictures and videos, LinkedIn is a business social networking service used for brand promotion, business networking, and, increasingly, social selling (Digital Marketing Institute, 2016b). If a company wants to gain a competitive advantage, LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator can be the tool toward achieving this goal. The company can identify new prospects, receive real-time updates, measure its social selling efforts with Social Selling Index (SSI) dashboard, and so on. One of the success stories of using LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator is PayPal Australia. Their goal was to get more accurate sales leads and speed up the sales cycle. Using LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator, they reached the right people, found noteworthy contact details, and generated new leads with a low-cost approach. PayPal Australia (LinkedIn, n.d.) was able to achieve a nearly 3000 percent Return on Investment (ROI) and reduced sales cycles by 25 percent.

The Growing Importance of Content Marketing

Even though digital media facilitated communication between firms and consumers, companies are struggling to engage audiences around their brand and to keep them loyal. When Coca-Cola reimagined the corporate website as a dynamic digital magazine called Coca-Cola Journey on November 12, 2012; it featured stories on every topic as well as user-generated content (Coca-Cola Journey, 2016). The website has been live for 6 years; however, it barely registers views and is not even in the top 20,000 sites worldwide. This is one of the many examples that even though consumers like a brand, they have little interest in the content that this brand creates (Holt, 2016). Prior literature reveals that the only way content can be successful is if it is associated with beliefs, feelings, and memories (e.g., Keller, 1993; Sirgy, 1982; Winchester, Romaniuk, & Bogomolova, 2008) and reinforced by consumers’ reviews about their experiences associated with the brand (BrightLocal, 2018).

A social listening tool, such as Buzzsumo, can help a company identify what content performs best, spot trending content topics in any given industry, and perform a competitor analysis in order to optimize the content, thereby increasing organic ranking, generating more traffic, and boosting exposure. Creating exceptional content—short, simple, to the point, and inspiring—that other people link to is the secret to a successful content marketing strategy (Dean, 2016). Moreover, by creating video content—a method widely used by the biggest firms—a company can reach a larger audience. In fact, promotional videos can often be cheaper than producing and ranking text-based content like an article or a blog post (Digital Marketing Institute, 2016a), and they report higher average order values and conversion rates according to Video Commerce Report (2014). While content is the essence of digital marketing, digital channels are not about bombarding users with corporate content. It is about being active, honest, less formal, and extraordinary to guarantee maximum engagement (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

The Influencer Marketing Effect

Word-of-mouth has always been the most effective strategy, and influencer marketing is often in the form of praises and reviews. Influencers are key people who are considered to be pundits with a highly engaged audience. By selecting the right influencers, a company can directly address its target audience, which will result in high conversions. According to a report from RhythmOne (2018), companies earned an average of $12.21 for every $1 they spent on an influencer marketing program in 2017. Moreover, influencer marketing benefits several marketing activities, from improvement of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to product launches and content promotions (eMarketer, 2016). HYT is one of the many examples that influencer marketing pays off. This prestigious, traditional Swiss watch manufacturer collaborated with the men’s lifestyle blog “The Fashionisto” to promote the launch of their new H2 Tradition Timepiece. The campaign resulted in a public relations (PR) reach of 10,246,156 people (Garnès, 2016).

The Power of Email Marketing

While social media force companies into paying to advertise in order to reach their target audiences, email marketing allows them to engage with their audience on their terms. Among media, including TV, radio, social media, video, display, paid search, and affiliate, email delivers the highest ROI for marketers, and, according to McKinsey, email is 40 times more effective than Facebook or Twitter at acquiring new customers (Campaign Monitor, n.d.). Firms can exploit email marketing tools that allow for transactional content within the email. In fact, transactional emails have 8x more opens and clicks than any other type of email and can generate 6x more revenue (Campaign Monitor, n.d.). Moreover, marketers have seen a 760 percent increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns (Campaign Monitor, n.d.). A good example of a business that segments its audience by location and interests is TravelZoo—a website that offers deals on hotels, flights, and vacations. When a person signs up searching for specific deals, future emails that s/he will receive will actually be of interest to her/him.

Living in a Mobile World

Consumers depend more and more on their smartphones. Considering that a whopping 95.1 percent of Facebook’s active accounts are accessing Facebook via mobile phones and there has been a growth in the number of active mobile social users in 2018, which is around 5,135 billion (Kemp, 2018), mobile devices are becoming the core means to access the Internet. In addition, there is a shift toward one-to-one environments like chat apps, with profound implications for marketers, as they have to find innovative ways to reach consumers (Kemp, 2018).

Research Purpose

The literature review offered critical and constructive insights on how to leverage digital media and tools to raise brand awareness and drive sales. Despite the increase in the adoption and use of digital marketing tools and tactics, little empirical research focusing on SMEs has been conducted to-date, and many SMEs do not exploit the full potential of digital technologies (Gilmore, Callagher, & Henry, 2007). Moreover, by reviewing extant literature on the topic, it is clear that there is lack of research on Cyprus as the geographical context within which SMEs’ headquarters belong. Thus, this study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by investigating consumers’ online habits and buying behavior in order to provide recommendations to SMEs on how to successfully use digital tools. More specifically, this research examines the following research question: How a local SME can use digital media to raise brand awareness beyond local boundaries? This research question became a well-trodden path that helped set out the relevant and coherent objectives: (a) identify the online behavior of consumers; (b) identify which digital media can have the greatest impact on consumers and produce the highest positive effect on consumer engagement; (c) determine how a company can engage consumers through combinations of selected digital marketing tools; and (d) identify the needs of an SME as it seeks to increase brand awareness and reach wider audiences.

Methodology

Research Strategy

Given the nature of the research objectives, it was determined that the survey methodology would contribute to a generalizable overview of consumers’ online behavior and habits and would be most appropriate for this research. A Cyprus-based SME, well established within the island’s geographical boundaries, served as the case through which we designed and sent the survey. We chose a company that operates in the service sector because we wanted to see the impact of digital marketing in a sector contributes most to the gross domestic product in developed countries (Christofi, Leonidou, Vrontis, Kitchen, & Papasolomou, 2015).

Questionnaire Development

The survey consisted of four question groups, which contained several questions related to the outline of the objectives. The purpose of the first group of questions was to identify the demographic profile of gender, age, and nationality of the customers who were the targeted recipients of the survey. The results would ultimately help identify whether these variables influence respondents’ answers, thus revealing differences in relation to their behaviors or opinions. The second group contained questions that sought to meet an important objective, that is, to get insights into the online behavior and habits of the company’s customers. The third section of the survey comprised questions about consumers’ attitudes toward online advertising, in an attempt to identify which digital media can have the greatest impact on the target audience and how to engage them through combinations of selected digital marketing tools. The purpose of the fourth and last section of the survey was to identify how consumers want to interact with companies, so as to identify the needs of the SME as it seeks to increase brand awareness and to reach wider audiences through digital media.

Sample

Initially, 300 questionnaires were sent using digital means, seeking the participation of as many respondents as possible on an international scale (Nicoli & Papadopoulou, 2017; Scorrano, Fait, Iaia, & Rosato, 2018). The recipients were the company’s customers and partners both in Cyprus and abroad. Reaching a global audience could provide insights into the company’s target audience’s behavior and possible different patterns so that the company can adapt its digital marketing strategy to different market conditions, thereby achieving higher engagement and raising brand awareness. From these, the final usable sample was 200 questionnaires. From the 200 recipients, 62.5 percent of the respondents were women (n = 125). The sample contained people of different ages who were grouped into four categories: 18–25, 26–30, 31–40, and 41–50. The respondents aged 18–25 comprised 20 percent of the total, those 26–30 years, 37.5 percent, and those 31–40 years, 37.5 percent. The lowest proportion of respondents fell into the 41–50 age range and they accounted for 5 percent of the total sample size. With regard to nationality, the participants were from nine countries, namely Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, England, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, and Australia. More than half of the respondents (52.5%) were from Cyprus and 7.5 percent were from Australia. The remaining countries were part of Europe and made up 40 percent of the total sample size—Greece 15 percent, Russia 7.5 percent, England 5 percent, Romania 5 percent, Germany 2.5 percent, Bulgaria 2.5 percent, and Ukraine 2.5 percent.

Data Analysis

Internet Usage Patterns and Habits

A whopping 97 percent of respondents visit the digital world daily, of whom 67 percent use the Internet all day and 30 percent several times a day. The remaining 3 percent use the Internet several times a week. None of the respondents use the Internet less often than several times a week.

The findings reveal a cultural transition toward a smartphone society, since 67 percent of respondents indicated that they access the Internet mainly via smartphones. As for the remaining 33 percent, 23 percent of participants indicated that they use more than one device, while 7 percent surf the Internet using a computer and 3 percent a tablet.

With regard to preferred online activities, mobile instant messaging emerged as the favorite activity, even among both sexes, and the option “find information and read news” as second favorite. Also, the answers revealed men’s hesitation toward online payments, since no one chose purchase-related activities. In terms of age groups, it is noteworthy to mention that the greatest proportion of respondents between the ages of 18 and 25 appeared to favor online video viewing, whereas this favorability was found to decrease with increasing age.

Almost three-quarters of respondents (73%) indicated that they have profiles on multiple social media networks, and only 5 percent revealed that they do not have social media accounts at all. In terms of popularity, Facebook is leading the pack (33%), followed by Instagram (22%), LinkedIn (18%), YouTube (17%), and Twitter (8%). Facebook is not only the most popular social networking site among those who use multiple social media platforms, but also the most widely used, since the highest proportion of respondents is highly engaged with Facebook (62%), confirming the results of prior researches (Kemp, 2018). When the respondents were asked about their log in pattern on social media sites, fully 84 percent answered that they check their profiles daily, 47 percent of whom reported that they are always connected, while the remaining 37 percent said that they visit social media several times a day.

Perceptions of Online Advertising

When they were asked about the major factors influencing them to try a new product or service, 27 percent of all respondents said they trust recommendations from friends and family about new goods and services, making this option the highest ranked source of influence. Online adverts were indicated by 22 percent as an important influencing factor for their buying decision process, while 20 percent of respondents consider their personal preferences. Unexpectedly, none of the participants selected the “seeing famous people use the product or service” response, which contradicts the findings of previous studies that have shown that celebrity endorsement increases product sales (Adam & Hussain, 2017; Biswas & Hussain, 2009; Jain, 2011). When the gender-based tendencies were investigated, the results showed that the highest proportion of men (35%) are more likely to try a product or service when an expert advises them to do so, whereas just 7 percent of women are influenced by an expert’s advice. Based on age groups, respondents aged 18–25 seem not to be influenced by trustworthy blogs, but they are twice more likely to trust recommendations by friends and family than the 26–30 and 31+ age groups.

Participants were also asked whether they agree with the statement that the more times an advertisement is viewed by a consumer, the more likely the consumer is to go and buy the product. Almost 50 percent of all respondents agreed with the statement, which highlights the power of ad repetition, whereas 28 percent seem not to have made up their mind, therefore choosing the “not sure” option. In terms of gender, the findings show that female respondents had a greater tendency to agree with the statement than men. When participants were broken down into age groups, a dramatic increase in disagreement with the statement was revealed when moving from younger to older age groups (from 0% to 41%).

In order to take it one step further and to examine the effectiveness of online advertising, the company’s customers were asked to rank several types of online advertising based on the influence over their buying behavior. Social media ads are seen as the most effective digital ad type, with 28 percent of respondents saying it is the most influential, while banner ads ranked second (20%), articles third (17%), Google ads fourth (15%), email marketing fifth (13%), and flash ads ranked as the least influential ad type (only 7%). Data indicate considerable differences between males and females. Even though both genders still considered social media ads as the most influential online ad format, women ranked articles as second most influential and email ads as third, whereas men ranked banner ads as second and Google ads as third.

Even though respondents’ answers to previous questions showed that online advertising can have a great deal of influence over their buying behavior, it was worth examining whether a more straightforward question would lead to different results. Studies have proven that, in many cases, different format questions may bias responses and can yield quite different answers. Therefore, respondents were inquired if they pay attention to online advertising, and 54 percent of the respondents said they sometimes pay attention to online ads. The remaining 46 percent was spread among those who pay attention (28%) and those who do not pay any attention (18%). The analysis of age-related changes revealed that 18–25-year-olds are far more likely to completely ignore online ads than older age groups.

Company–Customer Interaction

The ways the survey respondents want to receive regular updates and promotions from companies were also investigated. The “follow on social media” response emerged as the most preferred way, followed by the option “subscribe to receive email” and “receive via text messages”.

Respondents were also given seven possible website characteristics and were asked to indicate the importance of each characteristic. As Figure 1 shows, functionality emerged as the most important characteristic, with 31 percent of total respondents choosing this option. In other words, a website should serve its purpose, otherwise consumers will leave the website and associate it with a bad experience, thus never visiting it again. Quality content was considered the second most critical characteristic, with 18 percent, while simplicity trailed in third place, with 17 percent. Obviously, great content and easy to navigate design are essential features for a positive user experience.

Figure 1.

Source: The authors.

Despite the prevalence of smartphones, several statistics revealed that thousands of apps have never been downloaded, while other studies have shown that the average smartphone user has around 30 apps on his mobile phone but only uses three or four of them on a regular basis (Ingram, 2016). The findings of this study support this view since roughly only 13 percent of respondents want updates by downloading a mobile app. Answers to the penultimate question enabled deeper understanding of what could urge respondents to download an application. It should come as no surprise that social networking apps ranked first, with 28 percent of respondents indicating this category as the most preferred, while 17 percent and 14 percent of respondents chose music and shopping, respectively (see Figure 2).

With reference to the previous question, the last question asked participants to indicate the parameters that would trigger them to download an application. According to Figure 3, a quite high percentage (44%) of those surveyed said that the leading reason for downloading an app is because it is free. The option “I have a specific need/interest that can’t be met by a mobile website” (17%) was ranked second, followed by “word-of-mouth and recommendations” (16%). Respondents appear not to like paying for apps and, in case they are urged to download one, it is most probably because the app will have ongoing value for them or they are influenced by word-of-mouth.

Figure 2.

Source: The authors.

Figure 3.

Source: The authors.

Analysis and Discussion

The penetration of the Internet into various aspects of consumers’ daily life is apparent, since 97 percent of respondents said they surf the web every day. This unbelievably high figure represents an immense potential to build brand awareness in new international markets.

Moreover, almost 70 percent of participants said that their most important Internet device is their smartphone, revealing a shift of web usage from tablets and laptops to mobiles. These findings show that a company should not only invest in a mobile presence but should optimize the entire organization for a mobile-centric world in order to build better connections with their audience (Amirkhanpour, Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2014). A company must take advantage of the growing number of mobile web users and reach its target market by implementing mobile marketing practices at every stage of the customer buying cycle. By targeting consumers through their smartphones, a company has the opportunity to vary its advertising message based on geographical areas, therefore fitting the local conditions and culture of each individual country. By implementing a location-based advertising practice, a company, with fewer financial resources, can compete more effectively with international companies that have greater resources.

Evidently, the digital world has become one of the most necessary technological tools for various work and personal activities. According to the findings, the three preferred online activities were of social and informational natures, with mobile instant messaging being the most preferred online activity. Considering that messaging apps seem to have become the preferred channel of mobile communication, a company must find innovative ways to reach customers through these digital media. Another important finding is that none of the male respondents opted for any purchase related activities (paying bills, purchasing products etc.). For this reason, it is essential that a digital campaign should also exhibit brand competence and sincerity so that consumers will perceive the company as credible and trustworthy and they will not have to fear that their credit card information would be jeopardized. Furthermore, since age groups prefer different online activities, a company not only needs to target customers individually based on where they live but it also needs to split the target market into segments based on age, gender, and interests in order to deliver custom content.

Findings confirm that social media is an important part of people’s everyday lives since fully 84 percent said they check their social media accounts daily, with Facebook being the most popular. Social networking apps were also considered the most preferred mobile app category among males and females across age groups and different nationalities. A company must take advantage of the impact of social media and Facebook’s dominance as well as its ad targeting options to reach the always-on consumers in target countries and on every device. In general, a company should have a strong social media presence and showcase its business regularly in order to gain trust, increase brand awareness and ultimately build customer relationships on an international level. This opinion has been strengthened by the findings of this research, which indicate that people prefer to receive promotional content from companies through social media and then through email and other methods of communication.

The findings also indicate that word-of-mouth has the biggest influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions, followed by online advertising. Regarding online advertising, a company must create customized online ad campaigns since there are differences in how the sexes behave as shoppers, and the impact of advertising repetition varies based on demographic variables. The findings also reveal that there is no such thing as an ideal approach to advertising that can be universally applied. An example that proves the previous statement is that even though several studies over the years have shown that celebrity endorsement really influences consumers’ decisions (Adam & Hussain, 2017; Biswas & Hussain, 2009; Jain, 2011), these research findings reveal the opposite—a company should not use famous people in its campaigns since celebrity branding does not influence its customers’ purchasing decisions. Moreover, some want to be entertained, while others just want to receive product information in a more straightforward manner. These differences must be taken into account while a company develops digital marketing communication strategies in order to best engage its target audience.

The same reasoning applies to online ad formats. Unsurprisingly, the analysis revealed that social media ads are seen as the most effective digital ad type. Social media is a thriving beast in the digital world that can help a company increase customer engagement more than any other form of digital advertisement, influence consumer buying behavior, and enhance its brand value. However, a company must take gender-based differences into account in order to develop a strategy that will combine the most influential online ad formats that will reach diverse audience segments domestically and internationally, and produce the highest positive effect on consumer engagement.

Despite the fact that the majority of respondents agreed about the positive effects of ad repetition, the findings reveal that as people get older, advertising repetition may have different effects on consumer behavior. Moreover, being undecided with regard to purchase likelihood due to ad repetition reveals that, most probably, some respondents do not realize the side effects of advertising. This hypothesis brings up several questions. Do people realize that they are being influenced, not to mention manipulated, by advertisements? Are they aware of advertisements’ possible effects? Whatever the case may be, it is evident that advertising has become such a dominant part of modern life that most of the times it is extremely difficult to identify its exact effects.

When companies aim to reach out to an international audience, they need to define the overall business strategy and which countries they should be targeting, as well as to develop proper marketing strategies. Inevitably, an effective digital marketing campaign will drive qualified traffic to a company’s website; therefore it is crucial to identify the reasons that drive people to continue visiting a website. Social media platforms can bring a high volume of traffic to a company’s webpage, and, according to the survey results, a company’s customers prefer a user-friendly interface that serves its purpose over pretty-looking details. More specifically, its website must have certain features, such as functionality, simplicity and great content. So far, the SME we investigated did not manage to integrate these essential features to the fullest extent. The company should create a plan which will outline the pages that should be added and discuss with their web developer how to bundle all these features in an easy to use website. One of the recommendations would be to add a testimonials web page where customers can write their feedback on the company’s services, showing visitors/potential clients that it is a trustworthy and credible company. Moreover, a blog should be created for the website. Blogging not only will increase search engine traffic but also will allow the company to create unique, high-quality content, therefore establishing itself as an expert in the field and adding value to its business. The company should also add a survey widget to the website in order to learn what customers think about the website or the products and services. Another important feature is the search function. Visitors to the website may not know what they want or where to find what they want. Therefore, a search function will allow the visitors to type a phrase and then search for it on the website. Obviously, combining these characteristics can make website become an effective and efficient promotional tool which will successfully convert leads into prospects and establish audience loyalty (Vrontis, Ktoridou, & Melanthiou, 2007).

App downloads are on a dangerous decline. Having that in mind, it was important to identify whether an attempt to build an app would contribute to the achievement of the company’s objectives. It will surprise nobody that the most popular apps fall into categories of social networking, music, and shopping, with social media winning the app race. Companies that operate in other industries should weigh the pros and cons and decide whether it is worth building an app or not.

Through the strategic use of digital media, SMEs have the opportunity to build brand awareness and to leverage a global image, since the findings helped estimate a potential from branding perspectives. It is apparent that an SME will be able to increase brand awareness internationally if, through customization digital marketing strategies, it creates added value to its customers. Marketers must put the consumer at the center of its marketing activities, engaging them in an ongoing conversation, deploy different promotion strategies for every digital medium, and adapt their digital marketing strategy to different market conditions so as to lead to higher performance, facilitate the process of establishing a unique and distinct brand identity, and expand into international markets (Vrontis & Thrassou, 2007). The fact that the gender of participants and sometimes the other criterion variables, age group and nationality, did not affect the scores does not mean that one method of marketing should be applied universally. Adding to this, there is not one strategic approach that suits all companies or any consistent pattern. Companies need to constantly and rapidly adapt to changing market conditions and customer preferences and embrace new technologies that will help them reach their full potential (Makrides, 2017). However, one thing is for sure: success lies in the combination of being competitive and responsive to the ever-changing market.

Conclusions

This study has some limitations just like any other study (Christofi, Vrontis, & Leonidou, 2014; Christofi et al., 2015; Christofi, Leonidou, & Vrontis, 2017; Leonidou, Christofi, Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2018). First, the survey is a one-time snapshot of a company’s customers’ online preferences and behaviors. Considering the fact that consumers’ online habits might change over time and digital marketing is evolving, future research should focus on a longitudinal analysis which will provide unique insights with regard to how their needs and behavior change year over year. Otherwise the company will employ outdated strategies and old-fashioned approaches and fall behind the competition. Second, the results reveal that there are observable differences in how men and women behave. Further research into gender differentials is needed in order to help companies and marketers customize their marketing efforts so as to entice both male and female audiences. Third, an empirical study can only shed light on a limited set of aspects. The study surveyed only a specific number of people who are customers of a specific company. The transferability of the findings to other industries could be further strengthened by surveying a wider range of consumers, preferably from international markets, in order to better understand the unique aspects of their buying behavior. To conclude, more research needs to be done about the impact of a business location on the effectiveness of brand awareness strategies, and future research should focus on understanding global differences since digital marketing is advancing at diverse speeds and in unique ways across the world. Digital Marketing is a multifaceted topic in both marketing and scholarly research. It has been approached from numerous perspectives. Yet, several gaps about the actions that SMEs can implement across channels and devices to engage customers on an international level remain. And in an era of an ever more fickle consumer, a gap is emerging between consumers’ expectations and the ability of businesses to meet them. This study yielded several interesting results that supported the relevant, recent literature, proving that, by capitalizing on the numerous opportunities that the digital world provides, an SME can increase its exposure to a wider audience. If we take into consideration that there is often a big disconnect between what consumers want and what marketers actually do to engage them, these insights can be very useful to companies and marketers alike, so that they can narrow the gap between consumer preferences and their actions. In conclusion, there has been much activity in the marketing and consumer research literature in respect to digital marketing. However, given the fast-moving nature of the digital environment, research that attempts to broaden our understanding of new phenomena and to develop theoretical frameworks in areas that lack theoretical basis will be most valuable.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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