Creating a digital marketing strategy for a SME engaged in software sales
Gupta, Shanu (2024)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024112730522
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024112730522
Tiivistelmä
This thesis presents the creation of a digital marketing strategy for a SME engaged in software sales. Grounded in the real-world case context, the development work focusses on the application of key strategy frameworks – the Business Model Canvas, the Value Proposition Canvas, and Customer Journey Mapping – to explore the existing strategy of the case company, with the objective to refine it.
The study attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice through a comprehensive literature review on marketing strategy and its contemporary state, the aforementioned strategy frameworks, as well as a thorough analysis of the case context, in a participatory action research approach involving company teams. The methods utilized for the development work in this thesis include observations, demo sessions with potential clients, brainstorming sessions, team meetings and focus groups, among others.
The three strategy frameworks were utilized as a means of sparking discussions and reflections on customer interactions with marketing teams at the organization, which are in a client-facing role. Through these discussions, the content of the videos to be produced as part of the thesis work were refined to reflect the case context. Finally, a video tutorial was developed on each of these frameworks to capture learnings from all participants. These video tutorials were saved on the knowledge repository of the commissioning company. A modified version of each of these tutorials was published on the YouTube channel of the author of this thesis for a broader access, to serve as a resource for anyone interested in the topic.
The action research approach in this thesis was found particularly useful for the development work, as it allowed for real-time problem solving and inputs from all participants, bringing about an enhanced understanding of job-related tasks and iterative refinements in the way they were approached. The videos were the key outputs of the action research, and they will also serve as a training resource in the organization going forward. This will ensure the continuity of learning for future marketing activities, with a possibility to revisit and improve both the videos and the strategy templates applied in this study.
The study attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice through a comprehensive literature review on marketing strategy and its contemporary state, the aforementioned strategy frameworks, as well as a thorough analysis of the case context, in a participatory action research approach involving company teams. The methods utilized for the development work in this thesis include observations, demo sessions with potential clients, brainstorming sessions, team meetings and focus groups, among others.
The three strategy frameworks were utilized as a means of sparking discussions and reflections on customer interactions with marketing teams at the organization, which are in a client-facing role. Through these discussions, the content of the videos to be produced as part of the thesis work were refined to reflect the case context. Finally, a video tutorial was developed on each of these frameworks to capture learnings from all participants. These video tutorials were saved on the knowledge repository of the commissioning company. A modified version of each of these tutorials was published on the YouTube channel of the author of this thesis for a broader access, to serve as a resource for anyone interested in the topic.
The action research approach in this thesis was found particularly useful for the development work, as it allowed for real-time problem solving and inputs from all participants, bringing about an enhanced understanding of job-related tasks and iterative refinements in the way they were approached. The videos were the key outputs of the action research, and they will also serve as a training resource in the organization going forward. This will ensure the continuity of learning for future marketing activities, with a possibility to revisit and improve both the videos and the strategy templates applied in this study.