STRATEGIC APPROACH OF COMPANIES IN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF E-MARKETING

Transcription

1 STRATEGIC APPROACH OF COMPANIES IN REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF E-MARKETING PHD ZARKO MARKOSKI UNIT OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE MUNICIPALITY OD DOLNENI PHD MARGARITA JANESKA UNIVERSITY ST. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI -BITOLA, FACULTY OF ECONOMICS-PRILEP, R. MACEDONIA Abstract E-marketing strategy is part of an e-marketing plan that points out the necessary activities and resources to achieve the set goals. The marketing strategy is basically a way of directing and adjusting the activities to the target market. In order to achieve the best results by companies, it is necessary to make a detailed analysis of every aspect of the company's operations and its current presence on the Internet. Through research and analysis, can be seen the company's capabilities in order to achieve the best results. When creating an e-marketing strategy, it starts from analyzing the company's presence on the Internet, researching the competition and the capabilities of the company and campaign planning. E-marketing strategy enables the company to achieve its goals through a carefully selected combination of e-marketing tools and web marketing. Companies to remain successful on the market, it is necessary in their marketing strategy to implement e-marketing as a new way of working. The subject of research in this scientific paper is the determination of the strategic approach of the companies in Republic of Macedonia for the implementation of e-marketing as a new way of working. For the realization of this scientific paper, descriptive research is applied on the territory of Republic of Macedonia with a sample method. The analysis uses χ2- test calculation and calculation of the coefficient of contingency. Based on the data analysis, certain conclusions and recommendations have been adopted, which can be used by the companies in future. Key words: e-marketing, strategic approach, information technology, statistical analysis. 1. Conceptual Framework Of E-marketing E-marketing is defined as a process of creating an offer, pricing, distribution and promotion in order to profitably meet the needs and desires of the buyers, through the intensified use of the possibilities of digital technology. E-marketing helps to improve the business operations oriented to customers, in which customers participate through continuous dialogue, expressing their interests, searching for products and services, giving new ideas and suggestions for improving the company's operations. Basically, customers are those who move the process of working in a company. E- marketing can identify, anticipate and meet customer needs in an efficient way. The identification of customer needs is accomplished in an efficient way, through a dynamic web platform that enables analysis of the behavior of visitors and revealing their needs and desires. Predicting the needs of buyers is based on their observation and direct communication with them, based on trust. Satisfying the needs of customers in the electronic environment means timely response in terms of timely delivery of products and services, after-sales services, delivery of information on new products, in order to achieve additional value at the right time and in an appropriate quantity. Efficient functioning is based on the capabilities of technology used in developing customer relationships. The technology automates the processes, but continues to maintain the level of immediacy with customers. E-marketing as a new way of working by itself does not mean that it always produces positive results. There are many examples of failed attempts to implement e- marketing as a result of ambiguous goals, lack of e-marketing strategy or poorly managing of business processes. With the emergence of information technology, and especially the emergence of the Internet, there has been a fundamental change in traditional marketing in terms of transferring power from the company to customers, eliminating distance, enabling communication at any time, gathering, storing and analyzing information about customers, the need for knowledge of technology, its implementation in marketing and the use of intellectual capital. 13

2 In future, companies need to integrate information technology in their working, to communicate with potential buyers, to realize transactions and to build relationships with customers. 2. Methodology Of The Research For the realization of this scientific paper descriptive research has been applied, a data collection technique is used using a structured questionnaire in which are used, multi-choice questions, which should determine how many Macedonian companies use and have a strategic approach towards e- marketing as a new way of working. Descriptive research was conducted on the territory of Republic of Macedonia for a period of 6 months, in the period from February 2016 to July 2016, with a sampling method, composed according to two control characteristics. The sample includes companies acording to the sector of activity and number of employees. Of the total surveyed companies are provided 1463 questionnaires. The survey was conducted electronically (on line) and by personally submitting the questionnaire to a large number of companies according to the sector of activity and the number of employees in the companies. The data are tabulated in order to present the findings in a transparent manner. The survey questionnaire used in the survey consists of seven multi-choice questions. In this particular case, because data are measured at a nominal scale, data analysis is performed on the χ2- test and the coefficient of contingency, in order to determine the relationship between the business sector and the number of employees with the observed variables described in the questions and the intensity of their connection. Having in mind the size of the sample, the proposed methodology and professionalism in answering the questions, the results of this research can be considered as representative and they can be generalized about the total number of registered companies in Republic of Macedonia. 3. Results Of The Research And Analysis The analysis of the obtained results is in function of how Macedonian companies use e- marketing in their operations. The schedule of surveyed companies according to the sector of activity and the number of employees is shown in Table 1. Table 1. Surveyed enterprises by number of employees and by sector of activity* Sectors of activity Number of employees in companies Total registered companies >250 Total surveyed companies Percentage (%) Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (A) ,07 Mining and quarrying (B) ,05 Manufacturing industry (C) ,57 Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (D) ,05 Water supply, waste water disposal, waste management and environmental remediation activities (E) ,05 14

3 Construction (F) ,46 Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) ,12 Transport and storage (H) ,72 Accommodation and food service activities (I) ,80 Information and Communications (J) ,05 Financial and insurance activities (K) ,05 Real estate activities (L) ,05 Professional, scientific and technical activities (M) ,51 Administrative and support service activities (N) ,05 Public Administration and Defense, Compulsory Social Security (O) ,05 Education (P) ,05 Activities of health and social care (Q) ,75 Art, Entertainment and Recreation (R) ,05 Other service activities (S) ,44 Total surveyed companies: Percentage (%) 88,17 4,58 3,07 2,93 1, Total registered companies: The question number 1 refers to In which sector does your enterprise belong?, and question number 2 concerns How many employees work in your company?. The purpose of these questions is to cover as many companies as possible from the entire territory of Republic of Macedonia by sector of activity and by number of employees. The number of surveyed companies according to the sector of activity and number of employees, proportionally corresponds with their representation in the total number of companies registered in Republic of Macedonia. The results of other questions, according to the sector of activity and the number of employees, are given in table no

4 Table 2: Results of the research according to the sector of * activity and number of employees in percentage (%) * Results from the survey No. Questions from a survey questionnaire Offered answers According to the sector of activity According to the number of employees Less than 10% 75,66 68,87 3 How much is the annual marketing budget for your enterprise (% of the total budget)? From 10% to 20% 20,23 23,10 From 21% to 30% 3,28 7,54 From 31% to 40% 0,82 0,47 From 41% to 50% 0 0 More than 50% How long your company is in the business? Less than 5 years 13,60 10,82 From 6 to 10 years 29,59 19,65 From 11 to 20 years 29,18 29,05 More than 20 years 27,61 40,46 5 Where does your company sell products / services? On domestic market 70,00 55,51 On foreign market 0,47 1,90 On domestic and foreign market 29,50 42,50 Static 48,60 44,50 6 Our website is: Interactive 32,00 43,00 7 How many e-marketing initiatives are planned for the next year in your enterprise (eg. a new way of online payment or improving online presence)? I do not have a website 19,20 12,40 More than one 37,80 49,50 One 7,90 9,20 I do not plan 52,30 41,20 * Source: Own research 16

5 The data represent a percentage average of all sectors (both by activity and by number of employees). From the data in table 2 can be concluded that a certain number of companies allocate between 10% and 40% of its marketing budget (companies that allocate the largest percentage of their marketing budget are from the processing industry and the information and communications sector, and in terms of number of employees are those companies whose number of employees is 10-19), which means that these companies face with great competition and they need to invest more in marketing activities, i.e. they own a marketing sector in the company itself. In support of this conclusion, the results of other questions are also attached to them, and these companies have been in business for many years, which means that they are companies that have built a name on the market and control a large part of the market, they are selling their products to the domestic and the foreign market, have an interactive website and have more than one marketing initiative planned for the next year. Companies that have a long time in business and have a larger number of employees have in their organizational structure a special marketing sector or in another sector the integration of marketing activities has been carried out. According to this conclusion in these companies, the possibility for implementation of e-marketing is greater. While in other companies, which are less time in business and have fewer employees, most often there are no conditions for organizing marketing activities or are performed by some of the employees. From the data on the market in which companies sell their products is determined the strategic approach of the companies for the introduction and implementation of e-marketing as a new way of working, becouse companies must have a quality offer for performing on the foreign market, adapting the marketing mix and implementing marketing in their work, including e-marketing. Mostly companies with a larger number of employees sell their products on domestic and foreign markets, compared to companies with fewer employees who sell their products only to domestic market. From the data for the website it is concluded that about 48.6% of the companies own a static website, and 19.2% do not have a website at all. This issue is particularly important because the website is an important tool for communicating with customers, through which customers receive all information about the company and the products they need. It is very important for companies to have an interactive website, through which communication and realization of the sales of products will take place. These results are expected, because of the total number of registered companies in Macedonia, over 80% are with the number of employees from 1 to 9, which means that they are micro enterprises, which are mostly with one employee and have no conditions to possess adequate information technology. Furthermore, the analysis show that around 48% of companies plan one or more e-marketing initiative, which means they have a strategic approach and are ready for the implementation of e-marketing in their work. Also, the results show that most of the companies with a larger number of employees have planned more than one marketing initiative, i.e. they have a marketing plan and a marketing strategy that is implemented by a particular sector or department within the company itself or the marketing activities are integrated into another sector. In order to determine the relationship between the sector of activity and the number of employees with the observed variables described in questions 3 to 7, is calculated an χ2- test for a level of significance of 0.05 and degrees of freedom n-2. The calculated values for the χ2- test for each of the questions are given in Table 3. Table 3: Results of the calculation for the χ2 test ** Results of the calculations for the χ2 test No. Questions from the survey questionnaire According to the sector of activity According to the number of employees Calculated Limit Calculated Limit value ** Source: Authors calculation 17

6 value value[13] value How much is the annual marketing budget for your enterprise (% of the total budget)? 433,57 113,145 33,05 31,41 How long your enterprise is in the business? 245,42 72,153 37,38 21,06 Where does your company sell products/services? 157,11 50, ,41 15,50 6 Our website is: 245,39 50,998 18,366 15,50 7 How many e-marketing initiatives are planned for the next year in your enterprise (eg a new way of online payment or improving online presence)? 227,71 50,998 19,86 15,50 From the values for the χ2- test, it is determined that the calculated value of the χ2 square for each of the questions is greater than the limit value, i.e. it is concluded that there is a connection between the sector of activity and the number of employees with the observed variables described in the questions. In order to determine the intensity of the relationship between the sector of activity and the number of employees with the observed variables described in the questions, is calculated the coefficient of contingency C ranging from 0 to 1 i.e. from 0 to 0,3 there is a weak conectivity, from 0.3 to 0.5 there is a moderate connectivity, from 0.5 to 0.7 there is strong connection and from 0.7 to 1 there is very strong connection between the observed variables and is calculated using the following formula [2]: C =. The data from the calculation of the coefficient of contingency are given in Table 4. Table 4: Results of the calculation of the coefficient of contingency *** Results from the calculation of the coefficient of contingency C No. Questions from the survey questionnaire According to the sector of activity According to the number of employees 3 How much is the annual marketing budget for your enterprise (% of the total budget)? 0,649 0,152 4 How long your enterprise is in the business? 0,449 0,162 *** Source: Authors calculation 18

7 5 Where does your company sell products / services? 0,346 0,271 6 Our website is: 0,449 0,112 7 How many e-marketing initiatives are planned for the next year in your enterprise (eg a new way of online payment or improving online presence)? 0,429 0,117 From the data given in the table, can be concluded that there is a strong and moderate connection between the business sector and the independent variables, as opposed to the poor correlation between the number of employees in the companies and the independent variables. These data indicate that the percentage of the total budget that companies allocate for marketing, the time spent in the company's business, the market where the company sells its products, the state of the company's website and how much e-marketing initiatives are planned for next year, depends mostly on the company's sector, and very little depends on the number of employees in the company. Conclusion and recommendations The analysis of the results shows that some companies in Republic of Macedonia have a strategic approach to the introduction and implementation of e-marketing in their operations. In addition to this conclusion are the results from the research that around 24% of the companies in Republic of Macedonia from their budget allocate between 10% and 40% for marketing, and 32% of the companies own an interactive website. On the other hand, about 48% of companies for the next year have planned one or more of one e-marketing initiative. It also confirms that most of the companies in Republic of Macedonia are not ready and do not use e-marketing in their operations. In addition to this conclusion are the obtained results from the research that around 76% of the companies in Republic of Macedonia from their budget allocate less than 10% for marketing, 49% of the companies have a static website, and more than 19% do not have web page. Also, the largest part, over 52% of companies for the next year do not plan any e - marketing initiative. Companies in future to remain successful on the market need to implement e-marketing in their marketing strategy, in their company to form a marketing sector or in another sector to integrate marketing activities, to allocate more financial resources for marketing, because the small percentage of financial resources for marketing, affects to the results of the working of the companies, i.e. they achieve lesser effects. Unlike our companies, examples from companies from developed countries show that they are investing heavily in marketing activities to achieve greater results. 19

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