Victoria Corser - Microsoft version Dissertation

Victor ia Corser D issertat ion1301973 BS3999A

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VictoriaCorserStudentNumber:1301973

Supervisor:TimFriesner

SecondMarker:TimMeldrum

PresentedforBusinessManagement2015/2016

Howdosmallbusinessesimplementdigital

marketing?Aninvestigationintohowentrepreneursuse

digitalmarketingstrategies.

WordCount:10,919

Thisdissertationisentirelytheoriginalworkofstudentregistrationnumber1301973.Wherematerialisobtainedfrompublishedorunpublishedworks,thishasbeenfullyacknowledgedby

citation.


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AbstractSmall businesses are under increasing pressure to keep upwith the growth in consumer

demands.Withcustomersnowbeingabletoaccessproductsandservicesatanytimefrom

any where in the world, small businesses need to find ways to develop and maintain

relationshipswiththeirtargetmarket.WithEntrepreneurialBehaviourthoughttobebehind

thesuccessofasmallbusinesses,alinkislookedintoastowhetherthetwocanberelated

andhowthiscanaffectmarketinginasmallbusiness.Digitalmarketingisbecomingmore

prominent, and with this, small businesses need to understand whether digital or more

traditionalmethods arenow relevantwithin todaysmarket. This research looks into the

relationship between both Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Digital Marketing, assessing

entrepreneurial characteristics of small businesses owners and relating this to the digital

andtraditionalmarketingtechniquestheyundertake.

The findings of this research have been sought from both questionnaires testing

entrepreneur’s behaviour and interviews analysing the ways in which they market their

companies and how successful their methods are. This concluded that there is a link

between aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour however further research is needed to

generalisethistoallbusinesses.


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TableofContentsAbstract.........................................................................................................................................2

Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................4

ListofFigures................................................................................................................................5

Introduction..................................................................................................................................6Researchaims:.......................................................................................................................................7

LiteratureReview..........................................................................................................................8SmallBusinesses.....................................................................................................................................8

Whatisasmallbusiness?..................................................................................................................8Entrepreneurs........................................................................................................................................8

DefiningEntrepreneurship.................................................................................................................8TheNeedforEntrepreneurialBehaviour............................................................................................9Effectuation......................................................................................................................................10

DigitalMarketing..................................................................................................................................11DefiningDigitalMarketing...............................................................................................................11ContentMarketing...........................................................................................................................11BenefitsofDigitalMarketingtoSmallBusinesses...........................................................................12ConstrictionstoDigitalMarketing...................................................................................................13MarketingStrategiesandPlans.......................................................................................................14

DigitalmarketingandEntrepreneurship..............................................................................................16CreativityandInnovation.................................................................................................................16DigitalMarketingSuccess,InfluencedbyEntrepreneurialBehaviour..............................................17

Methodology..............................................................................................................................17ResearchParadigm...............................................................................................................................18PrimaryResearch&methods...............................................................................................................19Questionnaires&Semi-StructuredInterviews.....................................................................................19

Questionnaires.................................................................................................................................19Semi-StructuredInterviews..............................................................................................................20UsingOpenandClosedQuestions...................................................................................................21

SamplingofCandidates........................................................................................................................21Validity.................................................................................................................................................22Reliability..............................................................................................................................................22DatacollectionandAnalysis.................................................................................................................22Ethics....................................................................................................................................................23

FindingsandAnalysis..................................................................................................................23EntrepreneurialTesting........................................................................................................................24

NeedforAchievement&CreativityandInnovativeTendencies......................................................25LimitationsofFindings.....................................................................................................................25OverallEntrepreneurialismResults..................................................................................................25Accuracy...........................................................................................................................................26

Interviews.............................................................................................................................................27ReasonsBehindStartingacompany................................................................................................27MarketingBudgetsandPlanning.....................................................................................................28MeasurementofMarketingActivities.............................................................................................28TraditionalorDigitalMethodsofMarketing...................................................................................29MostSuccessfulMarketingOperation.............................................................................................30IsDigitalMarketingEssential?.........................................................................................................31


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LinkingEntrepreneurialBehaviourandDigitalMarketing...................................................................32Creativity/InnovationTendencyandDigitalMarketing..................................................................32NeedforAchievementandDigitalMarketing.................................................................................33FurtherConsiderations.....................................................................................................................34

ConclusionsandRecommendations..........................................................................................36MakingMarketinginSmallBusinessesMoreSuccessful.....................................................................36TraditionalMarketingComparedtoDigitalMarketing........................................................................37EntrepreneurialBehaviour...................................................................................................................38IsDigitalMarketingSuccessful?...........................................................................................................38LimitationsoftheResearch..................................................................................................................39

Participants......................................................................................................................................39Resources.........................................................................................................................................39RecommendationsfortheFuture....................................................................................................40

TheResearcher.....................................................................................................................................40OverallConclusion................................................................................................................................40

References..................................................................................................................................41

Appendices.................................................................................................................................50AppendixA-Bhave’sTwoTypesofEntrepreneurialProcesses(FirstStages).....................................50AppendixB-TheContentMarketingMatrix.......................................................................................51AppendixC-InternalandExternalInfluencesonDigitalMarketingStrategy.....................................52AppendixD-EntrepreneurialTestEntrepreneurialTendenciestest,adaptedfromCaird(2013)......53AppendixE-EthicsDeclaration............................................................................................................55AppendixF-MeetingSchedule–TimFriesner&VictoriaCorser........................................................56AppendixG-InterviewLayoutSample................................................................................................57

AcknowledgementsIwouldliketotakethisopportunitytothankmyfamilyandfriendswhosesupporthasbeen

indispensabletomyUniversityexperience.Secondly,Iwouldliketothanktheparticipantsof

thisstudy,whoseknowledgeandsupporthasbeenhugelybeneficialtome.Finally,Iwould

like to thankmytutor,TimFriesner forhishelpwhilstwritingmydissertation,hissupport

andknowledgehasbeengreatlyappreciated.


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ListofFigures

FigureNumber Name PageNumber

1 EnterprisingTestResults 252 SummaryofKeyFindingsintoEntrepreneurialBehaviour 273 PushorPullStartUpResults 284 TimeDevotedtoMarketingResults 295 DigitalorTraditionalMethodsofMarketingResults 316 MostSuccessfulMarketingOperationResults 327 IsDigitalMarketingEssential? 328 SummaryofKeyFindingsInterviews 339 ComparingCreativity/InnovationTendencywithDigital

Marketing 33

10 ComparingNeedforAchievementwithDigitalMarketing 3411 SummaryofKeyFindingsLinkingEntrepreneurial

BehaviourandDigitalMarketing 35

12 SummaryofTheoriesSupported 3613 OverallSummaryofFindings 37


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IntroductionWith markets dominated by large firms, small businesses need to find ways in which they can

penetratethemarket(Coleman[Online],10.01.13).Withtheintroductionofdigitalmarketing,it is

easier than ever for small businesses to compete in these markets, showing their competitive

advantagesofbeingflexibleandpersonaltotheconsumer(Gitman&McDaniel,2008).

There areover 5Million small businesses in theUK (Cole, 2016 [Online]). This broader choice for

consumerswithin themarket is changing thewaywhich consumers arebehavingaswell aswhat

theyexpect(Ernst&Young,2011).Withawiderrangeofproductsandservicesavailabletothemat

anytime,fromanywherearoundtheglobe,amorepersonalisedexperienceisexpectedandthisis

saidtobewheresmallbusinessesareleadingtheway.Withtheincreaseindigitaltechnologyand

digital marketing techniques, small businesses are able to compete with big brands as well as

provideapersonalservicetotheconsumer.

Withmanysmallcompaniesonlycarryingoutmarketingactivitieswhentheyfeeltheenvironment

requiresthemtooronlywhentheyhavetheresourcesto,itisnotclearlyunderstoodthevalueand

effectiveness of certain types of marketing techniques (Simpson, Padmore, Taylor and Frecknall-

Hughes,2006).Isdigitalmarketingnowabletotakeoverfromtraditionalmethodsorarethesestill

justasimportantatbuildingrelationshipsandcreatingrepeatbusiness?

Entrepreneurs are suggested to have particular characteristics and traits which distinguish them

fromothers,knownasEntrepreneurialbehaviours.Thesebehavioursincludeattributessuchas;risk-

taking,theneedforachievementaswellasautonomy(Nielsen,Klyver,Evald&Bager,2012).Ifthese

behavioursareidentifiedandcanbesupported,theycouldhelptoseethereasonsastowhysome

smallbusinessessucceedorfailaswellashelpingandacceleratingeconomicgrowthwithinsociety.

Withparticularinteresttowardsbothentrepreneurialbehaviouranddigitalmarketing,thisresearch

issetouttoinvestigatewhetherthereisalinkbetweenthetwoandtowhatextentdigitalmethods

ofmarketingarenowessentialorsuccessfultosmallbusinesses.Withworknowneedingtobecome

more inventive and creative, entrepreneurial behaviour and flexibility is said to be essential in

deliveringthebestoutcomesforcompanies(Cowan,2016,citedin:TheGuardian[Online]).

Withlimitedresearchintowhatmakesentrepreneurssuccessfulatthemarketingoftheircompany,

thisinvestigationaimstoinvestigatewhetherEntrepreneursdisplaycertainbehavioursandwhether


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these influence the decisions they make within their business, in terms of digital marketing.

Researchwill be carried out to investigatewhether there is a link between both Entrepreneurial

behaviouranddigitalmarketingtechniquesthatsmallbusinessesuse.Thiscanbeusedinorderfor

small businesses to see what methods of digital marketing can be most successful and what

behavioursaremostbeneficial.

Thisstudyholdsparticularinteresttothosecurrentlyrunningtheirownbusiness.Ifcertaindisplays

ofbehaviourscanencouragethedevelopmentofbetterdigitalmarketingtechniques,thenitmaybe

beneficial inordertounderstandhowtodeveloptheirbusinessfurther.Thismayalsobeuseful in

ordertodeveloptheeconomyandencouragemoresmallbusinessessuccess.

Withinthisstudy,researchwillbeconductedintotheentrepreneurialtraitsofbusinessownersand

thedigitalmarketingtechniquestheyuse,withanunderstandingonhowsuccessfulthisis.

Researchaims:

1.) Evaluatedigitalmarketingtechniquesusedbyentrepreneurs.

2.) Explorethebehavioursandtechniquesentrepreneurspossess.

3.) Categoriseentrepreneursbytheirpreferreddigitalmarketingapproaches.

4.) Explorethepurposeandcontextofthenewenterprises.

In order to reach the aims of the research, several research questions and objectives have been

createdtogiveacentralgoalandpurposetothestudyaswellastomakesureallareasarecovered

withintheresearch(ThomasandHodges,2010).Thesekeythemeswillbethebasistotheresearch

undertaken.

1.) Doentrepreneursdisplaycertaincharacteristicsandbehaviours?

2.) Whatdigitalmarketingtechniquesdoentrepreneursuse?

3.) Can a link be found between the entrepreneurial behaviour of a person and the digital

marketingtechniquestheyuse?

4.) Are digital marketing techniques successful and valuable for small businesses and

entrepreneurstouse?


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LiteratureReview

This chapter will highlight the key points related to the study into small businesses and their

marketingaswellasthewaysinwhichthepersonalitytraitsofanentrepreneurcanbedefined.

Thisliteraturereviewlooksatpastresearchintotheareasofstudysuchasdigitalmarketinginsmall

businessesandentrepreneurialbehaviour.Alinkwillthenbemadeastohowthesetwosubjectscan

beconnected.

SmallBusinessesTherearenowmorethan5.2MillionsmallfirmsintheUK,accountingforover48%ofemployment

for the country (Young, 2015).With a recordnumber of small firms in theUK (MintelGroup Ltd,

2015 [Online], these firms need to find ways in which they can increase their market share and

createmoreprofit.

Whatisasmallbusiness?A small business is defined as a company,which has nomore than 99 employees (MacGregor&

Vrazalic,2007).AccordingtoYoung(2015),theUnitedKingdomisthemostentrepreneurialcountry

inEuropeandfourthintheworld(Young,2015).Thisrapidincreaseinsmallbusinessesisduetothe

accessibilitytobeabletostartupasmallbusiness,withaccesstotheinternetmakingiteasierthan

ever (Reeves, 2014). With an increasingly complex world developing, linked by the instant

communication from technology, companies must continually find ways in which they can

distinguishthemselvesfromtheircompetitors(Burns,3rdEd.,2013).

EntrepreneursDefiningEntrepreneurshipDrucker(2014),explainsthatsmallbusinesseswillsimplynotsurvivetheperiodofcurrentchange

andinnovationunlesstheypossessoracquirethecompetenciesofentrepreneurialbehaviour.

An entrepreneur is someonewho quickly examines changes and responds to them, transforming

them into opportunities (Druker, 1994) (Al-Askari, 2011).Hart (2003), agreeswith this statement,

statingthatentrepreneurscontinuallyseekoutnewopportunities,identifyingwaysthattheycanbe

more innovative. Entrepreneurs also hold skills such as risk taking and pro-activeness (Dess &

Lumpkin,1996),constantlypursuingnewopportunitieswithinthemarket(Baker&Sinkula,2009).


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On the other hand, Cardon, Mosakowski & Murnieks (2014), suggest that entrepreneurship is

focussed around passion being the main driver of entrepreneurship, motivating the person to

succeed in their area. Burns (2013, 3rd Ed., P. 14), complements both opinions, describing

entrepreneurstohavequalitiesof‘creativity,vision…courage’and’self-belief’.

Although there aremanydefinitions as towhat anentrepreneur is and thebehavioursdisplayed,

there are stillmisconceptions as to how to actually define it (Kobia& Sikalieh, 2010). This raises

issues within the area of entrepreneurship and how one can define whether a certain person

displaysthecharacteristicsornotandwhetheritisaninfluencetobusinesssuccess.

TheNeedforEntrepreneurialBehaviour

Burns (2014) explains that in order to start up a new venture, entrepreneurs need to display

characteristicswhichpushthemtowardsentrepreneurship,haveagoodbusinessideaaswellasthe

skills needed to deliver the product or service idea. The author also defines several key

characteristics which Entrepreneurs display such as; the need for achievement, need for

independence,creativity,innovation,opportunism,acceptanceofmeasuredriskanduncertainty,as

well as an internal locus of control. All of these can either push or pull a particular person into

startingtheirownbusinessandinfluencethedegreetowhichitissuccessful.

Bhave (1994, cited in cited in Davidsson, 2008), shows the routes that entrepreneurs follow in

settinguptheirowncompany(seeAppendixA),eithermakingthedecisiontostartorrecognisinga

needforittohappen.ThisshowsadifferenceintypesofEntrepreneurs,somestartingbecausethey

feel the need to or others realising an opportunity. Either way, both types end up having a

commitment,wheretheyhaveidentifiedtheirbusinessconcepttocontinuewith.


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AppendixA-Bhave’sTwoTypesofEntrepreneurialProcesses(FirstStages)(1994,citedinDavidsson,

2008)

Thefirsttype,Bhavedescribesas“externallystimulated”,startingwiththedecisionordesiretoset

upanewbusinessinwhichtheentrepreneursearchesfor.Thesecondtype,“Internally-stimulated”,

beginswhenanentrepreneurexperiencesaproblemrelatedtotheirwork,hobbiesorwhenbeinga

consumer,theythenfindasolutionandbasetheirbusinessonsolvingthisproblemforothers.

Thiscanbe related toBurns’ (2014)PushorPull reasons for startingupacompany, showing that

Push factors (situational), such as unemployment or having no other option or Pull factors

(psychological)suchasneedof independenceandrecognitioncanbothbebarriersandtriggersto

entrepreneurship.

Many characteristics influence the Push reasons for starting up a business, which are developed

throughculturaldifferencesandthesocietiesinwhichpeoplebelong.Althoughthesecharacteristics

canencourageentrepreneurstosetuptheirowncompanyandhelpthemthroughproblems,they

arenotnecessaryforbeinganentrepreneur(Burns,2014).

Effectuation

Another logic behind a business start up is Effectuation. This is a process that drives

entrepreneurshipbyusingtheresourcesandstakeholdersavailabletotheentrepreneurasameans

ofcontrollingtheunpredictedfuture(Hjorth,2012).Ateachstageoftheirstartup,theentrepreneur

will limit their riskby lookingatwhat theycanafford to lose,usenegatives tocreatepositivesas


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well asbuildingona futurebyusing the resources around themaswell as interactionswith self-

selectingpartners(TheSocietyforEffectualAction,2012).

DigitalMarketing

TheendofthetwentiethCenturymarkedarevolutioninthewayweengageandcommunicate,with

the introductionofthe internet(Masterson&Pickton,2010). Thishashadasignificant impacton

thewayinwhichbusinessesareexpectedtomarkettheirproducts(Benady,2014).Notonlyhasthis

changedthewayproductsaremarketed,butithasalsochangedbusinessmodels,oftenintroducing

costsavingtechniquesforthecompany(DepartmentforBusinessInnovation&Skills,2015).

DefiningDigitalMarketing

Themarketingenvironmentisgrowingincreasinglycomplicated,beforecompanieswouldonlyhave

toconcentrateonadvertisementswhichwere local, suchasnewspapers, local radioor theyellow

pages (Boersen, 2014), where as now there is a huge variety ofmediums such as Search Engine

Optimisation to social media. Boersen (2014) suggests that, in order for small companies to be

successful,theynowneedtoembracethedigitalageiftheyintendongrowing,aswellascompeting

withtheloyaltyofconsumersfromlargerretailers(Donnelly,Simmons,Armstrong&Fearne,2012).

E-marketing (or digital marketing) refers to the use of electronic communications technology in

ordertoachievemarketingobjectives(Chaffey,2007,3rded.).ForSmall-MediumEnterprises,these

digitalmarketing techniquescanprovidemanybenefits. Theadoptionofe-commerce technology

can lead to a higher annual sales growth, a reduction in costs, an improvement in service and

quality,aswellasbetterconnectionswithcustomersandsuppliers(Martin&Matalay,2003).Thisis

confirmedwithAlford&Page’s (2015)suggestion that it isessential forsmallbusinesses toadopt

technologyformarketinginorderforthemtosurvive.

ContentMarketing

Contentmarketing is an approachused to provide valuable and relevant information to potential

customersinordertodrivebusinessandaction(ContentMarketingInstitute,2016).Thisapproach

enables businesses to attract and retain customers by providing them with more valuable

informationcontent,andwithmarketingdecreasinglyrelyingontraditionalmethods,thiscreatesa

moreeffectivewayofutilisingbothtraditionalanddigitalmethods.


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Content marketing is said to be extremely

importantwithintodaysmarket.Itfuelsthecore

marketing channels such as search engines,

social and email marketing as well as creating

conversations with the customer (Bosomworth,

2014 [Online]). This approach, shown in

Appendix B, aims to inspire, convince, educate

and entertain the businesses audience in order

to create conversations with them to build up

business and repeat custom. This increases

awareness to generate purchases as well as

createsarationaleforthecustomerstoforman

emotional attachment with the company. This

can be extremely important within small

businesses,creatingacommunitywhichtheycan

relyonforcustomaswellasputtingthemaside

fromlarger,lessattentivecompetitors.

BenefitsofDigitalMarketingtoSmallBusinesses

New tools areappearingall the timewithways inwhich companies canmarket theirproductsor

services.There isahuge rangeofmediumssuchas;payper clickadvertisements, socialmediaas

wellasadvertisementsonsocialmedia,googleadverts,searchengineoptimisation,emailmarketing

andwebsites(WSI,2015).Theadoptionofthesedigitalmarketingtechniques,givessmallbusinesses

theopportunity to compete inmarkets that theywouldnotoriginally havehadaccess to (Design

Week, 2011), all of which can lead to business growth and lower costs by using a more flexible

optionformarketingtoconsumers(Saldanha,2011).

These platforms can enable small companies to target their consumers at all levels of the sales

funnel (Fulgoni & Lipsan, 2015), for example; driving awareness and interest through the use of

Search Engine Optimisation or advertising on social media platforms, following this with the

customerclickingontothebusinesseswebsite(Charlesworth,2014).Notonlyarecompaniesableto

dothis,buttheseadvertisementsattractmorecustomerswhichhaveahighervaluetothecompany

forarelativelylowcostcomparedtooriginalmediaadvertisingoptions(Jones,Borgman&Ulusoy,

AppendixB–TheContentMarketingMatrix(Bosomworth,2014[Online]).


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2015).Thisofferscompaniestheabilitytogettocustomerswhichtheywouldhaveneverhadaccess

toinawaywhichispersonaltothem.ForSmallbusinesses,thisisahugeadvantageastheyareable

tocompetewithlargercompanieswhohavethesameapproach(Longenecker,Petty,Palich&Hoy,

2016).

ThisadoptionalsomeansthatSME’sareabletocompeteinglobalmarketswhichbeforewouldnot

have been readily available to them (Iansiti& Lakhani, 2014). The Internet is available across the

world, giving customers instant accessibility at any time to information from news, product

specifications or availability to customer service (Roberts & Zahay, 2012, pg. 25). For business

owners, itmeansthattheycanprovideproductsandservicestoanycustomer,atanytimeof the

day, without meeting them face to face or spending money on services like postage, with the

availabilitytodownloadfilesinstantly.Notonlythis,butthesecompaniesareabletotalktoahuge

variety of people at one time with technological advancements such as social media and email

marketing,whichthecustomercanaccessattheirownleisure.Thispresentsahugecostsavingto

companies (Gallagher,Gilmore&Henry,2007),nothaving topay formostof theirmarketingand

beingabletobettercommunicatewiththeirpotentialorexistingconsumers.

SMEsarenowusingtechnologiestothesameextentaslargeenterprises(OrganisationforEconomic

Co-operation and Development, 1997), expanding online and digitally through a presence of

companywebsitesandemailmarketing(Eddy,2013).

ConstrictionstoDigitalMarketing

Saldanha, (2011),highlights thatevenwith limitedbudgets, small companiesareable tocarryout

digital marketing tasks at very low costs and successfully as they work project-by-project. This

increased flexibility allows the opportunity to continually adapt their technique to improve. SMEs

arenotlockedintoonepatternorwayofthinkingandthereforetheycanconstantlyalterthewayin

whichtheymarkettheirproductsorservices(DeNoronhaVaz,Morgan&Nikkamp,2006).

Miles, Gilmore, Harrigan, Lewis & Sethna (2015), suggest that SMEs develop their own style of

marketing,thisisdis-similartolargecompany’sconventionalprocesses.Withthis,Milesetalagree

withSaldanha(2011),thatSMEsadapttheirmarketing,notonlytoimproveiteachtime,buttosuit

their own situation and network. They do this by using relevant industry andmarket contacts in

orderfortheirstrategiestobeasuccess.Customerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)iscarriedoutby


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SMEs intuitively and integrally and this forms an interaction with their customers which larger

organisationscannotcompetewith.

Smallbusinessesmaybecomeapprehensiveaboutundertakingformsofdigitalmarketing,duetoa

lackofknowledgeandan inability toassess thereturnontheir investment (Alford&Page,2015).

Business ownersmay lack the skills to carry out digitalmarketingmethods successfully,meaning

thattheycouldmissoutonhugepotentialmarketsorundertakethemethodsusedincorrectly.

Knight (2000), emphasises that smaller companiesmay lack the resources to competewith larger

firms, both in their home country and abroad. Following from this, McGowan & Durkin (2002)

suggestthat,inorderfortheirmarketingtobeasuccess,smallcompaniesneedtobecompetentin

theareasinwhichtheyareworkingwith.Thissuccessalsodependsontheabilityofthecompanyto

notonlyhavegoodrelationswithcustomersovertheinternet,buttobeabletodothispersonally

and socially too, this is what will make small companies stand out from the much larger

corporations.

Anotherwayinwhichdigitalmarketingmightnotbesuccessfulforsmallbusinessesistheirbarriers

to use, with financial and human resource constraints (Gallahgher, Gilmore & Henry, 2007). For

example, business ownersmayhave a lackof technical competencies (McGowan&Durkin, 2002;

Chapman, Szczygiel& Thompson, 2000), aswell as SMEs having both limited time andmoney to

carry out the digital marketing aspects, with each person having to carry out many job roles

(Donnelly, Simmons,Armstrong&Fearne, 2012). Thismeans that the jobmaybepassedaround,

with staff workloads being already stretched (Winkholfer and Houghton, 2004, cited in Gilmore,

Gallagher&Henry,2007,p.237), resulting innoclearplanningonthedirection inwhichtheyare

going,whichaccordingtoDonnelly,Simmons,Armstrong&Fearne,(2012),isvitalforthesuccessof

digitalmarketing.

MarketingStrategiesandPlans

In order to achievemarketing objectives, an e-marketing plan can be created to understand the

specific intentions that the activities want to achieve (Chaffey, 2007, 3rd ed.). Chaffey (2015,

[Online])suggeststheRACEmarketingstrategytoreachthegrowingdemandsofdigitalmarketing.

TheRACEsystemfocussesoncreatingastrategyfordigitalmarketingwhichreachesthebusiness’

targetmarket,makesthecustomeract,thenconvertsthisintoapurchasedecisionandlastlycreates

acustomeradvocatewhichcontinuallychoosesthecompanyforrepeatbusiness.Thismodelactsas


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afunnel,filteringthemostpotentialcustomersateachstageaswellascreatingcustomerswhoare

mostlikelytobecomeadvocatesforthecompany.

Arecurringthemefrompreviousliteratureisthelackofstrategythatsmallbusinesseshave,Pophal

(2015) foundthat39%ofsmallbusinessesdonothaveadocumentedstrategyontheirmarketing

strategy.With a lack of goals (Alford& Page, 2015) andmarketing being an ad-hoc and informal

process (McGowan&Durkin, 2002), SMEsmay not be utilising the resources that they have, not

takingintoaccounttheobjectives,strategies,actionsandcontrolthatareneededforthemarketing

strategies to be successful. Chaffey (2015, [Online]), agrees with this theory suggesting that only

aroundhalfofallbusinesseshaveastrategicmethodtousingdigitalmediaandtechnology.

Following from this, Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick (2016, 6th Ed.) suggests a model (see Appendix C)

whichbusinessesshouldusetocreateanddevelopadigitalmarketingstrategy.Thisincludestheuse

and development of many different channels such as, web, mobile and social media platforms,

searchenginemarketingandemailmarketing.Withinthismodel,Chaffey&Ellis-Chadwick(2016,6th

Ed.) suggests taking into account all external influences, suchaswhat the company’s competitors

aredoingaswellastheobjectivesofthecompany.Thisgivesastructuredstrategytothecompany,

whichcanbeconstantlyimprovedaswellaskeepingupwithmarkettrends.

MultichannelMarketingStrategy

EmergingOpportunitiesand

Threats

BusinessObjectivesand

Strategy

CompetitorStrategies

MarketStructureandDemand

DigitalMarketingStrategy

Key

ExternalInfluences

InternalInfluences

AppendixC–InternalandExternalInfluencesonDigitalMarketingStrategy(Chaffey&Ellis-Chadwick,2016,6thEd.)


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DigitalmarketingandEntrepreneurship

When linking both Entrepreneurship and Digital Marketing, it is clear that both have huge

importance to the success of small businesses. Both entrepreneurship andmarketing incorporate

thesamethemes; innovation&creativity,havingtheimportanceofbeingopportunistic,flexible&

proactive,aswellasprocessbasedandmarketdriven(Gilmore,McAuley,Gallagher&Carson,2013,

citedinMiles,Gilmore,Harrigan,Lewis&Sethna,2015.

CreativityandInnovationAccordingtoAl-Askari(2011),thesuccessofmarketingwithinanycompany,dependsoninnovation

and creativity, something which entrepreneurs can naturally possess. Both marketing and

entrepreneurship are required for successful market creation initiatives (Boso, Cadogan & Story,

2013),showingthatboththemarketingcapabilityofacompanyorindividualcanrelyonthelevelof

entrepreneurialorientationthatthecompanyorpersonmayhave.

With innovation being a key source to a competitive advantage (Knight, 2000), this can be an

importantskill forentrepreneurstohave,toenablethemtocompetewith larger firms.Laforst &

Tann (2006), suggest that innovativeness is easier to generate for small companies and

entrepreneurs due to their smaller, flatter structures, easier knowledge sharing and collaboration

within their companies. Although, for this to be successful, the companies need to be flexible,

respondrapidlytoenvironmentalneedsandworkcloselywiththeircustomers.

Both entrepreneurship and marketing are linked to innovation and change, identifying relevant

opportunitieswithin themarketplace (McGowan&Durkin,2015),and takingadvantageof them.

These competencies both exploit opportunities (Gilmore et al, 2015), and can be the key to a

successful small business. According to Cuervo, Ribeiro and Roig (2007), the success of an

entrepreneurisn’tjustduetothesourcingofopportunities,butthewayinwhichtheyareexploited

to be successful. In terms of marketing, if entrepreneurs are able to actively seek out new

opportunities and create their marketing techniques around these, they are more likely to be

successfulwithintheircampaignsandmoreuptodatewithmarkettrends.

Onekeydifferencebetweenbothmarketingandentrepreneurshipisthattheentrepreneurputsthe

needsoftheentrepreneur,firmandstakeholdersfirstwhereasmarketingiscreatingbettervaluefor

both customers and stakeholders, increasing their awareness of certain types of areaswithin the


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company.According to (Knight,2000), SMEswithentrepreneurialorientationwilldobetter in the

longterm,withanincreasedsuccesswithintheirbusinesspractices.Thisentrepreneurialorientation

canbedevelopedintothecompany’smarketingpractices.

DigitalMarketingSuccess,InfluencedbyEntrepreneurialBehaviour

Abebe(2014)suggeststhatthemoreentrepreneurialbehavioursapersondisplays,themorelikely

they are able to exploit e-commerce technology. If this is the case, entrepreneurial competencies

canthereforebelikedtothesuccessofasmallbusiness,withdigitalmarketingtechniquesleading

topositiveorganisationalresults(Donnelly,Simmons,Armstrong&Fearne,2012).

Theuseoftechnologyhasmadecreatinggoodrelationshipswithcustomerseveneasier.Kotleretal

(2010, cited in: Burns, 2014) establishes that this value-driven marketing creates customer

participationandinvolvementbyusingallchannelsofcommunicationwhichcanbecarriedoutby

internet-based socialmedia. These online places allow companies to focus on their customers as

advocates of their products and services, through social networking sites. This means that the

companycancontinuallyengagewiththeirtargetmarketthroughasmanymediumsaspossibleata

relativelysmallcost(Piercy,2001,citedinBurns,2014).

Withmanystart-upcompaniesnothavingthe luxuryofa largeadvertisingbudget, thesemethods

allowsmallstart-upstheabilitytohavefocusedmarketingonalargescale,toarelativelylowcost

(Burns,2014).Withrelationshipmarketingincreasingcustomerloyaltyaswellascostinglessmoney

and an increase in referrals (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Mayer and Johnston, 2009, 4th ed.), these

methodscanbehugelybeneficialtosmallbusinesses.

Ontheotherhand,whilstsocialmediaallowscompaniestomarketwithoutanycosts,itissuggested

thatmaynotgetthecompanyfar.Inorderforittobetrulysuccessful,paidadvertisingoptionson

socialmediasitesneedtobeconsideredtoSMEs,with80-90%ofinteractionsonsocialmediasites

comingfromad-supportedcampaigns(Funk,2013).

MethodologyThebasisbehindtheresearchthatwillbeundertaken,istodevelopanunderstandingintowhether

small business owners possess entrepreneurial characteristics and whether this influences their

digitalmarketingtechniques,andconsequentlytheirbusinesssuccess.Primaryresearchisessential


18

toundertakeinordertounderstandtheimpactthatcertainareasofentrepreneurialbehaviourhave

ondigitalmarketingtechniques.

Theresearchproposedwillusebothquantitativeandqualitativedatatoreachasoundconclusion.

The firstmethod is tousequestionnaires toestablish theextent towhich theparticipantdisplays

entrepreneurial behaviour. The second method is to use semi-structured interviews in order to

decipherthemaintypesofdigitalmarketingtheparticipantuseswithintheircompany.Thesetwo

resultswillthenbecomparedinordertoreacharesult.

Withinthisresearch,theresearcherwishestoanswerthequestionssetoutaswellastheaims.The

researcherwouldexpect to find thatwithin the results, thehigher aparticipant’s entrepreneurial

behaviour, the increased variations of digital marketing they conduct. As well as this, it will be

soughttofindoutthewaysinwhichsmallbusinessesusethesemarketingtacticsaswellaswhether

they are successful or not. Whether these techniques are valuable to the participant will give a

greaterunderstandingforfuturesmallbusinesseswhenfacingtheirmarketing.

ResearchParadigm

A research paradigm should be understood in order to guide the research on how it should be

conducted(Pasian,2015).Duetothemixedmethodofdatacollectionthatwillbeused,collecting

bothqualitativeandquantitativedata,thetheoryofknowledgecanbedescribedaspragmatic.This

isduetoitsviewsintorelatingthequantitativeandqualitativedatatotheindividualparticipantand

howthisaffectsthem(Christensen&Johnson,2010).

Thismixedmethodsapproachallowstheresearchcanbeseenashavingapositivistview.Thistakes

an objective view of reality and the researcher aims tomeasure and explain it (Belk, 2006). This

approach seeks to gain knowledge which can be generalised acrossmany people and situations.

Althoughthismethodismainlyusedwithingatheringquantitativedata,theuseofqualitativedata

(being the interviews within this study), can be used to support and explain the quantitative

measures.Inthecaseofthisresearch,lookingforthemarketingmethodsthatentrepreneurscarry

outandcreatingalinkbetweenthem.

Following from this, a deductive approach is most applicable within this research method. This

approach is theorydriven,buildingon informationwhichhaspreviouslybeengiven (Neergaard&

Ulhoi,2007).Deductivismallowstheresearchertogeneratehypothesesthatcanbetestedaswellas

allowingpreviousexplanationstobeassessed(Bryman&Bell,2015,4thEd.).Withtheirbeingalarge

amountof informationalreadyonEntrepreneurialpersonalitiesaswellasmarketingmethods,the


19

researchisonlyaimingtocreateacorrelationbetweenthetwo,usingprevious,knowninformation

andtheories.Withouttheresearchercreatingtheoriesthemselves,aninductiveapproachcannotbe

usedtoexplaintheresearchdesign(Kitchen,1999).

Themain advantageof using amixed-method approach is that triangulation is able to take place

(Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2nd Ed, 2000). This enables the researcher to gather different

perspectivesofthedataandtomakesurethatafullanalysisoftheparticipantsisundertaken.Ifthis

was not done, the researcher might not be sure as to whether a person’s entrepreneurial

orientationdoesdictatethedigitalmarketingtechniquestheyundertake.However,thismethodof

researchcanbeverytimeconsuming,bothtoundertakeandanalyse(Best,2012).

PrimaryResearch&methodsPrimaryresearchmethodsarethebasisofthisstudyduetotheneedofcollectionofdatainorderto

addresstheresearchproblem(Bajpai,2011).Inthiscase,secondarydatamaynotbeusefuldueto

itsirrelevancetothestudy,notansweringthespecificresearchquestionproposed.Thecollectionof

secondarydatamayuseinformationwhichhasnotbeencontrolledbytheresearcherandmightbe

difficulttovalidate.Themainadvantageofusingprimarydata isthewaytheresearcher isableto

target the exact needs of the project, making sure that all the data that is needed to make a

conclusionissought(Canhoto,Rose&Spinks,2015).

Amajordisadvantagewhenconductingprimaryresearch is therelianceonparticipants.Thestudy

dependsonthewillingnessandcooperationofrespondentstoanswerquestionsashonestasthey

can,thismaynothappeniftheparticipantfeelsthatthestudyisawasteoftheirtimeorhaveafear

ofembarrassmentfromthestudy(Ghauri&Gronhaug,2005,3rdEd.).

Questionnaires&Semi-StructuredInterviewsQuestionnaires

Questionnairesareusedfirstly,toestablishtowhatextenttheparticipantdisplaysentrepreneurial

behaviour. As shown in past literature, Entrepreneurs are found to display certain characteristics

and therefore thisneeds tobe tested foreachparticipant to seewhether there isa linkbetween

entrepreneurialbehaviouranddigitalmarketingtechniques.Thequestionnairethatwillbeused,has

already previously been created by Caird (2003) (Appendix D), it consists of fifty-four different


20

statements in which the participant is required to agree or disagree. These questions analyse

qualitiessuchas;theneedforachievement,creativity,risk-takinganddriveanddetermination,allof

whichwerefoundtobeprominentcharacteristicsofentrepreneurialbehaviourwithintheliterature

review.AccordingtoCaird(1991),businessowner-managersscorehigheronenterprisingtendencies

thanpeoplewithinthepublicsectorandentrepreneurialtendenciescanbetestedusingpersonality

basedquestions.Thisquestionnairewillbeanalysedandproducequantitativedata.Theadvantage

inthisisthattheparticipantcandoitathomeontheirownbeforetheinterviewanditdoesn’ttake

longtocomplete.

Although this questionnaire will produce a result showing whether the participant displays

entrepreneurial behaviours or not, it is very subjective. It does not state what situation the

participantwouldbeinanddoesn’tconsiderthetypeofbusinessthattheyown.Thiswillbetaken

into consideration when analysing the results as to whether it produces a data of good enough

quality.

Themainbenefit of producingquantitativedata is thedefinitive result,which canbe found from

undertakingtheresearch(Diggs-Brown,2012).Inthiscircumstanceitwillmeanthattheparticipants

can be categorised as to their entrepreneurial orientation.Within this particular study, all of the

questionsareclosed,thereforeaspecificconclusioncanbedrawnfromeachparticipantsandtheir

resultscanbeanalysed.

Semi-StructuredInterviews

Using a questionnaire alone would not have been a thorough enough method to identify the

conclusion to the question proposed. In order to understand the reasons behind the business

owners’marketingtechniques,semi-structuredinterviewsareneeded.

Thismethodofresearchisbeingusedinorderfortheresearchertoexercisetheirowninitiativeand

ask questions whichmay not have been originally planned (Celsi, Hair,Money, Page & Samouel,

2016). Thismay help to give a greater insight into the topic, gatheringmore opinions as well as

enhancing the findings. Semi-structured interviews have a structure to give a direction of the

interviewbutalsoallowtheparticipantandresearchertoexploreareaswhichhavenotpreviously

beenplanned.

Ghauri&Gronhaug(2005,3rdEd.)suggestthatinterviewsareconsideredtobethebestformofdata

collection.Incomparisontostructuredinterviews,withinsemi-structuredinterviews,theparticipant


21

ismoreabletodiscussreactionsandopinionsaswellastherebeingabetterstructurethanusing

non-structuredinterviews.Onekeydisadvantageofsemi-structuredinterviewscouldbethewayin

whichbias iscreatedbetweentheparticipantandresearcher ((Ghauri&Gronhaug,2005,3rdEd.).

Thisneedstobeminimisedbydeterminingthequestionsbeforetheinterviewbegins.

UsingOpenandClosedQuestions

During the interviewprocess,bothopenandclosedquestionswill beasked, this is to include the

benefitsofthembothaswellascounteractingsomenegatives.Openquestionsallowtheparticipant

toansweranythingtheylike,openingtheresearchertonewideasandtogetarealfeelingforthe

reasons behind the answer. Although this is good for the research, it also makes it difficult to

produceconclusionsfrom,beinghardtorelateeachparticipant’sanswers.Withclosedquestions,it

means that the answers are easy to process,making it easy to draw conclusions (Bryman&Bell,

2015,4thEd.).Byusingboth typesofquestions itmeans that soundanswerscanbe identified,as

wellasthereasoningbehindthem,givingabroaderexplanationtotheresearchquestion.

Toaddresstheresearchobjectives,participantswillbeaskedaboutthemethodsofmarketingthey

usewithintheircompany,thereasonswhytheystartedtheirbusinessandwhethertheirmethods

are effective. This will enable the researcher to draw links from the data analysis to decipher

whetherentrepreneurialorientationandapproachestodigitalmarketingcanbeassociated.

SamplingofCandidatesWithinthisstudy,conveniencesamplingwillbeusedinordertoselectparticipantsfortheresearch.

Thismethodofsamplingselectspartakerssimplyfortheeaseofaccess,choosingparticipantsthat

are readily and easily available (Wilson, 2014). This however does present a disadvantage due to

therebeing apotential for high levels of bias (Saunders, Lewis&Thornhill, 2007, 4th Ed.) and all

participantsbeingfromsimilargeographicareasaswellashavingthesameinterestsofviews.With

thismethod,judgementsamplingwillalsobeused.Theresearcherwillchooseparticipantswhoare

onlyrelevantwithintheresearch(runtheirownbusiness),toreachaconclusionandhaverelevant

research.Theresearcherwillchoosesampleswhichfitthebriefoftheresearchaswellasaselection

whichfitsmanydifferentareassuchas;businesssize,businesstypeandgenderinordertominimise

anybiaswhichmayoccur.Duetotheintensityofresearchintoeachparticipant,asamplesizeof10

participants will be used, giving the researcher the ability to go into detail with each of the

participants.


22

ValidityExternal validity is described as the extent that research findings can be generalised to relevant

populations or outcomes (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2013).With the researcher using a convenience

sample, it may be difficult to generalise the results, as the population of the sample may not

accurately represent other geographical locations or groups of people (Sekaran&Bougie, 5th Ed.,

2009).

Internal validity is the extent to which the result relates to the independent variable within the

research (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2013). Within this case, this is how the use of digital marketing

techniquesarerelatedtotheentrepreneurialorientationoftheparticipant.Inordertokeepinternal

validityhigh,thequestionsneedtodirectlyrelatetotheresearchquestions.

ReliabilityReliabilityisconcernedwiththeaccuracyandconsistencyoftheresearchaswellasitsabilitytobe

free from errors (Murthy & Bhojanna, 2008). Within this research, reliability will be shown by

keepingthequestionsthesameforeachoftheparticipants.Withinthefirstpart,thequestionnaire

assessing the participant’s entrepreneurial tendencies, the reliability can be kept with each

participantansweringthesamesetofquestions,withonlyclosedquestionsbeingused.Withinthe

second part, the interview, reliability may fluctuate due to the semi-structured basis for the

interview. Thismaymean that the research is not consistentwith theparticipant and researcher,

discussingtopicswhicharenotincludedwithinthesetquestionsfortheinterview.Althoughthiscan

negativelyaffecttheresearch,thisformofinterviewingisstillmoreeffectivethanonewithoutany

structure at all. In order to keep consistency, set questions, an objective and time frame for the

interviewwillbeprovidedtomakesurethateachinterviewisundertakeninasimilarway.

DatacollectionandAnalysis

Aspreviouslydiscussed, the first stageof the researchwill be foreachparticipant toundertakea

questionnaire.Thequantitativedataproducedwillbeanalysedinordertodistinguishtheirlevelsof

entrepreneurialtraits.

Thesecondpartoftheresearchistoconductsemi-structuredinterviewsoneachoftheparticipants.

Thisresearchis intendedtobeexploratoryaswellasfindoutkeypiecesof information,therefore

the collection of data can be described as both qualitative and quantitative within this process.


23

Duringtheinterview,theresearcherwilltakenotesundereachofthedesignatedheadingsaswellas

recordingtheinterviewforfurtherreference.

Thequantitativedatacollectedfromtheinterviewcanbedirectlycomparedtothequantitativedata

collectedfromtheinitialquestionnaireinordertoreachconclusions.Contentanalysiswillbeusedin

which the researcherwill identify key themeswhichwill be categorisedusing themeswhichhave

beenpreviouslyidentified(Snijkers,Haraldsen,Jones&Willmack,2013).Astheinterviewsaresemi-

structured, the researcher will have a number of topics which every respondent will have

commentedon,makingiteasiertofindtrendingthemes(Harding,2013).

EthicsFor this research, ethics need to be considered. This is needed in order to anticipate the moral

choices or dilemmas that might occur when carrying out the research project (Greener, 2008).

Withinthiscase, theguidelinesofTheUniversityofWinchesterEthicsper formawillbeused(see

AppendixE).

Before each participant undertakes the research set out, theywill be providedwith a participant

consentformwhichwilloutline;thefullrightsoftheparticipantandthenatureofthestudywhich

willbeundertaken (Saunders, Lewis&Thornhill,2ndEd.,2000).Beforeundertaking the study, the

researcherwill ask the participant for full consent (See Appendix G). Onlywhen the consent has

beengivenfreelyandtheparticipantfullyunderstandstheresearch,theirparticipantrightsandthe

useofthedata,willtheresearchbeallowedtotakeplace.

During the data collection process, respect towards others’ rights to privacy, a maintenance of

objectivityandquality,aswellasanonymitywillallbemaintained.

FindingsandAnalysisThischapterwillunderlinethefindingsfromtheresearchandprovideananalysisofthedata.The

areasofimportanceofboththequalitativeandquantitativedatafromthequestionnairesaswellas

interviewswillbereviewedandhighlightedastowhethertheyshowanysignificantimportanceto

theresearchquestionsandpreviousliterature.

Tenparticipantstookpartinthisstudy.Theindividualquestionnaireswereemailedandcompleted

bytheparticipantsthemselves.Followingfromthis,eachparticipanthadaninterviewwiththesame

interviewereitherinthecomfortoftheirownhomeoroverthephone.


24

All of the information gathered was of use to analyse. The entrepreneurial testing results were

evaluated to decipher which skills each entrepreneur entailed. The interviews were analysed by

firstly picking out quantitative data to create tables and graphs and secondly the qualitative data

wasusedtogivereasonofparticularbehaviours.

Theinitialfindingshavebeensplitintotwoareas;firstly,theentrepreneurialtests,followedbythe

resultsfromtheinterviewswitheachparticipant.

EntrepreneurialTesting

Figure1–EnterprisingTestResults

Thisgraph(Figure1)showstheresultsfromeachparticipantaftertakingpartintheentrepreneurial

test.Theresultshavebeensplitintofiveareas;theneedforachievement,theneedforautonomy/

independence,creativity/ innovative tendency,calculatedrisk takinganddriveanddetermination.

With therebeinganaveragescore fromthis testofpastparticipants fromthegeneralpublic, this

has been shownon the graph to seewhere theentrepreneurs in this particular study scored the

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

NeedForAchievement NeedforAutonomy/Independence

Creativity/InnovativeTendancy

CalculatedRiskTaking DriveandDetermination

Score

TheEnterprisingIndividualResults

Participant1 Participant2 Participant3 Participant4 Participant5 Participant6

Participant7 Participant8 Participant9 Participant10 Average


25

highest. With the sample taken, the results are varied. One area which is clear to see, is the

participant’sscoresforneedforautonomy/independence.Eachparticipantscoredeitheronorover

theaveragescoreforthisarea.Withtheparticipantsbeing60%Femaleand40%Male,thisshows

thatEntrepreneurs,ingeneral,scorehighlywiththeneedforautonomyandindependence.

NeedforAchievement&CreativityandInnovativeTendenciesIn terms of the need for achievement, as well as creativity and innovative tendency, 60% of the

participantsscoredaverageorover,showingthatthevastmajorityoftheentrepreneursthattook

partinthestudydisplayedthistypeofentrepreneurialbehaviour.Thiscouldmeanthat,intermsof

Entrepreneurial behaviours, that most Entrepreneurs display a need for achievement as well as

creativityandinnovationtendencies.ThisagreeswithBurns(2014),thatmostEntrepreneursdisplay

certaincharacteristicsandwaysofthinking.Withoutthesebehavioursbeingshown,Entrepreneurs

may find ithard tokeep theirbusiness relevant in termsofcompetitionaswellasnothaving the

driverormotivation tomove theirbusiness forward.Thisdesire for independenceand innovation

within business gives a greater chance of achieving recognition, wealth and benefits to the

community(Mann,McClung&Kemerer,2015).

LimitationsofFindingsAlthough the findings shown can conclude that Entrepreneurs do display these behaviours, the

studywasonlytakenonasmallnumberofparticipants,where90%ofthemwerefromtheservice

industry. Without doing further testing on participants from a range of businesses, it cannot be

concludedthatthisisageneralruleforEntrepreneurs.Thebehavioursthatareshowncoulddepend

onvariantssuchas;theindustryintheparticipant’sbusinessoperates,thesizeofthecompany,how

olditis,aswellaswhereintheworldthecompanyislocated.

All of the other areas showmixed results,with only half of the participants showing to have the

averagescoresoraboveontheareastestedofentrepreneurialism.

OverallEntrepreneurialismResults

Although the results do not follow a particular pattern, it is clear to see that each participant

(disregardingparticipant5),scoresaboveaverageonatleastoneormoreareas,withonlythreeof

theparticipantsscoringbelowaverageonmorethanhalfofthesections.

Four participants scored above average on over half the sections, but only one participant didn’t

score below any of the averages throughout. This could show that it is not conclusive as to the


26

behaviours that Entrepreneurs show.Within the literature discussed,many theorists believe that

Entrepreneurs display the behaviours of; the need for achievement, need for independence,

creativity, innovation, opportunism, acceptance of measured risk and uncertainty (Burns, 2014).

Fromthisresearch,thesecanbeagreedwith,althoughnoneoftheparticipantsscoredaboveallthe

average scores, showing that theymaynot score highlywithin these areas. This couldmean that

although Entrepreneurs do show these tendencies, they are not vital in the successes of their

companies.Other factors such as their knowledgewithin their business areaor theway inwhich

theymanagetheirresourcescouldleadtobusinesssuccess.Alternatively,noneoftheparticipants

questioned did not score at all on any of the sections. Furthermore, it can agree with Dess &

Lumpkin(1996),providingevidenceofthebehavioursentrepreneursdisplay.

Tosomeextent,theviewofKobia&Sikalieh,suggestingthattherearemisconceptionsonhowto

defineentrepreneurialbehaviour,canbecontradicted,duetotheevidencethatallparticipantswho

undertookthisstudy,showedsomelevelsofeachbehaviour.

Accuracy

Althoughthistestprovidedresultsinwhichareasofsimilarityordifferencecouldbeshown,itmay

not be particularly accurate. For example, the test results may vary dependant on external

influencessuchasthemoodthattheparticipantis in,theareainwhichtheirbusinessoperatesor

how much they were concentrating during the test. Without all participants being in the same,

controlledenvironmentwhenundertakingthetest,manyexternalinfluencescouldhaveswayedthe

responses.Followingfromthis,thequestionnairewasavailabletoviewasawhole,thismeantthat

the respondentsmight not have answeredeachquestion independentof others, aswell as some

participantslosinginterestasgoingthroughthequestionnaire(Bryman,2016,5thEd.).

KeyFindings

• MostEntrepreneursdisplayaboveaverageinneedforachievementandcreativityand

innovationscores.

• Entrepreneursscorehighlywiththeneedforautonomyandindependence.

• Entrepreneurialbehaviourscanbelinkedtobusinesssuccess.

• Entrepreneursscorehighlywithineachareaofpersonalitytraitssuggested.

• Resultscanbevariedduetothenatureofthebusiness.

Figure2–SummaryofKeyFindingsintoEntrepreneurialBehaviour


27

InterviewsThe interviews presented both qualitative and quantitative data. Firstly, participants were asked

aboutthesectorinwhichtheircompanyoperatedandwhotheyweretargeting.90%ofparticipants

werewithintheserviceindustry,withonlyoneparticipantoperatinginconstruction.

Mostofthecompanieshad1-5employees,withonly3companieshavingmorethanthis.Following

fromthis,allofthecompanieswhichparticipatedhadbeenrunningoverfouryearssowerefairly

stableintheirposition.

ReasonsBehindStartingacompany

One substantial finding was that all participants questioned were either pushed or pulled into

runningtheirowncompany. 50%of theentrepreneursdescribedtheirstartupreasonsasbotha

pushandapull (Figure3).Thisdatashowsthatnumerousfactorscan influenceanentrepreneur’s

decisiontostartuptheirownbusinessanditmaynotjustbeonesinglefactorthatgivesthemthe

reason to own a company. Bhave (1994, cited in cited in Davidsson, 2008), suggested that

Entrepreneursareeitherinternallyorexternallystimulatedandthisaffectstheirroutetostartup(as

shown in Appendix A). This research contradicts this theory, showing that many factors can

contribute to the start-up of a business and that Entrepreneurs may be both externally and

internallystimulated,withbothofthesetogetherinfluencetheirdecisionmaking.

Figure3–PushorPullStartUpResults

20%

30%

50%

Wouldyoudescribethestartupofyourcompanyapushorpull?

Push Pull Both Neither


28

MarketingBudgetsandPlanning

When asking the participants whether they had a budget in which they use for marketing each

month, 90% answered no. Although these participants knewhowmuch themarketing cost them

andhadavagueideaofhowmuchwastheirlimit,therewasnosetplanastowhattospendmoney

on how much. Furthermore, this compliments theories by Gallagher, Gilmore and Henry (2007),

stating that small businesseshave financial andhuman resource constraints, giving themno clear

planningordirectiontowardstheirmarketing.ThisalsosupportsPropal’s(2015)positionthat39%

of small companieshavenodocumentedstrategy for theirmarketing,which is shown inFigure4.

Mostparticipantsaskedspent lessthan10hoursonthemarketingoftheircompanyaweek,with

manyoftheparticipantsnotreallyknowingtheamountoftimetheyputasideforit,withitbeinga

taskwhichwascompletedwhentheyneededtodoitorwhentheyhadsparetime.

Figure4–TimeDevotedtoMarketingResults

MeasurementofMarketingActivities

Whenaskingtheparticipantshowtheymeasuretheresponsetotheirmarketing,theresultswere

varied. Half of the participants questioned used Google Analytics tomeasure the traffic going to

theirwebsiteaswellaswhatcustomersusedtheirwebsitefor.Forthebusinessownersthiscanbe

usefulinformation,butasafewparticipantspointedout,thisinformationisonlyusefulifyouhave

the skills, firstly to be able to understand the data and secondly how to change the habits of

customers.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Lessthan3hours 4-9hours 10-15hours Over15hours N/A

Howmuchtimedoyoudevotemarketingeveryweek?


29

40% of participants questioned looked at click through rates of advertisements, newsletters and

emails to see the habits of their customers. This helped them to see whether the methods of

marketingtheywerecarryingoutwerebeneficialtothecompany.

40%of participants usedmore traditionalmethods ofmeasuring the response to theirmarketing

initiatives. This was done by, following up newsletters or postal marketing, asking customers for

their feedback.This shows that traditionalmethodsofmarketingand followingup response rates

stillholdimportanceinthemarketingofsmallbusinesses,with40%ofparticipantsusingtraditional

methods of measuring marketing responses. Two participants used no methods of measuring

responses tomarketing at all. As Alford & Page (2015) suggested, some Entrepreneurs have the

inability toassess the returnon their investmentand therefore couldbemissingoutonpotential

marketsaswellascarryingouttheirmarketingincorrectly.

AlthoughitmayseemanegativethatsomeEntrepreneursmaynotmeasuretheresponseoftheir

marketingdigitally,itcouldbearguedwhetherthisisworthit.Forsmallcompanies,withasmaller

numberofcustomers,itmay,bemorebeneficialtodirectlyaskthecustomerwhattheythoughtand

whetherthiswassuccessfulornot,providingagreaterdepthofknowledge.

TraditionalorDigitalMethodsofMarketing

Whenaskingparticipantswhether their customers respondedbetter to traditionalormoredigital

methodsofmarketing(Figure5),only40%ofparticipantsstatedtheircustomersrespondedbetter

todigitalmethods.Ontheotherhand,fiveparticipant’scustomersrespondedbettertotraditional

methods,withoneparticipantstatingthattheircustomersrespondedequallytoboth.Thisresponse

tobothdigitalandtraditionalmethodswasduetoacurrenttransitionbetweenbothmethods.This

couldmeanthatwithinafewyears,theresultsmaybecompletelydifferent,withsmallbusinesses’

customersrespondingmoretodigitalmethods.

Theseresultsfollowonfrompreviouspoints,statingthattraditionalmethodsofmarketingstillhold

agreatimportanceinthemarket.Althoughthisseemsthecase,itcouldbethebusinesstypewhich

is the dependant factor for the success of different methods. These results disagree with some

views,suggestingthattraditionalmarketingmethodsaredeclining(Dunant,2014).


30

Figure5–DigitalorTraditionalMethodsofMarketingResults

MostSuccessfulMarketingOperation

TheEntrepreneurswereaskedoverall,whattheirmostsuccessfulmarketingoperationwas(Figure

6).Theresultsvariedfromtheuseoftheirwebsite,googlesearch,email,newsletters,networkingto

recommendations.Onethingthatiscleartoseefromthis,isthepersonalaspectofcommunication

which small businesses rely on. For example, a lot of themethods that the Entrepreneurs found

most successful involved personal interactions such as thewriting of blogs on theirwebsites and

newsletterstonetworkingandrecommendations.Thisshowstheimportanceofcontentmarketing,

as discussed previously, showing an increased significance onto building relationships with

customers, aswell as creating contentwhich interests and excites the audience.With businesses

spending6.9%oftheirannualmarketingbudgetsoncontentmarketing,creatingengagingcontent

withpotentialcustomersisbecomingoneofthemostcost-effectivemarketingtechniquesforsmall

businesses(Ryan,2014,3rdEd.,pg.300).TheseresultsshowninthisstudyagreewithMcGowan&

Durkin (2002), suggesting that although small business owners need to be competent in their

marketingtechniques,itisextremelyimportanttobuildgoodrelationshipswithcustomersnotjust

overtheinternetbutinpersonandthatthisisshowninsmallbusinessestobethemostsuccessful

operation.

40%

50%

10%

Doyourtargetmarketrespondbettertodigitalortraditionalmethodsofmarketing?

Digital Traditional Amixtureofboth


31

Figure6–MostSuccessfulMarketingOperationResults

IsDigitalMarketingEssential?

Although many participants suggested that their target market responded more to traditional

methodsofmarketing,70%ofparticipantsagreedthatdigitalmarketingwasessentialwhenrunning

theirownbusiness(Figure7).Arepresentedviewexplainedthatthiswasduetothecontinualneed

tobuildrelationshipswithcustomers,aswellastokeepupwithcompetitors.Manysuggestedthat

withouttheuseofdigitalmarketing,customersmaynotbeabletofindthecompany(throughtheir

websiteandGoogle), thesebusinesswould therefore loseoutona lotofcustom.Althoughthis is

thecase,withoutthecompaniescreatingvaluablepersonalrelationshipswiththeircustomers,the

transition from finding the company to using the company may not occur, therefore traditional

methodsofmarketingarejustasessentialasdigitalones.

Figure7–IsDigitalMarketingEssentialResults

10%

20%

10%

20%

20%

20%

Mostsuccessfulmarketingoperation?

GoogleSearch Email

PrintedNewsletter Networking(facetofaceanddigital)

Reccomendations Website

70%

30%

IsDigitalMarketingEssentialWhenRunningYourOwnBusiness?

Yes No


32

KeyFindings

• HalfoftheEntrepreneurswereinfluencedbyamixtureofpushandpullfactors.

• 90%ofEntrepreneursdonothaveasetbudgetformarketing.

• Themajorityofbusinessownersstillfindtraditionalmethodsofmarketingthemosteffective.

• Themosteffectivemarketingoperationofacompanydependsonthebusinessitself.

• 70%ofEntrepreneursthinkdigitalmarketingisessentialwhenrunningasmallbusiness.

Figure8–SummaryofKeyfindingsfromInterviews

LinkingEntrepreneurialBehaviourandDigitalMarketingCreativity/InnovationTendencyandDigitalMarketingWhen looking at both the participants scores for entrepreneurial behaviours and themethods of

marketingtheyuse,severalaspectscorrelate,suchascreativityandinnovationtendencyaswellas

theneedforachievementlinkingtodigitalmarketingmethodsused.

Figure9–ComparingCreativity/InnovationTendencywithDigitalMarketing

Forexample,Figure9showstheparticipant’sscoresforcreativityandinnovativetendencyagainst

themethodsofdigitalmarketing.Thesetwoseemtofollowasimilarpattern,withthecreativityand

innovation score increasingwhen the digitalmarketing techniques rise. This shows that for small

businesses,themoreinnovativeandcreativetheentrepreneuris,themorepronetheyaretocarry

out different methods of digital marketing. This could show their willingness to adapt to the

environment and continually seek out new opportunities and ways of improving their company.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Creativity/InnovativeTendancyComparedwithDigitalMarketingMethodsUsed

Creativity/InnovativeTendancy Digitalmarketingmethodsused


33

Gimore et al (2015), suggested that innovation and change are the key to a successful business,

makingsurethatcompaniesexploittheopportunitiesaroundthem.Cuervo,RiberoandRoig(2007)

agreedwiththis,addingthatifsmallcompaniesareabletoactivelyseekoutnewopportunitiesand

marketing technologies they are more likely to be successful. This shows that overall, for the

entrepreneursquestioned,byhavingahigherinnovativetendency,themethodsofdigitalmarketing

theyusedincreasedandthereforecouldrelatetoamoresuccessfulcompany.

NeedforAchievementandDigitalMarketingSecondly, when linking both the need for achievement and the digital marketing methods a

companyuses,arelationshipcanalsobeseen.AsshowninFigure10,ageneralpatternisfollowed.

Asaparticipant’sneedforachievementscoreincreases,generally,thenumberofdigitalmarketing

methods theyuse follows. For example, participants 5 and6bothhave the lowest scores for the

needforachievementandsimilarly,bothhavethelowestscoresfordigitalmarketingmethodsused.

Ontheotherhand,participant3hasthehighestneedforachievementscoreandfollowsbyhaving

oneof thehighest rates of digitalmarketingmethods used. This shows a correlationbetween an

entrepreneur’s personality and the way in which they run their company. With a high need for

achievement, it could encourage the business owner to continually seek out new methods of

marketingandways inwhich they can reach their target customers. This canagreewith research

that a high need for achievement can increase business success (Needle, 2010), in this case,

succeedinginthemethodsofdigitalmarketinganentrepreneuruses.

Figure10–ComparingNeedforAchievementwithDigitalMarketing

024681012

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Participant

Needforachievementanddigitalmarketingmethodsused

Needforachievementscore Digitalmarketingmethodsused


34

FurtherConsiderations

Althoughlinkscanbefoundbetweenentrepreneurialbehavioursanddigitalmarketing,therearea

lotofconsiderationstotakeintoaccount.Forexample,thewayinwhichabusinessownermarket

theircompanycandependonthetargetmarket.Theparticipantwiththe lowestdigitalmarketing

methodsscore,ownsacompanywheremarketingisnotanimportantfactorandbusinessisfound

throughrecommendations.Anotherreasoncouldbetheexplanationofstartingacompany,suchas

the business owner having the skills and resources, not the desire to grow a big business and

competeinmanydifferentmarkets.

Another factor to consider is the success of these methods. A company may be creative and

innovative,havingahighrateofdigitalmarketingmethods,butthisdoesnotnecessarilyequateto

success. Itmight, bemore time andmoney efficient, focussing on one or two differentmethods

insteadoftryingtodoeverythingatonce(Pozin,2012[Online,29.06.12]).

Withmost companies falling into the trapof carryingout the samemarketing techniquesas their

competitors,thesesmallcompaniesshouldinsteadcreateinnovativeanduniquetechniqueswhich

set themselves aside from their competitors (Bloomsury Publishing Plc, 2013, 7th Ed.). With a

smaller, more focussed target market, small companies have the opportunity for this to be

successful.

If companiesareawareof the factors that influence thebuyingdecisionsof theircustomers, they

are a lotmore likely to be successful in creatingmarketing strategies which attract them (Pride,

Hughes&Kapoor,2014,12thEd.).

KeyFindings

• Creativity/Innovationtendencycanbelinkedtodigitalmarketing.

• Theneedforachievementcanbelinkedtodigitalmarketing.

• Entrepreneurialbehaviouranddigitalmarketingcanbeconnected.

Figure11–SummaryofKeyFindingsLinkingEntrepreneurialBehaviourandDigitalMarketing


35

Authors Concept/Model Supported NotSupported Comments

Burns

Pushandpull ✓ Thisisagreedwith,althoughresearchfounditismainlyamixtureofboth

pushandpull.

Drucker

Smallbusinesseswillnotsurvive

withoutentrepreneurialbehaviour

✓ Manyparticipantsquestioneddidnotpossess

allentrepreneurialbehavioursyethadbeenrunningforover5years.

Burns

EntrepreneurialCharacteristics

✓ Theresearchshowedallparticipantsshowedsmallamountsofeachbehaviour.

BoersenNeedtoembracedigital

age✓ Allparticipantsagreedthat

digitalmarketingwasessentialintheircompany

Chaffey

Importanceofcontentmarketing

✓ Smallbusinessesquestionedfoundmostsuccessfulmarketing

aspectswereofcontentmarketing.

SaldnhaMarketingadaptedtosuitownsituationandnetwork

✓ Mostsuccessfulmarketingoperationsdiffered

betweeneachcompany.

Alford&Page

Smallbusinesseslackknowledgeand

abilitytoassessreturnoninvestment

✓ Manydidnothaveaplannorknowwhatmethodswereworkingforthem.

McGowan&Durkin

Successreliesongoodrelationships

notjustovertheinternet

✓ Mostsuccessfulmarketingoperationscamefrom

interactionspersonallywiththecustomer.

PophalLackofstrategy ✓ Majorityofparticipantshad

nosetstrategy.

Gilmoreetal

InnovationandChangeleadtoexploitingopportunities

✓ Thosewithhighinnovationscoresexploitedmost

digitalmarketingtechniques.

Figure12–SummaryofTheoriesSupported

As shown by Figure 12, most concepts and theories that the author researched have been

supported,however,therearesomeareasinwhichfurtherresearchandexplanationsareneeded.


36

KeyFindings

• AllEntrepreneursquestionedscoredaverageoraboveonneedforautonomy/

independence.

• Thevastmajorityofentrepreneursscoredhighlyonneedforachievement.

• Mostparticipantsdidnotscoreaboveoronaverageoneveryentrepreneurialbehaviour.

• Entrepreneursaremostlybothpushedandpulledintorunningtheirowncompany.

• 90%ofparticipantsdidnothaveasetbudgetformarketing.

• Only20%ofparticipantsspentmorethan9hoursonmarketingeachweek.

• 50%ofrespondentsfoundthatcustomersrespondedbettertotraditionalmarketing

methods.

• Contentmarketingisveryimportantforsmallbusinesses.

• Buildingrelationshipsisveryimportantforsmallbusinesses.

• 70%ofparticipantsagreedthatdigitalmarketingisessentialwhenrunningtheirown

company.

• Butmostagreedthatdigitalmarketingwasnotsubstantialenoughonitsown.

• Aspectsofentrepreneurialbehavioursuchascreativity,innovationandtheneedfor

achievementcanallbelinkedtotheamountofdigitalmarketingtechniquesusedina

smallcompany.

• Entrepreneurialbehaviouranddigitalmarketingcanbelinked.

Figure13–OverallSummaryofFindings

ConclusionsandRecommendationsMakingMarketinginSmallBusinessesMoreSuccessfulThis research shows a strong link between entrepreneurial behaviours and digital marketing

techniques.Ithashighlightedmanykeyareas,suchasthewaysinwhichsmallbusinessescarryout

marketing.With limitedtimeandmoney,smallbusinessestendtocarryoutmarketingwhenthey

havethetimeanddonothavesetmarketingplansorbudgetswhichtheyuse.Thismeansthatthey

do not know howmuch they are spending onmarketing norwhether it is effective or not.With

manysmallbusinessesalsonotfollowingupwhethertheirmarketingtechniquesareworking,they

createadisadvantagewheremoneyandtimemaybewasted.


37

Forthistobemoresuccessful,itisrecommendedthatsmallbusinesseskeeptrackofthemarketing

methodstheyareusingandhowmuchtimethisistaking.Bydoingthis,thecompaniesareableto

see where most of their money and time is going. It may also highlight the areas in which are

successfulandtheoneswhicharenotcontributingtothesuccessofthemarketingofthecompany.

SmallbusinessescouldcreatetheirownstrategybyusingmodelssuchasChaffey&Ellis-Chadwick’s

(2016) mentionedpreviously. Thismodelwould createa thoughtprocess in the companiesas to

what theywant to achieve and how they can prevent threats from having an effect. Thismodel

couldthenbeadaptedinorderforthecompaniestoseewhatareasareworking.Forexample,by

adding a feedback loop to thismodel, the strategywouldbe constantly updated and relevant, as

well as the company seeing the most and least successful aspects.With most of the companies

alreadyknowingwhattheircompetitorsaredoingintermsofmarketing,thismodelcanbeusedina

waytoimplementtheseintoabeneficialstrategy.

TraditionalMarketingComparedtoDigitalMarketingOverall,theresearchhasshownthattheuseofdigitalmarketingtechniquesprovidehugebenefits

forsmallbusinesses,withthesecompaniesbeingabletokeepupwithlargercompetitorsinaway

that traditionalmethodswouldnotallow themto.Although this is thecase, small companies still

find the use of traditional methods of marketing more valuable, being able to interact with

customersonapersonal level,creatingacompetitiveadvantage.This is really importantas itsets

asidethesesmallbusinessfromlargercompetitorsandcreatesarelationshipwithcustomerswhich

maynotbepossibledigitally.

On the other hand, the use of digital marketing and social media in particular, allows small

businesses to interact with their customers on a large scale, keeping them informed and

encouraging repeatbusiness.With99%ofpurchasesonline fromcustomersdue to the trust that

theyholdwiththecompany(Dunant,2014),itisimportantthatsmallbusinessesbuildupatrustable

impression through all areas of social media. Most companies which took part in this study

suggested that even though socialmedia creates good conversationswith customers, it does not

necessarilytranslateintotangiblebusinesswhichthecompanycanbenefitfrom.Inorderforsmall

businesses tobesuccessful,eachcustomerneeds to receive thehighest levelof customer service

(Johnsen,2016,4thEd.).Therefore,businessesneedtobeabletointeractwithcustomerseffectively

via socialmedia aswell as transferring this into business.With investments from companies into


38

digitalmarketing increasingeveryyear, themarket is certainlychanging towardsdigitalmarketing

(Charlton,2015[Online]).

EntrepreneurialBehaviour

In terms of Entrepreneurial behaviour, the findings were inconclusive. As all business owners

interviewedhadownedtheircompanyforoverfiveyears, itwasexpectedthattheywoulddisplay

strongentrepreneurialcharacteristics,butthiswasnotthecase.Withonlyoneparticipantscoring

averageandoveronalloftheirscores,itcanshowthatentrepreneursmayonlydisplaysomeofthe

behavioursandallofthesetogethermaynotbenecessaryinowningyourownbusiness.

Whilethisstudysuggeststhatthesebehavioursarenotneeded,allentrepreneursaskeddiddisplay

anamountofeachofthebehaviours.Althoughtheydidnotnecessarilyscoreaverageoroverinall

thesections,itshowsthatentrepreneursmustdisplaythesecharacteristicsinsomeform,evenifit

isnotamajorpartoftheirpersonality.

Withthisinmind,thesecharacteristicscanshowpositiveeffects,suchastheincreaseinmethodsof

digital marketing activities found. By possessing these personality traits, it can encourage small

businessestodevelopinnewareasandkeepupwithmarkettrends,makingthemmoresuccessful.

Within a small business, it is easier to becomemore innovative due to a smaller flatter structure

Laforst&Tann(2006).Ifthisisapossibilitytoencourageinnovativeness,businessesshoulddosoto

developtheircompanyandreachnewsuccesses.

When comparing both digital marketing techniques and Entrepreneurial behaviour, several links

havebeenfoundsuchasanincreaseinneedforachievementaswellasinnovationasabehaviour

positivelyeffectingthedigitalmarketingtechniquescarriedout.Withanincreasinglydigitalmarket,

thisinformationcanbeusedinordertoencouragebusinessestocarryoutnewformsofmarketing

inasuccessfulway. If smallbusinessesare inneedexpansionandsuccess, it isadvisedthat these

behavioursarepracticedandimplementedsothatthesecompaniescankeepupwithmarkettrends

andthedemandsofthebusinessenvironment,keepingupwithlargercompetitors.

IsDigitalMarketingSuccessful?Inregardstowhetherdigitalmarketingtechniquesaresuccessfulandvaluableforsmallbusinesses

touse,theresponsecanbeansweredinanumberofways.Mostofthebusinesswhotookpartin

thisresearchcarriedoutawidevarietyofdigitalmarketingtechniques,yetmostdidnotknowthe

truevalueofdoingsoandhadalternative,moretraditionalmethodsinordertoenticecustomers.


39

Thesedigitalmarketing techniquescanbeofvalue tosmallcompanies.Theycreateconversations

withcustomersaswellaskeepingupwithtrendssetbybiggercompanies.Althoughthecompanies

questionedstatedthatdigitalmarketingwasessentialtotheirbusiness,mostsuggestedthatitwas

just amethodwhich aidedmarketing andwas not substantial enough on its own to create new

business. Inorderforthistobemoresuccessful,companiesneedtoputtimeandeffort intotheir

digital methods of marketing to ensure they work, otherwise they can be a waste of resources,

whichcouldbeutilisedbetteronmoretraditionalmethodsofmarketing.

Although this research shows a relationship between both Entrepreneurial behaviour and digital

marketing methods, to some extent, further research is needed in this area. With only a small

sampleof candidatesusedaswell as these candidatesprimarilybeing fromone industry, amuch

largerandbroaderresearchmethodmayinducedifferentresults.Iftheseresultscanbeshownona

much larger scale, it could influence business development within today’s society and provide

positiveoutcomestotheeconomy.

LimitationsoftheResearch

Thoughmanytopicshavebeenhighlighted,therearemanylimitationsoftheresearchwhichneed

tobeconsidered.Byaddressingthese,moresubstantialconclusionswillbeabletobemadeaswell

aslargercorrelationsbetweentopicsandincreasedreliability.

Participants

Theparticipantsusedwithinthisstudywereusedduetoeaseofaccesstotheresearcher.Although

allparticipantsownedasmallbusinessandwereresponsibleforthemarketingofit,90%werefrom

theserviceindustry.Fortheresultsofthisresearchtobegeneralised,awiderrangeorparticipants

shouldbeusedacrossawidevarietyofsectors.

Not only this, but the settings inwhich the participants undertook their testing could have been

controlledmore.Thiswoulddecreaseexternal influencesoneachparticipant, increasingreliability

andrepeatabilityoftheresults.

ResourcesAsasmallstudy,therewerelargetimeandmoneyconstraints.Iffurtherresearchistobecompleted

withinthisarea,boththesecanbeimprovedon.Suchasusinganelectronicquestionnairesystem

whichwouldanalysetheresultsmorecarefullyandprivatelytotheparticipantaswellasmakingit


40

easiertoanalysetheresults.Withmoretimeandresources,thisstudycouldhavebeenundertaken

onamuchlargerscale,thereforereducinganomalies.

RecommendationsfortheFuture

Inorderforfutureresearchtobecarriedout,itwouldberecommendedthatalargersamplesizeis

used, taking participants frommany different sectors and business types. This would enable the

resultstobegeneralisedtoallentrepreneursandsmallbusinesses.

More in depth questions should also be asked to the entrepreneurs such as how successful each

methodofdigitalmarketing isforthem.Thiswouldcreateabetterargumentthatentrepreneurial

behaviourleadstomoresuccessfulmarketingtechniquesandcustomerrelationships.Notonlythis,

but understanding the success of companieswould have helped to validate this research further,

understandingwhetheranincreaseduseofdigitalmarketingincreasedthesuccessofthecompany.

TheResearcher

Astheresearcher’sfirstacademicresearchproject,alotoflessonswerelearnt.Theresearcherwas

abletofindresearchfromavarietyofareasinwhichanalysiscouldbemade.Professionalcontent

wasabletobecreatedaswellasresearchwhichcouldbeundertakenonthegeneralpublic.Ifthe

researcher was to carry out the project again, changes would be made. Such as the research

question,thiswouldbemadealotclearersothatapathtotakewouldbemoredefined.Notonly

this,butfurtherdetailwouldbesoughtfromeachparticipanttoreachmoreindepthconclusions.

OverallConclusion

In conclusion, there is no “one fits all” method in which small companies can abide to in the

marketingof their company.With someEntrepreneurspossessing thedesireandskills todevelop

theirmarketingtechniquesfurther,morebusinesscanbecreatedwithagreateraudienceengaged.

Inorderforasmallbusiness’marketingtobesuccessful,severalkeymethodsneedtobeusedand

theseshouldbereviewedconstantlytomakesuretheyarenot leakingtimeandmoneyaswellas

not creating any business. With limited time and money, many small businesses do not create

marketingplansorbudgets,whichcanbeofgreatdisadvantage.

Inorderfortheirmarketingtobeofsuccess,smallbusinessesneedtoworkout,throughconstant

feedbackandplanning,whatmethodsofmarketingworkbestforthem.


41

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AppendicesAppendixA-Bhave’sTwoTypesofEntrepreneurialProcesses(FirstStages)

Davidsson,P.(2008)TheEntrepreneurshipResearchChallenge,Gloucestershire:EdwardElgar

PublishingLimited.


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AppendixB-TheContentMarketingMatrix

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marketing-matrix-new-infographic/[Accessed:09.03.16].


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AppendixC-InternalandExternalInfluencesonDigitalMarketingStrategy

Chaffey,D.,&Ellis-Chadwick,F.(2016)DigitalMarketing:Strategy,ImplementationandPractice,(6thEd.),

Harlow:PearsonEducationLimited.

MultichannelMarketingStrategy

EmergingOpportunitiesand

Threats

BusinessObjectivesand

Strategy

CompetitorStrategies

MarketStructureandDemand

DigitalMarketingStrategy

Key

ExternalInfluences

InternalInfluences


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AppendixD-EntrepreneurialTestEntrepreneurialTendenciestest,adaptedfromCaird(2013).


54

Caird,S.(2013)GeneralmeasureofEnterprisingTendencyTest,[Online],Availablefrom:www.get2test.net,

[Accessed:11.12.15].


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AppendixE-EthicsDeclarationDECLARATIONIunderstandmyresponsibilitiesasprincipalresearcherasoutlinedintheUniversityofWinchesterResearchandKnowledgeExchangeEthicsPolicy.Ideclarethattheanswersaboveaccuratelydescribetheresearchaspresentlydesignedandthatanewchecklistwillbesubmittedshouldtheresearchdesignchangeinawaywhichwouldalteranyoftheaboveresponses.

Researcher’ssignature:VickyCorser Date:11.12.15Supervisor’ssignature(forresearchstudentsonly):TimFriesner Date:11.12.15Fortaughtstudents(undergraduates,masters))only:Thestudenthastheskillstocarryouttheproposedresearch.Iundertaketomonitorthestudent’sadherencetotherelevantresearchguidelinesandcodesofpractice.Supervisor’ssignature:TimFriesner Date:11.12.15


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AppendixF-MeetingSchedule–TimFriesner&VictoriaCorser

Date Duration14/10/15 30Minutes03/11/15 20Minutes06/11/15 20Minutes20/11/15 20Minutes19/01/16 20Minutes26/02/16 20Minutes08/03/16 20Minutes15/03/16 30MinutesTotalTime 3Hours


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AppendixG-InterviewLayoutSampleInterviewer:VickyCorserInterviewee:NameofCompany:Notestoparticipant

• Youhavetherighttowithdrawatanypoint.• Theinformationyouwillprovidewillbeusedinordertocompleteonlythisstudyinto

entrepreneurialbehaviouranddigitalmarketing.• Anonymityandconfidentialitywillbekeptthroughout.

1. Withinwhatfielddoesyourcompanyoperate?

o Agriculture

o Construction o Production o Service o Other

2. Howmanyemployeesdoyoucurrentlyhave?

o 1-5 o 6-10 o 11-20 Over20

3. Howlonghaveyouownedacompanyfor?

o Lessthan1year

o 1-2Years o 3-4Years o 4-5Years o Over5years

4. AreyouB2B,B2C,C2CorC2B?

o B2Bo B2Co C2Co C2B

5. Wouldyoudescribethestartupofyourbusinessapushorapull?(Examplesprovided)


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o PUSHUnemployment,personalcharacter,havingagoodidea,possessingtheskillsandresources

o PULLNeedforindependence,recognition,personaldevelopment,wealth

6. Tellmehowyoufindthemarketingyourcompany?Whatmethodsdoyoumainlyuse?

7. DoyouhaveasetbudgetinwhichyouuseforMarketingeachmonth?

8. Whatmethodsofdigitalmarketingdoyouuse?

o SocialMediao Websiteo GoogleAdso SocialMediaAdvertisementso Podcasts

o GoogleAnalyticso Emailo Blogs/Vlogso Other___________________

9. Tellmeabouthowyoufindthis?(notesundereachheading)

Successful Difficult Challenging

10. DescribetomethemethodsofSocialMediayouuse?

11. Whichonesdoyoufindthemosteffective?

12. Towhatextentdoyoubelievedigitalmarketingisessentialwhenrunningyourownbusiness?


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13. Whatwouldyousaythebalancebetweentraditionalanddigitalmethodsofmarketingare?

14. Howmuchtimedoyoudevoteeveryweektothemarketingofyourcompany?

o Lessthanthreehours

o 4–9hours o 10–15hours o Over15hours

15. Doyouthinkyourtargetmarketrespondmoretodigitalmarketingmethodsormoretraditionalones?

16. Tellmeaboutyourcompetitorsapproachtodigitalmarketing?

17. Inwhatwaysdoyoumeasuretheresponsetoyourmarketingactivities?

18. Overall,explaintomeyourmostsuccessfulmarketingoperation?

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