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The expansion of digital media outlets holds promises and challenges. The promises lie in the untapped markets that have not been fully exposed to the digital spectrum of marketing. This continues to spur rms
in search of greener pastures. Another promising development is the consistent upgrades to technologies that provide differentiation in terms of rm offerings, user experience, and rm-customer interaction. The challenges, on the other hand, are associated with the outcome of media proliferation vis-à-vis data-oriented insights. While rms appreciate the insights that are generated by data collected through the media, the possibility of having more data than results is certainly disconcerting. Further, the inability of rms to generate timely results (despite the availability of large amounts of data)largely due to technological tardiness not
only hampers growth, but also leads to frustrating business conditions and competitive pressure. With such contrasting possibilities, it is important for rms to identify the right balance between going after the promises and addressing the challenges. The answer lies in extracting the value of information hidden in the data, and generating timely insights for decision making.
This study explores the type of interactions between rms and customers in the digital marketing environment (DME), and the elements that have
an impact on this interaction. First, we present a framework to (a) understand the medium and forms of interactions that rms and customers use to
forge connections in the DME, and (b) assess the environmental elements that cast an in uence on these rm-customer interactions. We then focus the rest of the article on the environmental elements identi ed in this framework by discussing what we already know, and what we would like to know about maintaining and managing these elements. Finally, we summarize and draw conclusions in generating insights for decision making in the DME.
A General Framework for the Digital Marketing Environment
To our knowledge, there is no formal de nition of digital marketing. For instance, Parsons et al. (1998) provide their understanding of digital marketing to include two activities – (a) leveraging the unique capabilities of new interactive media(e.g., World
Wide Web, on-line services) to create new forms of interactions and transactions between consumers and marketers; and (b) integrating interactive media with the other elements of the marketing mix. Similarly, Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2012) de ne digital
marketing as the application of the Internet and related digital technologies in conjunction with traditional communications to achieve marketing objectives.
Further, in many instances, the terms ‘digital marketing’ and ‘e-marketing’ are used interchangeably, wherein
Digital Marketing Environment
Forms of Interaction
Transactions
Product development
Feedback/ Reviews
Content generation
Medium of Interaction
Social networks Mobile technology Internet Electronic medium
Customers
Impact
Environmental Elements
Data availability & analysis Technological progress Privacy & Ethics
e-marketing is de ned as using the Internet and other interactive technologies to create and mediate dialogue between the rm and identi ed customers(Coviello et al. 2001). The lack of a consistent de nition and the interchangeable use of terminologies perhaps allude to the continuous evolution of technology and its manifold uses in marketing. However, the general understanding of digital marketing is fairly consistent – one that involves the use of electronic devices to perform marketing activities. To better present our framework, we de ne digital marketing as the integration of online and digital technologies to implement marketing initiatives for the purposes of communication and commerce. Figure 1 illustrates our framework for creating insights for decision making.
As illustrated in Figure 1, rms and customers routinely establish connections and interact with each other. These connections could be rm-initiated or customer- initiated. In this regard, we consider only connections made in a digital environment. Further, while we realize that the DME comprises of rm-customer, rm- rm, and customer-customer interactions, we limit our discussion to the rm-customer interactions. We recommend that the other two types of interactions can be the subject of future research studies.
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