Internet Marketing as a Business Necessity

Abstract

- The study investigated the importance of internet marketing and how it impacts the small and medium sized enterprises in Indonesia. The SMEs were hugely affected by the Covid 19 outbreak, and thus, various initiatives and strategies were undertaken to improve the performance. Although, various sales methods including physical stores, traditional methods, resellers and social media were used, there was a decline in both offline and online sales. Thus, LIPI implemented some short-term measures and initiatives to influence the online platforms to improve its collaboration with the SMEs. The social media platforms enabled the SMEs to reach the targeted audiences quite comprehensively while the use of internet technologies also helped in leveraging the potential of the broader market. Based on survey conducted involving 40 respondents, there was a positive link between use of digital marketing and knowledge of Information technology and the performance of the SMEs. Facebook was found to be the most effective social media platform for marketing, as it allowed the SMEs to make use of these innovative technologies and carry out the operations even during the pandemic situation. Moreover, with the mobile devices accounting for more than 55% of the share in the global market, the use of digital marketing tactics involving the use of social networks and website could be a major aspect for the business to succeed, both locally and globally. Thus, the digital marketing has been considered to be effective for dissemination of real-time information and improving the marketing campaigns, which increased awareness among people, and influenced buying behaviors. Furthermore, it allowed the SMEs to leverage the technologies effectively and improve the operational efficiency too.