Digital Marketing Adoption by Start-Ups and SMEs

In numerous aspects of digital marketing usage, India is among the top two countries in the world. Almost all businesses currently use digital marketing. Thousands of start-up businesses with new ideas strive to break into the corporate sector every year. Unless they have a good marketing plan, start-ups and SMEs will be unable to compete with established and lucrative organisations. One of the leading causes of business failure is a lack of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. However, not all of the tools available to a digital marketer are equally productive. The barrier between the “haves” and the “have nots” is narrowing as technology interventions become more widely available. Some digital marketing methods succeed, while others fail. In view of the importance of digital marketing usage in India, this paper provides a framework based on Diffusion of Innovation (DOI). It also makes use of Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) theory for obtaining conceptual framework. Two constructs are used by the researcher to frame the conceptual framework: technical and environmental. The current study employs an exploratory research design in which the study attempts to investigate the level of awareness of digital marketing tools as well as the factors influencing the adoption of digital marketing by start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) using a positivist research philosophical stand. For statistical interpretation, the study used the SPSS tool and Smart PLS. The current study’s population consists of owners and managers of manufacturing and service-based start-ups and SMEs operating in Karnataka’s North Karnataka area. To collect answers from the audience, this study employs a mixed methodological technique. Smart PLS - Structural Equational Modelling (SEM) is used to validate relevant hypotheses. For factor grouping and identification, the SPSS programme was employed. To obtain the SEM model, the discovered components were iterated using Smart PLS software.