Digitalization and its impact on contemporary marketing strategies and practices

Since its inception, technology has transformed the way businesses operate and the consumption of goods and services. (Matarazzo et al. 2021; Sestino et al. 2020). For example, technology has revolutionized the way companies promote their products and services, perform their business activities, communicate/exchange information, and manage resources. On the consumer side, technology has significantly changed consumption patterns and empowered them to be part of the product acquisition process (Cham et al. 2020, 2022; Cheah et al. 2022; Lim et al. 2022). In every aspect of business, the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, virtual reality, and robots have created a new paradigm shift and promoted innovation in the area of marketing research and practices (Grewal et al. 2020; Lim et al. 2020; Steinhoff and Palmatier 2021). Such transformation has become a marketing catalyst, perpetuating new marketing trends and archetypes in digital marketing and marketing analytics.

In recent years, the progression of digital marketing via social media has expanded beyond its original purpose as a platform for social networking. Instead, it has evolved into a platform that enables businesses to communicate with their customers almost instantly and be directly involved in developing marketing strategies (Cham et al. 2021; Iankova et al. 2019). Specifically in digital marketing, customers can collaborate with companies as co-creators in almost every aspect of the business process including product/service development, value creation, and marketing strategy development (Li et al. 2021; Olson et al. 2021). By incorporating user-generated content into digital marketing, consumers can assume the role of “broadcasters,” they no longer listen to the marketers, just like what happened in the past (Cham et al. 2022; Cheung et al. 2021). Undoubtedly, the benefits of digital marketing and the potential of high ROI have made this channel one of the marketers’ most preferred choices (digitalthirdcoast.com 2022).

In addition, the emphasis on digitization and data-driven practice among businesses nowadays has made marketing lean towards science-based and provides marketers unlimited access to valuable insights into their company performance, customers, and opportunities (Ritter and Pedersen, 2020). In essence, marketing analysis is seen as identifying patterns of data that help marketers in marketing decisions. With the availability of marketing and data analysis tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Phyton, Heap Analytics, Optimizely, Klipfolio, etc.), the importance of how data can explain market trends and better understand consumer preferences are clearly spelled out (Petrescu and Krishen 2020; Yu et al. 2019). More importantly, marketing analytics help businesses and marketers optimize their marketing campaigns, segment their market, and reduce costs associated with marketing activities, providing business organizations with a sustainable approach in the long term.

Despite particular research conducted on the issues related to digital marketing and marketing analytics, additional attention is needed to study the revolution and potentially disruptive nature of these domains (Petrescu and Krishen 2021, 2022). Considering the substantial impact of digital marketing and marketing analytics in the current competitive and demanding business landscape, the special issue editors hope that this issue lays a foundation in the academic perspective of these domains. We would like to recommend that more research be conducted to challenge the existing status quo and raise awareness of these domains in the near future; especially in the contemporary environment that requires more than just the knowledge brought from traditional marketing. For instance, there is room to explore further how biological technology (i.e., facial recognition payment), livestreaming, virtual influencer, neuromarketing, blockchain technology, metaverse, gamification, and omnichannel platform could be used for the marketing and analytic purposes.

Lastly, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the authors who have submitted their work to this special issue, “Digitalization and Its Impact on Contemporary Marketing Strategies and Practices,” of the Journal of Marketing Analytics, and we are grateful to all reviewers who have rendered their service and expertise to ensure the quality of the publications. We want to extend our appreciation to the editors, Anjala S. Krishen and Maria Petrescu, for their endless support and for entrusting us with this task.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCSI Graduate Business School, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tat-Huei Cham
  2. School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Jun-Hwa Cheah
  3. NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan Mumtaz Ali Memon
  4. School of Management, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin, China Kim-Shyan Fam
  5. Széchenyi István University, Győr, Hungary Józsa László
  1. Tat-Huei Cham