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Title: Evolving marketing strategies for Swiss SMEs in the ICT sector: a marketing strategy canvas in support of digital transformation

Authors: Mona A. Meyer; Marc K. Peter

Addresses: Lucerne School of Business, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts HSLU, Zentralstrasse 9, 6002 Lucerne, Switzerland ' School of Business, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, Riggenbachstrasse 16, 4600 Olten, Switzerland

Abstract: The research objective is to understand how Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector define their marketing strategies to benefit from digitalisation, to what extent digital transformation creates customer value, and how organisations can overcome the complexity of digitalisation. Following a literature review, managers from 14 SMEs were interviewed. Research showed that micro enterprises in Swiss ICT regard marketing strategies in the context of digital transformation, but have limited focus on the customer; small enterprises focus on external factors to adapt their marketing strategies; and medium-sized enterprises tend to describe the importance of implementing digital marketing in order to attract new customers. The results from this research include a marketing strategy canvas for evolving marketing strategies in ICT. While research outcomes are not necessarily generalisable to other industries, they show that targeting customer segments digitally and thus optimising usability and processes for them are essential for Swiss SMEs in ICT.

Keywords: marketing strategy; SME; ICT; technology marketing; marketing canvas; digitalisation; digital transformation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2024.135672

International Journal of Technology Marketing, 2024 Vol.18 No.1, pp.91 - 112

Accepted: 20 May 2023
Published online: 21 Dec 2023 *