Samenvatting

The following research justification report shows how Secad can implement a Digital marketing plan to gain new customers, nurture the relationship with the existing customers, increase brand awareness and brand reputation.
Building and nurturing brand awareness and brand reputation is vital for the thriving of a business. To generate new lead and acquire new customer, it is necessary that the company adapts to this digital revolution. Three information gaps were identified for the research:
(I)What are the digital behaviours of our target customers?
(II)What are the best channels to implement a digital marketing plan?
(II)How can the organization align its goals to develop a digital marketing plan?

To answer these questions, literature research and desk research were performed. The desk research consisted of collecting distinct types of data such as study cases, articles, white papers, and industry reports. The data collected showed coherent results on how to best implement a basic digital marketing plan for a SME. The results were limited by the relatively small number of cases analyzed and by the industries covered. The niche market Secad operates in has limited information available regarding developments in the digital world. Results show that Secad should focus on email marketing and lead generation through Linkedin.
To create brand awareness and brand reputation Secad should address the main pain points or its ideal customers and build reputation as well as expertise over these pain points. To optimize the content on its website Secad should create a better User Experience, order the content in a way that serves the customer journey and continuously publish news over the same ideal customers’ pain points.

Detailed recommendations on how to create a digital image and generate new leads can be found more thoroughly in the end of this research paper and are as follows:
(1) Optimize the company website.
(2) Create a Linkedin Company profile.
(3) Create an email newsletter.
(4) Monitor and analyse the results for content optimization.
All recommendations can be implemented within a time span of three to six months, depending on their easiness of implementation and impact. Taking these recommendations into account, Secad will build a digital presence and increase its possibility to generate leads through new channels, email newsletters and Linkedin.