Marketing Strategies for IT and Software Development Projects (Dissertation Sample)

Marketing in IT
Developing Appropriate Marketing Strategies for IT and Software Development Projects
Student name
Institution
DECLARATION
I Your name, declare solemnly that this project, and the contents therein is the sole work of my hands. The resemblance in partial with any other source is unknown and can be a matter of coincidence. This project is submitted in partial as a preliminary requirement for the award of the degree of Your course name under the supervision of Your supervisor name.
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Approval:
I certify that this project is the original work of the above named student and has been done under my supervision. The work has never been submitted for any academic award in any institution of higher learning.
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Your supervisor’s name (PROJECT SUPERVISOR)
DEDICATION
To my project supervisor, friends, course mates, and relatives who have encouraged me through the development of the project. This project is dedicated to you. You have been a constant source of help since the inception of the idea to its implementation. May the Almighty shine upon your lives.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Am grateful to the Almighty God for the care and protection throughout the academic years and during the project process. I also appreciate my project supervisor, your project supervisor’s name for his efforts in ensuring that I remained within the scope of the project. Great thanks to my family for the moral and financial support during the project process. Special regards to my lecturers for delivering the necessary content timely as this ensured I completed my project without knowledge setbacks. Am grateful to the entire university fraternity for provision of the necessary resources such as the library and access to free internet. Special thanks to my friends who were consultation points in times of need. The success of this project would not have been possible without your presence.
Abstract
Competency is required in the software development industry. Based on the ever changing demands of the information technology market, the software industry has to be adaptive to gain and retain potential clients. This dissertation focuses on the marketing approaches used by software development firms and determines their limitations. Furthermore, an evaluation of possible marketing approaches has been done and how these strategies can be used to enhance the performance of software companies has been determined. The information used in this research has been retrieved from reliable, peer reviewed, articles, journals, books and websites. In an attempt to overcome marketing barriers, it has been recommended that technology firms adopt the holistic marketing strategies. The emphasis is on the interrelationship with market stakeholders with an aim of achieving distinction while focusing on the requirements of the customer.
Keywords: Holistic marketing, integrated marketing, relationship marketing, marketing function, content marketing.
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u DECLARATION PAGEREF _Toc395692955 \h 2DEDICATION PAGEREF _Toc395692956 \h 3ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PAGEREF _Toc395692957 \h 4Abstract PAGEREF _Toc395692958 \h 5List of Figures PAGEREF _Toc395692959 \h 7Chapter one: Introduction PAGEREF _Toc395692960 \h 91.Background Information PAGEREF _Toc395692961 \h 91.1 Purpose of the research PAGEREF _Toc395692962 \h 101.2 Aim and Objectives PAGEREF _Toc395692963 \h 101.3 Research questions and hypothesis PAGEREF _Toc395692964 \h 111.4Problem significance and justification PAGEREF _Toc395692965 \h 111.5Assumptions PAGEREF _Toc395692966 \h 131.6Limitations PAGEREF _Toc395692967 \h 131.7Guide to content PAGEREF _Toc395692968 \h 142 Methodology Defination PAGEREF _Toc395692969 \h 152.1Search Strategy PAGEREF _Toc395692970 \h 152.3Identifying preliminary sources PAGEREF _Toc395692971 \h 162.4 Selecting essential sources PAGEREF _Toc395692972 \h 162.5Data collection and analysis PAGEREF _Toc395692973 \h 17Chapter 3: Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc395692974 \h 183.1 Background on marketing strategy PAGEREF _Toc395692975 \h 183.2 Do IT/Software Developers require unique marketing strategies? PAGEREF _Toc395692976 \h 193.3 Changes in the elements of marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692977 \h 213.4 Effective Strategy PAGEREF _Toc395692978 \h 223.5 Holistic Marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692979 \h 23Chapter four: Results and Discussion PAGEREF _Toc395692980 \h 264.1 Theory PAGEREF _Toc395692981 \h 264.2Marketing strategy PAGEREF _Toc395692982 \h 264.3The process of strategic planning PAGEREF _Toc395692983 \h 274.4Marketing function PAGEREF _Toc395692984 \h 284.5Content marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692985 \h 314.6Marketing: software products perspectives PAGEREF _Toc395692986 \h 354.6.1Agencies PAGEREF _Toc395692987 \h 364.6.2Marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692988 \h 364.6.3Sales PAGEREF _Toc395692989 \h 374.6.4Finance PAGEREF _Toc395692990 \h 374.6.5Operations PAGEREF _Toc395692991 \h 384.6.6Product development PAGEREF _Toc395692992 \h 384.6.7Customer support PAGEREF _Toc395692993 \h 384.7Marketing approaches in holistic marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692994 \h 394.7.1Relationship marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692995 \h 404.7.2 Integrated marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692996 \h 434.7.3 Strategic focus PAGEREF _Toc395692997 \h 474.7.4 Internal marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692998 \h 494.7.5 Social responsible marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692999 \h 524.8 Marketing models PAGEREF _Toc395693000 \h 534.8.1 The 4cs Marketing model PAGEREF _Toc395693001 \h 534.8.2 5Ps marketing model PAGEREF _Toc395693002 \h 554.8.3 4S marketing model PAGEREF _Toc395693003 \h 584.8.4 ICDT PAGEREF _Toc395693004 \h 594.8.6 7P marketing model PAGEREF _Toc395693005 \h 63Chapter five: Conclusion and Recommendation PAGEREF _Toc395693006 \h 665.0Conclusion and recommendation PAGEREF _Toc395693007 \h 66References PAGEREF _Toc395693008 \h 69
List of Figures
TOC \h \z \c "Figure" Figure 1: components of marketing strategy PAGEREF _Toc395692751 \h 19
Figure 2: percentage of software marketers using content marketing PAGEREF _Toc395692752 \h 32
Figure 3:content marketing among software marketers PAGEREF _Toc395692753 \h 33
Figure 4:How software markers tailor content PAGEREF _Toc395692754 \h 33
Figure 5:challenges that software content marketers face PAGEREF _Toc395692755 \h 34
Figure 6:Holistic marketing touch points PAGEREF _Toc395692756 \h 36
Figure 7:ICDT model PAGEREF _Toc395692757 \h 60
Figure 8: Elements of Marketing mix PAGEREF _Toc395692758 \h 63
Chapter one: Introduction
1 Background Information
The engine that stipulates the success of a business is the market share it holds (Musaeva, 2013). Having such a solid understanding of marketing is essential since this dissertation focusses on the field of marketing in IT. Understanding marketing as an engine helps in knowing whether a software company requires a unique strategy to attain a greater market share. A market refers to a commercial pool where goods, services and money exchange hands (Pride and Ferrell, 2008). Firms apply different marketing strategies to ensure they have an upper hand in the market (Keefe, 2004). These strategies are based on the market share a firm hold. They include market leader, a follower, a challenger and a niche maker. They will be evaluated later in detail in the research. Developing and executing an effective marketing strategy is nonetheless not an easy task. Several factors such as price, promotion, place and product have to come into play, and therefore a marketing strategy that might be effective in one organization or in selling a certain type of product might be ineffective in others. This appears to be particularly true in IT products and software development projects (Nigam 2011; Svensson 2001). With the increased growth of the information technology sector globally, a majority of firms are competing to have a global appearance. The information technology sector is among the global leaders in terms of expansion. Statistics from the international data group indicate that in North America, technology firms are the major market share holders (Pulizzi, 2013). However, this reality has been misused by a number of firms in their attempt to implement marketing strategies. The belief that the global image and appearance to potential customers gives them automatic benefits is a vague and unsubstantiated theory (Blythe, 2006). Like any other skill, marketing is more than just making a physical appearance. It requires substantiated skills of convincing potential customers that the business has the best, irrefutable and high quality services.
Marketing is a process that requires patience and consistency (Brunk, 1999). It is better evaluated in the long run other than in the short term. The benefits of utilizing effective marketing strategies are not reaped within the short term. However, with consistency, the trend of benefits accruing to the firm through marketing is achieved. There are a variety of marketing strategies that appear as options for implementation to a firm. However, the ability to choose and apply th...