Application of digital marketing in the business of small and micro enterprises

Cilj rada je istražiti i opisati primjenu digitalnog marketinga u poslovanju malih i mikro poduzeća. Istraženo je koliku važnost hrvatski poduzetnici stavljaju na marketing, usmjeravaju li se više na tradicionalni ili digitalni marketing, je li marketinška strategija poslovanja popraćena primjenom društvenih mreža. Također istražene su promjene marketinških strategija u posljednjih 5 godina, vrste oglašavanja koje se primjenjuju, kako poduzeća održavaju svoju prepoznatljivost te koji su njihovi budući marketinški planovi i slično. Primarna metoda istraživanja je kvalitativna tj. strukturirani dubinski intervjui (n=6). Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da hrvatski mali i mikro poduzetnici imaju visoku svijest o marketingu i shvaćaju da uz pomoć marketinga ostvaruju veću ekonomsku koristi te više naginju digitalnom marketingu. Zbog njihovih resursnih ograničenja često su direktno uključeni u sam proces marketinga, što kod njih stvara osjećaj dodatne kontrole i nadzora, ali i motiviranosti. Vrijeme i adekvatan ljudski resurs je ključna prepreka u daljnjem marketinškom rastu i razvoju njihovog poduzeća. Usprkos svim ograničenjima imaju želju za rastom i razvojem njihovog poslovanja uz pomoć marketinških strategija.The aim of the paper is to investigate and describe the application of digital marketing in the business of small and micro enterprises. It was investigated how much importance Croatian entrepreneurs place on marketing, whether they focus more on traditional or digital marketing, whether the marketing strategy of the business is accompanied by the use of social networks. Changes in marketing strategies in the last 5 years, the types of advertising that are applied, how companies maintain their recognition, and what their future marketing plans are were also investigated. The primary research method is qualitative, i.e. structured in-depth interviews (n=6). The results of the research show that Croatian small and micro entrepreneurs have a high awareness of marketing and understand that with the help of marketing they achieve greater economic benefits and are more inclined towards digital marketing. Due to their resource limitations, they are often directly involved in the marketing process itself, which creates a sense of additional control and supervision, as well as motivation. Time and adequate human resources are key obstacles in the further marketing growth and development of their company. Despite all the limitations, they have a desire to grow and develop their business with the help of marketing strategies