Introduction
With the emergence of the third wave of human civilization, small and medium-sized companies, especially small and medium-sized companies active in the information technology industry, in the synergy of knowledge and wealth, the prosperity of the knowledge-based economy, the achievement of economic development, the commercialization of technological innovations They play a more prominent role [29]. These companies are the dominant force in the world economy and form the backbone of the world economy. From the point of view of the European Commission, small and medium-sized companies are companies whose number of employees is less than two hundred and fifty people [25]. In recent years, small and medium-sized companies have been recognized as the main source of job creation in developing and developed countries. These companies play an important role in creating innovation and are more exposed to exit risks, especially in the early years [15]. Reforms such as electronic marketing, internet marketing, online marketing, digital marketing, and on the web and digital marketing are different titles that all follow the same concepts. These terms can be interpreted as digital marketing. Digital marketing, which has evolved over time, means the marketing of products and services using digital channels - the so-called description of the process of using digital technologies to acquire customers and create customer preferences, promote brands, and retain customers. And it is said to increase sales [9]. Digital marketing develops new methods of interacting with customers and provides new service delivery systems and helps to reduce costs, grow and profitably export, enter new markets, improve market share and create mentality. Positive attitude towards the company's products, services and brand name leads to high performance of the company and can improve service productivity, service quality and profitability. In most of the researches, the focus is on the nature of digital marketing and its challenges, and few researches are on the mindset of company owners in using this marketing tool. In the current research, we are looking for an answer to this question, what are the views of the company owners on the use of digital marketing with the application of the Q method in the production companies of Kermanshah
Methodology
The philosophical framework of this research is an interpretive-positivist paradigm, and in terms of orientation, it is placed in the category of applied research. The method of conducting this research is mixed and a systematic study with the combined method of Q has been used. In this research, in the qualitative part of the in-depth interview which is the main tool of data collection and also the library obtained from the study, review and development of existing resources in the field of using digital marketing in companies. , has been used, and in the quantitative part, the factor analysis of Q was done through the data collected from scoring the Q propositions. The interview protocol of this research also included 6 descriptive questions related to the subject under investigation and the infrastructure of the companies under investigation and how to use digital technology in the marketing of these companies and its challenges. It varied from 35 to 60 minutes. The statistical population of this research is the managers of production companies in Kermanshah. Considering the nature of this research, which is an exploratory one, sampling was a non-probability purposeful sampling, which included 15 managers and supervisors who were directly related to the subject of the research among the managers and supervisors of production companies in Kermanshah. And have at least 5 years of useful experience in the organization, were selected. To analyze the data, first in the qualitative part of this method, MAXQDA 2022 software was used to open-code the interviews and obtain Q statements, and in the quantitative part, which follows the qualitative part; SPSS 28 was used for Q factor analysis.
Results and Discussion
As mentioned earlier; the selection of Q's sample phrases for the present study was done through specific steps (semi-structured in-depth interview). After receiving the opinions of these experts and the statistics of similarities, removing similar and repeated phrases and removing their ambiguity, 31 phrases were selected from the final phrases of Q's sample in the present study. The table of the total explained variance shows that the software, according to the views of the participants, identified two mental patterns (factors that have eigenvalues above 1) and the two factors explained a total of about 81% of the total variance. And cover According to this table, the first factor (mental pattern) accounts for 68.75% of the total variance, and the second factor (mental pattern) accounts for 6.092% of the total variance.
The first mental model (application-oriented): based on the common mentality and perspective of this mental model, it can be seen among different companies to some extent. In the discussion of digital marketing implementation, because the target market is already identified; therefore, the content of advertisements and advertising tools from the point of view of this mental model is that these advertisements should be optimal and professional in order to achieve the desired result. Traditional marketing deals with advertising including advertisements, billboards, television ads, radio ads, print ads, newspaper ads, etc. In this method, advertising costs are very expensive and excessive, and because it is not possible to target a specific community, sometimes these costs are wasted. It is very difficult to measure the results you get from this type of marketing. In this type of marketing, the costs are very affordable and due to the possibility of specific customer targeting, branding is very efficient and fast. Digital marketing is also easy to measure with the help of analytics tools.
The second mental model (management and customer-oriented): Based on the mentality and common view of this mental model and unlike the model of the first category, this category follows this mental model that the management of a company and customer-oriented can be the foundation of a business. Be healthy and the role of management in the competitive advantage of companies in digital marketing is very strong. According to the opinion of this group of participants, digital marketing is done with the aim of stable and interactive two-way communication with customers, and considering the growth of online shopping and online presence of businesses in internet spaces and the expansion of their advertising and marketing is increasing and an essential need. In this view, it is believed that the best result obtained from marketing is to find customers who promote our business, in fact, they are customers who are loyal to our brand. These people promote our business through word-of-mouth marketing and also support our brand and product or service.
Conclusion
According to the conducted interviews, in this research it can be said that 31 concepts were extracted from the interviews and these 31 concepts; Functional and up-to-date design, appropriate hardware, internet speed, less manpower, manpower skill, manpower creativity, side costs, hardware price, internet price, filtering, related laws, government policies, Time, advertising content, use of appropriate tools, professional advertising, technology-based communication, customer focus, easy access and convenience, activity-related content, low-volume content, service and support, capital maintenance, contract management, Analysis of available data, decision based on available data, appropriate services, customer feedback, customer satisfaction, service improvement and optimal tools. In explaining these findings, it can be said that business managers at different levels have a vital need for digital marketing. In traditional marketing models, there was no ability to measure and evaluate marketing activities. Digital marketing, in short, is the use of digital technologies, including the Internet, for marketing goods or services. Digital marketing started with the invention of radio and has continued until today. All digital technologies, including mobile phones, internet, etc., will be included in this field if they are used for marketing. This research, like other researches, has limitations, among which it can be said that the results should be generalized to other communities and companies in Kermanshah and other cities with caution. Finally, Companies need to have a job under any title related to digital marketing that is a subset of the marketing department in companies that primarily has the ability to analyze data using to have reporting tools that can help company managers with the basic concepts of data mining, text mining and machine learning to obtain information and use it in the field of digital marketing.