Analysis of the Differences in Using Online Marketing Tools for Measuring its Effectiveness in the Segment of Small and Medium-Sized Companies in the Czech Republic

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Purpose: The goal of this study is to find a market space for members of the association working in IT services to offer selected online marketing services on the market of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in Prague and the Central Bohemia region. Design/methodology/approach: The research aimed to find out the use of a wide range of online marketing activities and tools for measuring their effectiveness in the segment of small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed persons. The groups are divided according to the legal form of the business entity, the gender of the owner of the entity and the respondent, and the field of business activity. Findings: The results of the analysis indicate that a statistically significant difference in the use of online marketing between artisans and other firms was confirmed at least at the 5% level of significance, even in all three surveys. Relatively stable results were also achieved for the use of Google Analytics, social networks and measuring effectiveness on social networks. Practical implications: A certain limit to the interpretation of the research results is the fact that the focus of the respondents is from Prague and the Central Bohemian region, which corresponds to the needs of the research sponsor, the Central Bohemian Association of Managers and Businesswomen, to obtain respondents and information in this locality to find out how the self-employed and small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are online in this locality marketing is used and to deduce to which customer segment the members of the association engaged in IT could direct specific IT services. Originality/Value: The need to monitor the use of online marketing communication tools, measure their effectiveness and determine the real usefulness of their use in the segment of small and medium-sized businesses will be a current topic for the research team soon at the end of the year 2022, and it will be useful to ask respondents recurring questions and create time series from the answers found. It is advisable to look for answers to the perception of the usefulness of using online marketing in business by the business entities themselves and to expand the research with new current topics. A new perspective can bring about the inclusion of another criterion for the breakdown of respondents, namely their age.