Samenvatting

As an e-tailer in the Dutch market mydays has been looking to optimize its online marketing strategy. This strategy should lead potential customers into the buying process. Although the Dutch are avid users of the Internet and its platforms there is not a widely accepted general online marketing strategy that can be implemented by e-tailers. This research focused on the use of both direct and indirect platforms. In the case of indirect online marketing platforms mydays should focus on using social networking platforms for its online marketing strategy as they enable the company to reach a high quantity of consumers and it gives mydays a good opportunity to present itself and exposing the brand. To reach the Dutch consumers efficiently mydays should limit the use of social networking platforms to Facebook and Twitter for advertisements or promotions and LinkedIn for the recruitment of new employees. On Facebook and Twitter mydays should offer the customers a first glance on seasonal promotion and other advertisements. This is found appropriate by the Dutch consumers and will therefore generate a broad public. Furthermore mydays should organize contests between consumers. Contests are giving mydays the opportunity to expand its online community and therefor creating a bigger group of potential customers. The final activity that mydays should engage in is the use of social networking platforms for customer service. On Facebook and Twitter there should be a place created for customers to leave their complaints or comments. This will give mydays some negative publicity but shows consumers that the company does not have anything to hide and that it is helping its customers. The mydays website is the direct platform used by mydays. Mydays should put the emphasis on privacy policy and the reliability of the company. In doing so, mydays should obtain a label of safety. Furthermore, mydays should make sure to keep its information up-to-date and provide customers with an easy access to contact details. Finally, mydays should proceed on both direct and indirect online platforms to use informal language. This is well accepted on social networking sites and to protect the homogenous aspect of the online marketing plan it should be implemented on both types of platforms.