The role of digital platforms on the effectiveness of marketing communication in the telecom industry in Tanzania: the case of Vodacom Company.

Currently, internet marketing uses a powerful tool called social media which provide new opportunities for users to engage in social networking on the Internet. This study examined the role of digital platforms on the effectiveness of marketing communication in telecommunication Industry in Tanzania. It specifically examinedthe extent to which awareness, skills and peoples’ attitude towards digital platforms influence the effectiveness of marketing communication. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam using Vodacom as a case study. 384 respondents who are customers of Vodacom were selected using convenient sampling. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 390 respondents and response rate was 93.6% (365). Data were quantitatively analysed using SPSS where frequency mean and standard deviation were used for analysis. This was followed by inferential statistics performed through multiple regression analysis. The findings of the study revealed that, all the threeindependent variables were found to have positive influence on the effectiveness of marketing communication with coefficient of less than 1. Nevertheless only two variables namely the user’s attitude and skills had strong positive influence on the effectiveness of marketing communication. The level of customers’ awareness on digital platforms had positive but insignificant influence on the effectiveness of marketing communication. The study recommends that, the organization’s management has to take the best side on capitalizing on people’s skills and attitude, as the failure to do so will lead to failure in the marketing efforts and it will cost the organization in terms of money.