ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia are increasingly adopting Paid Digital Advertising (PDA) as a vital component of their marketing strategies. However, most lack structured frameworks to evaluate campaign effectiveness, resulting in fragmented decisions and inefficient spending. This paper proposes a component-based PDA evaluation framework contextualized for Malaysian SMEs. Anchored in the interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative multiple-case study was conducted with 18 SMEs in the retail, services, and manufacturing sectors. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, performance dashboards, and advertising reports, and analysed thematically using NVivo. Six key components were identified as essential to evaluating PDA: (i) Audience Reach, (ii) Engagement, (iii) Conversion, (iv) Return on Investment (ROI), (v) Funnel Diagnostics, and (vi) Integrated Measurement Systems. Each component is supported by rubrics and contextual benchmarks, making them directly applicable to SMEs with limited digital expertise. The study contributes theoretically by extending digital advertising performance models into the SME context of an emerging economy, and practically by equipping SMEs and policymakers with actionable guidelines to improve digital competitiveness.
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