Effect of digital marketing on performance of digital satellite television (dstv) in Nigeria

Abstract

Digital marketing has become central to the way pay television providers reach and retain subscribers, yet many firms find it difficult to convert online engagement into genuine customer satisfaction. This study examined the influence of two digital marketing practices, social media marketing and content marketing, on customer satisfaction among Digital Satellite Television subscribers in Nigeria. A cross sectional survey design was adopted. The population comprised 2,345 active subscribers and a sample of 331 respondents was determined using the Krejcie and Morgan table. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered electronically and measured on five point scales. The instrument was validated through expert review and a pilot test, and internal consistency was confirmed with Cronbach alpha coefficients of 0.86 for social media marketing, 0.84 for content marketing and 0.82 for customer satisfaction. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and simple linear regression. Both practices exerted positive and statistically significant effects on customer satisfaction. Content marketing emerged as the stronger predictor ( b = 0.634, t = 14.879, p < 0.001) and accounted for 40.2 percent of the variance in satisfaction, while social media marketing ( b = 0.548, t = 11.874, p < 0.001) accounted for 30.0 percent. The ten percentage point difference in explanatory power is the substantive finding, since it indicates that what a provider publishes matters more to subscriber satisfaction than the frequency with which it posts. The two practices were themselves strongly correlated (r = 0.612, p < 0.01), indicating that they operate as complements rather than as substitutes. The study concludes that digital marketing is a material driver of subscriber satisfaction in the satellite television industry, and that the greatest gains follow from high quality, relevant content supported by responsive social media engagement rather than from either practice pursued alone. It recommends that providers direct investment towards content relevance and quality, and treat social media primarily as a distribution and service recovery channel for that content.