EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES ON CUSTOMER PATRONAGE IN THE NIGERIAN PETROLEUM DOWNSTREAM SECTOR: A STUDY OF AKWA IBOM STATE

The Nigerian petroleum downstream sector plays a critical role in the economic development of the country, with a significant impact on both local and national economies, with increasing competition and a rapidly changing digital landscape, companies in this sector are increasingly turning to digital marketing strategies to engage customers, boost brand visibility and drive sales. The main objective of this study was to examine the influence of digital marketing strategies on customer patronage of the Nigerian petroleum downstream sector in Akwa Ibom State. To achieve this objective, the main source of data was through primary source with the use of questionnaire. The researcher adopted the survey research design approach and data were collected from 323 respondents drawn from the petroleum firms’ customers’ base. A total number of 314 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved in useable form representing 97.2 percent of data analyzed using the Simple Regression Model (SRM). Data generated from the study were processed using descriptive and inferential statistics and hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that digital marketing strategies had significant influence on customer patronage of the Nigerian petroleum downstream sector in Akwa Ibom State. Thus, the study recommended that petroleum marketers in the state should increase investment in social media marketing platforms by allocating more resources to maintain active social media profiles, regularly posting content that is relevant to customers’ needs and interest