an internship report on studying content marketing at kms technology solutions ltd

Being employed as a Content Writer at KMS Solutions, which is an IT company operating in a pure B2B environment, the reporter was formally informed by his manager that the company relied

Ministry of Finance University of Finance Marketing –

Faculty of Foreign Languages

AN INTERNSHIP REPORT ON STUDYING CONTENT MARKETING AT KMS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS LTD

Instructor: Chu Quang Phe, M.A

Reporter: Nguyen Phu Truong Student’s code: 1521000102

Class: 15DTA1

Ho Chi Minh City, April 30 , 2021 th

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

By means of this report, I would like to express my special appreciation to Ms Bich Le, who is my manager at KMS Solutions She saw my potential when nobody did and gave me the opportunity to work in such a wonderful environment as KMS Solutions As my first mentor, she passed on innumerable pieces of advice on both my profession and my life, which I treasure Moreover, I want to show my gratitude to other colleagues at KMS Solutions Coming from all walks of life, they never ceased to support me in my work and provide me with different perspectives in the business world

In addition, it would be remiss of me not to be grateful towards Mr Chu Quang Phe With his deep insights and wide experience, Mr Chu Quang Phe accompanied me through the process of writing this report Without his support, I would not be able to complete this final assignment

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all the professors of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Finance - Marketing Throughout my four years of university, they provided me with the academic and professional knowledge to lay the foundation for my career

I am indebted to everyone who has walked with me on this journey

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

ABSTRACT v

TÓM TÀT vi

COMPANY’S COMMENTS vii

SUPERVISOR’S REMARKS viii

REVIEWER’S REMARKS ix

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT 1

1.1 Reasons for the report 1

1.2 Objectives of the report 2

CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION TO KMS SOLUTIONS 3

2.5.1.1 Digital Technology Consulting 5

2.5.1.2 Digital Apps & Software Development 6

3.1 An overview of marketing team 10

3.2 Staffing of marketing team 10

3.3 Duties and responsibilities of marketing team 11

3.3.1 Marketing team’s responsibilities 11

4.2.7 Content marketing evaluation 18

4.2.8 Content marketing improvement 18

CHAPTER 5 JOB DESCRIPTIONS 22

4.3 The reporter’s responsibilities 30

4.4 The reporter’s achievements 30

CHAPTER 6 FINDINGS AND EXPERIENCES 32

5.1 Advantages of content marketing at KMS Solutions 32

5.2 Disadvantages of content marketing at KMS Solutions 33

5.4 Recommendations 35

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS 37

REFERENCES 38

TABLE OF CHARTS Chart 1 The structure of KMS Solutions 5

Chart 2 The structure of marketing team 11

ABSTRACT

Bill Gates (1996), the founder of Microsoft Corporation, stated that <Content is King= This brief statement succeeded in capturing the value of content marketing Thanks to its proven benefits, content marketing has gradually become a staple of today's business world By consistently producing and distributing valuable content, companies can approach and establish conversations with their target customers, thus walking them through the purchasing process Nowadays, content marketing is remarkably widespread It is hard to find a company that operates without producing certain forms of content such as blog posts or social media posts

With his curiosity and interest in content marketing, the reporter has applied for the position of Content Writer at KMS Technology Solutions Ltd (henceforth KMS Solutions) With the title "An Internship Report on Studying Content Marketing at KMS Technology Solutions Ltd.", this report is an analysis of that eye-opening work experience Because he is the sole Content Writer in this company, the reporter had the chance to learn about and carry out most of the activities related to content marketing

In short, this report explores the implementation of content marketing at KMS Solutions To attain that goal, the reporter will first give an overview of KMS Solutions, of his marketing team, and of the content marketing activities that the reporter was responsible for Based on those understanding and experience, the reporter will point out the advantages and disadvantages of content marketing at KMS Solutions Then, he will offer several suggestions to the company on how to enhance the conduct and implementation of its content marketing activities Finally, the reporter hoped that the information, recommendations, and findings in this report can support the University of Finance - Marketing in improving its teaching approach to content marketing

TÓM T T Ắ

Bill Gates (1996), nhà sáng l¿p t¿p đoàn Microsoft danh giá, đã cho rằng <Content is King= (tạm dịch: nội dung là vua) Câu nói hàm súc này đã mô tả bao quát tầm quan trọng của tiếp thị nội dung Nhờ vào những lợi ích thiết thực mà nó mang lại, tiếp thị nội dung đang dần trở thành một chức năng không thể thiếu tại các doanh nghiệp Bằng cách liên tục tạo ra các nội dung mới và mang chúng đến khách hàng mục tiêu, doanh nghiệp có thể kết nối và trò chuyện với khách ng, từ đó dìu bước hàhọ đi qua hành trình mua hàng Ngày nay, tiếp thị nội dung đang được ứng dụng rộng khÁp Hầu như mọi doanh nghiệp đều triển khai một hoặc nhiều hình thức tiếp thị nội dung, không thể không kể đến như blog, hay các nội dung đăng tải trên mạng xã hội

Có sự quan tâm và niềm yêu thích nhất định với mảng tiếp thị nội dung, tác giả bài báo cáo này đã ứng tuyển cho vị trí sáng tạo nội dung tại công ty rách nhiệm hữu thạn KMS Technology Solutions (KMS Solutions) Với đề tài <Báo cáo thực t¿p về Nghiên cứu Hoạt động Phát triển ội dung tại Công ty trách nhiệm hữu hạn KMS nTechnology Solutions=, bài báo cáo là tổng hợp những kinh nghiệm mà tác giả đã góp nhặt được trong suốt thời gian thực t¿p tại công ty này Là người duy nhất đảm nhiệm vị trí sáng tạo nội dung tại KMS Solutions, tác giả đã có cơ hội tham gia vào gần như mọi hoạt động liên quan đến tiếp thị nội dung mà công ty triển khai Tóm lại, bài báo cáo này cung cấp một cái nhìn tổng quan về hoạt động triển khai tiếp thị nội dung tại KMS Solutions Để đạt được mục tiêu này, đầu tiên tác giả sẽ mô tả sơ lược về công ty KMS Solutions, về bộ ph¿n tiếp thị mà tác giả đang làm việc, và về các hoạt động tiếp thị nội dung mà tác giả đã trực tiếp tham gia Thông qua những kinh nghiệm và kết lu¿n trên, tác giả sẽ chỉ ra những ưu và nhược điểm của hoạt động tiếp thị nội dung tại KMS Solutions Song song đó, tác giả cũng sẽ đề xuất một số giải pháp giúp công ty cải thiện hiệu quả và chất lượng của hoạt động tiếp thị nội dung Cuối cùng, tác giả hy vọng bài báo cáo sẽ giúp các giảng viên tại trường đại học Tài chính - Marketing có thêm nguồn tham khảo cho các chương trình giảng dạy về tiếp thị nội dung tại trường

SUPERVISOR’S REMARKS

1 • Form • Accuracy • Images, graphics • References, sources 2 • Academic style 3 • Introduction 4 • Company

• Department 5 • Basic concept

• Job Description 6 • Findings

• Experience 7 • Conclusion

• Recommendation Total

REVIEWER’S REMARKS

1 • Form • Accuracy • Images, graphics • References, sources 2 • Academic style 3 • Introduction 4 • Company

• Department 5 • Basic concept

• Job Description 6 • Findings

• Experience 7 • Conclusion

• Recommendation Total

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT 1.1 Reasons for the report

In this digital age, content marketing has become the main channel through which brands communicate marketing messages and information to customers Specifically, content marketing is vitally important in the business-to-business (B2B) world, where clients make purchase decisions on behalf of their business or organization, thus they are more rational and calculated than when they make personal purchases Shouldering such a large organizational responsibility, a B2B client would painstakingly research a given product or service through informative content before he/she makes the final decision to buy Unsurprisingly, it is reported that 89% of B2B marketers are applying content marketing (Content Marketing Institute, 2017)

Being employed as a Content Writer at KMS Solutions, which is an IT company operating in a pure B2B environment, the reporter was formally informed by his manager that the company relied heavily on content marketing to build brand awareness, facilitate effective communication with customers, and support the entire sales process However, since KMS Solutions is a young company, which has been established for only three years since 2018, there lacked a detailed study into the company's content marketing activities Choosing the title <An Internship Report on Studying Content Marketing at KMS Technology Solutions Ltd.=, the reporter sought to examine how content marketing is implemented in this company Therefore, he can advise the company on improving its approach to content marketing Firstly, he will discuss the current activities related to content marketing in the company Then he will offer suggestions on how his marketing team can improve its content marketing performance With his enthusiasm towards marketing and his aptitude for creative writing, the reporter believes that content marketing is a field where he can fulfill his potential Thus, by way of this report, he wishes to analyze everything he has learned during the internship so that he could identify areas of improvement and work on them to support his career path in the content marketing field

1.2 Objectives of the report

At the broadest level, this report is considered as a reflection upon all the knowledge about content marketing that the reporter has acquired during his time working as a Content Writer at KMS Solutions Specifically, the report’s objectives are described as follows

Firstly, the reporter will describe the current state of content marketing at KMS Solutions, which includes its basic concepts and all the activities that are deemed as content marketing Despite having been founded for only three years, KMS Solutions has been applying a wide range of content marketing types

Secondly, he will elaborate and comment on KMS Solutions’ implementation of content marketing, mostly with regard to how the related content marketing activities are performed As a single Content Writer at KMS Solutions, the reporter has quite a big picture of the company's state of content marketing

Thirdly, based on his knowledge and experience about content marketing, the reporter will point out what he considers to be the strengths and weaknesses of content marketing at KMS Solutions Then he will offer some practical recommendations so that the Marketing Manager and other directors can put into consideration for their future investments in content marketing

Lastly, the reporter will detail all the findings and experiences that he has acquired during his employment at KMS Solutions He expects that these findings and experiences would be of use in his future endeavors Furthermore, the reporter hopes that this work can be a source of reference for the University of Finance - Marketing to improve its teaching curriculum about content marketing and marketing in general

CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION TO KMS SOLUTIONS 2.1 Foundation

KMS Solutions is an IT services and software development company, with headquarters in Vietnam and the United States By providing world-class software services and solutions, it aims to be the trusted partner of businesses on their Digital Transformation processes

KMS Solutions is a subsidiary of KMS Technology, a leading provider of software outsourcing services, having a total of more than 1000 employees and 5 offices after its 12 years of operation KMS Solutions was officially separated as a legal entity from the July of 2018 While its mother company focuses on global clients, especially the United States, KMS Solutions is dedicated to the Vietnamese market and the surrounding Asia Pacific region

KMS Solutions started out in 2018 as a small branch of seven team members, primarily providing professional services related to software development and software testing After three years, it has grown into a separate strategic business unit (SBU) Its reputation is also gaining in popularity, since some of its major clients include Hung Thing Group, Nguyen Kim, ACB, Masan Group, MCV Group, among others

2.2 Mission

KMS Solutions aims to <spread innovative and transformative technologies that aspire businesses in APAC to embrace the Digital Enterprise= In other words, it provides regional businesses with world-class technologies

According to various training sessions that the reporter has joined at KMS Solutions, he has learned that businesses in the region, especially the large ones, have a driving need for advanced software solutions and expert IT professionals in order to embrace the Industry 4.0 Yet there remain many problems that prevent them from doing so Firstly, it is too costly and troublesome for most regional businesses to build an in-house division for software development Secondly, most IT services vendors in the region

lack the necessary expertise and technologies These two problems present a potential market gap that KMS Solutions is capitalizing on The reporter believes that KMS Solutions is well-placed to bring world-class technologies and practices to the region thanks to its large workforce of more than 1000 IT professionals, who have experience working with global clients, and its wide partnership network with world-leading software companies

2.3 Vision

KMS Solutions resolves to <become a trusted partner of companies in Asia Pacific on their Digital Transformation journey= Initially, KMS Solutions concentrated solely on Vietnam The company fared particularly well in the domestic market, having signed contracts with several local corporations such as Hung Thinh Group, Masan Group, Circle K, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), MCV Group, One Mount Group, etc As the company grows and expands, so do its target markets For the time being, it is working with a couple of major clients in Singapore, including the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC)

Recently, KMS Solutions has entered into Australia as its next strategic destination This country, according to the company’s directors, is highly prospective In the near future, the board of directors has also formulated comprehensive plans to get into East Asia, preferably Japan and Korean

Having participated in several strategic meetings, the reporter realized that the top managers and board members of KMS Solutions are highly ambitious and that the company is making dramatic progress Thus, the reporter supposes that it is just a matter of time until KMS Solutions attains its vision

2.4 Company structure

KMS Solutions is divided into three distinct divisions They are Sales & Marketing, Software Delivery, and Finance & Operations Each of these three divisions is further split into different teams, and each team is governed by a manager or a director In total,

KMS Solutions has eight teams, which are Business Development, Marketing, Digital Testing, Digital Applications, Enterprise Packaged Software, Data & Analytics, Finance, and finally Human Resources The structure and hierarchy of the company is as below:

Chart 1 The structure of KMS Solutions

2.5 Services and products

KMS Solutions’ offering portfolio can be distinctly divided into services and products

2.5.1 Services

Most of KMS Solutions’ services are outsourcing services that revolve around software development, software testing, and staff augmentation The reporter will give a broad overview of each service as below

2.5.1.1 Digital Technology Consulting

With Digital Technology Consulting, KMS Solutions helps clients formulate strategic plans for adopting new technologies that are suitable to their business Digital

Technology Consulting is a purely advisory service In essence, KMS Solutions would consult its clients on the types of software, technologies, and IT experts that are necessary, and when they become necessary Internally, Digital Technology Consulting plays a strategic role After offering this service to clients, the sales staff can cross-sell other services and products that the clients may have interest in

2.5.1.2 Digital Apps & Software Development

As its name suggests, Digital Apps & Software Development means the building of custom software and applications as per the client’s requests As software development is in high demand, most clients approached KMS Solutions for this service This is because the clients, especially the large ones, require a high degree of customization to a given application and software, which KMS Solutions can satisfy

2.5.1.3 Digital Team

Digital Team is a type of staff augmentation service Staff augmentation refers to the outsourcing of temporary workers or a team to an external agency With Digital Team, the client can outsource one or some roles that are involved in the software development team to KMS Solutions Digital Team has a large potential as most businesses nowadays have plans to outsource their IT and software development to external vendors

2.5.1.4 Digital Testing

In Digital Testing, KMS Solutions’ engineers ensure the quality of the software and applications that the client is developing Most businesses, along with employing software development engineers to build applications, would require software testing experts to ensure the quality of applications As it is directly related to the aforementioned Digital Apps & Software Development service, Digital Testing is a major offering which KMS Solutions focused heavily on

2.5.1.5 Data & Analytics

The Data & Analytics team is responsible for this service In particular, they provide solutions and services that enable the client to store and process their data Data &

Analytics is a highly potential offering since most of the businesses in the region, especially Vietnam, lack a central system to store and process their data However, due to its relatively high price, Data & Analytics is not as attractive as other services and products of KMS Solutions

2.5.2 Products

Regarding KMS Solutions' software products, two important points require clarification Firstly, KMS Solutions itself does not develop the products Instead, it partners with 3rd-party software companies and resells their software products in addition to value-added services, including consulting, implementation, customization, and maintenance This business model is typically referred to as value-added reselling, and companies that are based on it are called value-added resellers

Secondly, the products are classified as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software products COTS software refers to the type of software products that are readily developed, thus can be used immediately by the clients (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2011)

KMS Solutions’ current offerings that are categorized as software product include Supply Chain Planning, Warehouse Management, Financial Management, Embedded Analytics, and electronic Know-your-Customer (eKYC) Each of these products will be described as follows

2.5.2.1 Supply Chain Planning

Supply Chain Planning is a software system for supply chain management, which helps businesses effectively manage and control the flow of their goods Supply Chain Planning is only attractive to certain retail-related sectors, including distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers Some major companies, including Circle K and Pharmacity, have contacted KMS Solutions for this solution

2.5.2.2 Warehouse Management

Warehouse Management is a system that gives businesses a comprehensive view of their warehouse operations Warehouse Management is similar to Supply Chain Planning in that it is only of interest to some specific sectors that are related to retailing and manufacturing Masan Group is a major client that is using KMS Solutions’ Warehouse Management

2.5.2.3 Financial Management

Financial Management is an accounting software that helps businesses manage their financial data and keep track of their financial performance KMS Solutions' Financial Management software is only suitable for multinational corporations due to its large number of features and its high price; therefore, there is a low demand for this solution

2.5.2.4 Embedded Analytics

Embedded Analytics is an application that automatically performs data processing, data analysis, and data visualization Embedded Analytics is easy to use, with an intuitive interface, and does not require coding knowledge However, selling this solution is challenging due to its comparatively high price and the associated costs of consulting and implementation

2.5.2.5 eKYC (electronic Know-your-Customer)

eKYC solution helps banks onboard new customers faster In essence, eKYC is a mobile application that lets customers scan their face, their ID card, and related documents to verify their identity eKYC is a new product that is co-developed by KMS Solutions and a partner named RikkeiSoft This product has a lot of potential as most banking businesses are now in need of it

Competition among IT companies in the B2B world may not be as obvious and dramatic as B2C fields such as eCommerce, Retail, or Banking; but it's definitely no less intense

Companies that are specialized in delivering IT services to business clients, most often, see software development as their key offering Mainly, they design custom software and applications according to the clients' requirements Some IT companies also provide commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software products In Vietnam, most of the IT services providers that operate in the B2B environment can be categorized as enterprises of medium to large scales, which are those that have 300 to more than 1000 employees Whenever KMS Solutions' salespeople receive an Invitation to Bid (ITB) from a potential client, there are several major competitors that are worth considering, such as DXC Technology, FPT Software, TMA Solutions, NashTech KMS Solutions and the above-mentioned competitors provide services that are, to some extent, similar to each other However, KMS Solutions is at variance in terms of the values the company promises to customers While the aforementioned providers attract clients through common unique selling points (USP) such as affordable costs and a large local workforce, KMS Solutions stands out with the world-class quality it guarantees, thanks to its partnership network with world-leading independent software vendors (ISV) and its experience working with global clients Furthermore, KMS Solutions also has a quite unique pricing strategy The company offers a relatively high price for each of its services and products, the reason for which is because it branded its offerings as premium quality Despite the excessively high price, the company has succeeded in attracting a niche segment of clients, which are large-scale businesses looking for high-quality software The old adage "you get what you pay for" applies here

CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING TEAM

There is only one Content Writer at KMS Solutions, and that is the reporter himself Because of this, it is important to have a general picture of the marketing team in order to understand the role of the Content Writer

3.1 An overview of marketing team

As KMS Solutions can be viewed as a young start-up with only three years of operation, marketing team and marketing activities play a vital role in most of the aspects of the company’s business The business development team, which acts as the key revenue-generating function of the company, relies largely on the marketing team for the attraction and acquisition of new leads In the context of marketing, a lead refers to a contact from a prospective business, who has shown interest in one company’s products and/or services (Hubspot, 2020)

For such a burgeoning company as KMS Solutions, the marketing team is exceptionally small The team consists of only three staff: one Marketing Manager, one Marketing Executive, and one Content Writer Despite its modest size, the marketing team handles all the duties and responsibilities that are commonly associated with a typical marketing department in a typical IT company in the B2B environment Some notable functions include brand management, market research, search engine optimization (SEO), lead generation, Public Relations (PR), event organization, etc However, the huge workload often puts considerable pressure on the team members

Because KMS Solutions is an arm of KMS Technology, the marketing team can outsource some of its functions to the holding company, including graphic design, web development, Public Relations (PR), etc

3.2 Staffing of marketing team

As mentioned above, KMS Solutions’ marketing team consists of 3 members The structure of the team is shown as below:

Chart 2 The structure of marketing team

Ms Bich Le, who holds the position of Marketing Manager, acts as the key strategist of the whole team The other team members, which consist of Content Writer and Marketing Executive, work under her supervision Ms Bich Le defines both the short- and long-term marketing strategies, by which the other team members must abide Ms Hue Nguyen, who is the Marketing Executive, acts as a generalist This means that Ms Hue performs a wide range of general marketing tasks Mostly, she is responsible for social media, event organization, market research, and lead research

The reporter, who acts as the Content Writer, focuses primarily on content marketing He is responsible for creating content, such as blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, and news releases, as well as visual prints, such as brochures, leaflets, and point-of-sales materials He is also in charge of developing content for the website

3.3 Duties and responsibilities of marketing team

The responsibilities of the marketing team can be distinctly divided into two key parts, which are brand awareness and lead generation Understanding these two responsibilities are important because, based on them, the Marketing Manager will define the appropriate duties and activities for the team The reporter will explain the marketing team’s approach to brand awareness and lead generation as below

3.3.1.1 Brand awareness

Brand awareness is defined as the extent to which a customer is aware of the reputation of a company (Jim Blythe, 2005) As far as the reporter understood, brand awareness is vital to KMS Solutions This is due to the fact that KMS Solutions is quite a young company Even though KMS Technology, the holding company, has been operating for up to 12 years, most people are still unfamiliar with the name KMS Solutions Furthermore, some clients even confused KMS Solutions for KMS Technology due to the fact that their names are closely similar Therefore, marketing activities related to brand awareness are crucial because they serve two purposes Firstly, they define and promote the young brand of KMS Solutions in the eyes of new clients Secondly, such brand-promoting activities help distinguish KMS Solution as a separate entity from its mother company, which is KMS Technology

Lead generation refers to the process of attracting and converting strangers into prospects who shows interests in the products or services of the company (Hubspot, 2020) With regard to lead generation, the marketing team carries out a variety of marketing activities and strategies, such as content marketing, event organization, search engine optimization, and so on, in order to acquire the contact information of the audiences After consolidating these customer details, the Marketing Manager will send them to the business development team, the members of which will approach and negotiate with the customers

As a B2B business, KMS Solutions is sales-oriented This sales orientation means that the company depends mainly on salespeople for profitability Further, salespeople need a lot of leads to negotiate and close contracts, thereby bringing in profits Therefore, it is not an overstatement that the major responsibility of the marketing team is to support the sales team, which is done mostly through lead generation

3.3.2 Marketing team’s duties

To fulfill the two responsibilities of brand awareness and lead generation, Ms Bich Le, who is the Marketing Manager of KMS Solutions, accordingly defines a wide range of activities, including content marketing, social media marketing, event organization, and Public Relations Since the reporter is mostly involved in content marketing, he will only give an overview of those activities, briefly as below

Creating and distributing content is the duty of the Content Writer, and that is the reporter In detail, KMS Solutions performs various content formats, including blog, whitepaper, case study, and news release to utilize its available channels

Ms Thu Hue, who is the Marketing Executive, carries out activities that are related to social media With regard to social media, Ms Hue’s responsibilities are to post content and run advertisements on the company’s social media channels The two primary social channels that KMS Solutions is utilizing consist of Facebook and LinkedIn

There are two main types of events that KMS Solutions organizes, which are offline events and webinars A webinar is a type of online event that is conducted over specialized platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Team Ms Bich Le and Ms Thu Hue are the ones mainly responsible for these events Nevertheless, the reporter is assigned various tasks related to event organization to support his team

At KMS Solutions, Public Relation activities are conducted on an ad-hoc basis - i.e only when necessary, and the only form of PR activity that is carried out is publicizing news release Mostly, when the company releases a new product or service, or implements a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity, it will send a news release

to the relevant news agencies or the presses to spread the news about those activities to the public