Effect of Social Media Marketing on Small Scale Business Performance in Ota-Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of social media marketing on small scale business performance. In today's social media driven environment, it is essential that small businesses understand facebook, twitter, and the strategies behind using social media for growing their business. Unfortunately, many small businesses do not have a strategy when they begin using social media. The objectives of this study include the following: to determine how effective employee training about social media of small to medium enterprises has increase brand awareness, to examine how employee participation in SME's operation has increase sales, to identify how continuous improvement of SME's strategies has improve customer service, and to examine how managerial commitment of SME's has increase the implementation of social media campaigns. One hundred and fifty copies of questionnaire were administered to owner-managers and employees of selected SME's in Ota Metropolis of which one hundred and thirty five of the questionnaires were returned completely filled and fifteen were not returned. Four hypotheses were formulated from the structure of the research questions, ANOVA, Correlation and other statistical tools were used in testing these hypotheses. A descriptive approach is presented, followed by an in-depth structured questionnaire with the small business owners. The study reveals the different strategies the owner uses to build and maintain relationships with consumers and the study concludes with important implications for small businesses. Networking and creating relationships with other businesses, increases brand exposure. By promoting another business or their product, they may promote yours. Engaging others makes your business visible to their audience and has the potential to reach hundreds or thousands of consumers. Focusing more on relationships than sales, increases sales. Social media provides businesses the opportunity to engage their audience on many different levels, including personal. In the beginning, it is important for a business to focus on creating relationships with consumers. An owner can show interest in its audience by commenting on individual's posts or asking questions. Doing so also exposes the business to friends of fans and followers, increasing the business's reach.

Nexus of Social Media Marketing and Small Scale Businesses’ Performance in Buea, Cameroon

“…She acknowledges that the adoption of social media is high because it is a cheap technique of digital marketing, and also reaches many potential customers who are on social media. The results are consistent with the studies done by Srinivasan et al (2016), Adegbuyi et al (2015) and Jagongo and Kinyua (2013) who indicated that social media creates brand awareness that results in strong influence on customer acquisition and retention. Cesaroni and Consoli (2015) further acknowledge that the decision to adopt social network is inspired by the willingness of the entrepreneur to create a new business model, characterised by interactivity, openness to clients, collaboration and visibility.…”

“…Findings reveal that small scale business operators use social media to display information like the services they render or products they sell, the price of their products, their location or contact details, their business logos and some even go as far as stating the quality of the product. Most respondents claim that placing information about their business online has created more awareness, brought in more customers (Srinivasan et al, 2016;Adegbuyi et al, 2015;Jagongo & Kinyua, 2013), boost sales and profits (Omondi, 2017) all the while eliminating the need for one-on-one advertising. The effects of social media marketing varied from one respondent to the other.…”

“…Based on literature, often SMEs do not have a strategy when they start using social media which can erode time and effort employed in business (Eltayib, Bhimani, Gandhi & Kamdar, 2018). Nevertheless, Adegbuyi, Akinyele and Akinyele (2015) assert that it is essential that businesses recognise what goal they want to derive from social media usage. It is not sufficient to create a Facebook or Twitter page and post messages there weekly.…”

“…It is not sufficient to create a Facebook or Twitter page and post messages there weekly. Businesses must be active on these social media networks and to adhere, they should have some fundamental know-how on how to use them, including techniques to maintain and sustain the consumers (Eltayib, et al, 2018& Adegbuyi, et al, 2015. Adegbuyi, et al, (ibid) further reiterated that in today's information and communication driven environment, it is apt that small businesses understand Facebook, Twitter, and the techniques employed to use social media.…”

Presence of Social Client Relationship Management within the Nigerian Construction Industry

“…Kumar et al [24] referred to social media as the undisputed king of internet due to its significance in the global community. According to Adegbuyi et al [25], it is essential that smalland medium-sized businesses understand the use of social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and the strategies behind using social media for growing their businesses. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as many small businesses do not have a strategy when they begin using social media.…”