Social media as marketing tool for small, medium and micro enterprises in Gauteng

Abstract

People use social media on the World Wide Web (WWW) to share information and to express their opinions and share their different interests. Social media has changed the world of communication and it is evident that social media differs from the printed media as it can reach more people across all spheres in the world, regardless of country of origin, race and language. Through social media, everybody can connect with each other. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the use of social media as a marketing tool for small, medium, and micro enterprises in Gauteng. There are different social media platforms that can be applied in enterprises. The field of the study is marketing and is also be linked to the field of entrepreneurship. When social media are applied as an effective marketing tool, it helps to create/ build awareness and reach new customers. It can also increase customer satisfaction as it can launch new products, increase its profits, stimulate demands, generates sales lead and can strengthen customer relationships that is very important in any business. It can also increase overall brand reputation. The study consists of two parts namely a literature review and an empirical research project. The research design is a quantitative design. The research instrument is an email questionnaire that was distributed to 59 SMMEs in Gauteng. The results from the questionnaire indicated that the majority of SMMEs found social media to be effective to market their business and add value to their business and increase their products, services as well as expanding their customer base. Social media is also an effective tool to combat competitiveness in the market. Some of the most important keywords are: