Social Media Usage in Entrepreneurship (Blog Post)
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Abstract
This blog post aims to reveal the powerful effects of social media on SME's and point out the significant gap in usage.
Blog Post
Social media is an incredible tool. From the obviously marketable Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter to the seemingly frivolous Facebook, reddit and Instagram social media's diversity of audiences is only rivaled by its efficiency in reaching them. While social media tends to permeate into every aspect of a person's life these days, research from The Social Sciences seems to suggest that "not many" entrepreneurs of small to medium sized firms know about the benefits of social media in entrepreneurship. Thankfully, statistics from the Heartland Monitor poll conducted by Allstate and NationalJournal reveal some substantial benefits.
59% of social media users say that a company’s social media activities make the company appear “accessible and responsive," and 64% of social media users want to see companies use social media for customer service. Furthermore, the poll's statistics show that just being available on social media can be beneficial to sales. These benefits are further reinforced by research on small to medium sized enterprises, or SME's, from the International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. The study claims that social media tools offer greater market accessibility and customer relations which in turn have a significant impact on the growth of SMEs. The study further postulates that geographical barriers can be broken down by the use of social media and that social media allows businesses to communicate speedily and cheaply with customers.
One of the more novel findings of the study is the vale of social media for creating a customer database based off of digitally recorded preferences, locations, and trends. While the study found litte affect on SMEs from social media in the areas of pricing and inovation, the study still strongly reccomended recommends that policies which encourage best practices in social media be adopted in order to promote the growth of SMEs. sector. Despite all of this evidence, the Heartland Monitor poll reveals that only 50% of small businesses are using social media.
References
http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/medwelljournals/sscience/2016/639-644.pdf http://www.diversityjournal.com/9888-social-media-opens-doors-for-young-entrepreneurs/ http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_10_Special_Issue_May_2013/24.pdf
