The Influence of Social Media Marketing Communications on the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi’s Industrial Area

Abstract

The existence of a corporation is dependent on marketing communication in these times of global recession. Social media marketing is a new trend and rapidly growing way in which businesses are reaching out to targeted customers easily. One of the most notable phenomena of new media is how it has increased and created new forms of social interaction. The general purpose of the study was to establish the influence of social media marketing communications on performance of small businesses in Nairobi’s industrial area. This study was guided by three research questions which sought to establish to what extent social media platforms influence the performance of SMEs in Nairobi. To what extent do bloggers influence performance of SMEs in Nairobi and lastly to what extent do social media messaging factors influence performance of SMEs in Nairobi. This study adopted a descriptive research design. The study's target population included 295 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) registered with the Nairobi County and operating in Nairobi’s Industrial area. The research issued a total of 169 questionnaires and a total of 130 were filled and returned giving a response rate of 76.9%.Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied in the analysis using SPSS. For the descriptive statistics mean and standard deviation was used to analyze the distribution. For association, the study utilized both correlation and regression analysis to determine the influence of social media marketing communications on performance. The findings were then be presented in Tables and figures. The first objective was to establish the extent Social Media Platforms Influence the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. A Pearson correlation analysis was done to establish the relationship between social media platform on performance of SMEs and the result established a significant positive relationship between social media platform used and the performance of SMEs (r=.811, p value =0.000). The simple regression done to establish the relationship between social media platform on performance of SMEs showed that 65.6% of the variation in SME performance was explained by the variations in social media platform. The second objective was to establish the extent bloggers influence the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. A Pearson correlation analysis was done to establish the relationship between blogger influence on performance of SMEs and the result established a significant positive relationship between blogger influence and the performance of SMEs (r=.730, p value =0.000). The simple regression done to analyze the relationship between blogger influence and performance of SMEs. The results showed that 52.9% of the variation in SME performance was explained by the variations in blogger influence. The third objective was to establish the extent social media messaging factors influence the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. A Pearson correlation analysis was done to establish the relationship between messaging factors on performance of SMEs and the result established a significant positive relationship between social media platform used and the performance of SMEs (r=.359, p value =0.000). The simple regression analysis done to establish the relationship between message factors on performance of SMEs showed that 12.2% of the variation in SME performance was explained by the variations in message factors. The study concluded that use of Advertisements on Twitter has a positive influence on clients purchase decisions as many opt to check review online before engaging to make a purchase. It was also concluded that the business owners use Instagram advertisements as they acknowledge that in this day of social media most clients use this as a reference point. Secondly, the study concluded that it was important for bloggers to provide accurate information to user so as to win their trust. The research also concluded that bloggers recommendations have wide acceptance by the customers and the blogs with regular visitors are important source of information for clients. The study also concluded that the use of celebrity endorsements in advertising helps clients to build trust with current and potential customers as the information received from expert sources is likely to be valid or accurate therefore elicit more processing of persuasive messages. When consumer have such a belief, they are likely to adopt it. The research recommended that the data shared on the various platform need to be authentic as such Advertisements on Twitter and Facebook have a positive influence on clients purchase decisions. Thus sharing the wrong information may negatively affect the firm. Secondly, the study recommends that bloggers should strive at all times to provide the accurate information to user. Lastly, the study recommended that with the high penetration rate of mobile handheld devices thus leading to increased use of viral messaging, firms that have not adopted 100% use of online platforms need to strive to do so and this will lead to increased client reach.