Identifying business value from the use of social media: An SME perspective

Abstract

This research examines how smaller businesses can derive business value from the use of social media. Conducted from the SME perspective, the study first examines the relevant literature to identify the key issues involved in the use of social media. It then examines five established case studies and the case firms' websites. The extracted data is used to draw insights into the business problems and objectives that influence SMEs to use social media. Business value is found to lie primarily in the domain of customer engagement and the realisation of benefits is strongly influenced by the ability of the SME to identify with their customer base. It is anticipated that the findings of this research will foster an understanding of the business value that can be derived from social media by small and medium enterprises.