Social Media Strategies for Small and Medium Scale Enterprise in the Klang Valley Region of Malaysia

Abstract

Despite the current widespread adoption and use of social media as a marketing tool, very little empirical research focusing on local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is available. This study examines the usage of social media by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. The study assesses the impacts of age, educational attainment, and industry characteristics to the utilization, perceived benefits and barriers of SMEs. Results of the study indicate that social media is used by most SMEs for customer acquisition and its benefits are developing new business opportunities, reduced cost of advertising, 24 hours accessibility and decreased travelling time. The results however indicate that there is a lack of allocation of resources mainly in staffing and training when adopting the social media. Results also indicate that manager's age and educational attainment had significant impacts on social media strategies. The results did not reveal any evidence of different industry sectors relevance towards social media strategies. Implications for research are discussed.