Social Media-Based Public Relations Activities for the Resilience of Indonesian Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to adapt to Internet-based technology. With the many obstacles that occur in the economic field, the affected people in Indonesia refuse to give up on the situation. Indonesian MSMEs have survived, and even grown, during the COVID-19 period. They carry out various public relations (PR) activities with their target consumers on social media. This research conducted an in-depth review of the various strategies and tactics of social media public relations activities used for the resilience of Indonesian MSMEs. This research uses the qualitative method, with data collected by interviews with well-established MSME owners. In the business landscape, the consequences of the pandemic may be particularly negative to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) because they often have insufficient financial and human resources to tackle the issues presented by COVID-19. MSMEs could embrace mass cooperation through social media for knowledge development and innovation to acquire resiliency. The unique and various social media strategies are described, which can be a guide for any MSME that wants to engage more with their stakeholders on social media.