The Impact of Social Media Functionality and Strategy Alignment to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Performance : A Case Study in Garment SME in East Java

Abstract

Recently, Social media has become a concern for businesses, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs began to adopt social media to support their performance. To benefit from the application of social media, SMEs must implement the right strategy. This study aims to analyze the factors that influence the use of social media in SMEs. Furthermore, alignment between social media functionalities and strategies and their effect on SME‘s performance are investigated. A case study is conducted in Gymi, a garment SMEs in East Java, Indonesia. The data collection includes interviews with the owner of SMEs, observations, and document analysis. Data analysis is performed by pattern matching, which matches the patterns from the literature with data from the case study. The results of this study show that cost-effectiveness, interactivity, and compatibility are factors that influence the use of social media in Gymi. The social media used by Gymi are Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and LINE. However, the main social media used to support Gymi’s functions is Instagram. Gymi has a relatively good social media strategy as it has defined a specific goal, target audience, and channel selection for social media (Instagram). It also has specific resources and policies to handle social media. Gymi monitors and evaluates their social media content activities. These strategies are aligned with the Instagram feature used to support Gymi‘s function, particularly marketing, sales, customer service, and to some extent, internal operation. The alignment contributes to Gymi’s performance measured by the increase in reputation (number of Instagram followers) and sales.