The social media marketing strategies employed by SMMEs for survival and growth during the Covid-19 crisis in rural KwaZulu- Natal

The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted businesses of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) globally, particularly in rural areas such as KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. This study investigated the social media marketing strategies adopted by rural SMMEs to survive and grow during the Covid-19 crisis. Furthermore, it aims to recommend the social media marketing strategies that can be used by SMMEs as a critical tool for their survival and grow during the Covid-19 crisis in rural KZN. The quantitative design was adopted, and data was collected from 374 rural SMMEs in KZN by a closed-ended 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The collected data was analysed by means of statistical social sciences software 27.0. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and correlation analysis to identify the determinants of social media strategies and its impact on business performance. Key findings include a significant positive relationship between creating awareness of products and services and increased sales, where r = 0.708, p <0.01 and a significant correlation between customers’ needs and complaints and use of social media to retain customers, where r =0.653, p < 0.001. Recommendations suggested that rural SMMEs must gain technical competencies to use social media marketing strategies to gain competitive advantage to sustain their businesses during the Covid-19 crisis.