Social media marketing: practices, opportunities and challenges for MSMEs

As more and more consumers are using social media, businesses are relying upon social media to get in touch with new audience and reinforce their bonding with the existing customers. Social media platforms (SMPs) have emerged as one of the most influential advertising openings in the world and businesses are moving substantial amounts of their marketing budgets to these platforms for greater influence and outcome. However, a major challenge for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) which exists is how to make best use of this technology offers. This exploratory work examines the practices, opportunities and challenges of using social media as a marketing tool for MSMEs. The key objective is to focus on how an integrated marketing strategy of social media can be developed for small businesses, particularly with the budgetary constraints.