This document discusses how social media marketing can help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) overcome common challenges. It outlines SME challenges like lack of resources and small markets. It then explains how social media allows for low-cost, global interaction with customers. Case studies show social media enabling SMEs to gather feedback, innovate products, and increase sales. The document advocates using platforms like Facebook and forums to better engage customers and promote business.

1. Patrick McGrath
The Impact of Social Media
Marketing in Small to
Medium-Sized Enterprises
(SMEs)

2. Challenges facing SMEs
• Vulnerability due to their lack of growth potential.
• Lack of resources due to financial constraints.
• Dependency on a small domestic market.
• Lack of experienced staff.
• Fewer orders, fewer customers and fewer
employees than large companies.
• Managers of small businesses tend to be
generalists rather than specialists.

3. Introduction to SMEs and Social
Media Marketing
• SMEs are drivers of economic growth, innovation leaders and large
scale employers.
• They are more diverse, specific, personal and independent than
larger organisations.
• In times gone by they have been unable to compete with larger
companies when it comes to marketing their products and services.
• The Internet and social media has alleviated this problem due its low
cost, widespread use and reach.
• SMEs are currently marketing their products but they need to
interact more with customers online (observe, study and
participate).

4. What Social Media Marketing
Brings to the Table
• Enables the marketer to interact with each client
individually.
• There is opportunity for two-way communication.
• Products and services can be customised to suit
the needs of each individual.
• Products can be bought and discussed online.
• Saves SMEs the costs associated with focus
groups, surveys and interviews and enables
them to generate valuable information on a
global scale.

5. Web 2.0 Technologies
• Facebook – 500 million active users discussing products
and services.
• Twitter – 45 million users thirty three percent of Twitter
users share views about products or services at least
once a week with many of them making
recommendations
• Online Communities where people reach out and share
experiences with one another about a product or service.
Many organisations join or set up an online community to
interact on a personal level with customers to cater to
their specific needs as online information tends to be
more revealing.

6. How to attract customers through
Social Media Marketing
• Make sure your web-site or Facebook
page captures your target audience.
• Get them to keep coming back for more
by keeping news and information as up to
date as possible, engaging and dynamic.
• Provide incentives to participate in this
online forum such as giveaways, events
and entertainment.

7. Social Media Marketing Driving Innovation in
SMEs through the development of tribes
Interacting with Clients through Social
Media has enable SMEs to:-
• Creating or re-engineer products or
services to meet new market
demands.
• Introduce new organisational
approaches to enhance productivity.
• Develop techniques to increase sales.

8. Methodology
• Netnography – online community
observation, chat, analysis of data from a
personal business perspective.
• Interviews – get the views of consumers of
social media as a marketing tool.
• Facebook - join his page in the hope of
obtaining information that he can use to
further market his business.

10. Findings from online communities
• The importance of getting into the zone in tennis.
• Tennis needs to be fun or people will stop
playing.
• Tennis needs to be promoted as a sport for life.
• It is better to get young children to work as a
team rather than individually.
• Children should be rewarded by the amount of
matches they play rather then whether then win
or lose.
• Educating parents that pushing their child with
not make them a better tennis player.

11. Findings from Interviews
• Fear of growth (providing a less personalised
service).
• Need to manage customer relationships in order
to keep close ties with current clients.
• Social media marketing empowered them to be
proactive giving them an opportunity to change
the way businesses operated by posting on their
online forums.
• Importance of having a Facebook page.

12. Facebook Page
• Build stronger relationships with current clients
through online feedback.
• Promote tennis initiatives such as Cardio Tennis,
Play and Stay and Schools Tennis.
• Communicating promotions, events and
competitions.
• Provide links to sites that would be of interest to
clients.
• Post tennis videos, advice on tennis goods and
updates on tennis players.

13. Recommendations
• Encourage participants to help one another to do
things better (teamwork).
• Learn to rest, recover and relax (balance).
• Wilson nights, parent child nights, teenager
nights, ladies mornings, tennis camps, friendly
matches against other clubs.
• Promotions – rewards system, specific stroke
night, ITN assessment, doubles night, cardio
tennis, business cards, special offers.

14. Limitations
• Online community not very active and got
corrupt.
• Time constraints.
• Lack of knowledge by the researcher in
the area of Social Media Marketing.
• Intercultural communication.