Social media marketing and performance of youth owned SMES in Nairobi County, Kenya

Fast technological evolution and intensity of competition oblige companies to constantly seek for new ways to differentiate and offer added value to their customers. With the increasing popularity of social media, companies have started to consider this means as a new way to communicate with their customers and increase their brand reputation. One of the most notable phenomena of new media is how it has increased and created new forms of social interaction.In Kenya, despite the critical role played by the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, research has shown that 90% business startups fail in their third year and especially those owned by the youths The general purpose of the study was to establish the influence of social media marketing on performance of small and medium businesses in Nairobi’s industrial area. This study adopted a descriptive research design. Official records of AGPO as at December 2023 showed that there are 13,011 youth-owned businesses registered in the county of Nairobi with the Youth Access to Government Procurement Opportunities Program (YAGPO). The study used the 10-30% Mugenda Sampling principle to calculate the sample size of 130 SMEs. The first specific objective was to establish the extent Social Media Platforms Influence the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. A Pearson correlation analysis was done to establish the relationship between social media platform on performance of SMEs and the result established a significant positive relationship between social media platform used and the performance of SMEs (r=.811, p value =0.000). The second specific objective was to establish the extent bloggers influence the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. A Pearson correlation analysis was done to establish the relationship between blogger influence on performance of SMEs and the result established a significant positive relationship between blogger influence and the performance of SMEs (r=.730, p value =0.000). The third objective was to establish the extent social media messaging factors influence the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises. A Pearson correlation analysis was done to establish the relationship between messaging factors on performance of SMEs and the result established a significant positive relationship between social media messaging factors used and the performance of SMEs (r=.359, p value =0.000). The study concluded that use of social media marketing has a positive influence on performance of SMEs and recommended that there is need for SMEs to embrace the use of social media to market their products and that the government should support SMEs by providing affordable internet services.