ASSESSMENT OF ONLINE BUSINESS STRATEGIES FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES GROWTH AND IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The study was an assessment of Online marketing as a strategy for small and medium scale enterprises growth in Cross River State. The broad objective was to assess online marketing as a sustainable and effective strategy for SMEs growth in Cross River state, Nigeria. The specific objective was to examine the level of application of online marketing and business sustainability in Cross River State. Also to determine the relationship between online marketing and customer patronage. This was motivated by the lull in business activities of SME and the low survival rate of these established enterprises in the long run despite government interventions. One of the biggest problem faced is getting and keeping customers or clients in order to sustain growth. It's "feast or drought" daily, weekly and monthly. Survey research design was adopted in the study. The area of study was Cross River State, Nigeria. The Taro Yamane formula for finite populations was used to determine the sample size at 5% margin of error and 95% level of confidence. This gave a sample size of 400 individuals to be selected from 6 local government areas of the State. Cluster sampling was adopted in the study. Among the findings were that the application of online marketing is low; and that there is a significant relationship between online marketing and customer patronage. Based on these, the study recommended that the government should encourage SMEs to adopt online marketing strategies alongside the loans provided for start-up. This should be done in collaboration with internet marketing experts that can give advice on the best strategies, tactics, tools, channels, and the best ways for their implementation.