Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses

Small business owners who fail to implement an effective social media marketing strategy lose the opportunity to increase sales and revenue. Small business leaders are concerned with the lack of proper resources to adopt and implement social media as part of a marketing strategy. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore social media marketing strategies small business owners use to increase their sales and revenue. The participants comprised 6 owners of small businesses in Honolulu, Hawaii, who successfully increased sales and revenue by implementing social media marketing strategies. Data collection consisted of semistructured interviews, company documents, and social media platforms used by each company. Data analysis consisted of thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: factors leading to positive decision-making regarding social media marketing, assessment strategies for efficacy, social media marketing strategies, and perceived barriers. A key recommendation is that leaders of small businesses recognize the importance of using the appropriate social media strategies, overcome personal perceptions about the difficulties of social media learning, carefully evaluate social media marketing program options, and empirically assess the revenue-generative efficacy of each social media program. The implications for positive social change include the potential for small business owners to create jobs and support the economic growth of their local communities by adopting effective social media marketing strategies used by other successful small businesses.