Social Media Usage and Firm Performance: An Empirical Study of Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The research was focused on examining the impact of the use of social media on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in terms of service and customer relations aspect, marketing aspect, and information accessibility aspect. It implemented a survey approach using a questionnaire to collect data from managers or SME owners. Unit of analysis of it was the manager or owner of SMEs in Kerinci-Jambi area, Indonesia. Data analysis techniques conducted PLS-SEM approach. The findings show that social media for service and customer relations has a significant and positive influence on the performance of SMEs. Then, social media also positively and significantly affects the performance of SMEs. Besides, the use of social media for information accessibility is also positive and significant for the performance of SMEs. It shows that social media in terms of these three aspects have a significant impact on improving the performance of SMEs. Finally, the implications of this research will be discussed further.