THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MANAGEMENT OF SMES

The aim of this paper is to present new scientific results concerning social media in relation to the SME segment. The empirical research based on a sample of 1,520 respondents from the business sector of the V4 countries provided interesting findings. The role of social media is largely underestimated by the SMEs and such enterprises have untapped capacity for using social media in their management. Additionally, the SMEs insufficiently utilize the opportunity for a more flexible response to market development through social media. Another important finding is that the SMEs do not usually have a clear strategy on how to use social media. Also, organizations in the SME segment do not sufficiently appreciate the contribution of social media to the growth of financial performance. The research confirmed the existence of significant differences in the attitudes of respondents in individual V4 countries. Further findings indicate that the attitudes of SMEs are changing in the context of the new macroeconomic situation. While the use of social media in the favourable phase of the economic cycle was relatively low, their role increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.