Author(s): Elizabeth Boakye Yiadom

In recent years, social media have been increasingly adopted in enterprises. Enterprises use social media as an additional way to get in contact with their customers and support internal communication and collaboration. However, little research is devoted to the adoption and internal usage of social media in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are of high social and economic importance. In order to achieve an efficient SME sector development, there is the need to focus on staying competitive in today’s fast-moving business landscape that requires a solid social media strategy to deal with these challenges in a more proactive manner.
This study therefore, seeks to look at the use of social media as an effective tool for business development. The current features and status of Social Media tools adopted by Ghanaian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in accordance with business purposes will be determined to ascertain the values SMEs derive from the use of social media. It will also examine the market forces that determine the use of social media tools for SMEs and develop a social media mechanism that can be applied by SMEs for business operation in Ghana. A survey approach using multi-item instruments will be used to collect data from a sample of about 600 formal SMEs in Ghana. The qualitative approach will be used to enable the study of the phenomenon by using qualitative data expressed in words and theory. It will also compare and analyze the work of many authors to reach the objectives of the research. To further address the research purposes, a quantitative research approach will be used by conducting an extensive survey of Ghanaian SMEs in the context of the adoption of social media. It is assumed and expected that the perception of the use of social media tools will impact positively on SMEs in Ghana regarding business expansion, increase revenue, building profitability and helping make strategic business decisions. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to academic knowledge on using social media tools in the marketing field and address the empirical gaps in literature on social media and SMEs as an emerging concept. It will be relevant to policy makers and corporate bodies who need to consider the adoption of relevant social media tools that will create a long-term value for their businesses, markets and relationships.