Key UC Contact
What We Did
A research led by A/Prof Herb de Vries explored the impact that social media campaigns can have on benefitting small and medium-sized consumer-oriented enterprises in reaching both existing customers and potential new customers. By engaging with a small owner-operated bakery in a major city in New Zealand the researchers demonstrated how similar organizations effectively utilized social media, created an actionable and easily understood social media strategy for the host organization and then aided in the implementation of that strategy.
Who Was Involved
A private owner-operated NZ bakery
Why It Matters
The results from the study outline key dimensions to social media use that enable a better understanding of the dialogue used to generate consumer engagement online for small businesses. Key implications of this research include the importance of social media management by SMEs into reach potential customers. “It has been shown that by focusing on posts that connect with one’s customer base on a human, rather than business level and using imagery to share one’s products to their social media followers, SME operators are still able to leverage social media in a manner that will boost their online engagement and, potentially, in-store traffic”, says A/Prof de Vries.
Learn More
de Vries, Huibert Peter, Ekant Veer, and Kate Victoria de Vries. "An examination of SME social media use in the food industry." Small Enterprise Research 25.3 (2018): 227-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/13215906.2018.1521741
