ABSTRACT

Social media is a new phenomenon that has changed how the business environment operates. Businesses are able to gain access to resources that were otherwise not available to them. It has also helped businesses to increase their worthiness, cultivate strategic partnerships and increase their contact with customers and suppliers. It is therefore become important for business owners and marketers to understand how social media work as a communication and marketing tool and how they can significantly grow their businesses. The study investigate the effects of social media on small business as regards to customer relationship in Edo State. This was done by determining the major activities underlying the entrepreneurial development in Nigeria, the contribution of social media to business progress and effects of adopting social media platform on small business. The study adopted a survey research design. 200 Questionnaires were administered to the business owners in two local government within the states out of which 193 were retrieved. Both descriptive statistics (mean, frequency and percentage) and inferential statistics (regression) were used to analyze the quantitative data that was collected with the aid SPSS. The results of the study have been presented in tables and figures for easy interpretation. Among the result reveals from the study are: there is a positive and significant effects of the adoption of social media platforms on business activities of the selected small business, Social media has open up more business opportunities and reduce the overall coast of business operations. The study recommends that to better increase business results, small business owners must understands their digital needs or take help from expertise to save time and help achieve success online all start within a small budget also Presence on Facebook, and other social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp etc., is highly recommended to small business to reduce their overall cost of operations. It was concluded that the use of the social media contributes to the growth of small businesses.