Effectiveness of Social Media in Small Business in LA



Effectiveness of Social Media in Small Business in LA

Introduction

Background

Compeau (2011) opines that ninety seven percent of businesses in America are small to middle sized, and are likely the main economic drivers in the country. Just a plain three mile walk from downtown Los Angeles-LA to USC main campus, one can observe a throng of various small businesses, be it a dress boutique, food franchises, small café's, street food vendors, bakeries and many more shops. According to Small Business Administration (SBA) all these businesses are categorized to be small businesses. However, according to the official SBA website, small businesses are identified as those business operations that are not dominant in their field, such an example being of various food franchises (www.sba.gov).

Relatively, with changes in the global business environment and development of internet technology, have led to the creation and phenomenal success of social media. Today, social media channels such as social networking sites are the rage globally, with over billions of active users all over the world. The intensity of this phenomenon can be gauged from this respect that their popularity have transformed and greatly influenced the business practices. To such an extent, that it is now expected of all businesses to maintain their organization's social media presence on the internet. Moreover, because of high popularity and use of social media all over the world, has given a significant boost to small business to sustain their competitiveness and attract customers.

Problem Statement

As identified above that small businesses are one of the major economic drivers in US, many of which have expanded their brand names to a larger region. One of the most cheaply yet effective marketing tools of social media; such small businesses have incurred unprecedented growth opportunities. The aim of this study is to explore the effectiveness of social media in small businesses. To give this study a specific focus, the findings of research would focus upon the small business operations, in LA.

Rationale for Selection

The scope of social media in today's world is extremely broad and can rightfully be categorized as a global phenomenon that has in short period of time changed many business and internet trends. This can be assessed by the increased usage and importance of using social media in our daily lives. Hence, by correlating social media effectiveness with small businesses would help better explore and understand the true impact of utilizing social media as a core business practice. This would result in the creation of new literature, which can be prove to be resourceful tool for students, academicians, scholars, business managers, aspiring small business owners and entrepreneurs that seek to employ social media as means of growing their business.

Objective and Research Questions

The main objective of this study will be to better understand the effectiveness of social media in small businesses based in the LA region.

This research seeks to better understand the following research questions:

To understand whether if social media has become a need for all small businesses?

To ...