Exploring how social media marketing influences small business performance amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

The survival of small businesses (SB) is threatened by the economic disruptions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores the digital responses of SBs in Trinidad and Tobago. More specifically, the study explores how SBs have integrated social media marketing (SMM) into their business operations and owners' perceptions of its impact on performance. Data were collected from 22 owners via semi-structured synchronous interviews. The findings reveal a series of internal and situational influences that either motivated or hindered SMM use during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results further demonstrate the crippling constraints most SBs face when implementing and evaluating the usefulness of SMM on overall business performance. The results also explain why SBs in developing countries respond differently to SMM than developed countries. The study's insights contribute to SMM knowledge and expose the unique challenges SBs in Trinidad and Tobago face when using SMM during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

• covid-19
• e-marketing
• small business
• social media marketing