A Conceptual Framework to Enhance Business Performance using Social Media: An Australian Context

Social media has a capacity to offer online communication replacing physical proximity, and has completely transformed the way businesses are done today in the digital world. Using social media for marketing is very much cost-effective for reaching out to a geographically diverse range of customer base. Business performances can be enhanced by reaching out to a wider range of prospective customers and satisfying the need of the existing customers. Business performance requires tracking business metrics and measurable key performance indicators to show the progress of business goals. Social media is a great platform to track key business performance indicators for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in a cost-effective manner. However, in Australia, only 33% of SMEs are using social media and hence are not benefitted from the advantages social media provides in improving business performances. This paper presents a literature review on the use of social media, social media analytics (SMA), social media marketing (SMM), and how they can be used by SMEs to enhance their business performances. This study introduces a new conceptual framework assisting SMEs in developing their presence on social media and using social media to enhance their business performances based on social media use, social media analytics, and social media marketing. The conceptual framework also aims to enhance the technical, operational, conceptual, and relationship competency of SMEs.