Adoption of Social Media Among Internet Marketing Firms in Kenya

Abstract

The survey had two major objectives. First was to establish the extent of adoption of social media among internet marketing firms in Kenya. Further, it intended to establish the factors considered in adoption of social media among internet marketing firms in Kenya. Lastly it set out to identify the benefits that exist or may be exploited through adoption of social media applications among internet marketing firms in Kenya. In undertaking the study, internet marketing firms in Kenya were targeted. Primary data was collected from 50 respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaires were sent via email, some were administered via mobile phones while others were administered using “drop and pick later” method. The respondents who are senior managers and owners were identified using the internet. The analysis was done through means, standard deviations and factor analysis and were presented through tables, frequencies and percentages. Results of the study show that internet marketing firms had embraced the use of social media with regard to managing their business functions. They expect to benefit a lot from their adoption of social media. The results have also revealed that majority of the business owners are between 30 and 40 years meaning they are young and educated. Many have a degree education. The extent of adoption is very scattered especially in service firms as well as media companies. The extent of adoption in institutions of learning is still at its early stages and is expected to grow in the near future. The main factors considered are marketing and communication whose scores are high. Public relations, customer care and sales are also considered factors though to a lesser extent. Market research and ICT are also ranking below public relations, customer care and sales. Arising from the study findings, it is recommended that internet marketing firms should endeavor to promote the adoption of social media to help young entrepreneurs benefit from the increased access to information through the internet. Adoption of social media will improve the quality of their customer service through understanding the customers better and responding effectively to their needs. Many young potential clients are all on social media. They actually prefer communication via social networking sites than even email. Internet marketing firms should increase the number of firms adopting social media by outsourcing some aspects of their business such web development, search engine optimization, social media optimization and web hosting.