Social media marketing and brand loyalty of selected small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South-West Nigeria

The study examined the effect of social media marketing on brand loyalty of Selected SMEs South West, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of this study is 17, 534 which comprises the registered SMEs in three states in South West, Nigeria which were Lagos, Oyo and Osun States as they have the largest concentration of SMEs. The sample size of 489 was determined using the Raosoft Sample Size calculator. Primary data collection was adopted (questionnaire) in gathering the data from the owner/manager of the selected SMEs. Reliability test of the questionnaire was carried out and the Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.892. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 and SmartPLS version 3.3.3). The PLS-SEM results revealed that at 95% confidence level, Social interaction (β = 0.342, t= 2.916) is significant, however, branded entertainment (β = 0.146, t= 0.922), and customer engagement (β = 0.092, t= 0.748), customization (β = 0.213, t= 1.525) and E-Word of mouth (β = 0.128, t=0.859) are statistically insignificant .PLS-SEM predictive results (Adj R2=0.693; p=0.000, Q2 =0.345), show that social media marketing significantly affects brand loyalty of SMEs in Southwest, Nigeria. It is on this strength it was concluded that there is significant effect of Social media marketing on brand loyalty in Southwest, Nigeria. Hence it is recommended that owners of SMEs should post interesting social media contents and current information about their brands that customers can engage with in order to achieve brand loyalty. Prompt response to customers’ complaint or questions about their brands will also boost SMEs and customers relationship.