Beyond the basics: Exploring the impact of social media marketing enablers on business success

Abstract

In today's fast-paced world, social media marketing is crucial for businesses. However, many Saudi Arabian organizations need more skills and resources to use this strategy effectively. This article outlines organizations' top issues when adopting social media marketing and provides valuable insights into how to overcome them. After conducting an extensive literature review and consulting with experts from various sectors, 19 critical issues hindering social media marketing adoption in Saudi Arabian organizations were identified. The study employed the DEMATEL approach to analyze these issues and determine their impact level and cause-effect relationships. The study found that customer support, platform trust, secure data sharing, and perceived value significantly impact a business's social media marketing success. By addressing challenges like customer support, platform trust, and perceived value, businesses can enhance their social media marketing success and promote themselves globally by attracting and retaining customers through their social media presence. The insights gained from this research offer valuable guidance for Saudi Arabian organizations looking to refine their social media marketing strategies. To overcome the challenges hindering the adoption of social media marketing, businesses must address the "cause" and "effect" category issues. By adopting a formal and pragmatic approach, Saudi Arabian organizations can achieve sustainable growth and promote themselves to a global audience.

Keywords: Businesses; Critical issues; DEMATEL approach; Organizations; Social media; Social media marketing enablers.

Fig. 1

The framework adopted for the study.

Fig. 2

The cause-effect diagram for the enablers of Social Media Marketing.

Fig. 3

Conceptual framework and Theoretical Grounding using the S–O-R Model.

Fig. 4

Prioritizing the significance of SMM Enablers of CSFs.