Building and Communicating SMEs' Corporate Identity: The Role of Social Media

Nowadays, a growing number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are experimenting with social media tools in order to communicate with their stakeholders in various dimensions of their businesses. Set in this framework, the... [ view full abstract ]

Nowadays, a growing number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are experimenting with social media tools in order to communicate with their stakeholders in various dimensions of their businesses.

Set in this framework, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how social media strategies implemented by SMEs contribute to the construction of their corporate identity.

In order to study this phenomenon, the paper presents a literature review of the works pertaining to social media in the context of SMEs. Also, former research related to smaller enterprises’ specificities in terms of marketing and corporate identity, are reviewed. This work enables the authors to build an adequate theoretical framework that will serve as a basis for the empirical approach to be implemented at a later stage of the research.

Furthermore, the authors will highlight the dimensions of corporate identity that can be fostered by the use of social media. Indeed, most of the benefits resulting from the use of social media tools tend to support the way the SME presents itself to every stakeholder and contributes to the construction of its identity.