Empirical Investigation of Internet Marketing and the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises amid COVID-19 in Nigeria

AUTHORS: OYENIYI, K. O, AYANLEKE, S.O

ABSTRACT:This study examines the impact of internet marketing on SMEs’ performance amid COVID-19. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 138 respondents from a total of 1021 SMEs registered with SMEDAN. Data were sourced with the aid of structured and semi-structured questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistics, such as frequency, percentage, mean, chi-square, factor analysis, and regression analysis were adopted for data analysis. The result reveals that internet marketing devices (Direct mail, Website, Bulk SMS, Networking, Virtual magazine, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Linkedln, Blog, and Instagram) have a positive relationship with SMEs’ performance. The results also indicate that opportunities to expand and grow, improve customer service, and find new customers, and need to keep up with existing competitors are the most factors influencing the adoption of internet marketing. Furthermore, the lack of network infrastructure is ranked as number one that hinders the adoption of internet marketing among SMEs surveyed. The implication of this finding is that if the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria could sensitize the SME operators on how to make use of internet marketing strategy, the survival of the sector in the midst of globalization and COVID-19 surge is guaranteed.