IMPACT OF SOCIAL BOOKMARKING SITES AND LIVE STREAMING PLATFORMS ON BRANDED PRODUCTS OF SELECTED SMEs IN MUBI METROPOLIS, ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examines the impact of social bookmarking sites and live streaming platforms on branded products of selected SMEs in Mubi metropolis, Adamawa State, Nigeria. The study was premised based on the fact that persistent security challenges and social instability in Adamawa, Nigeria pose obstacles to establishing trust and credibility through social media marketing efforts. A lack of digital literacy among the target population further complicates the effectiveness of social media marketing strategies. Many potential consumers are not familiar with navigating social media platforms or understanding marketing messages, diminishing the impact of brand promotions. The study is a survey design in which data were collected through questionnaire administered to 402 respondents with the help of research assistance while only 384 were successfully returned and valid. Data collected was subjected to inferential analyses and hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the study revealed that social bookmarking sites has significant impact on marketing branded products (b = 0.224, T = 2.454, P = 0.015). Furthermore, the findings revealed that live streaming platforms has no impact on marketing of branded products (b = 0.166, T = 1.959, P = 0.51). Hence the study concludes that social media has significant impact on the marketing of Branded products in selected SMEs in Mubi metropolis, Adamawa State, Nigeria.  The study recommend that marketers in selected states of Adamawa, Nigeria should not rely heavily on social networking sites, media sharing networks and live streaming platforms for marketing branded products, as they have been found to not have a significant impact on marketing efforts. Except, if they can integrate their content with other marketing strategies to create a cohesive and comprehensive marketing approach.