Impact of social media on work of small and medium enterprises

Društvene mreže postale su dio svakodnevnice, a sve više i više tvrtki prepoznaje njihovu korist i u vlastitom poslovanju, kako za komunikaciju s potencijalnim klijentima, tako i za povezivanje s publikom te privlačenje novih talenata u tvrtku. Komunikacija putem društvenih mreža odvija se svakodnevno, a interakcija više nije jednostrana. U ovom radu provedeno je empirijsko istraživanje koje se temelji na strukturiranom intervjuu s tri osječke IT tvrtke, COBE d.o.o., Factory i Inchoo d.o.o. Rezultati istraživanja ukazuju na pozitivan utjecaj marketinga putem društvenih mreža na poslovanje manjih i srednje velikih poduzeća u Osijeku. Naime, pokazalo se kako društvene mreže pomažu u komunikaciji s publikom, partnerima i klijentima, doprinose stvaranju imidža tvrtke na tržištu te dovode nove zaposlenike u tvrtku. Marketinška vrijednost društvenih mreža velika je te osječka poduzeća vjeruju kako je jako bitno biti prisutan na njima, ali da prostora za napredak i dalje ima.Social networks have recently become a normal part of everyday life, and more and more companies are recognizing the benefits of using social media in their own businesses - both for communicating with potential customers or connecting with audiences and for attracting new talent to their business. Communication through social media takes place on a daily basis, and the interaction is no longer one-sided. In this paper, an empirical study was conducted based on a structured interview with three Osijek-based IT companies, COBE d.o.o., Factory and Inchoo d.o.o. The research results indicate the positive impact of social media marketing on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Osijek. Specifically, social networks have been shown to help communicate with audiences, partners, and clients, contribute to creating a company image in the marketplace and to bring in new employees. The marketing value of social networks is great and the companies interviewed believe it is important to be present on them, but also believe there is still room for progress