THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MMSMES IN THE KUBU RAYA REGENCY

Abstract

Research conducted by the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) shows that many MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) in Indonesia have not gone digital due to their lack of knowledge and skills when using digital services. Additionally, they may sometimes feel unsafe or insecure when they make digital transactions. However, digitalization can increase their revenue and productivity by a significant amount in this era. The government targets 30 million MSMEs to utilize digital platforms by 2024; the more the MSMEs that go digital, the more transactions will happen. When more transactions are made, the competitiveness of MSMEs will increase so that MSMEs can also increase in class. Today’s era is the digital age where technology develops very rapidly; in which this development is also driven by the pandemic. The pandemic prompted a shift in product consumption patterns from mainly using offline means to online means. Additionally, the increase in internet traffic by 15-20% also proves this point. Social media bring many benefits to MSMEs; namely, expanding the reach of the MSME to all parts of the world, because social media are already commonly used globally. Social media would allow MSMEs to reach out to up to millions of people whenever and wherever there is internet connection. With this in mind, MSMEs can distribute their product and service content to their targets. In addition, social media allows MSME to share information via Real-Time with chat features. This feature would help MSMEs to reach their market targets and market products.