Mopeli, Motebang2022-01-272022-01-272021https://hdl.handle.net/10539/32634A research proposal submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Strategic Marketing, 2021Small micro medium enterprises (SMMEs) are the corner stone of most economies. SMMEs contribute to job creation, poverty alleviation and innovation in most countries. In Africa, they constitute 90% of businesses. Although governments recognise their importance of driving the economy, they are still faced with challenges of limited support from governments and access to finance resources from formal financial institutions. It is noted in some studies that fewer than 50% of SMMEs survive for more than 5 years from inception. Operational challenges also contribute to failure of SMMEs: lack of business management and marketing skills. Some studies have considered reasons SMMEs fail in such a short period, but a few have considered operational challenges such as lack of employment of marketing skills to drive the business. In this study, we look at marketing approaches and options SMMEs could contemplate to improve their businesses and options available given financial constrains they are faced with. The focus will be on social media marketing (SMM) and traditional marketing approaches (TMM), following a quantitative research methodology. A self-administered electronic questionnaire was distributed to 20 respondents (SMME businesses in Gauteng). The respondents are identified as business owners/marketers/decision makers of emerging SMME businesses located in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. Data was analysed using correlation analysis, analysis if variance (ANOVA) and statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). All four hypotheses tested are supported and significant. Social media marketing has the strongest relationship with survival of SMMEs and traditional marketing has the weakest relationship with survival of SMMEs. The study contributes to the literature and theoretical information on small medium micro enterprises (SMMEs) in Gauteng and can be applied in broader South African context and other similar emergent economies. The contributions of the study will benefit scholars, business owners, managers; and other key stakeholders including government departments and business forumsenSDG-8: Decent work and economic growthSocial media marketingSocial media marketingtraditional marketingOperational challengesEmergent businessesDissertationUniversity of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg