Chief executive officer of BlueDot Insights Larren Peart is encouraging micro, small, and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) to utilise social media to collect primary data in order to gain a better understanding of and serve their target market.

Peart in his recommendation said that social media is a cost-effective way for entrepreneurs to solicit feedback on the products and services that they offer.

“Social media is your largest focus group, as people are a lot more willing to share information online. So, pay attention to their feedback, engage them and encourage them to share their opinions. You want to ask questions to get feedback, so if you know that someone bought your product, ask about the experience with the product and you start to engender your customers to feel safe to tell you their opinions,” he advised at the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC)’s Virtual Biz Zone online series held recently.

The JBDC Virtual Biz Zone is a weekly series of webinars organised by the JBDC to assist MSMEs to further their development.

“You can start to tailor or customise your products or your services to fit the profile of your target consumers, so simply reading your comments and responding, looking and listening to what is being said is important,” he continued.

According to Peart, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram provide analytics that allow MSMEs to see their target audience’s highest engagement time with their accounts.

He further urged entrepreneurs not to be daunted by the technical nature of social media platforms.

“If you believe you aren’t tech-savvy there are tutorials that can help you to set up your platforms, but everyone should have a social media presence,” he noted.