SME's social media management practices: the case of digital native SMEs

Digital media are becoming increasingly important in the marketing strategies of SMEs, particularly social media. They are a way to connect different stakeholders (employees, customers, partners) and are used for several purposes (communication, recruitment, sales, partnerships). In some cases, these media are even part of the company's identity: this is the case of digital native SMEs, who use social media even before the official launch of their business. However, we still don't know much about their concrete practices in using these platforms. We interviewed eighteen founders of digital native SMEs, to understand how they manage their social media platforms. Results show the central role of relational resources (in particular the community) both in the establishment of the activity and in the long run. We identify the concrete practices that help build a solid community and then use it to acquire new resources to make the company grow over time.