Conference Paper

Social Media Marketing Practices as Predictors of Customer Loyalty among Youth-Owned Businesses in Nigeria

The study examined the effects of social media marketing on customer loyalty among youth entrepreneurs in Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State. It was guided by objectives that evaluated the effects of blog use and content marketing on customer loyalty. A descriptive survey design was adopted, with a population of 19,767 students, from which a sample size of 392 youth entrepreneurs was determined using the Taro Yamane formula and selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire, of which 392 copies were correctly retrieved and analyzed. Descriptive statistics summarized demographic characteristics and response patterns, while multiple regressions in SPSS tested the hypothesized relationships at the 0.05 significance level. The model result showed a strong positive relationship between social media marketing components and customer loyalty, with R = 0.805, R square = 0.648, adjusted R square = 0.645, and F(4, 387) = 178.448, p < 0.001. Blogging and content marketing had significant positive effects on customer loyalty. The study concluded that well-structured blogging and rich content marketing were the strongest social media drivers of customer loyalty among youth entrepreneurs in the institution. Among others, the study recommended that youth entrepreneurs prioritize consistent, value-adding content and strategically managed blogs to translate high social media usage into sustained customer trust, repeat patronage, and stronger customer loyalty. Institutional support for training in analytics-driven social media planning was also considered essential for implementation. Keywords: Blogging, Customer loyalty, Content Marketing, Customer Engagement, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Youth Entrepreneurs.