How Does Social Media Marketing Affect the Growth of Microenterprises: Digital Barrier or Driver for Russia?

Qualitative business growth, including the transition of microenterprises to the category of small businesses, is a new task for the Russian government. The expansion of digital platforms can hinder this growth. The relevance of this study is due to insufficient research into social networks as potential digital barriers. The purpose of the study is to identify the impact of marketing in the VKontakte (VK) social network on the financial and economic performance of microenterprises and to offer recommendations for optimization of such activities in order to achieve Russia's national goal of qualitative growth. The hypothesis of the study is that a higher number of subscribers to VK communities of microenterprises in Russia leads to an increase in their income and income per employee. Based on numerical data from the SPARK database and the VKontakte social network for 2019-2024, a sample of 916 microenterprises in Russia with active VK communities was analyzed. Correlation and regression analysis methods show that enterprises with VK communities have higher growth rates of revenue (60.20% versus 39.35%), net assets (92.16% versus 76.37%) and are 8.7% more likely to cross the 120-million-ruble revenue threshold—thereby transitioning from micro- to small-enterprise status. Subscriber growth correlates with income (R = 0.152, p = 0.000) and other indicators. It has been shown that the desire for high subscriber involvement was associated with reduced profitability. The most likely reason for the influence is an external factor (the enterprise's advertising campaign), which stimulates the growth of subscribers and expenses. A 1% increase in subscribers can increase enterprise income per employee by ~0.21%. To eliminate the barrier, microenterprises are advised to invest in developing employee skills that focus on VK community business growth indicators. These findings contribute to understanding the marketing activity of enterprises in social networks as an additional tool for stimulating priority business growth. The theoretical significance lies in determining the role of social networks as a source of growth for enterprises with an effective strategy, as well as a barrier with high costs for this activity.